Software Tools (especially free ones)

With privacy concerns in mind (there's a lot of malware disguised as good stuff out there), let's share software tools that have helped us fight porn addiction. Software tools that we've used, preferably, otherwise please state it so we know and we can be cautious before installing.

I'd start with K9 from Blue Coat...but it's gone

The latest I've installed (and tested, and it worked, fortunately for me) is the Swerve browser extension (for Chrome and Firefox, see https://www.swerve.app/).

It's automated, it will ask you to create a free account (and it's not strict about "first/last name", I entered my username from nofap and it took it), it keeps track of how many times it redirected you from fappy websites, AND...you can enable it to work in Incognito mode (at least, on Chrome). While it's not masturbate-proof, it's a nice complement to NoFap panic button (which, btw, can also be enabled for Incognito mode ).

I'll install more. I'd like to learn about free accountability software if any of you know of them. I miss K9. Non-free ones also interested although (1) I'm broke and (2) not sure what the forum rules are on discussing these things.

[Edit - thanks for moving to the right forum section...still learning my way around ]

 

Another strong one is Covenant Eyes. It's very hard to remove even if you have all the permissions to do so and it has different degrees of safety that your Accountability Partner can set for you. This is also very good as parental control. And the AP can receive a report, more or less detailed. Under the strictest condition, this little jewel can actually shut the internet on that computer! So if you're really serious and have a reliable accountability partner, this may be a way to go to lock down your computer.

The drawbacks I found from personal experience? First, smartphones or any other wifi-enabled devices will become your gateway to fapland, and I haven't yet found a reliable way to lock these down while keeping them useful. Second, if you have no other means, you may be so desperate as to end up in a place with a computer looking surreptiously for whatever little porn you can get your eyes on without others noticing, and maybe recording it on your cellphone camera for later use. That's if you don't have TV, like me. Otherwise that's another gateway, especially if you can use pay-per-view. Or if, unlike me, you have money to throw away and end up buying things at stores or online for the purpose of fapping.

So, before you go on full computer lockdown, think about the consequences and where your addiction could take you, discuss it with your accountability partner, and figure out a plan. One that will keep you from looking up porn where you shouldn't or spending food money on a magazine or a dvd.