gtimelog vs Timewarrior
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted time tracking options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | gtimelog | Timewarrior |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 55 · Fair | 85 · Excellent |
| Category | Time Tracking | Time Tracking |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 273 | ★ 1,663 |
| First released | 2008 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Toggl | Toggl |
What are gtimelog and Timewarrior?
gtimelog
gtimelog is a small, minimalist time tracking application for GNOME. It records what you work on through simple text entries and produces daily and weekly reports.
- Text-based time logging
- Daily and weekly reports
- Minimalist GNOME app
- Plain-text data files
Timewarrior
Timewarrior is a command-line time tracking utility that records start and stop times of tracked activities. It offers flexible tagging, reports, and analytics for personal productivity.
- Pure command-line workflow
- Tag-based tracking
- Flexible reports and charts
- Integrates with Taskwarrior
gtimelog vs Timewarrior: key differences
Gtimelog is written in Python, while Timewarrior is built with C++. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for gtimelog versus MIT for Timewarrior. Gtimelog is the more established project (first released 2008), while Timewarrior arrived in 2016. Timewarrior has the considerably larger community, at 1,663 GitHub stars versus 273.
Why pick each one
Choose gtimelog if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Timewarrior if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is gtimelog or Timewarrior better?
Neither is universally better. Timewarrior has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are gtimelog and Timewarrior free and open-source?
Yes. gtimelog is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Timewarrior under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run gtimelog and Timewarrior with Docker?
gtimelog: check the project docs for container support. Timewarrior: check the project docs for container support.