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Dynamic Blocking
Automate app access based on your rules, time, or context.
Overlord
The Hardcore AI Accountability Partner
Overlord knows what you're doing at any point in the day. If you're straying from your habits, Overlord forces you back on track.
★★★★★ 4.9 (205 ratings)
👥 $5.3M staked
Backed by Y Combinator
Instagram Unblocked
Granted 1 minute. Timer starts now.
Penalty Applied
$25 charged for disconnecting Screen Time integration against rules.
Strict Screen Time
Overlord is, by far, the best screen blocker out there.
Wake-up Call
Ensures you get out of bed on time with calls and escalating consequences if needed.
Workout Consistency
Verifies your workouts through app integrations and keeps your streak alive.
Enforced Bedtime Routine
Overlord ensures you wind down and get to bed on time by progressively restricting device access.
Overlord Integrations
Interate apps with Overlord. The more data, the more accountability.
Apple Health
Sleep Cycle
Withings
Screen Time
Mac Activity
Location
IFTTT
Soon
MCP
Screen Unblocked
Screen unblocked until 9am.
Overlord Controls You
There are many ways Overlord can force you to add structure to your life.
Charge User
Skip Goal
Phone Call
Screen Block
Fail Goal
Approve Goal
Edit Goal
Text Friend
User Charged
$10 charged for failing 'Outside by 8 AM' goal.
iOS Control
Overlord can give you unblocks, stop you from disabling Screen Time permissions, and lock away your Screen Time passcode.
Tamper Detection
Get instant alerts and enforce consequences if settings are bypassed.
Example Goals This Enables:
Instagram Unblocked
Access granted for 1 minute.
Apps Unblocked
Unrestricted access for 30 minutes.
Work Focus Active
Non-work apps blocked until 5:00 PM.
Create Goals via Chat
Improve Goals via Chat
Custom Instructions
Password Locker (iOS)
Long-Term Memory
Quick Lock-ins
Overlord on Mac
Overlord knows exactly what you're doing on your Mac. Configure words to trigger a message to Overlord, blocks, and send in pomodoros
Tracks Everything
Every ten seconds, Overlord tracks what applications you have open, and what you're using on these applications.
Flexible Blocking
Overlord manages your blocks, providing the leniency other blockers lack.
Pomodoro
Send Pomodoro timers to Overlord, ensuring you stay productive during work sessions.
Calling User
Trigger word "political" detected on YouTube. Initiating call to persuade user off distracting content.
Trigger Words
Define distracting words. If detected, Overlord can block sites, call you, charge penalties, and more.
Story
Josh Mitchell
Co-founder, Overlord & Forfeit
Key Projects: Plybot, Forfeit (YC W23), Overlord
Hi, I'm Josh.
Growing up, I built dozens of 3D printers (almost all from scrap parts) and other CNC machines. My final one, PlyBot (a $65 3D printer - 1/3 of the cost of the cheapest you could build at the time), won me the United Kingdom's science fair grand prize.
After this, I took a gap year to work on Plybot as a company. I teamed up with Brook Drumm (founder of Printrbot) to launch a consumer-ready version. We raised $200k on crowdfunding platforms, but failed to produce the printers for the price that we thought we could.
In 2023, very bored with the Bay Area (I was an Junior at Stanford at the time), I wanted to drop out. I booked a flight to Thailand, and thought an app that takes your money if you don't complete your habits would be an easy way to support myself in my digital nomading, and Forfeit was born.
We ended up getting into YC with Forfeit, and worked on that for a year. It was lifechanging for a lot of users, but once we reached breakeven, we decided to pivot to Overlord.
Overlord is a weird product, but I think there's a good chance that self-control is a solvable issue. AI will need to get better, which will happen, but I really think it can be lifechanging for many people (as Forfeit was/is).
Always happy to chat—feel free to reach out at josh@forfeit.app
Frequently Asked Questions
Overlord is an AI accountability partner. It's fairly hardcore, and no-bullshit, but you can tune it to be nice if you want. It's not meant to be there for emotional support, but moreso to apply hard, but flexible, guardrails to your life. I like this thought experiment: Imagine if a firm-but-fair friend, who cares about you, is awake 24/7, and watching a monitor with where you are, what you're spending money on, what you're browsing on your computer, etc. They can call you, text you, text your friends, take money off you, etc. How would this make you live a better life?
Overlord is designed to be as strict as you want it to be. Typical users let the Overlord know when they're prone to cheating (ie, early in the morning, before the gym, etc), so Overlord will be stricter around those times.
Overlord is designed to be like a human. If you want it to be super strict, just let it know. If you want it to be lenient, that's great too!
Overlord is on iOS, Android, and Mac. The Mac app is currently the iPad app, but we are working on a native Mac app. The Mac integration is a separate app, and is a native Mac app.
You can customise the personality, and rules for each action. Overlord also learns as you message it.
Overlord is designed to be like a human. Ie, in these instances, it will try to balance strictness with fairness.
Goals are assessed every night at midnight in your local timezone. At this point, Overlord determines whether you've successfully completed or failed the goal based on the criteria and integrations you've set up.
Our iOS integration works with Apple's Screen Time. By default, apps you want to control can be blocked. Overlord then acts as the gatekeeper, granting temporary unblocks or exceptions based on your predefined rules, completed tasks, or specific requests you make through the Overlord chat.
First, download the Overlord app on your iOS or Android device. Inside the app's settings or integrations section, you'll find an option for the Mac utility. You can input your email there, and we'll send you a direct download link for the Mac application.
No, all activity data it collects for monitoring purposes is stored only locally on your Mac. It only communicates with the Overlord app to report on goal completion or trigger actions based on your rules, not to upload raw activity logs to the cloud.
Absolutely! We want you to succeed. My (Josh) personal phone number is available within the app. Please feel free to call or FaceTime me directly if you'd like guidance, ideas, or assistance in setting up your goals to be as effective as possible.
For probably half the population, self-control is probably their #1 issue. This previously wasn't a solvable issue (some things helped, like screen blockers, and personal trainers), but in the age of AI, I believe that self-control - at least on a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour basis - is now in the realm of a solvable engineering problem.