The best free posture reminder app depends on your computer. On Windows or Linux, SitApp is the only app on this list that watches your posture through the webcam, and its free plan covers an hour a day. Stretchly is the best free break timer on all three systems. On a Mac you have more choice, including Dorso, a free open-source app that blurs your screen when you slouch.
Four of the seven apps below use a camera to see how you’re sitting. The other three are timers that remind you on a schedule. We make SitApp, so it’s on the list, and we’ve tried to describe it as plainly as the others. Every app, price and update date was checked on 17 October 2026.
Timers vs. Slouch Detection
A timer app reminds you every so often, whether or not you’re slouching. It doesn’t need a camera, and it’s the right choice if you mainly want to get up more often.
A detection app uses your webcam (or, for Dorso, AirPods motion sensors) to see your posture and only alerts you when you slump. You calibrate it once so it knows what upright looks like for you. It needs camera access, which raises a fair privacy question, covered below.
For paid options as well as free ones, see our best posture app comparison.
The 7 Free Posture Reminder Apps Compared
| App | Platform | Price | Watches posture? | What’s free | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SitApp | Mac, Windows, Linux | Free, or Pro at $3.99/mo or $34.99/yr | Yes, webcam, on-device | 1 hr/day monitoring, break reminders | Oct 2026 |
| Stretchly | Mac, Windows, Linux | Free, open source | No | Everything | Aug 2026 |
| Dorso | Mac | Free on GitHub, $4.99 on the Mac App Store | Yes, webcam or AirPods | Everything (GitHub build) | Jul 2026 |
| SitWit | Mac (macOS 14+) | Free, or Premium from $3.99/mo | Yes, webcam | Posture alerts (reports are Premium) | Apr 2025 |
| Nekoze | Mac (macOS 12+) | Free, no in-app purchases | Yes, webcam | Everything | Sep 2022 |
| PostureMinder | Chrome, Firefox | Free | No | Everything | Aug 2024 |
| Posture Reminder | Windows 10+ | Free, some features paid | No | Basic reminders | May 2026 |
SitWit’s prices are from the US App Store. In the UK it’s £3.99 a month, and in the Netherlands €4.99.
1. SitApp: Free Slouch Detection on Mac, Windows and Linux
We built this one. SitApp uses on-device AI to learn your posture. You calibrate by sitting up straight and then slouching, which takes about a minute, and from then on it nudges you when you start to slump.
The free plan includes 1 hour of posture monitoring a day, plus break reminders and Movement Breaks, a guided one-minute movement at each break. None of it expires. Pro removes the daily cap for $3.99 a month or $34.99 a year, and downloading from our site gets you a 7-day Pro trial without a credit card.
Video from the webcam is processed on your computer, and no images are stored or uploaded. It’s the only webcam app in this list that runs on Windows and Linux as well as Mac.
Best for: slouch detection on any desktop system, or one focused hour a day on the free plan.
2. Stretchly: Best Free Break Timer (Mac, Windows, Linux)
Stretchly is a free, open-source break reminder. By default it gives you a 20-second mini break every 10 minutes and a 5-minute long break every 30 minutes, and you can change both. An optional strict mode stops you skipping breaks. The latest release, v1.22.1, came out in August 2026.
It doesn’t use your webcam, and it has no idea how you’re sitting.
Best for: anyone who wants regular breaks without giving an app camera access.
3. Dorso: Free Open-Source Slouch Detection for Mac
Dorso, which launched in January 2026 as Posturr, watches your head position through the Mac’s camera, or through the motion sensors in AirPods Pro, AirPods Max or third-generation AirPods and later if you’d rather not use the camera. When you slouch it progressively blurs your screen, and the blur clears when you sit up.
It’s open source, needs no account, and processes everything on your Mac. The GitHub release is free (or brew install dorso), and the Mac App Store version costs $4.99. The latest GitHub release came out in July 2026.
Best for: Mac users who want free, camera-based or AirPods-based detection and like the idea of a blurred screen over a notification.
4. SitWit: Posture Alerts Plus a Pomodoro Timer for Mac
SitWit combines webcam posture alerts with a Pomodoro-style break timer. It sits in the menu bar and uses colour cues to show how well you’re sitting, and it can darken the screen when you slouch. Its App Store listing says no camera images are stored and that it works entirely offline.
The download is free. The 7-day posture and productivity reports come with Premium, which costs $3.99 a month, $19.99 for six months or $29.99 a year on the US store. It needs macOS 14 or later, and the last update was in April 2025.
Best for: Mac users who want posture alerts and a focus timer in one menu bar app.
5. Nekoze: The Free Mac App with a Cat
Nekoze is free with no in-app purchases. It uses face detection through your camera to tell when you’re hunched over, and a cat reacts when you slouch. The listing suggests adjusting the room’s lighting or the camera position if detection doesn’t work well.
It hasn’t been updated since September 2022, so expect it to feel dated. It still installs on macOS 12 or later.
Best for: Mac users who want something free and simple, and don’t mind an app that’s no longer maintained.
6. PostureMinder: Free Browser Extension
PostureMinder is a Chrome and Firefox extension that sends posture reminders at intervals you choose. The messages are deliberately snarky, it can remind you to take walks, and there’s a switch to turn it off for presentations. It doesn’t use a camera.
The Chrome version has about 20,000 users and was last updated in August 2024.
Best for: people who spend the day in a browser and want light-hearted reminders with nothing to install.
7. Posture Reminder: Free Timer for Windows
Posture Reminder from the Microsoft Store sends periodic posture check-ins on Windows 10 and later, and it can be installed on up to ten Windows devices. The basic reminders are free. Customisation and its “smart reminders” are paid. It was last updated in May 2026 and doesn’t use the webcam.
Best for: Windows users who want a basic timer from the Microsoft Store.
How to Choose
- You want the app to notice when you slouch: SitApp (Mac, Windows, Linux), Dorso, SitWit or Nekoze (all Mac).
- You don’t want an app using your camera: Stretchly, PostureMinder or Posture Reminder. Dorso can also use AirPods instead of the camera.
- You’re on Windows or Linux: SitApp for detection, Stretchly for breaks. Workrave is another free, open-source break timer for Windows and Linux, and we compare it with other options in our Workrave alternatives guide.
The two kinds work well together. A detection app catches slouching during focused work, and a break timer gets you out of the chair.
Do Free Posture Reminder Apps Work?
A 2019 JAMA analysis of US survey data found that adults’ total daily sitting time rose from 5.5 hours to 6.4 hours between 2007 and 2016. In a 2025 Scientific Reports study of 99 office workers at one company in Iran, 81% reported a work-related musculoskeletal disorder, most often in the neck (59%) and lower back (53%). And in a 2003 JAMA study of US workers, those who reported arthritis or back pain lost an average of 5.2 hours of productive time a week. Across all the pain conditions studied, about three-quarters of the lost time was reduced performance at work rather than time off.
We couldn’t find an independent trial of any app on this list. A reminder app shortens the gap between slouching and noticing it, so you correct sooner. Jon Martindale at Digital Trends tested SitApp in 2023 and described it as an annoying pop-up app that worked. The free tiers here are enough to find out whether reminders work for you. For other methods, like desk setup and exercises, see how to stop slouching at your desk.
Are Webcam Posture Apps Safe for Privacy?
Where is the video processed? SitApp, Dorso and SitWit all say they process video on your computer. Nekoze’s listing doesn’t say either way. If an app sends frames to a server for analysis, that’s a reason to look elsewhere.
Is anything stored? SitApp stores no images. SitWit’s listing says no camera images are stored. Dorso says your posture data never leaves your computer.
Can you check? Dorso and Stretchly are open source, so anyone can read the code. For SitApp, our privacy page explains what is and isn’t collected.
If you’d rather not grant camera access at all, use a timer, or Dorso with AirPods.
Will a Webcam Posture App Slow Your Computer?
It uses more power than a timer, because it analyses camera frames all the time. How much depends on the app. When Dorso launched on Hacker News as Posturr, commenters complained about CPU use, and the developer reported an 80% drop in CPU after cutting processing to about 10 frames a second and lowering the camera resolution. If you’re on a laptop, check Activity Monitor or Task Manager during your first day with any of these apps.
Setting Up a Free Posture Reminder App
SitApp:
- Download from sitapp.app.
- Open the app and start calibration.
- Show the Droid your good posture, then your slouch. This takes about a minute.
- Start monitoring.
Stretchly:
- Download from hovancik.net/stretchly.
- Set your break intervals, or keep the defaults.
Want to try slouch detection? Download SitApp free. The free plan includes an hour of monitoring every day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a free posture app for Windows? Yes. SitApp’s free plan includes webcam slouch detection on Windows, and Stretchly, Workrave and Posture Reminder are free timers.
Is there a free posture app for Linux? SitApp runs on Linux and detects slouching. Stretchly and Workrave are free, open-source break timers that also run on Linux.
What’s the difference between a posture timer and slouch detection? A timer reminds you on a schedule whether or not you’re slouching. Slouch detection uses your camera, or AirPods in Dorso’s case, and only alerts you when your posture changes.
Does a webcam posture app send my video anywhere? SitApp, Dorso and SitWit say they process video on your computer. Nekoze’s listing doesn’t say. Check an app’s privacy policy before granting camera access.
Are these apps really free? Stretchly, Nekoze, PostureMinder and Dorso’s GitHub build cost nothing. SitApp, SitWit and Posture Reminder have free versions with paid upgrades.
Ali @ SitApp
