The Pomodoro technique is quick to describe: work on one task for about 25 minutes, take a short break, and after four rounds take a longer one. The technique's own site calls the timer only the starting point, but the timer is what most people come for. Choosing a Pomodoro timer Chrome extension comes down to two questions: where should the timer sit, and what do you want around it?
The short version. Backs, which we make, is our pick, because its timer sits on the new tab page beside your tasks. It is also the newest here and the plainest timer of the six. Bonjourr puts a free, open source timer on the new tab too. Focus To-Do adds task lists, reports and phone apps, and Otto a website blocker.
How we picked
We took the names people compare, then added the new tab pages that include a timer. First place goes on where the timer lives. Chrome's help says you use an extension by selecting its icon beside the address bar, so a toolbar timer sits behind an icon until you open it. A timer on the new tab page is in front of you every time you open a tab, with your tasks beside it. We think that is the better place. It is a view, not a measurement.
The other five are in order on three things you can check: what the timer gives you without paying or signing up, how much evidence there is (4.8 from 14,200 ratings says more than 4.5 from 61), and when the Chrome listing was last updated. Bonjourr is second because its timer lives on the new tab too and costs nothing, though its high rating is for the whole page. Momentum is last because its Pomodoro timer is part of the paid plan.
What does Backs not have? Its timer has two phases, focus and break, with no longer break after four rounds; Bonjourr, Focus To-Do and Tomato Clock have one. It has no alarm of its own, where Bonjourr, Momentum and Tomato Clock ring or chime. Its statistics stop at a chart of the current week, while Focus To-Do, Momentum and Otto keep longer histories. It blocks no websites; Otto and Momentum Plus do. Focus To-Do also runs on phones, and Bonjourr, Tomato Clock and Momentum in other browsers. All five have more ratings than Backs. If any of that matters more to you than where the timer sits, start with them.
Two familiar names are missing. Marinara, the open source timer older lists often put first, is no longer at the store address its own repository gives; see the last question. Forest's Chrome extension shows about 800,000 users, 3.8 from 1.4K ratings and a last update in December 2024, but its store description is a few lines long and its maker's site is mostly about the phone apps, so we could not describe it with confidence. The many small timers with near-identical names are left out too.
The Pomodoro timer Chrome extensions, ranked
Backs
Free, Premium €3.99 a month or €39.99 a yearOurs, and our pick. The Pomodoro timer is a Backon you place on your new tab, beside a task list. It runs on after the tab is closed, while Chrome is open, and Backs creates a notification when a focus session ends.
Bonjourr
Free, donations welcomeA calm, free and open source new tab page with a Pomodoro widget: short breaks, a long break after four, an alarm whose tune you choose, and a focus mode. 4.9 from 24.1K ratings.
Focus To-Do
Free, with in-app purchasesA Pomodoro timer joined to a full task manager: projects, reminders, recurring tasks and sub-tasks, with reports on where the time went. 4.8 from 14.2K ratings, about 500,000 users.
Otto
Free with limits, Pro $29 a year or $66 onceA Pomodoro timer with a website blocker beside it: while a focus session runs, Otto blocks the sites on your list. 4.7 from 612 ratings and about 60,000 users.
Tomato Clock
FreeA small open source timer that opens from the toolbar: 25 minute rounds, short breaks, a long break after four, notifications with a sound you choose, and a count of finished rounds.
Momentum
Free, Pomodoro timer needs Plus at $39.95 a yearThe best known new tab page, with two million users. Its Pomodoro timer takes the clock's place in the centre of the page, with a chime, auto-start and a browser notification, and is part of Plus.
Side by side
Ratings are the Chrome Web Store's figures on 21 September 2026, and prices are as each maker lists them. 'Behind its icon' means the timer opens from the extension's icon beside the address bar.
| Extension | Price | Account | Where the timer lives | Statistics | Rating, last update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backs | Free, Premium €3.99 a month | Not needed | New tab page | This week, by day | 4.7 from 3, September 2026 |
| Bonjourr | Free, donations | Not needed | New tab page | Recent use | 4.9 from 24.1K, July 2026 |
| Focus To-Do | Free, in-app purchases | Optional | Behind its icon | Reports, trends | 4.8 from 14.2K, December 2025 |
| Otto | Free, Pro $29 a year or $66 once | None | Behind its icon | 7 days, all time with Pro | 4.7 from 612, September 2026 |
| Tomato Clock | Free | None mentioned | Toolbar pop-up | Finished rounds | 4.5 from 61, May 2026 |
| Momentum | Timer needs Plus, $39.95 a year | Optional | New tab page | By day and month | 4.5 from 13.7K, September 2026 |
Which one for whom
- You want the timer in front of you, beside your tasks. Backs.
- You want that at no cost, with public code and an alarm. Bonjourr.
- You want tasks, reports and your phone in step. Focus To-Do.
- Other websites are the problem. Otto, or Momentum Plus for a blocker inside a new tab page.
- You want a plain toolbar timer. Tomato Clock.
- You already use Momentum. Its Pomodoro timer comes with Plus.
Questions and answers
- Is there a free Pomodoro timer for Chrome?
- Yes, several. Bonjourr and Tomato Clock have no paid plan at all. The Pomodoro timer in Backs is on its free plan, with no account. Otto's timer and website blocker are free within limits, and Focus To-Do costs nothing to add. Momentum alone keeps its Pomodoro timer for paying members.
- Which Pomodoro timer extension has statistics?
- Focus To-Do goes furthest: total focus time, time per project, a Gantt chart and trend charts. Momentum's Focus Stats, on every plan, keeps a daily total, a weekly chart and a month by month history. Otto charts seven days on the free plan and all time with Pro. Tomato Clock counts finished rounds, Bonjourr shows recent use when you right-click its timer, and Backs has a Weekly Focus Backon with a bar for each day of the current week.
- Which one blocks distracting websites?
- Otto is built around it: during a focus session it blocks the sites on your list, and the free plan allows four rules. Momentum has a site blocker in Plus. Backs has no blocker, and the pages we read for Bonjourr, Focus To-Do and Tomato Clock mention none.
- What happened to Marinara?
- Marinara: Pomodoro Assistant is an open source timer whose repository is still public, last changed in May 2023, but the Chrome Web Store address it gives opened no listing on 21 September 2026. Two other listings carry the name. Marinara New, published under focusapps.app, shows 4.1 from 169 ratings and about 20,000 users, and does not say how it relates to the original. Enhanced Marinara, with 13 users that day, says it descends from the original's open source code and is not affiliated with it.
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