diff --git a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedRefreshTaskGiver.java b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedRefreshTaskGiver.java
index 333366d7..0b196c59 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedRefreshTaskGiver.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedRefreshTaskGiver.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import com.commafeed.backend.dao.FeedDAO;
 import com.commafeed.backend.model.Feed;
 import com.commafeed.backend.services.ApplicationSettingsService;
 import com.google.api.client.util.Maps;
+import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 import com.google.common.collect.Queues;
 
 @ApplicationScoped
@@ -134,7 +135,12 @@ public class FeedRefreshTaskGiver {
 		Date now = new Date();
 
 		int count = 3 * backgroundThreads;
-		List<Feed> feeds = feedDAO.findNextUpdatable(count, getThreshold());
+		List<Feed> feeds = null;
+		if (applicationSettingsService.get().isCrawlingPaused()) {
+			feeds = Lists.newArrayList();
+		} else {
+			feeds = feedDAO.findNextUpdatable(count, getThreshold());
+		}
 
 		int size = addQueue.size();
 		for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/model/ApplicationSettings.java b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/model/ApplicationSettings.java
index 36ead44e..e6a18df3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/model/ApplicationSettings.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/model/ApplicationSettings.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ public class ApplicationSettings extends AbstractModel {
 	private String logLevel = Level.INFO.toString();
 	private boolean imageProxyEnabled;
 	private int queryTimeout;
+	private boolean crawlingPaused;
 
 	@Column(length = 255)
 	private String announcement;
@@ -191,4 +192,12 @@ public class ApplicationSettings extends AbstractModel {
 		this.queryTimeout = queryTimeout;
 	}
 
+	public boolean isCrawlingPaused() {
+		return crawlingPaused;
+	}
+
+	public void setCrawlingPaused(boolean crawlingPaused) {
+		this.crawlingPaused = crawlingPaused;
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/changelogs/db.changelog-1.1.xml b/src/main/resources/changelogs/db.changelog-1.1.xml
index 24d58c7c..9ae26e21 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/changelogs/db.changelog-1.1.xml
+++ b/src/main/resources/changelogs/db.changelog-1.1.xml
@@ -256,5 +256,14 @@
 			<column name="normalizedUrlHash" />
 		</createIndex>
 	</changeSet>
+	
+	<changeSet author="athou" id="add-pause-crawling">
+		<addColumn tableName="APPLICATIONSETTINGS">
+		    <column name="crawlingPaused" type="BIT" />
+		</addColumn>
+		<update tableName="APPLICATIONSETTINGS">
+			<column name="crawlingPaused" valueBoolean="false"></column>
+		</update>	
+	</changeSet>
 
 </databaseChangeLog>
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/templates/admin.settings.html b/src/main/webapp/templates/admin.settings.html
index c333b4ae..7e0f3ab8 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/templates/admin.settings.html
+++ b/src/main/webapp/templates/admin.settings.html
@@ -158,6 +158,12 @@
 								ng-model="settings.queryTimeout" />
 						</div>
 					</div>
+					<div class="control-group">
+						<label class="control-label" for="crawlingPaused">Pause crawling</label>
+						<div class="controls">
+							<input type="checkbox" name="crawlingPaused" ng-model="settings.crawlingPaused" />
+						</div>
+					</div>
 				</div>
 			</div>
 			<div class="control-group">