ActivityWatch alternative

The best ActivityWatch alternative in 2026

  • ActivityWatch is the canonical free, open-source, fully-local tracker. Most alternatives are SaaS.
  • If 'no SaaS, no upload' is your hard line, none of the alternatives below clear it.
  • If you need teams, invoicing, or polish, you'll outgrow ActivityWatch.

ActivityWatch has a small but loyal community. People look for alternatives when they need team features or polished invoicing — both of which require some kind of server.

Start tracking time, free No credit card. Free during early access.

Why people look for a ActivityWatch alternative

  • You hit the limits of solo, single-machine tracking.
  • You want a polished web dashboard out of the box.
  • You need invoicing and project management in the same tool.

ActivityWatch alternatives compared

Temporal.ist That's us

Free during early access

Automatic time tracking from file edits and URLs, with invoicing built in. No screenshots.

Best for: Freelancers and small teams who forget timers and bill hourly.

Toggl Track

Free up to 5 users; paid plans from ≈ $9/user/mo

The polished manual stopwatch. 100+ integrations and best-in-class team reporting.

Best for: Teams that reliably hit start/stop and depend on integrations.

Harvest

≈ $12/user/mo (Pro)

Manual timer + mature invoicing with deep QuickBooks/Xero integration.

Best for: Agencies running their billing on QuickBooks/Xero today.

Memtime

From ≈ €11/mo

Visual day-timeline tracker (Mac/Win/Linux) with strong professional-services traction.

Best for: Teams that want a horizontal timeline reconstruction of the day.

Timing

$12–$15/mo or one-time licence ≈ $129

Mature macOS-only automatic tracker with rich app categorisation.

Best for: Solo Mac freelancers who don't need teams or invoicing.

Rize

≈ $9.99/mo

Beautifully designed macOS focus app with timesheet exports.

Best for: Mac-only individuals who want a focus coach.

Why teams pick Temporal.ist

Temporal.ist is SaaS — there's a backend that sessions sync to. We try to be respectful: local-first capture, no screenshots, audit-friendly data. If 'no server' is non-negotiable for you, stay on ActivityWatch. We won't compete on that line.

Frequently asked questions

Is any part of Temporal.ist open source?

The browser extensions are MIT. Open-sourcing more is on the roadmap.

Does Temporal.ist phone home with my activity?

Sessions sync to your backend so teams and invoicing work. Raw activity stays local until the session syncs.

Can I self-host Temporal.ist?

Not officially — though the backend code is Django, so technically it's possible. Self-hosted edition is not a v1 promise.

Ready to stop reconstructing your week?

Track time automatically. Bill clients in the same tool. No surveillance, ever.

Start tracking time, free