head to head · open source
ActivityWatch vs Freeter
ActivityWatch has 19,481 GitHub stars, 1,068 forks, 186 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Freeter has 1,029 stars, 67 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. ActivityWatch leads on adoption by 1,793% (19,481 vs 1,029 stars). ActivityWatch is written in Python under MPL-2.0; Freeter is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. ActivityWatch has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Freeter 7%. ActivityWatch was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (app, productivity), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| ActivityWatch | Freeter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-05-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 67 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ActivityWatch if
- You weight community size — 19K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Freeter if
- You want the Freeter feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Freeter fits your workflow better
About ActivityWatch
Records what you do so that you can know how you've spent your time . All in a secure way where you control the data . Website — Forum — Documentation — Releases Contributor stats — CI overview Do you want to receive email updates on major announcements? Signup for the newsletter! Table of Contents About Screenshots Is this yet another time tracker? Feature comparison Installation & Usage About this repository Server Watchers Libraries Contributing About The goal of ActivityWatch is simple: Enable the collection of as much valuable lifedata as possible without compromising user privacy. We've worked towards this…
read the full ActivityWatch overview →
About Freeter
Freeter is a free and open source organizer for people who work on their computer. It lets you gather everything you need for work — in one place, organized by projects and workflows. Quickly access your setup via Ctrl or Cmd + Shift + F or from the tray icon. Switch effortlessly between workflows, stay focused on what matters now, and reduce context switching. Curious about what the app does and how to get started? [ Read the full post here ][post intro]. [ Homepage ][home] [ Download ][download] [ Community ][community] [ Donate ][donate] [ Roadmap ][roadmap] [ Feature Requests ][featurerequests] [ Bug Reports…
read the full Freeter overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ActivityWatch or Freeter more popular?
ActivityWatch has 19,481 GitHub stars and Freeter has 1,029. ActivityWatch has the larger community by that measure.
Are ActivityWatch and Freeter free?
Both are open source. ActivityWatch is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Freeter under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ActivityWatch and Freeter?
ActivityWatch is written in Python and Freeter in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ActivityWatch or Freeter?
Choose ActivityWatch if you want the larger community (19,481 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Freeter if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.