The 6 Best Time Tracking Apps for UX Researchers on a Mac in 2026

Dayflow is the best fit for most UX researchers on a Mac. It is free, it writes your day into a timeline that shows synthesis time without timers, and it can keep screenshot analysis on-device with Local AI. Pick Timing for local billable records. Pick ActivityWatch if you want only window titles captured. Pick Toggl or Timely when a research team needs shared reports.

This ranking is for UX researchers who work on a Mac and want to know where their weeks go. That means how many hours went into sessions, how many into recruiting and logistics, and how many went into synthesis. Synthesis is the hardest of these to estimate and the easiest to underreport. The job is narrow. You want a record of the work without starting timers every time you switch between a transcript and a whiteboard. You also want that record to treat participant data at least as carefully as your consent form promises.

Dayflow is our product. It ranks first because it builds the record automatically, describes what was on screen in plain sentences, costs $0 and can keep screenshot analysis on your Mac. It does not win two of our criteria. First, it captures more sensitive material than tools that log only app names, so ActivityWatch and Toggl score higher on capture footprint. Second, it has no team reports or billing, and Toggl and Timely are stronger there. The other two tools in this ranking are Timing and Rize. Each has a side-by-side page: Timing alternative, Rize alternative, ActivityWatch vs Dayflow, Toggl for Mac and Timely alternative. For the wider field, see our full ranking of every time tracker for Mac.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price
Dayflow	Seeing synthesis time without timers	One screen frame every 10 seconds, turned into an AI-written timeline	$0 (MIT); optional Pro at $20 a month
Timing	Detailed local records and billable hours	Apps, websites and documents on the Mac, automatically	From $9 a month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly; no free tier
ActivityWatch	Smallest free data footprint	Active app, window title and away-from-keyboard status	Free (MPL-2.0)
Toggl	Research teams reporting hours	Timers, timesheets and calendar integrations; background tracking listed for the desktop app	Free for up to 3 users; paid from $9 per user per month billed annually

Quick picks by use case

Best overall and best free with written summaries: Dayflow, $0. It records the day automatically and describes each block in words. Synthesis shows up as synthesis, not as a list of app names. Pro is optional at $20 a month.

Best for billing research clients: Timing, from $9 a month billed annually. Its document-level detail and billing features suit freelance and agency researchers. It stores tracked time locally by default.

Best free option that records the least: ActivityWatch, free. It logs app names, window titles and idle time, never screen images. All data stays on your device.

Best for in-house research teams: Toggl. It is free for up to 3 users. Starter is $9 per user per month billed annually or $12 billed monthly. You get shared reports, and the vendor states it takes no screenshots.

Best for agencies that approve hours: Timely, from $9 per user per month billed yearly. AI drafts timesheet entries from a private timeline, and each researcher approves them before anything is shared.

Best for AI categories across Mac and Windows: Rize, from $9.99 a month billed annually. AI sorts and tags your activity. The data is hosted in the cloud.

How we compared them

The criteria are weighted for researchers who want to measure synthesis and protect participant data. Billing matters less here than it would in a freelancer ranking.

• Synthesis visibility (25%). High means the record shows synthesis clearly without you labeling every block. Low means only a timer you had to remember to start.
• Participant data handling (25%). High means captured data stays on the Mac by default, or processing can stay on-device. Low means a cloud service holds the record by default.
• Capture footprint (15%). High means the tool records as little sensitive content as possible, such as app names only. Low means full screen images.
• Effort to keep accurate (15%). High means there is nothing to start or stop. Low means timers plus end-of-day reconstruction.
• Reports and team sharing (10%). High means shared projects, approvals and exportable reports. Low means a single-user record only.
• Cost for one researcher (10%). High means free. Low means paid only, with no free tier.

Each tool was compared using the vendor’s own pricing and product pages as of October 4, 2026, and Dayflow using its 2.2.0 release facts. No benchmark was run, and the scores are judgments.

The 6 best time tracking apps for UX researchers, ranked

1. Dayflow

Dayflow is a free, open-source Mac app that records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a readable timeline. There is nothing to start or stop, so it covers the messy middle of a study. For example, an hour spent moving between a transcript, a tagging spreadsheet and a findings deck reads as one described block, not as a scatter of app switches.

The processing mode determines where participant data goes. With Local AI, a supported model runs on your Mac through Ollama or LM Studio, and screenshot analysis stays on-device. With your own provider or Dayflow Pro, selected screenshots are processed off-device. Under the privacy policy, Pro deletes screenshots after processing and may retain Activity Data for sync. You can export a date range as Markdown from Settings → Export and paste it into a weekly status report.

Price: $0 under the MIT license, with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month. The honest limits: it captures whatever is on screen, including participant video and names in transcripts. It has no invoices, team reports or website blocking, and it requires macOS 14 or later. Its summaries can also miss or misinterpret work.

Pick it if you want to see how long synthesis really takes without changing how you work.

2. Timing

Timing is a Mac-only automatic tracker that records time across apps, websites and documents, down to specific URLs and Mail threads. It also accepts manual entries, and the vendor lists iOS activity import and call tracking.

For a researcher, the level of detail is the main benefit. A transcript file, a specific board URL and the recruiting thread in Mail each appear as separate lines. That makes it easier to separate synthesis from logistics after the fact. All plans include AI activity summaries, AI integration via MCP and AI suggestions for time entries. The vendor states that tracked times are stored locally and never leave your Mac unless you opt into sync. That default fits what a cautious consent form expects. One caveat: document names and URLs can themselves contain participant names.

Freelance and agency researchers also get billing status tracking and customizable reports with rounding. Depending on plan, there is a GrandTotal invoicing integration and two-way sync with ClickUp, Linear and Clio.

Price: Professional is $9 a month billed annually or $11 billed monthly. Expert is $11 a month 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 required. The limits: there is no free tier, it is subscription only, and Professional covers one Mac with limited web app access.

Pick it if you bill clients for research hours and want the record kept locally.

3. ActivityWatch

ActivityWatch is a free, open-source tracker that records the active application, the window title and whether you are away from the keyboard. Browser extensions add the active tab title and URL, and editor plugins add coding activity.

Its appeal for research work is restraint. It records no screen images, and the vendor states that all data is stored on your own device and never sent to any server. That gives it the smallest capture footprint in this ranking, which also makes it the easiest to justify to a research ops lead or an ethics review. It runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. A technical researcher can use its local API and custom watchers to build their own reports.

The trade-off is interpretation. A window title tells you a whiteboard was open all afternoon. It does not tell you whether you were clustering findings or setting up next week’s workshop. No built-in AI summaries are listed, so turning raw events into a synthesis total is your job. Window titles can also include participant names if your files are named that way.

Price: free, licensed under MPL-2.0, with no feature gates or usage limits. The limits: sync between devices is still a work in progress, and there is no iOS app.

Pick it if you want automatic tracking with the least sensitive data captured and are comfortable reading raw logs.

4. Toggl

Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) is a web-based time tracker built around timers, timesheets and calendar integrations. It has apps for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and browser extensions. The vendor also lists automated background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app, and states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes.

For an in-house research team, Toggl’s strength is shared accounting. You can set up projects per study, billable rates and team reports. Premium adds timesheet approvals, profitability reports and Jira and Asana integrations. If your manager wants research hours by product area each month, Toggl is the cleanest way to get them. Toggl AI answers natural-language questions about workspace data.

For synthesis, timers are the weak spot. Synthesis rarely has a clean start, and a timer only knows what you told it. Data lives in the cloud and syncs across devices. Anything you type into an entry description, such as a participant’s name or a client codename, lives there too.

Price: the Free plan, described as free forever, covers 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 pricing is by contact. Paid plans have a 30-day trial, and billable rates require a paid plan.

Pick it if a small research team needs shared reports and a tool that takes no screenshots.

5. Rize

Rize is an automatic app and website tracker for Mac and Windows that uses AI to categorize and tag what it records. You can connect Google Calendar to capture meeting time, which covers interview sessions scheduled there.

The AI categorization is the draw for researchers. It is designed to sort hours into categories without you labeling each block, which reduces the work of separating sessions from synthesis from admin. Rize also offers AI chat and focus insights. Pro and above add client and scheduled reports in PDF and CSV, MCP server access, an API, webhooks and Zapier. All plans are metered in monthly AI credits.

For participant data, the vendor states that data is hosted on Amazon Web Services with encryption at rest and in transit. It is a cloud service, so check it against your consent terms before running it during sessions.

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, with 1,000 credits. Max is $39.99 a month billed annually, with 3,000 credits. For Pro and Max monthly billing, see the vendor’s pricing page. Team is $29.99 per seat per month billed annually or $39.99 billed monthly, and Enterprise is custom. There is a 7-day trial with no credit card required and no permanently free tier.

Pick it if you want AI-sorted categories and also work on Windows.

6. Timely

Timely is a team time tracker built around a Memory tracker. It records work in the background across web and desktop apps into a private timeline, and AI then drafts timesheet entries for you to approve. A manual timer is included.

This model suits research at agencies and consultancies. The vendor states that timelines are private and that only entries you approve are shared. Your raw record of a session day stays yours, and the project still gets clean hours. Premium and above add team and budget management, plus project management and accounting integrations. Unlimited adds capacity reporting and overtime tracking.

For this audience there are two limits. First, it is a cloud service priced per user. Second, the pages read for this comparison list web, a desktop app, iOS and Android without confirming which desktop operating systems are supported. Check Mac support on the vendor’s site before you commit. There is no free tier, and Starter is limited to 5 users and 20 projects.

Price: Starter is $9 per user per month billed yearly or $11 billed monthly, with a maximum of 5 users. Premium is $16 per user per month billed yearly or $20 billed monthly, with a maximum of 50 users. Unlimited is $22 per user per month billed yearly or $28 billed monthly. Enterprise is custom. There is a 14-day trial.

Pick it if your agency bills research hours and wants AI-drafted timesheets that each researcher approves.

Full comparison table

Tool	Price	Automatic capture	AI summaries	Where data lives	Open source	Platforms
Dayflow	$0; Pro $20 a month	Yes, one screen frame every 10 seconds	Yes, AI-written timeline	Recordings and timeline on your Mac; screenshots leave only with your own provider or Pro	Yes, MIT	macOS 14 or later
Timing	From $9/mo billed annually	Yes, apps, websites and documents	AI activity summaries and entry suggestions	Local, with optional sync	No	Mac
ActivityWatch	Free	Yes, app, window title and idle time	None listed	Local, on your device	Yes, MPL-2.0	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android
Toggl	Free up to 3 users; from $9/user/mo billed annually	Mainly timers; background tracking listed for the desktop app	Toggl AI answers questions about workspace data	Cloud	No	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Rize	From $9.99/mo billed annually	Yes, apps and websites	AI categorization, chat and insights (credit metered)	Cloud (AWS)	No	Mac, Windows
Timely	From $9/user/mo billed yearly	Yes, Memory tracker	AI timesheets and categorization	Cloud, with a private timeline	No	Web, desktop app, iOS, Android

How do you see how long synthesis really takes?

Synthesis is hard to time because it does not happen in one place. A single morning can move from rewatching a session clip, to tagging quotes in a spreadsheet, to moving sticky notes on a whiteboard, to drafting a slide, with messages in between. No single moment feels like the start, so a timer either never starts or keeps running through lunch.

The tools here handle this in three ways:

• App and URL loggers (Timing, ActivityWatch, Rize) give you an accurate list of where your attention went. You decide afterward which lines were synthesis. Timing’s document-level detail and Rize’s AI categories cut down that sorting work. ActivityWatch leaves all of it to you.
• Narrative timelines (Dayflow, and Timely’s AI-drafted entries) describe the block in words. A line such as “reviewing interview transcripts and grouping quotes into themes” already reads as synthesis when you look back. Check the wording before it goes into a report.
• Timers (Toggl’s core) are exact for whatever you start and blind to everything else.

A workable routine is to run automatic capture through one full study, then do a time audit on your Mac when the study ends. Split the hours into recruiting, sessions, synthesis and reporting. If you want a rough split before installing anything, the where does my week go calculator works from your own estimates. The time estimation test is a short exercise that compares your sense of time with a clock. It is not a diagnostic. The total from a real record is the one to use when you scope the synthesis phase of the next study.

Is it safe to run a time tracker during participant sessions?

It depends on three things: what the tracker captures, where the data ends up, and what your consent form and research ops policy say. None of this is legal advice. It is a way to read each tool’s documentation against your own rules.

What does it capture? A screen recorder such as Dayflow captures whatever is visible: participant faces in a video call, names in a transcript, a prototype under NDA. App loggers such as Timing, ActivityWatch, Rize and Timely capture app names, window titles and URLs. Those can still include a participant’s name if a file or calendar event is named after them. Toggl’s timers capture what you type, and the vendor states it takes no screenshots and records no keystrokes.

Where does the data live? ActivityWatch keeps everything on your device. Timing keeps tracked time local unless you turn on sync. Dayflow stores recordings and the timeline on your Mac. Rize, Toggl and Timely are cloud services. Timely keeps each timeline private and shares only the entries you approve.

Who processes it? In Dayflow, Local AI keeps screenshot analysis on-device. Your own provider, or Pro, processes selected screenshots off-device, and your own provider has its own terms. There is one more catch. If you ask a cloud assistant about your Dayflow data, the assistant receives whatever it retrieves in that conversation. Local storage does not make a cloud assistant conversation local. Our page on local and cloud processing covers each mode in detail.

In practice, read your consent form first. If it says session recordings live only in an approved repository, then frames of that video sitting on your laptop may count as an unapproved copy. In that case, do not run a screen recorder during sessions. Log those hours with ActivityWatch or a Toggl timer instead. Naming files and calendar events with participant IDs rather than names helps with every tool on this list. For the broader argument, see time tracking without surveillance, and for Dayflow specifically, is Dayflow safe.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

• Your research team needs shared reports or approvals. Dayflow has no team reports. Toggl, with team reports and Premium timesheet approvals, or Timely, with approved AI timesheets, is the better tool.
• Your consent terms rule out any screen capture on your machine. ActivityWatch records only app names, window titles and idle time, and keeps them on your device. It wins on this point.
• You invoice clients for research hours. Dayflow has no invoicing or billable rates. Timing has billing status tracking, reports with rounding and a GrandTotal integration on supported plans.
• You also work on Windows or Linux. Dayflow is Mac only. ActivityWatch runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android, and Rize runs on Mac and Windows.
• Your Mac runs an older macOS than 14. Dayflow will not run. Rize lists macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or later. For the other tools, check each vendor’s requirements.

How much do they cost?

Tool	Plan	Price
Dayflow	Free	$0, MIT licensed
Dayflow	Pro	$20 a month
Timing	Professional	$9/mo billed annually, or $11 billed monthly
Timing	Expert	$11/mo billed annually, or $14 billed monthly
Timing	Connect	$16/user/mo billed annually, or $20 billed monthly
ActivityWatch	ActivityWatch	Free
Toggl	Free	$0, up to 3 users
Toggl	Starter	$9/user/mo billed annually, or $12 billed monthly
Toggl	Premium	$16/user/mo billed annually, or $24 billed monthly
Toggl	Enterprise	Contact vendor
Rize	Basic	$9.99/mo billed annually, or $12.99 billed monthly
Rize	Pro	$23.99/mo billed annually; for monthly billing, see the vendor’s pricing page
Rize	Max	$39.99/mo billed annually; for monthly billing, see the vendor’s pricing page
Rize	Team	$29.99/seat/mo billed annually, or $39.99 billed monthly
Rize	Enterprise	Custom
Timely	Starter	$9/user/mo billed yearly, or $11 billed monthly (max 5 users)
Timely	Premium	$16/user/mo billed yearly, or $20 billed monthly (max 50 users)
Timely	Unlimited	$22/user/mo billed yearly, or $28 billed monthly
Timely	Enterprise	Custom

The cheapest sensible setup for one researcher costs nothing. Use Dayflow with Local AI if your Mac has the resources to run a local model, and use ActivityWatch for any hours your consent terms keep off-screen. A small team can add Toggl’s Free plan for up to 3 users before paying anything. Our pricing page covers what Pro adds.

The bottom line

If you work alone and want to see synthesis time without timers, start with Dayflow on Local AI. If you bill clients and want detailed records kept on your Mac, pay for Timing. If participant data rules leave no room for screen capture, use ActivityWatch. If a research team has to report hours together, choose Toggl, or Timely if each researcher should approve AI-drafted entries.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best time tracker for UX researchers on a Mac?

For most individual researchers, Dayflow is the best fit. It is free, it needs no timers, and it describes each block of work in words, so synthesis is easy to spot. It can also keep screenshot analysis on your Mac with Local AI. If you bill clients, Timing is stronger. If your team needs shared reports, Toggl or Timely is the better choice.

How can I track how much time I spend on research synthesis?

Run an automatic tracker through one full study instead of relying on timers, because synthesis rarely has a clear start. Afterward, sort the record into recruiting, sessions, synthesis and reporting. App loggers such as Timing and ActivityWatch show where your attention went. Dayflow describes what was on screen, which makes synthesis blocks easier to label. Use the totals to scope the next study.

Is it safe to use a screen recording time tracker during user interviews?

It depends on your consent form and your organization's data handling rules. A screen recorder captures whatever is visible, including participant faces and names in transcripts. If your consent terms say session material lives only in an approved repository, do not run a screen recorder during sessions. Track those hours with a tool that logs only app names, such as ActivityWatch, or with a timer.

Which Mac time tracker keeps all data on my computer?

ActivityWatch states that all data stays on your device and is never sent to any server. Timing states that tracked times stay on your Mac unless you opt into sync. Dayflow stores recordings and the timeline on your Mac. With its Local AI mode, screenshot analysis also stays on-device. Rize, Toggl and Timely are cloud services.

Is there a free time tracker for Mac that does not take screenshots?

Yes. ActivityWatch is free and open source under MPL-2.0. It records the active app, the window title and away-from-keyboard status, not screen images. Toggl also has a Free plan for up to 3 users, and the vendor states it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. Toggl is mainly timer-based, so you start and stop entries yourself.

What is better than Dayflow for a research team that reports hours?

Toggl or Timely. Dayflow has no team reports, approvals or invoicing. Toggl offers billable rates and team reports on paid plans, and timesheet approvals and profitability reports on Premium. Timely has AI-drafted timesheets that each person approves, plus team and budget management on Premium and above. For a research team that has to account for hours together, either one beats Dayflow.

Does Dayflow send my screenshots to the cloud?

Only if you choose a cloud mode. With Local AI, a model runs on your Mac through Ollama or LM Studio, and screenshot analysis stays on-device. With your own provider or Dayflow Pro, selected screenshots are processed off-device. Under the privacy policy, Pro deletes screenshots after processing and may retain Activity Data for sync. Recordings and the timeline are stored on your Mac.

Can I bill research clients by the hour with Dayflow?

Not directly. Dayflow has no invoicing, billable rates or payroll approvals. You can export a date range as Markdown and use it to reconstruct hours. For billing, Timing is the better Mac choice: it offers billing status tracking, reports with rounding and, depending on plan, a GrandTotal invoicing integration. Toggl's paid plans also support billable rates.

Does Timely work on a Mac?

Timely lists web, a desktop app, iOS and Android. The pricing and product pages read for this comparison did not confirm which desktop operating systems the app supports. Check Mac support on Timely's own site before you buy. There is no free tier, but a 14-day trial lets you confirm it works on your setup.