Pomodoro Timer — a free online focus timer
Work in 25-minute focus sessions with short breaks and a long break after every four. Add tasks with estimates, see your daily stats, and keep the timer accurate even in a background tab. No account, no ads.
📝 Tasks
⚙ Timer settings
📈 Your focus
Guide — focus in pomodoros, five steps
Your tasks, settings and history stay in this browser.
Type what you will work on and how many pomodoros you think it takes. Click a task to make it the one you are working on.
Classic 25 / 5 is the original. Study 50 / 10, Deep 90 / 20 and Sprint 15 / 3 are one click away, or set your own minutes.
Focus until the timer rings — or press Space. The time keeps counting correctly even if you switch tabs.
A short break follows each pomodoro, a long break after every set (4 by default). Breaks can start automatically.
Every finished pomodoro counts toward the task and your daily stats: today, the last 7 days and your streak.
Which rhythm for which work
- for
- most tasks, getting started, email and admin
- set
- long break after 4 pomodoros
- for
- reading, revision, writing
- set
- long break after 3
- for
- coding, design, hard problems
- set
- long break after 2
- Space
- start / pause
- S / R
- skip / reset
- 1 2 3
- focus, short, long
- F / P / N
- focus mode, pop-out, new task
The Pomodoro Technique, explained
The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management method in which you work in focused blocks — traditionally 25 minutes — separated by short breaks. Each block is one pomodoro. After four of them you take a longer break. It was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, when he was a university student; pomodoro is Italian for tomato, after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used.
How to do a pomodoro
- Choose the task you will work on.
- Set the timer, usually for 25 minutes.
- Work on that task only, until the timer rings.
- Take a short break, typically 5 minutes.
- Repeat until you have done four pomodoros.
- Take a longer break, typically 15 to 30 minutes, then start a new set.
This timer follows exactly that cycle: the dots under the clock show where you are in the set, and the long break comes up by itself after the last pomodoro of the set.
How long should a pomodoro be?
| Rhythm | Focus | Short break | Long break | Long break after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic | 25 min | 5 min | 15 min | 4 pomodoros |
| Study | 50 min | 10 min | 30 min | 3 |
| Deep | 90 min | 20 min | 30 min | 2 |
| Sprint | 15 min | 3 min | 10 min | 4 |
The classic rhythm is the original; the others are common variations. Start with 25 / 5. If you keep getting into flow right before the bell, try 50 / 10; if 25 minutes feels long, a sprint of 15 is a fine way to get going. Every value can be set between 1 and 180 minutes.
Does the Pomodoro Technique work?
The research is still small. A study comparing 25 students who used pomodoros with 35 who took breaks when they liked found no difference in mental effort or in how much work got done, but the self-paced group studied for longer stretches and reported more fatigue and lower concentration. A 2025 scoping review reported that time-structured Pomodoro routines improved focus and reduced mental fatigue compared with self-paced breaks. In practice, the value is that the timer decides when to stop — so you keep working through the urge to check your phone, and you actually take the break. (Summary based on the sources collected on Wikipedia’s Pomodoro Technique article.)
A Pomodoro timer for studying
For revision, add each chapter or exercise set as a task with an estimate, use the Study 50 / 10 rhythm and switch on auto-start focus so the next session begins by itself after the break. The task list shows how many pomodoros are left and roughly when you will be done, so you can plan an evening of study in advance.
Tasks and estimates
Give every task the number of pomodoros you expect it to take. When a focus session finishes, it is added to the task you selected, and the bar under the task fills up. Comparing estimates with what it really took is one of the most useful habits the technique builds: after a week you will estimate your work far better.
Why the timer stays accurate in a background tab
Many online timers count down by subtracting one second per tick, which drifts when the browser slows down background tabs. This one stores the moment the session ends and compares it with the clock, so it is right even after you switch tabs, minimise the window or put the laptop to sleep. The tab title and the icon show the remaining time and a progress ring, so you can see it from any other tab.
Sounds, notifications and keeping the screen on
- Sounds — bell, chime, digital or wood block, synthesised in the browser; an optional soft tick during focus.
- Notifications — switch them on and allow them once, and your system tells you when a session ends, even if the tab is hidden.
- Keep screen on — while a session runs, the page asks the browser not to dim the screen (where the browser supports it).
- Focus mode (F) shows only the timer, full screen. Pop out (P, Chrome and Edge) opens a small always-on-top window with the timer.
Share your timings
Copy link creates a link such as /pomodoro/?focus=50&short=10&long=30&every=3. Whoever opens it gets the same rhythm — useful for a study group or a team that works in sync.
Privacy
Everything runs in your browser. Tasks, settings and your history are stored in this browser’s local storage, are never uploaded, and can be exported as CSV or deleted at any time. The page loads its font from Google Fonts and counts visits with cookie-free Simple Analytics.