Clify vs BlockSite

Feature Comparison

Clify focuses entirely on the YouTube experience. BlockSite focuses on blocking entire websites across the internet. Their feature sets barely overlap.

What is BlockSite?

BlockSite is one of the most established website blockers in the Chrome and Firefox ecosystem. Its core function is straightforward: you pick a list of distracting websites, and it prevents you from visiting them during focus hours. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, news sites — you name it, BlockSite can lock it down.

Beyond simple blocking, BlockSite offers a few extras that appeal to people trying to build better browsing habits:

• Focus Mode with Pomodoro timer — Start a timed focus session where distracting sites are automatically blocked, with built-in break intervals.
• Scheduled blocking — Set recurring schedules so certain sites are blocked during work hours but available in the evening.
• Redirects — Instead of showing a generic block page, you can redirect blocked URLs to a specific productive site.
• WorkMode — A quick-toggle that activates your pre-configured block list when you need to buckle down.
• Password protection — Behind the premium paywall, you can lock your block settings behind a password so you can’t easily bypass them in a moment of weakness.

The premium tier ($39.99/year) unlocks additional capabilities like cross-device sync, incognito mode blocking, and the mobile app. The free tier covers basic blocking but limits you to a small number of blocked sites.

BlockSite does its job well if that job is “keep me off Twitter during work hours.” But it has no concept of what you’re doing on the sites it lets through. It doesn’t know if you’re on YouTube watching a tutorial or doom-scrolling Shorts.

What is Clify?

Clify takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of blocking YouTube entirely, it surgically removes the parts of YouTube that waste your time while leaving the useful content intact.

Think of it this way: BlockSite puts a wall around YouTube. Clify tears down the billboards inside.

The extension focuses on several key areas:

• Ad blocking — Removes YouTube ads (pre-roll, mid-roll, display) without requiring a separate ad blocker. This alone is a significant productivity and quality-of-life improvement.
• Shorts removal — YouTube Shorts are designed to be addictive. Clify strips them from your feed and recommendations, eliminating a major source of time-wasting.
• SponsorBlock integration — Automatically skips sponsored segments within videos, so you can watch content without interruptions from paid promotions.
• Keyword and channel blocking — Hide specific topics or creators from your YouTube feed. Don’t want to see videos about a particular subject? Block the keyword, and they vanish from recommendations.
• Focus timer — A built-in Pomodoro timer that works alongside your YouTube browsing.
• Recommendation cleanup — Reduces or removes algorithmic recommendations so you visit YouTube with intent rather than getting pulled into a rabbit hole.

Clify is open source and free forever. It doesn’t have a premium tier or a subscription model. Every feature is available to every user from day one.

When BlockSite is enough

If your primary distraction is social media, news aggregation, or any non-YouTube website, BlockSite is the better tool. It handles general-purpose website blocking cleanly and effectively.

Use BlockSite when:

• You need to block Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, or similar social platforms during work hours.
• You want password-protected blocks so you can’t talk yourself into disabling them.
• You need mobile blocking (available through their premium subscription on iOS and Android).
• You want scheduled blocking that activates automatically based on time of day.
• You prefer a one-size-fits-all solution for all distracting websites.

BlockSite is the right choice when the answer to “What’s distracting me?” is “Everything on the internet.” It draws a hard line and keeps you out of places you’ve decided you shouldn’t go.

When Clify makes more sense

If YouTube is your main distraction — and for a lot of people it is — BlockSite’s approach has a problem. Blocking youtube.com entirely means losing access to tutorials, documentation, how-to videos, and legitimate work resources. YouTube isn’t just a distraction; it’s also the world’s largest library of free educational content.

Clify solves this by changing the equation. Instead of “YouTube is blocked or unblocked,” it creates a middle ground: YouTube is available, but stripped of its addictive elements.

Use Clify when:

• You use YouTube for work or learning but keep getting pulled into Shorts and recommended videos.
• YouTube ads break your focus and you want them gone without installing a separate ad blocker.
• You want to block specific topics or channels from appearing in your feed without blocking the entire platform.
• You want SponsorBlock to skip sponsored segments automatically.
• You prefer a lightweight, open-source tool that does one thing extremely well.

The fundamental difference is philosophy: BlockSite believes the best way to deal with distraction is removal. Clify believes the best way is reduction. For YouTube specifically, reduction usually wins.

Interesting Facts

Frequently Asked Questions