What it does
- Catches the buy button. On eight major retailers (Amazon, Etsy, Target, Walmart, eBay, Best Buy, Shein, and Temu), PauseJar intercepts Buy, Checkout, and Add to cart, and slides in a calm overlay instead of letting the order go through.
- Gives you a 24-hour cool-off. The overlay shows the item and an editable amount. Press "Sleep on it" to hold it. If you really want it now, "Buy anyway" is right there, never hidden, one click away.
- Fills a savings jar. Every purchase you let go adds to a glass jar that fills with warm amber as your kept total climbs, turning mindful spending into something you can see grow.
- Keeps a Waiting drawer. Held items wait with live countdowns. When a timer ends, "Still want it" reopens the product, or "Let it go" keeps the money for good.
- Shows local-only Insights. Money kept this week, your biggest single pause, and your lifetime pauses and streak — calculated on your device and shown only to you.
How it works
- Pick your watch list, jar color, and a savings goal in a short first run.
- Shop as usual. When you reach for Buy, the cool-off slides in instead of the cart.
- Sleep on it, and the money you didn't spend drips into your jar.
- When the 24 hours are up, decide on your terms — take it, or let it go and keep the money.
After you add it, pin PauseJar
Pin PauseJar to your toolbar so your jar and your savings stay one click away. Chrome does not let an extension pin itself, but it only takes two clicks:
- Click the puzzle-piece icon at the top-right of Chrome.
- Click the pin next to PauseJar so it stays in your toolbar.
Private by construction, not by promise
Many "savings" and coupon tools are built to make you buy more, and route your browsing through their servers to do it. PauseJar is the deliberate opposite: it helps you buy less, and it keeps everything on your device.
- Collects nothing. No servers, no accounts, no analytics, no crash reporting, no advertising identifiers, no third-party SDKs.
- Zero outbound network requests. No remote config, no block-list fetches, no telemetry. Fonts, images, and code all ship inside the package. Open the DevTools Network tab and watch it send nothing.
- Local storage only. Held items, jar totals, and settings live in
chrome.storage.localon your device. Uninstalling removes them, and there is an in-app "Start a fresh jar" reset whenever you want one.
Questions
Is PauseJar free?
Yes. PauseJar is 100% free. There is no paid tier, no payment processor, and no account to create.
Does PauseJar track me or sell my data?
No. PauseJar collects nothing and makes zero outbound network requests. There are no analytics, no third-party SDKs, and no servers for your data to reach. Everything stays in local storage on your device.
Which stores does it work on?
Out of the box, eight retailers: Amazon, Etsy, Target, Walmart, eBay, Best Buy, Shein, and Temu. You can turn any of them off, and you can add a custom site of your own. When you add one, your browser asks for access to that single site only.
Can I still buy something if I really want it?
Always. "Buy anyway" is on the cool-off screen the whole time, never hidden, one click away. PauseJar adds a pause, not a wall, and it never shames you for going ahead.
How long is the cool-off?
24 hours by default. You can make it longer or shorter in settings.
Does it work outside of Chrome?
PauseJar is a Manifest V3 extension, so it also works in Chromium-based browsers like Edge and Brave.
Support
Questions, bugs, or ideas? Open an issue or email idhayam.ai@gmail.com.