Clockify
Time tracking and timesheets for teams and freelancers
ActivityWatch
Privacy-first time tracking that keeps your data local
ActivityWatch records how you spend your time across apps, browsers, and editors. All data stays on your machine, giving you complete control and privacy.
Overview
What is ActivityWatch?
ActivityWatch is a privacy-focused time tracking application that automatically records your digital activity—active applications, browser tabs, editor sessions, and keyboard/mouse usage—while keeping all data securely stored on your local machine.
Who It's For
Designed for knowledge workers, developers, researchers, and anyone curious about their digital habits, ActivityWatch bridges the gap between closed-source commercial trackers (which compromise privacy) and developer-centric open tools (which lack polish and extensibility).
Key Capabilities
The platform features a modular architecture with "watchers" that collect granular activity data: window titles, browser URLs, AFK detection, and editor statistics. A local web UI provides visualizations and insights. Cross-platform support spans Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. Decentralized sync is in development, ensuring no third party ever accesses your data.
Deployment
Download pre-built binaries from the releases page or build from source. The application runs locally with no cloud dependencies, no accounts, and no data leaving your control.
Highlights
Local-first architecture: all activity data stored on your machine
Extensible watcher system tracks apps, browsers, editors, and AFK status
Cross-platform support for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
High-resolution data collection with full raw event history
Pros
- Complete data ownership with no cloud dependencies
- Modular design allows custom watchers and integrations
- Active development with regular releases and community support
- Comprehensive tracking across multiple platforms and tools
Considerations
- No iOS support currently available
- Decentralized sync feature still in development
- Requires local installation and setup on each device
- May have steeper learning curve than commercial alternatives
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When teams consider ActivityWatch, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- Privacy-conscious users who want full control over their data
- Developers and knowledge workers tracking productivity patterns
- Researchers analyzing personal time-use and digital behavior
- Teams needing self-hosted time tracking without SaaS dependencies
Not ideal when
- iOS users requiring mobile tracking capabilities
- Organizations needing immediate cloud-based team synchronization
- Users wanting zero-configuration plug-and-play solutions
- Those uncomfortable with local data storage and management
How teams use it
Developer Productivity Analysis
Track time across IDEs, terminals, and documentation to identify focus patterns and optimize work sessions
Freelancer Time Accounting
Generate accurate client billing reports from automatic activity logs without manual timers
Digital Wellness Monitoring
Understand screen time distribution and identify habits like excessive social media or late-night work
Research Time Attribution
Document hours spent on different projects and tasks for grant reporting and academic accountability
Tech snapshot
Python92%
Inno Setup7%
Batchfile1%
Frequently asked questions
Where is my data stored?
All activity data is stored locally on your machine in a database you control. Nothing is sent to external servers unless you explicitly configure synchronization.
Does ActivityWatch work offline?
Yes, ActivityWatch operates entirely offline. All tracking and visualization happens locally without requiring internet connectivity.
Can I sync data between devices?
Decentralized sync is currently in development. The planned implementation will allow peer-to-peer synchronization without centralized servers.
What platforms are supported?
ActivityWatch runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. iOS support is not currently available.
How do I extend tracking capabilities?
You can write custom watchers using the API to track additional data sources. Browser extensions and editor plugins are also available for deeper integration.
Project at a glance
Stable- Stars
- 16,479
- Watchers
- 16,479
- Forks
- 813
LicenseMPL-2.0
Repo age9 years old
Last commit4 months ago
Self-hostingSupported
Primary languagePython
Last synced 10 hours ago