The 6 Best DeskTime Alternatives for Mac in 2026

For most solo Mac users, Dayflow is the best DeskTime alternative. It is free, open source, and writes your day into a timeline stored on your Mac. Pick Timing if you bill hours on a Mac, Toggl if a team needs shared reports and a free plan for up to 3 users, and ActivityWatch if you want free, local tracking on Windows or Linux too.

DeskTime is built for managers. It starts tracking when the computer is turned on, logs apps, URLs and document titles, scores them for productivity and, on the Premium plan, takes screenshots. That works well if you run a team. It is a lot of product if you are one person on a Mac who wants to know where the day went.

Three things tend to send people looking elsewhere:

• It is a team monitoring product priced per user. The listed plans are Pro at $6.42 per user/month and Premium at $9.17 per user/month, both billed annually and excluding VAT. Screenshots and integrations require Premium.
• Your activity lives in DeskTime’s cloud. It is a web service with admin and user dashboards. Some people want their work history to stay on their own machine.
• It tracks to score, not to remember. App names, URLs and document titles feed a productivity score. That is a different job from reconstructing what you actually did on Tuesday afternoon.

A disclosure before the list: Dayflow is our product, and it appears in this ranking. To keep that honest, there is a section below on where Dayflow is the wrong pick and which tool to use instead. Every competitor detail here comes from the vendor’s own pages, checked on October 4, 2026, and Dayflow details are from version 2.2.0. The method is a comparison of vendor documentation on that date, nothing more.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price
Dayflow	Solo Mac users who want a written record of the day	One screen frame every 10 seconds, AI writes a timeline	$0 (MIT), optional Pro at $20 a month
Timing	Billable hours on a Mac	Automatic across apps, websites and documents	From $9 per month billed annually, or $11 per month billed monthly
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Teams that need shared reports and billing	Timers, timesheets, calendar integrations, plus background tracking in the desktop app	Free for up to 3 users; Starter $9 per user per month billed annually
Rize	AI categorization on Mac and Windows	Automatic app and website tracking with AI tagging	From $9.99/mo billed annually, or $12.99/month billed monthly

For the longer head-to-heads, see Timing vs Dayflow, Toggl on the Mac vs Dayflow and Rize vs Dayflow.

What DeskTime does well

Before switching, it is worth being clear about what DeskTime is good at, because some of it is hard to replace.

It tracks without anyone pressing a button. DeskTime starts when the computer turns on and captures URLs, apps and document titles. Manual entries cover offline time, such as meetings away from the desk.

It gives managers a real toolset. Productivity scoring of apps and URLs, shift scheduling and an absence calendar are features that personal trackers do not try to offer. Screenshots on Premium give oversight that a team lead may need.

It runs almost everywhere. DeskTime lists Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and web. If your team is split across platforms, that matters.

Per-seat pricing is low for a team tool. At $6.42 per user/month billed annually on Pro, it sits below Toggl Starter at $9 per user per month billed annually, and well below Rize Team at $29.99/seat/month with annual billing.

It has AI summaries and an API. The vendor lists AI-powered summaries in reporting, and Premium adds integrations and an API.

If you manage people and need their hours in one dashboard, DeskTime is doing what it was built for.

Why people switch from DeskTime

You are not a team. The vendor targets managers and teams, from startups and agencies to enterprises, with freelancers also mentioned. A solo user still gets a product shaped around admin dashboards, productivity scores and per-user billing.

You do not want your day in a vendor’s cloud. DeskTime is a cloud web service. Several alternatives below store activity locally by default, and two are open source, so you can read the code that handles your data.

You want more than a score. A list of app names and document titles tells you which file was open. It does not tell you what you changed in it or why. If your goal is to answer “what did I work on this week?” for a standup or a timesheet, a tracker that summarizes activity in plain language may fit better.

Billing terms. The DeskTime prices that could be read are annual. For monthly-billed prices and for whether a permanent free option exists, see the vendor’s pricing page on DeskTime’s site. It was not stated either way on the pages checked.

Screenshots feel like surveillance. Even when used lightly, screenshots plus productivity scoring send a message. If you are tracking yourself, you may prefer tools built around time tracking without surveillance.

The best DeskTime alternatives, ranked

1. Dayflow

Dayflow records your screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a readable timeline. Full recordings and the timeline are stored on your Mac. Instead of a productivity score, you get a description of what you worked on.

You choose where the analysis happens. Local AI runs a supported model on your Mac through Ollama or LM Studio, so screenshot analysis stays on-device. Your own provider receives selected screenshots under its own terms. Dayflow Pro manages cloud analysis, and under the privacy policy it deletes screenshots after processing and may retain Activity Data for sync. The trade-offs are laid out in local and cloud processing. You can export any date range as Markdown from Settings → Export, which is handy for exporting your work history into a report.

Price: $0, MIT licensed. Optional Pro at $20 a month. See pricing.

The limit: Mac only, macOS 14 or later. No invoices, payroll approvals, team reports or website blocking. AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work, so check them before sharing.

Switch to it if you work alone on a Mac and want to remember what you did, not be scored on it.

2. Timing

Timing is the most direct swap for a Mac user who needs hours for clients. It records time automatically across apps, websites and documents, down to specific URLs and Mail threads. Manual time entries, iOS activity import and call tracking are also listed.

The big change from DeskTime is where data lives. The vendor states tracked times are stored locally and never leave your Mac unless you opt into sync. All plans list Sync & Cloud Backup. AI activity summaries and an MCP integration are on every plan, along with AI suggestions for time entries.

Price: Professional is $9 per month billed annually or $11 billed monthly. Expert is $11 billed annually or $14 billed monthly. Connect is $16 per user per month billed annually or $20 billed monthly. There is a 30-day trial with no credit card.

The limit: Mac only, no free tier. Professional covers 1 Mac and has limited web app access.

Switch to it if you bill by the hour and want billing status tracking, report rounding and, depending on plan, GrandTotal invoicing and ClickUp, Linear or Clio sync.

3. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)

Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) is the alternative for teams that still want shared reporting but not monitoring. The vendor states it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. Tracking is mainly manual and real-time timers, timesheets and calendar integrations, though the desktop app also lists automated background tracking and a timeline.

Toggl now combines time tracking with planning, so you get tasks, timelines and capacity management alongside hours. Toggl AI answers natural-language questions about workspace data, and there is an MCP server and an AI Task Creator.

Price: Free forever for up to 3 users, with timers, focus mode, calendar integrations, tasks and boards. Starter is $9 per user per month billed annually or $12 billed monthly. Premium is $16 per user per month billed annually or $24 billed monthly. Paid plans have a 30-day trial.

The limit: It is a timer-first tool, so a complete automatic record is not the default. Data lives in the cloud. Billable rates need a paid plan.

Switch to it if you run a small team that needs billable rates, reports and, on Premium, timesheet approvals, without screenshots.

4. Rize

Rize keeps DeskTime’s automatic tracking but points it at the individual. It tracks apps and websites automatically and uses AI to categorize and tag the time. You can connect Google Calendar to capture meetings. AI chat and AI productivity and focus insights are included, metered in monthly AI credits, and Pro and above add MCP server access.

Price: Basic is $9.99/mo billed annually or $12.99/month billed monthly, with 500 AI credits a month. Pro is $23.99/mo billed annually with 1,000 credits. Max is $39.99/mo billed annually with 3,000 credits. Team is $29.99/seat/month with annual billing or $39.99/seat/month billed monthly. There is a 7-day trial with full access and no credit card.

The limit: No permanently free tier. Data is hosted in the cloud on Amazon Web Services, encrypted at rest and in transit. No Linux yet.

Switch to it if you want AI categorization and focus insights on Mac and Windows, and you are fine with a cloud service. Pro adds PDF and CSV client reports, an API, webhooks and Zapier.

5. Memtime

Memtime records time in every program, document, email, call, meeting and browser tab and lays it out as a timeline. You then turn that timeline into time entries. It is a close cousin of Timing, with broader platform support. See Memtime vs Dayflow for the full comparison.

On privacy, it goes further than DeskTime: the vendor states automatically recorded activity is stored exclusively on your device and not uploaded to a server. No AI features are listed.

Price: Basic is $14 per user/month billed annually, $18 billed quarterly or $12 billed 2-yearly. Connect is $21 billed annually, $26 quarterly or $18 2-yearly. Premium is $29 billed annually, $35 quarterly or $23 2-yearly. There is no monthly billing. The 14-day trial needs no payment details and does not convert to a subscription.

The limit: No free tier, no mobile or Chromebook app, and integrations with project software start at Connect.

Switch to it if you bill time on Mac, Windows or Linux and need entries synced to one of 100+ project and billing tools.

6. ActivityWatch

ActivityWatch is the free, open-source option for people who want tracking with no account at all. It records the active application, window title and whether you are away from the keyboard. Browser extensions add the tab title and URL, and editor plugins add coding activity. Our ActivityWatch vs Dayflow page goes deeper.

The vendor states all data is stored on your own device and never sent to any server. It is extensible with custom watchers and a local API, which suits people who like to build their own dashboards.

Price: Free under MPL-2.0, with no feature gates, usage limits or ads.

The limit: Device sync is still work in progress, there is no iOS app and no built-in AI summaries are listed. You get raw data and charts, not a written account of your day.

Switch to it if you want a fully local, open-source tracker that also runs on Windows, Linux and Android, and you are happy to interpret the data yourself.

Alternatives by reason for leaving

• “I’m not a team, I just want to remember my own day”: Dayflow.
• “I bill clients by the hour on a Mac”: Timing.
• “My team needs reports but not screenshots”: Toggl.
• “I want AI to categorize my time, on Mac and Windows”: Rize.
• “I bill time across Mac, Windows and Linux and need it in my project tool”: Memtime.
• “I want it free, local and open source, with no AI”: ActivityWatch.

Full comparison table

Tool	Price	Automatic capture	Where data lives	Platforms	Open source
DeskTime	Pro $6.42, Premium $9.17 per user/month billed annually (excl. VAT); Enterprise custom	Yes: apps, URLs, document titles, optional screenshots	Cloud	Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Web	No
Dayflow	$0; optional Pro $20 a month	Yes: one screen frame every 10 seconds	On your Mac; analysis local, your provider, or Dayflow Pro	Mac (macOS 14+)	Yes, MIT
Timing	From $9 per month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly	Yes: apps, websites, documents	Local, optional sync	Mac	No
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Free up to 3 users; Starter from $9 per user per month billed annually	Partly: timers first, background tracking in desktop app	Cloud	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions	No
Rize	From $9.99/mo billed annually, or $12.99/month billed monthly	Yes: apps and websites with AI tagging	Cloud (AWS)	Mac, Windows	No
Memtime	From $14 per user/month billed annually	Yes: programs, documents, email, calls, meetings, tabs	Local	Mac, Windows, Linux	No
ActivityWatch	Free	Yes: app, window title, AFK; URLs via extensions	Local	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android	Yes, MPL-2.0

If you want the wider field beyond DeskTime replacements, our roundup of the best time tracker for Mac covers more options.

When should you stay with DeskTime?

Stay if you are the manager, not the person being tracked. None of the personal tools above give you shift scheduling, an absence calendar and productivity scoring across a whole staff.

Stay if your team is spread across Windows, Mac and phones. DeskTime lists iOS and Android apps. Timing and Dayflow are Mac only, and Rize and Memtime list no mobile apps.

Stay if you need screenshots for oversight. Toggl explicitly does not take them, and Dayflow’s frames stay on the individual’s Mac, so neither replaces a manager-facing screenshot feature.

Stay if price per seat is the deciding factor for a team. DeskTime Pro at $6.42 per user/month billed annually is lower than Toggl Starter, Memtime Basic, Timing Connect and Rize Team at their annual rates.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

Dayflow is a personal record of your own day. That makes it the wrong tool in several common cases.

• You manage a team. Dayflow has no team reports, admin dashboard or payroll approvals. Use DeskTime, or Toggl if you want team reporting without screenshots.
• You need to invoice clients. Dayflow does not produce invoices. Timing tracks billing status and connects to GrandTotal invoicing depending on plan. Memtime syncs time entries to billing tools from its Connect plan.
• You are on Windows or Linux. Dayflow is Mac only. ActivityWatch covers Windows, Linux and Android for free. Memtime covers Mac, Windows and Linux.
• Your Mac runs something older than macOS 14. Dayflow needs macOS 14 or later. Rize lists macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or later.
• You do not want any AI interpreting your work. Dayflow’s value is the AI-written timeline, and AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work. ActivityWatch lists no AI features and keeps everything as raw local data.
• You want website blocking. Dayflow does not block sites.

If you are still unsure what this category of tool does, what an automatic time tracker is explains the trade-offs in plain terms.

The bottom line

DeskTime is a good team monitoring tool. Most people leaving it are not leaving a bad product, they are leaving a product built for someone else.

If you work alone on a Mac and want to know what you actually did, Dayflow is free, open source and keeps its recordings on your Mac. If you bill by the hour on a Mac, Timing is the stronger choice. If a small team needs shared hours without screenshots, the free plan of Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) for up to 3 users is the easiest place to start. Rize suits people who want AI categorization on Mac and Windows, Memtime suits billable work across three desktop platforms, and ActivityWatch suits anyone who wants local, open-source data and no subscription.

The paid tools here all offer a trial, and Dayflow and ActivityWatch cost nothing to try. Run one for a normal working week before you cancel DeskTime, and check whether it answers the question you were really asking.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free alternative to DeskTime on Mac?

Dayflow and ActivityWatch are both free and open source. Dayflow is $0 under the MIT license and has AI write your day into a readable timeline, with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month. ActivityWatch is free under MPL-2.0, records the active app, window title and away-from-keyboard time, and lists no built-in AI summaries. Toggl also has a free plan for up to 3 users.

Does DeskTime have a free plan?

DeskTime's pricing page lists Pro at $6.42 per user/month and Premium at $9.17 per user/month, both billed annually and excluding VAT, plus a 14-day trial with no credit card required. For whether a permanent free option exists, see the vendor's pricing page, since it was not stated either way when the pages were checked on October 4, 2026.

Which DeskTime alternative keeps my data on my Mac?

Timing stores tracked times locally unless you opt into sync. Memtime says recorded activity stays exclusively on your device. ActivityWatch says data is never sent to any server. Dayflow stores recordings and its timeline on your Mac, and with Local AI the screenshot analysis also stays on-device. DeskTime, Rize and Toggl are cloud services.

Is there a DeskTime alternative that does not take screenshots?

Toggl states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. ActivityWatch records the active app, window title and whether you are at the keyboard, with browser extensions adding tab titles and URLs. Dayflow does capture the screen, one frame every 10 seconds, but keeps the recordings on your Mac rather than sending them to a manager.

What should a manager use instead of Dayflow to monitor a team?

DeskTime or Toggl, not Dayflow. Dayflow has no team reports, payroll approvals or admin dashboards. DeskTime is built for managers, with productivity scoring, shift scheduling, an absence calendar and screenshots on Premium. Toggl offers team reports and billable rates, and Premium adds timesheet approvals and profitability reports. Dayflow is designed for one person reviewing their own day.

Which DeskTime alternative is best for billable hours on a Mac?

Timing. It records time automatically across apps, websites and documents, tracks billing status, rounds reports and connects to GrandTotal for invoicing depending on plan. Prices start at $9 per month billed annually or $11 billed monthly, with a 30-day trial. Memtime is the other strong choice if you also need Windows or Linux and sync to project tools.

How much does Dayflow cost compared with DeskTime?

Dayflow is $0 and MIT licensed, with an optional Dayflow Pro plan at $20 a month that manages cloud analysis. You can also run analysis locally through Ollama or LM Studio, or use your own AI provider at that provider's rates. DeskTime is priced per user, from $6.42 per user/month billed annually, excluding VAT.

Does Rize have a free plan?

No. Rize has no permanently free tier. It offers a 7-day trial with full feature access and no credit card. Paid plans start with Basic at $9.99/mo billed annually or $12.99/month billed monthly, with 500 AI credits a month. Pro is $23.99/mo and Max is $39.99/mo, both billed annually.

Which DeskTime alternatives work on both Mac and Windows?

Rize runs on Mac and Windows. Memtime runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. ActivityWatch runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. Toggl covers web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and browser extensions. Timing and Dayflow are Mac only, and Dayflow needs macOS 14 or later.