The 6 Best Open-Source Time Trackers for Mac in 2026

Dayflow (MIT, $0) is the best open-source time tracker for Mac if you want AI to turn your day into a readable timeline, with an on-device option. ActivityWatch (MPL-2.0, free) wins if you need Windows, Linux or Android, or want no paid tier at all. WakaTime suits coding time. Closed tools like Timing, Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) or Clockify win for billing and teams.

This ranking is for people on a Mac who want a time tracker with public source code, or who at least want to know which parts of a tracker are open and which are not. The job is simple to describe. You want an honest record of where your working hours went, without sending a vendor a permanent log of your screen and without a subscription you can’t walk away from. If source code doesn’t matter to you, our wider ranking of Mac time trackers covers more options.

Dayflow is our product, so weigh this ranking with that in mind. Only two tools below are open source end to end: Dayflow under the MIT license and ActivityWatch under MPL-2.0 (we put them side by side in ActivityWatch vs Dayflow). WakaTime has open-source editor plugins but a closed hosted service. Timing (Timing alternative), Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) (Toggl for Mac) and Clockify (Clockify for Mac) are closed source. They appear here as a clearly labeled baseline so you can see what the open options give up. Dayflow ranks first because it is the only open-source tool here that writes your day into a readable timeline with AI, and it can do that without screenshots leaving your Mac. It does not win two of our criteria. ActivityWatch wins platform reach, since it also runs on Windows, Linux and Android. It also wins cost, since it has no paid tier at all.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price
Dayflow (MIT)	A readable AI timeline of your Mac day, stored locally	Records the screen, then AI writes a timeline	$0, optional Pro at $20 a month
ActivityWatch (MPL-2.0)	A fully free, local, cross-platform activity log	Logs active app, window title and away-from-keyboard time	Free
WakaTime (open plugins, closed service)	Coding time per project, language and editor	Editor and terminal plugins	$0, paid from $9/mo billed monthly or $8.25/mo billed $99 yearly
Timing (closed, baseline)	Billable-hour records on a Mac	Automatic across apps, websites and documents	From $9 per month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly

Quick picks by use case

Best open source overall: Dayflow, $0. MIT licensed, Mac only, and the only open-source pick here that turns your day into written summaries. The optional Pro plan is $20 a month if you want Dayflow to handle the cloud analysis.

Best fully free, no paid tier: ActivityWatch, free. The vendor describes it as completely free with no feature gates, no usage limits and no ads.

Best cross-platform: ActivityWatch, free. Windows, Mac, Linux and Android from one open-source project.

Best for developers: WakaTime, $0. Open-source editor plugins on a free plan that keeps 1 week of history. Basic is $9/mo billed monthly or $8.25/mo billed $99 yearly.

Best for billing on a Mac (closed source): Timing, from $9 per month billed annually. Billing status tracking and customizable reports with rounding, plus a 30-day trial with no credit card.

Best for teams (closed source): Toggl (formerly Toggl Track), $0 for up to 3 users. Starter is $9 per user per month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly.

Best cheap team plan with invoicing (closed source): Clockify Standard, $5.49 per seat per month billed annually, or $6.99 billed monthly.

How we compared them

The weights reflect what someone choosing open source cares about first: the license and where the data goes.

• License and openness of source (30%). High means the whole app is under a recognized open-source license. Open clients with a closed service score in the middle, and closed source scores low.
• Where data lives (20%). High means data stays on your Mac by default. Low means everything goes to a vendor’s cloud.
• Automatic capture on a Mac (20%). High means it records across all your work without timers. Low means it depends on starting timers or only sees some apps.
• A record you can read (15%). High means summaries or a timeline that says what you did. Low means raw app and window names you interpret yourself.
• Cost of the full feature set (10%). High means $0 for everything. Low means the useful parts need a subscription.
• Platform reach (5%). High means several operating systems. Low means Mac only.

We compared the tools from each vendor’s own pricing and product pages on October 4, 2026, and Dayflow from its 2.2.0 release and published policy. No benchmark was run, and the scores are judgments.

The 6 best open-source time trackers, ranked

1. Dayflow (open source, MIT)

Dayflow is a free, MIT-licensed Mac app for macOS 14 or later that records your screen and has AI write the day into a readable timeline.

Full screen recordings and the timeline are stored on your Mac. For analysis you pick one of three modes. Local AI runs a supported model through Ollama or LM Studio, so screenshot analysis stays on-device. Your own provider receives selected screenshots under its own charges and terms. Dayflow Pro manages cloud analysis and, under the privacy policy, deletes screenshots after processing but may retain activity data for sync. The local and cloud processing page spells out each boundary.

For an open-source buyer, the code is public, the license is permissive, and the record isn’t locked in. You can export any date range as Markdown from Settings → Export (export walkthrough).

Price: $0, with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month.

The limits are real. Dayflow is Mac only. It has no invoicing, payroll, team reports or website blocking. AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work, so check them before sharing.

Pick it if you want an open-source record of your Mac day that reads like a work log, not a list of app names.

2. ActivityWatch (open source, MPL-2.0)

ActivityWatch is a free automatic tracker released under the MPL-2.0 license, with apps for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android.

It logs the active application, the window title and whether you’re away from the keyboard. Browser extensions add the active tab’s title and URL, and editor plugins add coding activity. The vendor states that all data is stored on your own device and is never sent to any server.

For an open-source buyer, this is the purest option on the list. The vendor describes it as completely free and open source with no feature gates, no usage limits and no ads. It’s extensible with custom watchers and a local API. If you want a raw activity log you can query and build on, it is a strong base.

Price: free. The site mentions optional “AW Pro” patronage, but no price for it was confirmed.

The honest limit is that it records names, not meaning. No AI summaries are listed, so turning a list of apps and window titles into “worked on the client proposal” is up to you. Sync between devices is still work in progress, and there is no iOS support.

Pick it if you want a fully free, local, cross-platform log and you’re comfortable reading raw data.

3. WakaTime (open-source plugins, closed hosted service)

WakaTime is a developer time tracker whose open-source plugins record coding time in more than 100 editors, IDEs and terminals.

The plugins automatically record coding time and AI usage per project, language and editor, and send it to WakaTime’s hosted web dashboard. That dashboard is not open source. The server location isn’t stated on the pages we read, and the plugin license wasn’t confirmed either, so check the repository if license terms matter to you.

For developers, the detail is the draw. You get per-project, per-language and per-editor metrics, programming goals and private leaderboards. It also tracks AI coding usage: adoption, model usage and spend, and AI-generated versus human-written lines across tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot and Codex.

Price: Free at $0 with 1 week of dashboard history, unlimited projects and 1 programming goal. Basic is $9/mo billed monthly or $8.25/mo billed $99 yearly. Premium is $14/mo billed monthly or $12.83/mo billed $153.96 yearly. Team has a 14-day trial with no credit card.

The limit is scope. It only sees activity inside supported editors and terminals, so meetings, email and design work are invisible. Full history requires Premium.

Pick it if your time question is really “how much did I code, and where?“

4. Timing (closed source, baseline)

Timing is a closed-source, Mac-only automatic tracker, included as the baseline for what a polished commercial app offers on the same platform.

It records time automatically across apps, websites and documents, down to specific URLs and Mail threads. Manual entries, iOS activity import and call tracking are also listed. The vendor states tracked times are stored locally and never leave your Mac unless you opt into sync, and all plans list Sync & Cloud Backup.

For someone weighing open source, Timing shows what you trade away. It has AI activity summaries, AI integration via MCP and AI-powered suggestions for time entries on all plans. It adds billing status tracking, customizable reports with rounding, and, depending on plan, two-way ClickUp, Linear and Clio sync, GrandTotal invoicing, scripting, a Web API and Zapier.

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

The limits: closed source, Mac only, no free tier, and Professional covers 1 Mac with limited web app access.

Pick it if you bill by the hour on a Mac and open source is a preference, not a requirement.

5. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) (closed source, baseline)

Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) is a closed-source, cloud-based time tracker that now combines tracking with project planning.

It’s built around manual and real-time timers, timesheets and calendar integrations. The vendor also lists automated background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app. It states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. Data syncs across the web, desktop and mobile apps through Toggl’s cloud.

For teams, Toggl offers billable rates and team reports, project planning with timelines, tasks and capacity management, and on Premium, timesheet approvals, profitability reports and Jira and Asana integrations. Toggl AI answers natural-language questions about workspace data and handles admin tasks, alongside an MCP server and an AI Task Creator.

Price: the Free plan is free forever for up to 3 users. 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. Enterprise means contacting the vendor. Paid plans have a 30-day trial.

The limits: it’s primarily timer and manual entry rather than a full automatic record, billable rates need a paid plan, and none of it is open source.

Pick it if you run a small team that bills clients and needs shared reports more than inspectable code.

6. Clockify (closed source, baseline)

Clockify is a closed-source, cloud-hosted timekeeping app from CAKE.com that covers time, attendance, budgeting and payroll data for teams of any size.

You enter time by timer, timesheet, calendar or kiosk, and the desktop app has an auto tracker. Activity monitoring is offered on the Pro plan. Apps cover Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and browser extensions. Data is hosted in the cloud, with a choice of the EU (Germany), UK, USA or Australia.

The free plan is generous: up to 5 users with unlimited tracking, timer, timesheet, auto tracker, calendar, reports and apps. Paid tiers add invoicing, time off and approval workflows from Standard, then scheduling, forecasting, expenses and GPS tracking on Pro, and SSO and audit logs on Enterprise. No AI features are listed.

Price: Basic is $3.99 per seat per month billed annually or $4.99 billed monthly. Standard is $5.49 or $6.99. Pro is $7.99 or $9.99. Enterprise is $11.99 or $14.99. The CAKE.com Bundle is $12.99 or $15.99. Pro features have a 7-day trial with no credit card.

The limits: closed source, cloud only, timer and timesheet based, and invoicing and approvals need a paid plan.

Pick it if you need cheap per-seat invoicing and payroll data across many platforms.

Full comparison table

Tool	Price	Automatic capture	AI summaries	Where data lives	Open source	Platforms
Dayflow	$0, Pro $20 a month	Yes, screen recording	Yes, via Local AI, your own provider or Pro	Your Mac, with selected screenshots sent off-device only with your own provider or Pro	Yes, MIT	Mac (macOS 14+)
ActivityWatch	Free	Yes, app, window title, away-from-keyboard	None listed	Local, on your device	Yes, MPL-2.0	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android
WakaTime	$0, paid from $9/mo billed monthly	Yes, inside editors and terminals only	No, tracks AI coding usage instead	Cloud, server location not stated	Plugins only (license not confirmed), service closed	100+ editors, IDEs and terminals, web dashboard
Timing	From $9 per month billed annually	Yes, apps, websites, documents	Yes, AI activity summaries	Local, optional sync	No	Mac
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	$0 for up to 3 users, paid from $9 per user per month billed annually	Mainly timers, background tracking listed in desktop app	No summaries listed, Toggl AI answers questions about workspace data	Cloud	No	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Clockify	$0 for up to 5 users, paid from $3.99 per seat per month billed annually	Mainly timers, auto tracker in desktop app	None listed	Cloud, EU (Germany), UK, USA or Australia	No	Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, browser extensions

What counts as “open source” in a time tracker?

“Open source” gets applied loosely, so it helps to sort tools into three tiers.

The whole app is open. Dayflow (MIT) and ActivityWatch (MPL-2.0) publish the code that does the recording and stores the data. You can read exactly what gets captured, build it yourself, and keep using or forking it if the project changes direction. MIT is permissive. MPL-2.0 is file-level copyleft, so changed versions of its files you distribute stay under the same license. For a single person running the app, either works.

The client is open, the service is not. WakaTime’s plugins are open source, so you can see what the plugin collects before it leaves your editor. What happens after that, on the hosted dashboard, is a closed service. That’s still more transparency than a fully closed tool, but it isn’t the same as owning the stack. Because the plugin license wasn’t confirmed on the pages we read, check the repository before assuming specific terms.

Closed source. Timing, Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) and Clockify publish no source. That doesn’t make them careless. Timing, for instance, states that tracked times stay on your Mac unless you opt into sync. But with a closed tool, that promise is a policy statement you trust, not code you can inspect.

If you’re choosing open source mainly for privacy, the second question matters as much as the license.

Can an open-source time tracker keep all your data on your Mac?

Yes, but the license alone doesn’t guarantee it. Check where the data goes at each step.

ActivityWatch is the simplest case. The vendor states all data is stored on your own device and never sent to any server. The cost of that simplicity is that nothing interprets the data for you.

Dayflow stores recordings and the timeline on your Mac, and the AI step is your choice. With Local AI, a model running through Ollama or LM Studio does the analysis on-device. If you configure your own cloud provider, or use Dayflow Pro, selected screenshots leave the machine for processing. One more boundary is worth knowing: if you ask a cloud AI assistant about your Dayflow data, the data it retrieves goes into that conversation, and local storage doesn’t make a cloud chat local. Our privacy policy and the is Dayflow safe write-up cover this in more detail.

WakaTime sends coding activity to its hosted dashboard by design. Among the closed baselines, Timing stores locally unless you opt into sync, while Toggl and Clockify are cloud services. Toggl states it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes, which matters if your worry is surveillance rather than storage location. For more on that distinction, see time tracking without surveillance.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

• You work on Windows, Linux or Android. Dayflow is Mac only. ActivityWatch wins here, and it’s open source too.
• You want everything free, with no paid tier anywhere. ActivityWatch has none. Dayflow is $0, but managed cloud analysis is the $20 a month Pro plan, and using your own provider means paying that provider.
• You bill clients. Dayflow has no invoicing. On a Mac, Timing tracks billing status and connects to GrandTotal for invoicing, depending on plan. Across platforms, Clockify adds invoicing from Standard at $5.49 per seat per month billed annually.
• You manage a team. Dayflow has no team reports or payroll approvals. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) offers team reports, and on Premium, timesheet approvals and profitability reports.
• You only care about coding time. WakaTime’s per-project, per-language and per-editor breakdown and its AI coding usage tracking are more specific than a general day timeline.
• You want website blocking. Dayflow doesn’t block sites, and none of the tools here list it either.
• You want raw, queryable data rather than prose. ActivityWatch’s local API and custom watchers suit people who want to build their own analysis.

How much do they cost?

Tool	Plan	Price
Dayflow	Free	$0
Dayflow	Pro	$20 a month
ActivityWatch	ActivityWatch	Free
WakaTime	Free	$0
WakaTime	Basic	$9/mo billed monthly, or $8.25/mo billed $99 yearly
WakaTime	Premium	$14/mo billed monthly, or $12.83/mo billed $153.96 yearly
WakaTime	Team	$21/dev/mo billed monthly, or $19.25/dev/mo billed $231/dev yearly
WakaTime	Business	$24/dev/mo billed monthly, or $22/dev/mo billed $264/dev yearly
Timing	Professional	$9 per month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly
Timing	Expert	$11 per month billed annually, or $14 billed monthly
Timing	Connect	$16 per user per month billed annually, or $20 billed monthly
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Free	$0, for up to 3 users
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Starter	$9 per user per month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Premium	$16 per user per month billed annually, or $24 billed monthly
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Enterprise	Contact vendor
Clockify	Free	$0, for up to 5 users
Clockify	Basic	$3.99 per seat/month billed annually, or $4.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Standard	$5.49 per seat/month billed annually, or $6.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Pro	$7.99 per seat/month billed annually, or $9.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Enterprise	$11.99 per seat/month billed annually, or $14.99 billed monthly
Clockify	CAKE.com Bundle	$12.99 per seat/month billed annually, or $15.99 billed monthly

For one person on a Mac, the cheapest sensible open-source setup is Dayflow with Local AI at $0 plus your own hardware, or ActivityWatch at $0 if you don’t need summaries. If you write code, add WakaTime’s free plan for the last week of editor stats, and only pay for a closed tool once you need invoices or team reports. If you’re not sure tracking is worth the setup, the where does my week go calculator is a quick way to estimate first.

The bottom line

If you want an open-source tracker on a Mac that tells you what you actually did, pick Dayflow, and use Local AI if screenshots should never leave the machine. If you need Windows, Linux or Android, or want a log with no paid tier anywhere, pick ActivityWatch. If the question is coding time, WakaTime’s open plugins and free plan are the right fit. If billing or team reports matter more than open code, the closed baselines win: Timing for a solo Mac user, Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) or Clockify for a team.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free open-source time tracker for Mac?

Yes. Dayflow is free and MIT licensed for macOS 14 or later, and it uses AI to write your day into a timeline, with an on-device Local AI option. ActivityWatch is free under MPL-2.0 and logs the active app, window title and away-from-keyboard time locally. Dayflow has an optional Pro plan at $20 a month. ActivityWatch has no paid tier.

What is the best open-source time tracker for Windows or Linux?

ActivityWatch, and here it clearly beats Dayflow. Dayflow is Mac only, while ActivityWatch runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android under the MPL-2.0 license. It stores data on your own device, is free with no feature gates, and can be extended with custom watchers and a local API. It lists no AI summaries, so you read app and window names yourself.

Is WakaTime open source?

Partly. WakaTime's editor plugins are open source, but the hosted dashboard that receives your coding activity is not. The specific plugin license was not confirmed on the vendor pages we read, so check the plugin repository before relying on its terms. The free plan keeps 1 week of dashboard history. Full history requires Premium at $14/mo billed monthly or $12.83/mo billed $153.96 yearly.

Is Toggl open source?

No. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) is a closed-source, cloud-based service that syncs across web, desktop and mobile apps. It has a free plan for up to 3 users, and paid plans start with Starter at $9 per user per month billed annually or $12 billed monthly. It is a strong pick for teams that need billable rates and reports, but not if you need public source code.

Is Clockify open source?

No. Clockify is closed source and cloud hosted, with a choice of data hosting in the EU (Germany), UK, USA or Australia. Its free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited tracking, timer, timesheet, auto tracker and reports. Paid plans start with Basic at $3.99 per seat per month billed annually or $4.99 billed monthly, and invoicing starts on Standard.

Which open-source time tracker has AI summaries?

Among the tools here, Dayflow is the only open-source one with AI summaries. It turns screen recordings into a written timeline using a local model through Ollama or LM Studio, your own cloud provider, or Dayflow Pro at $20 a month. ActivityWatch lists no AI features. Timing offers AI activity summaries on all plans, but it is closed source and has no free tier.

Does Dayflow send my screenshots to the cloud?

Only if you choose a cloud mode. Recordings and the timeline are stored on your Mac. With Local AI, screenshot analysis stays on-device. With your own provider, selected screenshots go to that provider under its terms. With Dayflow Pro, Dayflow manages cloud analysis and, under its privacy policy, deletes screenshots after processing but may retain activity data for sync.

Can I invoice clients from an open-source time tracker?

Not from the open-source tools here. Dayflow has no invoicing, payroll or team reports, and ActivityWatch and WakaTime list no invoicing either. If billing is the job, a closed-source baseline wins: Clockify includes invoicing from its Standard plan at $5.49 per seat per month billed annually, and Timing tracks billing status and offers a GrandTotal invoicing integration, depending on plan.

Does Timing have a free plan?

No. Timing has no free tier and is subscription only, with a 30-day trial that needs no credit card. Professional costs $9 per month billed annually or $11 billed monthly and covers 1 Mac with limited web app access. Expert is $11 per month billed annually or $14 monthly, and Connect is $16 per user per month billed annually or $20 monthly.

What is the difference between MIT and MPL-2.0 for a time tracker?

Both are open-source licenses, so you can read, run and modify the code. MIT, which Dayflow uses, is permissive: you can reuse the code with few conditions beyond keeping the license notice. MPL-2.0, which ActivityWatch uses, is file-level copyleft: if you distribute changed versions of its files, those files stay under MPL-2.0. For personal use, the difference rarely matters.