SHSelfHostIndex

ActivityWatch vs FocusTime Tracker

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?
AC ActivityWatch Automatic, privacy-first time tracking for your devices VS FO FocusTime Tracker Minimal command-line and web work timer
FeatureActivityWatchFocusTime Tracker
CategoryTime TrackingTime Tracking
LicenseMPL-2.0MIT
LanguagePythonPython
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB64 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcebinary, source
GitHub stars★ 18,527★ 2,535
First released20162015
ReplacesRescueTime, ManicTimeToggl, Harvest

Why pick each one

Choose ActivityWatch if…

  • Released under the MPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Mature project with 18.5k GitHub stars
  • Written in Python
ActivityWatch details

Choose FocusTime Tracker if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (2.5k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Python
FocusTime Tracker details

Frequently asked questions

Is ActivityWatch or FocusTime Tracker better?

Neither is universally better. ActivityWatch has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are ActivityWatch and FocusTime Tracker free and open-source?

Yes. ActivityWatch is licensed under MPL-2.0 and FocusTime Tracker under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run ActivityWatch and FocusTime Tracker with Docker?

ActivityWatch: check the project docs for container support. FocusTime Tracker: check the project docs for container support.

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