What is ActivityWatch used for?

ActivityWatch is a cross-platform, privacy-focused automatic time tracker that records which apps, browser tabs and activity you use, with all data stored locally. It is a good fit for understanding where your work time goes, private personal productivity analytics and building custom activity trackers.

Is ActivityWatch open source?

Yes. ActivityWatch is open source under the MPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at ActivityWatch/activitywatch and is written mainly in Python.

Is ActivityWatch free?

Yes. ActivityWatch is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host ActivityWatch?

Yes. ActivityWatch can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is ActivityWatch an alternative to?

ActivityWatch is an open-source alternative to RescueTime, Time Doctor, Hubstaff and Timely. Other open-source alternatives to Time Doctor include Solidtime.

Is ActivityWatch actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to ActivityWatch was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is v0.13.2, published on 5 October 2024. The project has 19k stars on GitHub.

ActivityWatch: open-source alternative to RescueTime

About ActivityWatch

ActivityWatch is an open-source application that records what you do on your computer so you can see how you spent your time. Its guiding goal is to let people collect as much valuable lifedata as they like without compromising privacy, so everything is stored securely on your own machine and you control what is gathered.

Data comes from small programs called watchers. The standard ones record the currently active application and its window title, the active browser tab with its title and URL, and keyboard and mouse activity to work out whether you are away from the keyboard. You decide how much to collect, and community members are encouraged to write more watchers. The repository also includes a server and libraries, and the project provides a feature comparison with other time trackers.

ActivityWatch is written mainly in Python, is MPL-2.0 licensed and works across Windows, macOS and Linux. It has a forum, documentation and a newsletter. It appeals to people who want automatic time tracking and productivity analytics without sending activity data to a cloud service.

Key features

Automatic tracking of active apps and windows
Browser tab title and URL logging
AFK detection from keyboard and mouse activity
Local-only data storage
Extensible through custom watchers
Windows, macOS and Linux support

Good fit for

→Understanding where your work time goes
→Private personal productivity analytics
→Building custom activity trackers

Built with: Python
Tags: time-tracking; productivity; privacy; quantified-self; cross-platform; analytics; python; local-first

ActivityWatch: questions and answers

What is ActivityWatch used for?: ActivityWatch is a cross-platform, privacy-focused automatic time tracker that records which apps, browser tabs and activity you use, with all data stored locally. It is a good fit for understanding where your work time goes, private personal productivity analytics and building custom activity trackers.
Is ActivityWatch open source?: Yes. ActivityWatch is open source under the MPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at ActivityWatch/activitywatch and is written mainly in Python.
Is ActivityWatch free?: Yes. ActivityWatch is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host ActivityWatch?: Yes. ActivityWatch can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is ActivityWatch an alternative to?: ActivityWatch is an open-source alternative to RescueTime, Time Doctor, Hubstaff and Timely. Other open-source alternatives to Time Doctor include Solidtime.
Is ActivityWatch actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to ActivityWatch was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is v0.13.2, published on 5 October 2024. The project has 19k stars on GitHub.