gtimelog vs Watson
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted time tracking options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | gtimelog | Watson |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 55 · Fair | 43 · Fair |
| Category | Time Tracking | Time Tracking |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 273 | ★ 2,538 |
| First released | 2008 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Toggl | Toggl, Harvest |
What are gtimelog and Watson?
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
Watson
Watson is a command-line time tracker written in Python. It records time frames per project with tags, stores data in local files, and generates reports and aggregates for billing or analysis. Maintained under the Jazzband organization.
- Command-line time tracking
- Project and tag support
- Detailed reports and aggregates
- Cross-platform
gtimelog vs Watson: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for gtimelog versus MIT for Watson. Gtimelog is the more established project (first released 2008), while Watson arrived in 2015. Watson has the considerably larger community, at 2,538 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 Watson if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is gtimelog or Watson better?
Neither is universally better. Watson has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are gtimelog and Watson free and open-source?
Yes. gtimelog is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Watson under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run gtimelog and Watson with Docker?
gtimelog: check the project docs for container support. Watson: check the project docs for container support.