Stretchly is a free, open-source break-reminder app for macOS (and Windows/Linux) that interrupts your work at configurable intervals with micro-breaks and longer rest periods, helping you build healthier screen-time habits over the long haul.
What is Stretchly?
Stretchly is a cross-platform desktop app built by Jan Hovancik that sits quietly in your menu bar and periodically pulls you away from the screen — for a 20-second micro-break every few minutes, and a longer five-minute rest at a wider interval you define. It runs on Electron, which means it behaves identically on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and it is completely free to download with no subscription, no paywall, and no feature gating.
I stumbled onto Stretchly after a particularly rough week of RSI flare-ups, when I realised that every other solution I'd tried was either too aggressive, too easy to dismiss, or locked behind a monthly fee. Stretchly struck the right balance from day one: visible enough to actually work, unobtrusive enough that I didn't immediately kill it.
What does Stretchly do best?
Stretchly excels at being the kind of accountability tool that you actually leave running — and that is rarer than it sounds.
- Two-tier break cadence. Short micro-breaks (fully configurable duration and interval) and longer full breaks are handled separately, so you can dial in the rhythm that matches your work style rather than accepting someone else's idea of "ergonomic."
- Gentle but persistent overlay. The break screen takes over your display in a soft, full-screen wash of colour with a brief movement or mindfulness prompt. You can skip it, but it takes a deliberate click — accidental dismissals are essentially impossible.
- Do Not Disturb integration. Stretchly respects macOS DND and can optionally pause automatically when you are on a video call or when your Mac is idle. This is the feature that keeps it from becoming an embarrassing interruption mid-presentation.
- Granular preferences without a PhD. The settings panel exposes interval lengths, break durations, natural breaks detection, sounds, appearance, and even a welcome-screen language option — all without burying you in tabs or requiring a config file.
- Actively maintained open source. The GitHub repo is healthy, issues are triaged, and the app receives regular updates. That matters for something you're trusting to run every day in the background.
Is Stretchly free?
Yes — Stretchly is completely free to download and use, with every feature unlocked at no cost. Jan Hovancik accepts optional sponsorship via GitHub Sponsors and Open Collective for those who want to support continued development, but there is no paid tier, no trial period, and no feature held back behind a paywall. For a tool in this category, that is genuinely unusual.
Who should use Stretchly?
Stretchly is ideal for anyone who regularly loses four or five hours at the keyboard without looking up — developers, writers, designers, analysts, students. If you have ever ended a work session with stiff shoulders and no memory of the last two hours, Stretchly is for you.
It is less useful for people whose workflow is already naturally fragmented by meetings, calls, or physical movement throughout the day. And if you want deep biometric data — heart-rate monitoring, posture scoring, eye-strain measurement — you will need something like Time Out (which adds analytics at a cost) or a hardware wearable. Stretchly does one thing: remind you to stop. It does that thing very well.
What are the best Stretchly alternatives?
The main macOS competitors are Time Out by Dejal (the gold standard for break reminders on Mac, with a beautiful native UI and optional paid features), Breaks for Eyes (App Store, simpler, iOS-familiar), and the classic 20-20-20 rule baked into third-party menu-bar timers like Lungo or even a simple Shortcuts automation. Compared to Time Out, Stretchly wins on price (free vs. a one-time purchase for full features) and cross-platform parity; it loses on native macOS polish — the Electron shell is noticeable if you care about that sort of thing. For pure Mac-first feel, Time Out is the choice; for zero cost and open-source transparency, Stretchly wins outright.
How does Stretchly compare to Time Out?
Time Out is a native SwiftUI app with a more refined macOS aesthetic, background blur effects, and optional iCloud sync. Stretchly runs on Electron, which adds a small memory footprint and a slightly generic look. Time Out's free version limits customisation significantly; its full feature set requires a one-time purchase. Stretchly is fully featured at no cost. Both support natural break detection and DND awareness. If aesthetics and native performance are your priority, Time Out is worth paying for. If you want everything for free — and you work across Mac and a Windows machine — Stretchly is the pragmatic call.
