ActivityWatch
ActivityWatch automatically records your active windows, browser tabs, and keyboard/mouse activity. All data stays on your computer – no cloud, no tracking by third parties.
Smart Download
Download Download Version
v0.13.2 · 98.1 MB
Open-source time tracker that runs locally, giving you full privacy over your activity data.
Core Features
- Auto-record active app window title and name
- Auto-record browser tab title and URL
- Detect keyboard and mouse activity to identify AFK periods
- All data stored locally, no cloud upload
- Cross-platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
What It Can't Do
- •Dashboard may be empty until you've used the tracker for a few minutes. 2. Ensure your firewall does not block local communication (default is no outbound calls). 3. For full browser tab tracking, install the browser extension (see docs). 4. Slight battery drain on laptops due to background monitoring, but usually negligible.
Use Cases
- Personal time management – see how you spend your day
- Freelancers – track billable hours accurately
- Focus analysis – identify distractions and productive sessions
Detailed Introduction
ActivityWatch is a free and open-source automatic time tracker designed to help you understand how you spend your time on digital devices. It runs silently in the background, recording active windows, browser tabs, keyboard and mouse activity, and AFK (away from keyboard) status. All data is stored locally on your machine, ensuring you have full control and privacy. It supports Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, and can be extended with custom watchers via a well-documented API. Unlike commercial alternatives like RescueTime or WakaTime, ActivityWatch is completely open source, has no subscription fees, and never sends your data to any cloud server.
Troubleshooting & FAQ (1)
TroubleshootingWhy is ActivityWatch v0.12.3b16 not tracking activity and showing no tray icon on Ubuntu?
A known bug in v0.12.3b16 causes the server to fail serving web assets (e.g., /manifest.json), preventing tray icon display and causing watchers to disconnect with 'parent process died' errors, halting data collection. Downgrade to v0.12.3b15 or upgrade to a later beta where this is fixed per maintainer statement.
Tags
Getting Started
Download installer
Click the button above to download the installer for your system
Install the software
Install the appropriate package for your distro (dpkg / rpm / AppImage)
Step 1: Download the installer for your OS from GitHub Releases or the website
Step 2: Run the installer (exe for Windows, dmg for macOS, AppImage for Linux)
Step 3: Launch ActivityWatch; it runs in the background. Open the dashboard from the tray icon to view your data
- Step 1: Download the installer for your OS from GitHub Releases or the website
- Step 2: Run the installer (exe for Windows, dmg for macOS, AppImage for Linux)
- Step 3: Launch ActivityWatch; it runs in the background. Open the dashboard from the tray icon to view your data
Checksum not available
This project has not published a SHA-256 checksum on its GitHub Release page
SHA256 Checksum
No checksum available
Download directly from GitHub Releases and verify file integrity yourself
All SHA-256 checksums on this platform are extracted from the project's official GitHub Release page, without any modification. You can independently verify them on the GitHub Releases page.
Open Source Transparency
View GitHub SourceUninstall Info
Windows: Uninstall via Control Panel. macOS: Move app to Trash. Linux: Delete the extracted folder. Data remains in ~/.activitywatch folder – delete manually if you want a complete cleanup.
No Extra Dependencies
Ready to use after download. No additional runtime required.
Having issues? Check the FAQ below
1 FAQ
Similar Projects
syncthing
A continuous file synchronization program that syncs files between devices securely and automatically, with no central server.
SearXNG
SearXNG is a free metasearch engine that combines results from over 70 search services while respecting your privacy. Self-host it to keep your data under your control.
uBlock Origin
uBlock Origin is a wide-spectrum content blocker for Chromium and Firefox that is CPU and memory efficient. Blocks ads, trackers, miners, and malware out of the box.