ActivityWatch review
A privacy-focused activity tracker for understanding digital habits across devices.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
ActivityWatch is an open-source time tracking application for individuals, developers, researchers, and privacy-conscious teams. It automatically records active applications, window titles, browser tabs, websites, and keyboard and mouse inactivity, then presents the results through timelines, categories, and a web interface. Support spans Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and an API, making it suitable for people who want to understand digital habits without putting collected activity in a centralized service.
Its strongest distinction is the depth of automatic activity analysis. Watchers can break time down by projects, applications, websites, and categories, while AFK detection helps separate active work from inactivity. Browser extensions cover Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, and integrations include Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, Spotify, and the REST API. Custom watchers, JSON export, and programmatic access give developers and technically minded teams room to adapt the system to their own tracking needs. This makes ActivityWatch a strong fit for personal review, research, and privacy-sensitive workflows that benefit from local control.
The pricing structure is primarily a way to support development rather than a set of feature-gated tiers. The free product has no locked features, while Personal costs $5 per month or $50 per year, Business costs $20 per user per month with a minimum of one seat, and five-year and ten-year Believer options cost $250 and $450 one time. The paid options do not add features. Choose ActivityWatch if automatic, local, extensible tracking matters more than team administration; choose another tool if your priority is a dedicated billable-time workflow or approval process.
ActivityWatch pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Automatic tracking across applications, windows, browser tabs, and websites
- Local storage, offline tracking, JSON export, and REST API access
- Open-source watchers support custom and extensible tracking modules
- Where it doesn't
- Paid subscriptions do not unlock additional product features
- Focused on activity analysis rather than billable workflows or approvals
- Team use starts with a minimum of one Business seat per user
ActivityWatch fact sheet, pricing and score →
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