# Time Out review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Mac break reminder with customizable break screens Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Time Out is a Mac app from Dejal that reminds you to step away with Normal and Micro breaks. Breaks can follow fixed times or calendar events, and rules postpone them during calls or fullscreen apps. Core features are free; supporter and premium options add more. - **Category:** Focus Apps - **Made by:** Dejal Systems, LLC - **Website:** https://www.dejal.com/timeout - **Runs on:** macOS - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you are not on a Mac, since there is no Windows, Linux or phone version. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Time Out has a free plan, and paid plans start at $4.99 for 3 months of Supporter, paid once with no renewal. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Core features are always free. Supporter terms add premium features released during the term. - **Free trial:** Supporter and premium features can be tried for a trial period; length not stated on the page. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | Core break features, always free. | | 3-Month Supporter | $4.99 for 3 months, paid once, with no renewal | Adds premium features added during the 3 months. | | 6-Month Supporter | $9.99 for 6 months, paid once, with no renewal | Adds premium features added during the 6 months. | | 12-Month Supporter | $19.99 for 12 months, paid once, with no renewal | Adds premium features added during the 12 months. | | Lifetime | $59.99 one-time | All current and future premium features. | Read from https://www.dejal.com/timeout/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Time Out before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Lifetime purchase** (Lifetime license): Dejal lists a one-time Lifetime option at $59.99 that includes all current and future premium features. Source: https://www.dejal.com/timeout/ ## Key features - **Normal and Micro breaks:** Built-in breaks with adjustable length and frequency, plus custom breaks. - **Scheduling:** Breaks at fixed times or around calendar events, limited to chosen hours and days. - **Rules:** Postpone or skip breaks when certain apps are in use, during Focus or a fullscreen app, or on a recognized call. - **Break themes:** Break screens can show scenes, videos, messages, photos, YouTube videos or HTML pages. - **Natural breaks:** Counts time away from the Mac and adjusts the next reminder. ## Good for - Mac users who want breaks that fit around meetings - People who like customizing what the break screen shows ## Worth knowing - Mac only; version 4.0 needs macOS 26.0 or later (an older 2.9.7 build is for macOS 10.15+). - The Mac App Store edition also offers monthly and yearly Premium subscriptions; their prices were not read. - Premium features added later need a Supporter term or Lifetime. - Also included in Setapp. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Time Out is a Mac break reminder with scheduling, rules and break themes, and core features that stay free. Version 4.0 needs macOS 26 or later, it runs on Mac only, and newer premium features need a Supporter term or the $59.99 lifetime. - **Value for money: A.** Core features are always free, which counts as free and substantial; paid terms run from $4.99 for 3 months to $59.99 lifetime. - **Free plan and trial: B.** The core features are free for good, but premium features released later need a Supporter term. - **Features: B.** Normal and micro breaks, scheduling, rules, themes and natural breaks, with nothing missing from the break-reminder job. - **Ease of use: B.** No rating on record, but it installs and runs with nothing to set up. - **Platforms and integrations: D.** Mac only, and version 4.0 requires macOS 26.0 or later. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Dejal Systems, LLC's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among focus apps - Time Out's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 49 of the 83 other focus apps we grade, and level with 10. - It stands best on value for money (A, above 47 of 83) and worst on platforms and integrations (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $1.66 a month, against a middle price of $2.96 for the category: 5 of the 49 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 8 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/focus ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** A focus timer at its plainest counts down 25 minutes and keeps a log. Time Out sits between: not beyond making, and not a weekend's work either. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. At $19.96 a year it costs less than the weekend it would take to replace, which is the argument for keeping it. - You could not: A native app living in the menu bar. - You could not: A real app for macOS. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Setapp, FaceTime, Microsoft Teams, Zoom **Tags:** Menu bar app, One-time purchase ## Alternatives - [Stretchly](https://toolgpa.com/tools/stretchly): Open-source break reminder for Mac, Windows and Linux. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/stretchly-vs-time-out) - [Workrave](https://toolgpa.com/tools/workrave): Free RSI-prevention break reminder with daily usage limits. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/time-out-vs-workrave) - [HazeOver](https://toolgpa.com/tools/hazeover): Mac utility that dims every window except the active one. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hazeover-vs-time-out) - [Vitamin-R](https://toolgpa.com/tools/vitamin-r): Time-boxing and Pomodoro timer for the Mac. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/time-out-vs-vitamin-r) - [Focus Bear](https://toolgpa.com/tools/focus-bear): Distraction blocker and guided routines built for ADHD brains. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/focus-bear-vs-time-out) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://www.dejal.com/timeout/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/time-out Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).