Beaver Habit Tracker vs Hamster
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted time tracking options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Beaver Habit Tracker
Habit tracking app to save your precious moments in your fleeting life
VS
Hamster
Desktop time tracker for individual productivity
| Feature | Beaver Habit Tracker | Hamster |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Time Tracking | Time Tracking |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,812 | ★ 1,127 |
| First released | 2026 | 2008 |
| Replaces | — | Toggl, RescueTime |
Why pick each one
Choose Beaver Habit Tracker if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Choose Hamster if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Beaver Habit Tracker or Hamster better?
Neither is universally better. Beaver Habit Tracker has the larger community, while Hamster is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Beaver Habit Tracker and Hamster free and open-source?
Yes. Beaver Habit Tracker is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Hamster under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Beaver Habit Tracker and Hamster with Docker?
Beaver Habit Tracker: yes. Hamster: check the project docs for container support.