The 6 Best ManicTime Alternatives for Mac in 2026

Timing is the closest Mac replacement if you bill hours. It offers automatic tracking, billing status and AI summaries from $9 a month billed annually. Dayflow (our app) is free and writes your day as an AI timeline, but it has no invoices. ActivityWatch is free, open source and local. Memtime suits teams that bill time, and Qbserve is a $29 one-time purchase.

ManicTime watches what you do on your computer and builds a timeline of apps, documents and websites. You then tag that timeline to projects. It is a capable tool. Mac users still go looking for something else, usually for one of three reasons.

Price and licensing. The cloud plans are billed per user: Standard is $7 a month billed yearly or $9 billed monthly, and Ultimate is $9 billed yearly or $11 billed monthly, all without tax. The other option is an $87 one-time License per user. After a year, that License keeps working only on versions released within that year unless you renew. There is a 30-day trial. For whether any free edition exists, see the vendor’s pricing page.

The work after tracking. ManicTime gives you raw activity, and you turn it into something useful by tagging, with auto-tagging rules to help. It lists no AI features, so nothing summarizes the day for you.

Devices and data. The Standard cloud plan is limited to 3 devices per user, and cloud screenshots require Ultimate. A License keeps everything local or on your own server, but then you are running that setup yourself.

Disclosure: Dayflow is our product, and it appears in this list. It also gets its own section on where it is the wrong choice. This article compares vendor documentation as published on October 4, 2026, with Dayflow’s facts reviewed against version 2.2.0. We did not run our own tests.

The shortlist is Dayflow, ActivityWatch (see ActivityWatch vs Dayflow), Timing (see our Timing comparison), Qbserve, Rize (see our Rize comparison) and Memtime (see our Memtime comparison). If you are still choosing a category rather than a replacement, start with our roundup of the best Mac time trackers.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price
Dayflow	Remembering and describing what you worked on	One screen frame every 10 seconds; AI writes a timeline	$0 (MIT); optional Pro $20/month
Timing	Billable hours on a Mac	Apps, websites and documents, down to URLs and Mail threads	From $9/month billed annually or $11 billed monthly
ActivityWatch	Free, local, extensible tracking	Active app, window title and away-from-keyboard; browser and editor plugins	Free
Memtime	Teams that bill time across Mac, Windows and Linux	Programs, documents, emails, calls, meetings and browser tabs on a timeline	From $14/user/month billed annually

What ManicTime does well

Before you leave, make sure you are not walking away from something you depend on.

• Platform reach. ManicTime lists Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. No other tool here covers that many platforms.
• Self-hosting. With a License you can install ManicTime locally or host your own server. That suits firms that need activity data to stay on-premise.
• Billing records. It builds invoices from timesheets and sends automated email reports. The vendor aims it at freelancers, accountants, lawyers, developers and enterprises that need detailed records for billing.
• Attendance. Vacation, overtime and attendance tracking are built in. Most of the alternatives below do not list these.
• A one-time option. The $87 License is a real alternative to paying every month, as long as you accept the version cutoff after the first year.
• Optional screenshots and auto-tagging rules. These give you evidence and some automation without depending on AI.

If your week runs on invoices, overtime and a Windows desktop alongside the Mac, ManicTime is hard to beat.

Why people switch from ManicTime

Each reason to leave points at a different replacement.

• You only use a Mac. You are paying for cross-platform reach you never use, and a Mac-only tool may fit macOS better.
• You want a summary, not a log. A tagged timeline answers “which app was open.” It does not answer “what did I get done.” ManicTime lists no AI to write that part.
• You want free or open source. ManicTime is closed source. For pricing, the paid options above are what its pricing page shows.
• The License renewal. The $87 License covers versions released within a year. Staying current means renewing.
• Plan limits. Three devices on Standard, and cloud screenshots only on Ultimate.
• You want less tagging. Rules help, but the tagging step is still yours.

If you are not yet sure where your hours go, the where does my week go calculator is a quick way to estimate it before you commit to any tracker.

The best ManicTime alternatives, ranked

1. Dayflow

What changes: You stop reading an app-and-window log and start reading your day. Dayflow records one screen frame every 10 seconds, and AI writes what you did into a timeline. You choose where the analysis runs. Local AI runs a supported model on your Mac through Ollama or LM Studio, so screenshot analysis stays on-device. You can also send selected screenshots to your own cloud provider, or use Dayflow Pro. Under Dayflow’s privacy policy, Pro deletes screenshots after processing and may retain Activity Data for sync. Full recordings and the local timeline stay on your Mac. You can export any date range as Markdown from Settings → Export. The processing modes page explains each option.

Price: $0, MIT licensed, with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month. Details are on the pricing page.

The limit: Dayflow is Mac only, on macOS 14 or later. It has no invoices, payroll approvals, team reports or website blocking. AI summaries can miss or misread work, so check them before sharing.

Switch to it if you used ManicTime mainly to remember what you worked on rather than to bill it.

2. Timing

What changes: You get a Mac-native tracker built for billable work. Timing records apps, websites and documents automatically, down to specific URLs and Mail threads. It also lists manual entries, iOS activity import and call tracking. Unlike ManicTime, it has AI. Activity summaries and MCP integration are on all plans, and AI suggests time entries. For billing, it tracks billing status, rounds reports, and offers two-way ClickUp, Linear and Clio sync plus a GrandTotal invoicing integration, depending on plan. Tracked times stay on your Mac unless you opt into sync.

Price: Professional is $9 a month billed annually or $11 billed monthly. Expert is $11 billed annually or $14 billed monthly. Connect is $16 per user a month billed annually or $20 billed monthly. The trial is 30 days, with no credit card required.

The limit: Timing is Mac only and subscription only, with no free tier. Professional covers 1 Mac and has limited web app access. You give up ManicTime’s Windows and Linux support and its one-time License.

Switch to it if you bill hours, work only on a Mac, and want the tagging step shortened by AI suggestions.

3. ActivityWatch

What changes: You stop paying and you can read the code. ActivityWatch is free and open source under MPL-2.0. The vendor says it has no feature gates, usage limits or ads. It records the active application, the window title and whether you are away from the keyboard. Browser extensions add tab titles and URLs, and editor plugins add coding time. The vendor states all data is stored on your device and never sent to a server. You can extend it with custom watchers and query it through a local API. Like ManicTime, it runs on Windows, Linux and Android as well as Mac.

Price: Free.

The limit: Sync between devices is listed as still in progress, and there is no iOS app. It lists no AI summaries, and its listed features do not include invoices. The result looks more like ManicTime’s raw timeline than a written summary of your day.

Switch to it if you want free, open-source, local tracking across several operating systems and are comfortable building your own reports.

4. Memtime

What changes: This is the closest workflow to ManicTime. Memtime records time in every program, document, email, call, meeting and browser tab. It shows that as a timeline, and you turn the timeline into time entries. The vendor states that automatically recorded activity is stored only on your device. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. From the Connect plan, time entries sync to 100+ project and billing tools. Premium adds call system integrations plus SSO, SAML and SCIM. Project management and custom reports are built in.

Price: Basic is $14 per user a month billed annually, $18 billed quarterly or $12 billed 2-yearly. Connect is $21, $26 or $18 on the same periods. Premium is $29, $35 or $23. Enterprise is custom pricing for 50+ seats. There is no monthly billing option. The trial is 14 days, needs no payment information and does not convert to a subscription.

The limit: Memtime has the highest entry price of the paid trackers here. It has no mobile app and no AI features listed, and integrations start at Connect.

Switch to it if your team bills time, works across several desktop systems, and needs entries pushed into existing billing software.

5. Qbserve

What changes: You keep the “pay once” model at a lower price. Qbserve tracks applications, websites and window titles on the Mac. It scores productivity and uses rules to assign time to projects. The vendor lists automatic productivity ratings for over 8,100 sites, apps and games, plus a live productivity score in the menu bar. It generates invoices in 18 languages and exports to JSON and CSV. The vendor states all tracked data stays on your Mac and is never sent anywhere.

Price: $29.00 as a one-time purchase with no subscription, as shown at the vendor’s checkout with a US locale. The trial is 15 days.

The limit: Qbserve is Mac only and lists no AI features. It also lists no team or sync features, so it is strictly a one-person, one-Mac tool. Compared with ManicTime, you lose cross-platform support, self-hosting and attendance tracking.

Switch to it if you liked ManicTime’s License model, need simple invoices, and want to spend as little as possible without a subscription.

6. Rize

What changes: AI does the tagging that ManicTime leaves to you. Rize tracks apps and websites automatically and uses AI to categorize and tag them. It adds AI chat and AI insights on productivity and focus. You can connect Google Calendar to capture meeting time. On Pro and above, you get client and scheduled reports in PDF and CSV, an API, webhooks, Zapier and MCP server access. It runs on Mac (macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or later) and Windows 10 or later.

Price: Basic is $9.99 a month billed annually or $12.99 billed monthly, with 500 AI credits a month. Pro is $23.99 a month billed annually (1,000 credits). Max is $39.99 a month billed annually (3,000 credits). Team is $29.99 per seat a month billed annually or $39.99 billed monthly. Enterprise is custom. The trial is 7 days with full features and no credit card.

The limit: Your data lives in the cloud on Amazon Web Services. There is no permanent free tier, Linux is not yet supported, and AI use is metered in credits.

Switch to it if you want AI categorization above everything else and are fine with cloud storage.

Alternatives by reason for leaving

• “I want to pay nothing”: ActivityWatch.
• “I want to read what I did, not tag it”: Dayflow.
• “I bill hours and only use a Mac”: Timing.
• “I want one purchase, no subscription”: Qbserve.
• “My team bills time on Mac, Windows and Linux”: Memtime.
• “I want AI to categorize for me and don’t mind the cloud”: Rize.

If billing is the main reason you track, our guide to a Mac timesheet without manual entry goes into more detail on that workflow.

Full comparison table

Tool	Price	Automatic capture	Where data lives	Platforms	Open source
ManicTime	Standard $7/month billed yearly or $9 monthly; Ultimate $9 yearly or $11 monthly; License $87 one-time (per user, without tax)	Apps, documents, websites; optional screenshots	Local, with optional self-hosted server or cloud subscription	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS	No
Dayflow	$0; optional Pro $20/month	One screen frame every 10 seconds, AI-written timeline	Recordings and timeline on your Mac; selected screenshots leave the Mac only with your own provider or Pro	Mac (macOS 14+)	Yes, MIT
ActivityWatch	Free	Active app, window title, AFK; browser and editor plugins	Local; sync in progress	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android	Yes, MPL-2.0
Timing	Professional $9/month billed annually or $11 monthly; Expert $11 or $14; Connect $16 or $20 per user	Apps, websites, documents, URLs, Mail threads	Local, with optional sync	Mac	No
Qbserve	$29.00 one-time	Apps, websites, window titles	Local	Mac	No
Rize	Basic $9.99/month billed annually or $12.99 monthly; Pro $23.99 and Max $39.99/month billed annually; Team $29.99/seat annually or $39.99 monthly	Apps and websites with AI categorization	Cloud (AWS)	Mac, Windows	No
Memtime	Basic $14/user/month billed annually ($18 quarterly, $12 2-yearly); Connect $21 and Premium $29 billed annually; Enterprise custom	Programs, documents, emails, calls, meetings, browser tabs	Local	Mac, Windows, Linux	No

When should you stay with ManicTime?

Stay if any of these describe you:

• You work across Windows, Linux or iOS as well as the Mac. ManicTime covers the most platforms of any tool here.
• You need an on-premise server. It is the only tool in this list with a self-hosted server option.
• You track attendance, vacation or overtime. None of the alternatives list these.
• You already paid for a License. It keeps working on versions released within your year. Switching costs you setup time without saving you money until a renewal comes up.
• You prefer rules to AI. If you want deterministic tagging and nothing interpreting your screen, ManicTime’s auto-tagging rules are a feature.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

Dayflow is built to show you what you did. It is not built to bill for it or manage people. Here is where another tool wins.

• You send invoices from your tracker. Dayflow has no invoices. Timing has billing status and invoicing integrations, Qbserve generates invoices itself, and ManicTime builds invoices from timesheets.
• You manage a team. Dayflow has no team reports or payroll approvals. Memtime, with project tool sync and SSO on Premium, is the better fit, and Rize has a Team plan.
• You are not on macOS 14 or later. Dayflow will not run. Rize supports macOS back to Mojave 10.14.6.
• You also work on Windows or Linux. ActivityWatch covers both for free, and ManicTime covers both with self-hosting.
• You want exact logs with no AI interpretation. AI summaries can miss or misread work. ActivityWatch gives you the raw record without interpretation.
• You want sites blocked. Dayflow does not block websites, and none of the trackers here list blocking either. Use a dedicated blocker alongside whichever tracker you pick.

The bottom line

ManicTime is still the right tool for cross-platform billing with attendance and self-hosting. Most Mac users who leave it want either cheaper tracking or a readable account of their day.

• For billable hours on a Mac: Timing is the closest match, and it adds the AI ManicTime lacks.
• For free and open source: ActivityWatch.
• For a cheap one-time purchase: Qbserve at $29.
• For a billing team on mixed systems: Memtime.
• For AI categorization in the cloud: Rize.

If what you really want is to look back at a week and know what you did, Dayflow is free to try and keeps recordings on your Mac. It can also export your work history as Markdown when you need to share it. For a wider view beyond ManicTime replacements, see our guide to choosing a time tracker for Mac.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to ManicTime for Mac?

Yes. ActivityWatch is free and open source under MPL-2.0, with no feature gates listed by the vendor, and it stores data on your own device. Dayflow is also $0 and MIT licensed. It records one screen frame every 10 seconds and has AI write a timeline. An optional Pro plan costs $20 a month. Dayflow runs only on macOS 14 or later, while ActivityWatch also runs on Windows, Linux and Android.

How much does ManicTime cost?

ManicTime's Standard cloud plan is $7 a month billed yearly or $9 billed monthly, per user. Ultimate is $9 a month billed yearly or $11 billed monthly, per user. A License for a local install or self-hosted server is $87 one time per user and includes a year of support and upgrades. All prices are without tax, and every version has a 30-day trial.

What is the best ManicTime alternative for billing clients on a Mac?

Timing beats Dayflow here. Timing tracks apps, websites and documents automatically, tracks billing status, rounds reports, and connects to GrandTotal for invoicing on some plans. It starts at $9 a month billed annually. Dayflow has no invoices, payroll approvals or team reports. If you want a one-time purchase instead, Qbserve generates invoices for $29.

Which ManicTime alternatives keep my data on my Mac?

ActivityWatch, Qbserve and Memtime all state that tracked activity stays on your device. Timing stores tracked times locally unless you opt into sync. Dayflow keeps full recordings and the timeline on your Mac. Screenshot analysis also stays on the Mac if you use Local AI, but selected screenshots go off-device if you pick your own cloud provider or Dayflow Pro. Rize hosts data in the cloud on Amazon Web Services.

Is there a ManicTime alternative with a one-time price instead of a subscription?

Qbserve is sold as a $29.00 one-time purchase with no subscription, according to the vendor's checkout. It is Mac only and keeps data locally. ManicTime itself also sells an $87 one-time License per user. After the first year, that License keeps working only on versions released within that year unless you renew. ActivityWatch and Dayflow cost nothing up front.

Which ManicTime alternatives use AI?

Timing lists AI activity summaries, AI suggestions for time entries and MCP integration on all plans. Rize lists AI auto-categorization, tagging, AI chat and focus insights, metered in monthly AI credits. Dayflow uses AI to write the timeline itself, through a local model, your own provider or Dayflow Pro. ManicTime, ActivityWatch, Qbserve and Memtime list no AI features.

Can I self-host a ManicTime alternative?

Among the tools in this comparison, only ManicTime lists a self-hosted server option, which comes with its $87 License. ActivityWatch, Qbserve and Memtime keep activity data on the device rather than on a server. Dayflow keeps recordings on your Mac and can run analysis through a local model with Ollama or LM Studio. If an on-premise server is a requirement, ManicTime is still the tool for it.

What ManicTime alternative works for a team on Mac and Windows?

Memtime runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, keeps recorded activity on each device, and syncs time entries to 100+ project and billing tools from its Connect plan. Rize runs on Mac and Windows and has a Team plan at $29.99 per seat a month billed annually, but its data lives in the cloud. Dayflow is a single-person Mac app with no team reports.

Can Dayflow fully replace ManicTime?

Only if you used ManicTime to remember and review your day. Dayflow captures a frame every 10 seconds and writes a readable timeline you can export as Markdown. It does not do invoices, payroll approvals, attendance, overtime, team reports or website blocking, and it runs only on macOS 14 or later. If you rely on those, stay with ManicTime or move to Timing or Memtime.