ActivityWatch

What ActivityWatch does

ActivityWatch is a free, open-source, privacy-first automated time-tracking application maintained by brothers Erik Bjäreholt and Johan Bjäreholt, with first commit in December 2014 and a major rewrite starting April 2016. The core product automatically records active applications, window titles, AFK status, browser URLs, and editor activity on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android; data is stored locally in SQLite via a modular backend (aw-server in Python and a high-performance Rust reimplementation, aw-server-rust) and surfaced through a web dashboard at localhost:5600. The system uses a custom Query2 language for analytics and an extensible watcher architecture that allows community-built integrations for VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Vim, Emacs, Spotify, and VR headsets. The project is licensed under MPL-2.0 and reaches users through GitHub releases, package managers (Chocolatey, Homebrew, AUR, Nixpkgs), the Google Play Store, and browser/editor extension marketplaces.

The company has no commercial revenue and operates as a volunteer-driven initiative with two part-time core maintainers and 100+ community contributors. Operating geographies span the USA, Sweden, Germany, the UK, and broader global distribution, though the firmographic address is listed as Fort Bonifacio, Philippines. The only disclosed institutional funding is a €3,000 grant from FUUG.fi (April 2020) and a €500 sponsorship from Ghent University (May 2023), supplemented by small individual donations via Liberapay, GitHub Sponsors, Open Collective, and Patreon. Erik Bjäreholt is the most active contributor with 4,939 commits and 829 active days across all repositories.

The user base is concentrated in privacy-conscious individuals, quantified-self enthusiasts, Linux users (many migrating from RescueTime after it dropped Linux support in 2024), developers seeking extensibility, and academic researchers — including a 5-year ERC-funded digital wellbeing study (project ID 950635) that adopted the tool for data collection. The project has reached 400,000+ downloads and 10,000+ GitHub stars as of April 2024. Go-to-market is entirely product-led and community-led: there is no sales team, no paid acquisition, and no premium tier; growth depends on organic discovery via GitHub, package manager searches, Discord (755+ members), Reddit (r/activitywatch), earned media in tech blogs, and word-of-mouth.

Name

ActivityWatch

Legal name

ActivityWatch

Website

https://activitywatch.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ActivityWatch is a free, open-source, privacy-first automated time tracker for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, serving individual users, developers, and academic researchers with locally stored activity data and a community-contributed watcher ecosystem.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Bonifacio

HQ country

Philippines

HQ region

Asia

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Sponsorships: ActivityWatch is 100% free and open-source with no revenue from software sales. The project is sustained entirely by donations from supporters through multiple platforms: Liberapay (0% platform fee), GitHub Sponsors, Open Collective (10% fee), and Patreon. The donations cover infrastructure costs, fund other OSS projects ActivityWatch depends on, and provide contributor stipends. Erik covers gaps out of pocket when donations are insufficient. No paid features or premium tiers exist.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

ActivityWatch is a free, open-source, privacy-first automated time-tracking application available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. It automatically records which applications, windows, websites, and code editors a user interacts with, stores all data locally on the device via SQLite, and visualizes it through a web dashboard (aw-webui) accessible at localhost:5600. The product is extended via modular watchers (browser extensions, editor plugins, AFK/window watchers) and supports custom analytics through a proprietary query2 language.

Product overview

ActivityWatch is a free, open-source, privacy-first time tracking platform. The core product is the ActivityWatch desktop application (available for Windows, macOS, Linux) which automatically tracks application and window usage. Data is stored locally on the user's device with no cloud uploads. The ecosystem includes modular 'watchers' — specialized plugins for tracking specific activities — such as the pre-installed Window Watcher and AFK Watcher, browser extensions (aw-watcher-web) for Chrome/Firefox/Edge, and editor watchers for VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Vim, Emacs, and Visual Studio. The Web UI (aw-webui) provides a dashboard for visualization at localhost:5600, powered by the aw-server-rust backend. A beta Android app extends tracking to mobile devices. The project has reached 400,000+ downloads and 10,000+ GitHub stars.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Superuser Labs: A group name used by Erik Bjäreholt, Johan Bjäreholt, and contributors working on related projects like Thankful under the Superuser Labs umbrella.

Products and services

• ActivityWatch Desktop Application The core cross-platform desktop time-tracking application for Windows, macOS, and Linux that automatically tracks active applications and window titles, stores data locally on the user's device for privacy, and visualizes it via the bundled web dashboard at localhost:5600. Targeted at individuals seeking privacy-first, free, open-source personal productivity tracking.
• ActivityWatch Android App A beta Android application for tracking mobile screen time and device usage, backed by the aw-server-rust backend for API and feature parity with the desktop version. Distributed via the Google Play Store and targeted at Android users wanting the same privacy-first, local-first tracking on mobile devices.

Quantifiable outcome

• Cross-platform coverage: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android (competitors like RescueTime dropped Linux support in 2024)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration15 records

Feature7 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Toggl Track: Cross-platform time tracking tool popular with freelancers and teams. Comparable to ActivityWatch's project-tracking use cases but emphasizes manual timers and team features over ActivityWatch's automatic, local-first approach.
• RescueTime: Cloud-based automatic time tracking application for Windows, macOS, and Android. ActivityWatch's most direct competitor and the product it was built to replace - especially for users who switched after RescueTime dropped Linux support in 2024 and those who want local-first privacy.
• Harvest: Time tracking and invoicing app for freelancers and small teams. Overlaps with ActivityWatch's project time-tracking use case, but with team/invoicing features rather than automatic personal productivity analytics.
• Timing (app): Automatic time tracker for macOS that captures app usage and projects. Closely comparable to ActivityWatch's automatic desktop tracking, but commercial and macOS-only versus ActivityWatch's cross-platform free offering.
• Clockify: Free time tracker with web, desktop, and mobile apps targeting both individuals and teams. Competes with ActivityWatch on the productivity-tracking use case, particularly for users willing to use cloud-based storage.
• WakaTime: Developer-focused time tracking with editor plugins for IDEs. ActivityWatch mirrors WakaTime's editor-watcher approach across VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, and Emacs, but stores data locally rather than in WakaTime's cloud dashboard.
• ManicTime: Automatic desktop time tracker that captures application and window usage. Like ActivityWatch it offers local tracking with detailed reports, but is Windows-first and closed-source/freemium.

Emerging players

• Kimai: Open-source, self-hosted time tracker. Shares ActivityWatch's open-source ethos and self-hosted data approach but focuses on manual project timers for teams and freelancers rather than automatic activity tracking.
• Forest: Productivity and focus app that helps users manage screen habits. While more focused on attention/focus than tracking, it competes in the same 'quantified self / digital wellbeing' category that drives ActivityWatch's adoption among privacy-conscious users.

Broad incumbents

• Apple Screen Time: Built-in OS-level screen time tracking on macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. Competes with ActivityWatch on the digital wellbeing / screen time use case for Apple users with zero effort, but is closed, Apple-only, and not extensible.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ActivityWatchIt
• GitHubgithub.com/ActivityWatch
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCYDVml7TnJC0QII_5HJH2MA
• Facebookfacebook.com/activitywatch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/activitywatch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ActivityWatch