activitywatch
by ActivityWatch
ActivityWatch is a free time tracker that runs in the background and records which apps, browser tabs and windows you use, and whether you are at your keyboard. All data is stored on your own machine, so you can see how you spend your time without handing it to a third party.
- Stars
- 19.5k +13 a day
- Licence
- MPL-2.0
- Runs on
- Your computer
- Setup
- Easy
- Language
- Python
- Age
- 3840 days
What you can do with it
- See which apps and websites take up your working day on a dashboard
- Detect when you are away from the keyboard so idle time is not counted
- Add extra watchers or use the API to collect other data about your activity
Could replace
- RescueTime
- WakaTime
Our suggestion based on what it does, not a feature-by-feature comparison.
Make money with it
A freelancer could use the activity records as evidence for hourly invoices, or offer productivity review sessions based on the data.
An idea, not financial advice. Check the licence before charging for anything built on it.
Ways a business could use it
- Freelancers can review recorded activity to bill clients accurately for time spent on their work
- Owners can spot time lost to distracting apps and websites and adjust routines, without paying for a hosted tracker
Can you use it commercially?
Usable in paid products, but changes to its own files must be shared under the same licence.
Not legal advice. Read the project's licence file before building a product on it.
Getting it running
Download an installer for Windows, macOS or Linux from the releases page (an Android version also exists), or build from source by following the documentation.
Follow the official instructions in the project README.
Things to check
- Records window titles and browser URLs, so the data is sensitive and should be kept secure
- Sync between devices is still a work in progress
- No iOS version
Checked 02 Nov 2026. Summary drafted by AI from the project's README.
