How it works

The wall, the pause, and the key.

Breakaway is three ideas working together: a Mac-based block, a pause instead of a scolding, and a person who holds the key.

The wall

When you commit, Breakaway blocks gambling sites on a supported Mac and checks that protection remains active. You choose an until-date on the day you set it up: a month, a season, a year.

Between now and that date, changing the commitment is deliberately difficult. Real exceptions go through your buddy — which is exactly what your steadier self wanted when they locked it.

The pause

Hitting a blocked site never gets you an angry red wall. You get a pause: how many days you've been clear, the reasons you wrote down on a better day, and a moment to breathe.

“I want my kids to trust me with money again.”

Most urges crest and fade within minutes, even when you don't act on them. If you keep pushing anyway, that's a signal worth sharing — your buddy gets a quiet heads-up. Not a report. A heads-up.

The key

Need a real exception — a payout to withdraw, an account to close? Ask from the app. Your buddy gets a link where they can open a timed window, fifteen minutes or an hour, that closes itself when time's up. Nothing for either of you to remember.

Removing a commitment entirely takes their approval too. And after a hard moment, Breakaway holds the wall closed for a full day no matter who says yes — a rule you agreed to back when you were steady.

What it counts

Breakaway keeps score of the things worth keeping: clear days, money kept, urges ridden out. The streak is front and center on purpose — most days, watching it grow is the whole reason the wall never gets tested.

Breakaway runs on macOS today; the iPhone app is on its way.

Sign up