ManicTime vs ActivityWatch: Which Is Better for Local Activity Logging in 2026?

Pick ActivityWatch if you want a free, open-source (MPL-2.0) log of apps, window titles and browser tabs that stays on your device. Pick ManicTime if you need to tag that timeline to projects and turn it into timesheets and invoices, and will pay $87 for a license or a subscription. Dayflow, our Mac app, fits if you want an AI-written daily timeline instead of raw logs.

ManicTime and ActivityWatch both log your computer use automatically and can keep that log on your own machine. The real difference is what each one does with the log. ManicTime is a paid tool built to turn it into project time, timesheets and invoices. ActivityWatch is a free, open-source logger that keeps everything on your device and leaves the analysis to you.

Disclosure: we make Dayflow, a free, open-source Mac app that records your screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a readable timeline. It appears here as a third option, labeled as ours. We also have a separate page on ActivityWatch vs Dayflow. This comparison is based on each vendor’s own documentation and pricing pages as read on October 4, 2026, plus Dayflow’s public facts as reviewed against version 2.2.0. We did not run benchmarks.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price	Platforms
ManicTime	Billing clients from a detailed, tagged record of computer time	Automatic timeline of apps, documents and websites, tagged to projects with auto-tagging rules; optional screenshots	$87 one-time License per user, or cloud plans from $7/month billed yearly, without tax	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
ActivityWatch	A free, private raw log you can extend	Active app, window title and away-from-keyboard status; browser extensions add tab title and URL; editor plugins add coding activity	Free	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android
Dayflow (ours)	An AI-written timeline of your Mac day	Screen recording at one frame every 10 seconds, summarized by AI into a timeline	$0, MIT licensed; optional Pro at $20/month	Mac (macOS 14 or later)

Key takeaways

• ActivityWatch is the pick for pure local logging. It is free with no feature gates, and the vendor states your data is never sent to any server.
• ManicTime is the pick if the log has to become money. It does project tagging, auto-tagging rules, invoices from timesheets and attendance tracking.
• ManicTime’s $87 License is the plan that keeps data local or on your own server. Its cloud subscriptions add cloud backup and multi-device reports.
• Neither vendor lists any AI features, so with both you read the timeline and decide what it means.
• Dayflow, ours, covers the “what did I actually do” gap on a Mac, but it has no invoicing, payroll, team reports or website blocking, and it does not run on Windows or Linux.

What ManicTime does better

ManicTime’s strength is everything that happens after capture. It records apps, documents and websites into a timeline, and you tag stretches of that timeline to projects. Auto-tagging rules do some of that work for you, which matters once you have more than a couple of clients. From the tagged time it can produce invoices, and it can send automated email reports.

It also covers office admin that a pure logger never touches. The vendor lists attendance, vacation and overtime tracking. Its stated audience is freelancers, accountants, lawyers, developers, teams and enterprises that need detailed records for billing. If you have ever had to defend an invoice line with evidence, that list describes you.

Deployment is flexible. The License lets you install ManicTime locally or host your own server, so an office can keep everything on-premise. The cloud subscriptions add cloud backup and multi-device reports for people who would rather not run a server.

ManicTime covers more devices than ActivityWatch. It lists Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. ActivityWatch has no iOS support.

Screenshots are optional, which is useful when a window title alone is not proof of work. One catch: storing screenshots in the cloud requires the Ultimate plan.

Other limits worth knowing before you pay:

• The cloud Standard plan is limited to 3 devices per user.
• After a year, a License keeps working only on versions released within that year unless you renew.
• There is no free edition shown on the pricing or download pages, only a 30-day trial. For whether a free tier exists, see the vendor’s pricing page at ManicTime.

If you bill by the hour and want to check what your time is really worth after admin, the real hourly rate calculator pairs well with a tool like this.

What ActivityWatch does better

ActivityWatch wins on cost, openness and the privacy boundary. The vendor describes it as completely free and open source, with no feature gates, no usage limits and no ads. The code is licensed under MPL-2.0, so you can read exactly what it collects.

Its data story is the simplest of the three. The vendor states that all data is stored on your own device and is never sent to any server. There is no cloud plan to accidentally turn on, and no account to create. For a job described as “local activity logging,” that is close to the definition.

What it captures by default is narrow and well defined: the active application, the window title, and whether you are away from the keyboard. Browser extensions add the active tab title and URL. Editor plugins add coding activity, which is handy if you want to know how much of a day was spent in an editor versus a chat app.

It is built to be extended. ActivityWatch offers custom watchers and a local API, so if a data source is missing you can write a watcher for it, and if you want your own charts you can query the API. That makes it a good base for people who like to build their own dashboards. For a broader look at how this kind of tool works, see what an automatic time tracker is.

It runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. The limits listed in its own documentation:

• Sync between devices is still work in progress.
• No iOS support.
• No built-in AI summaries.

The site also mentions an optional “AW Pro” patronage. No price for it was confirmed, so see the vendor’s site at ActivityWatch if you want to support the project.

Head-to-head table

Capability	ManicTime	ActivityWatch	Dayflow (ours)
Automatic capture	Apps, documents and websites into a timeline; optional screenshots	Active app, window title, AFK status; tab URLs and coding activity via extensions and plugins	Screen recording at one frame every 10 seconds
Project tagging and timers	Tag timeline to projects, auto-tagging rules	Not listed	Not listed
Invoicing	Invoices from timesheets	Not listed	No
Team reports	Aimed at teams and enterprises; multi-device reports on cloud plans	Not listed	No
Website blocking	Not listed	Not listed	No
AI summaries	None listed	None listed	Yes, AI writes the day into a timeline
Data location	Local install or self-hosted server with a License; cloud backup on subscriptions	On your device only, never sent to a server per the vendor	Recordings and timeline on your Mac; AI analysis local, your own provider, or Dayflow Pro
Free tier	Not stated; 30-day trial (see vendor)	Everything is free	$0 app; Pro optional
Platforms	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android	Mac, macOS 14 or later
Open source	No	Yes, MPL-2.0	Yes, MIT

Pricing compared: what does one person pay per year?

Tool and plan	Price as listed
ManicTime Standard (cloud subscription)	$7/month billed yearly, or $9/month billed monthly, per user, without tax
ManicTime Ultimate (cloud subscription)	$9/month billed yearly, or $11/month billed monthly, per user, without tax
ManicTime License (local install or self-hosted server)	$87 one-time per user, with a year of support and upgrades, without tax
ActivityWatch	Free
Dayflow (ours), free app	$0
Dayflow Pro (ours)	$20/month

For local logging specifically, the cheapest plan that fits is easy to pick for each tool.

ActivityWatch costs $0 a year. There is nothing to upgrade to for features.

ManicTime’s best fit for the job is the License, because it is the option that installs locally or on your own server. That is $87 for the first year, without tax. After that year the software keeps running, but only on versions released within that year unless you renew. The renewal price was not on the pages read for this article, so see the vendor’s pricing page before planning year two. If you choose a cloud subscription instead, Standard works out to $84 a year billed yearly ($7 x 12) or $108 billed monthly ($9 x 12). Ultimate, which you need for cloud screenshots, is $108 a year billed yearly ($9 x 12) or $132 billed monthly ($11 x 12). All before tax. Those plans add cloud backup, which is a different deal than a purely local log.

Dayflow’s free app costs $0. If you run its AI analysis with a local model through Ollama or LM Studio, screenshot analysis stays on your Mac, and the cost is your own hardware resources. If you connect your own cloud AI provider, that provider’s charges apply. Dayflow Pro, where Dayflow manages the cloud analysis, is $20 a month, which is $240 a year. Details are on the pricing page.

When to choose ManicTime: do you bill from your time?

Choose ManicTime when the log is an input to billing or payroll, not the end product.

• You invoice clients by the hour and want invoices generated from timesheets.
• You need attendance, vacation or overtime records alongside activity data.
• You run a small firm and want a self-hosted server instead of a vendor cloud.
• You want optional screenshots as evidence next to the timeline.
• You use an iPhone as part of your work setup, since ManicTime lists iOS and ActivityWatch does not.
• You are fine paying $87 per user up front, or a monthly subscription, for those features.

The 30-day trial is long enough to run it through a full billing cycle before you commit.

When to choose ActivityWatch: do you just want a private log?

Choose ActivityWatch when you want the record itself and nobody else involved in it.

• You want the data to stay on your device, with the vendor stating it is never sent to any server.
• You care about open source and want to be able to read the code (MPL-2.0).
• You want coding time from editor plugins and URL-level browser data from extensions.
• You like building your own views with a local API or writing custom watchers.
• You use Windows or Linux as well as a Mac and want the same free tool on each, accepting that sync is still in progress.
• You do not need invoices, team reports or AI.

If your interest in tracking is about privacy as much as productivity, our piece on time tracking without surveillance goes into that trade-off.

Where both fall short: can either explain what you did?

Both tools answer “which window was in front, and for how long.” Neither answers “what did I get done today” without you doing the reading. A log that says you spent two hours in a browser and forty minutes in a code editor is accurate, but you still have to remember which tickets, documents and conversations those hours were. Neither vendor lists any AI features to help with that.

Sync is the second gap. ActivityWatch lists device sync as work in progress. ManicTime’s multi-device reports come with its cloud subscriptions, which means moving from a purely local setup to the vendor’s cloud. If you want both multiple devices and nothing leaving your machines, neither documents a finished answer, though a self-hosted ManicTime server is the closest.

This is the gap Dayflow, our app, is built for, on a Mac only. It records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a readable timeline. Full screen recordings and the local timeline are stored on your Mac. Where the AI runs is your choice:

• Local AI. A supported model runs on your Mac through Ollama or LM Studio, and screenshot analysis stays on-device.
• Your own provider. Selected screenshots go to the cloud provider you configure, under its terms and charges.
• Dayflow Pro. Dayflow manages cloud analysis. Under the privacy policy, Pro deletes screenshots after processing and may retain Activity Data for sync.

If you ask an assistant about your Dayflow data, the assistant receives what it retrieves in that conversation, so local storage does not make a cloud assistant chat local. The full breakdown is on local and cloud processing. You can export a date range as Markdown from Settings, which is the closest Dayflow comes to ActivityWatch’s API.

Two caveats. AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work, so check them before you share anything. And Dayflow does not replace ManicTime’s billing side at all.

If you want the wider field beyond these three, our guide to the best time tracker for Mac covers more options. If your goal is mostly recall, see how to remember what you worked on.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

Be honest about the fit before installing anything.

• You bill clients or run payroll. Dayflow has no invoices, payroll approvals or timesheet billing. ManicTime wins.
• You manage a team. Dayflow has no team reports. ManicTime targets teams and enterprises and offers a self-hosted server.
• You work on Windows or Linux. Dayflow is Mac only. ActivityWatch is the free choice there, ManicTime the paid one.
• Your Mac runs something older than macOS 14. Dayflow needs macOS 14 or later. Check ActivityWatch or ManicTime instead.
• You want raw, queryable data rather than a written timeline. ActivityWatch’s local API and custom watchers fit that better than a Markdown export.
• You do not want screen recordings on disk at all. ActivityWatch’s documented capture is app, window title and AFK status, plus what its extensions add. That is a smaller footprint than screen recording.
• You want to block distracting websites. Dayflow does not do that, and neither ManicTime nor ActivityWatch lists blocking either, so look elsewhere for that job.

The bottom line

For local activity logging as the brief defines it, ActivityWatch is the better tool. It is free, open source, and its vendor states data never leaves your device. You give up AI, invoicing and finished sync, and you will do your own interpretation.

ManicTime is the better tool when the log has to become billable time. Project tagging, auto-tagging rules, invoices from timesheets and attendance tracking are things ActivityWatch does not list. The $87 License keeps data local or on your own server for the first year of upgrades, with renewal pricing on the vendor’s site.

Dayflow, ours, sits next to both rather than above them. If you are on macOS 14 or later and the problem is “I can’t remember what I did,” an AI-written timeline with local AI may suit you better than reading window titles. If you need billing, teams or other operating systems, pick one of the other two.

Frequently asked questions

Is ActivityWatch really free?

Yes. ActivityWatch describes itself as completely free and open source, with no feature gates, no usage limits and no ads. The code is licensed under MPL-2.0. Its site also mentions an optional 'AW Pro' patronage, but no price for it was confirmed on the vendor's pages on October 4, 2026, and nothing in the app is described as locked behind it.

Does ManicTime have a free version?

ManicTime's pricing and download pages say all versions include a 30-day free trial, but they do not explicitly say whether a free edition exists. For the current answer, see the vendor's pricing page on manictime.com. The paid options listed are an $87 one-time License per user and cloud subscriptions starting at $7 a month billed yearly, without tax.

Does ActivityWatch send my data to a server?

According to the vendor, no. ActivityWatch states that all data is stored on your own device and is never sent to any server. The trade-off is that sync between devices is listed as work in progress, so a single combined view across several computers is not a finished feature yet. Its local API is there if you want to work with the data yourself.

Can ManicTime keep my data off its cloud?

Yes, with the License. ManicTime's $87 one-time License per user lets you install it locally or host your own server, which suits on-premise setups. The cloud subscriptions, Standard and Ultimate, add cloud backup and multi-device reports. A License keeps working after its first year only on versions released within that year unless you renew it.

Which is better for invoicing clients, ManicTime or Dayflow?

ManicTime. It creates invoices from timesheets, sends automated email reports, and lets you tag your timeline to projects with auto-tagging rules. Dayflow does not provide invoices or payroll approvals, and it has no team reports. If billing clients is the main reason you track time, ManicTime is the stronger choice of these three tools.

Do ManicTime or ActivityWatch have AI summaries?

Neither vendor lists AI features. Both give you a timeline or log of apps, windows and sites that you read or tag yourself. Dayflow, our app, uses AI to write the day into a readable timeline, and you can run that analysis on your Mac with a local model through Ollama or LM Studio. AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work, so check them before sharing.

Does ManicTime take screenshots?

ManicTime offers optional screenshots alongside its timeline. On the cloud subscriptions, screenshots stored in the cloud require the Ultimate plan, which costs $9 a month billed yearly or $11 billed monthly per user, without tax. For comparison, ActivityWatch documents its capture as the active app, window title and away-from-keyboard status, plus tab and coding data from extensions and plugins.

Which activity logger works on Windows and Linux as well as Mac?

Both ManicTime and ActivityWatch run on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android, and ManicTime also lists iOS. Dayflow is Mac only and needs macOS 14 or later. If you split your week between a Mac and a Windows or Linux machine and want one tool on both, either competitor is a better fit than Dayflow.

What happens when a ManicTime License year ends?

The $87 License is a one-time payment per user that includes a year of support and upgrades. After that year the software keeps working, but only on versions released within that year unless you renew. The renewal price was not part of the pricing pages read for this article, so see the vendor's pricing page on manictime.com before budgeting for year two.

Is Dayflow a good ActivityWatch alternative on Mac?

It depends on what you want from the log. ActivityWatch gives you raw app, window and URL data, a local API, custom watchers and cross-platform support. Dayflow records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write a timeline you can read and export as Markdown. Both are free and open source, but Dayflow runs only on macOS 14 or later.