head to head · open source
ActivityWatch vs Hackatime
ActivityWatch has 18,919 GitHub stars, 1,012 forks, 186 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Hackatime has 204 stars, 169 forks, 114 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ActivityWatch leads on adoption by 9,174% (18,919 vs 204 stars). ActivityWatch is written in Python under MPL-2.0; Hackatime is written in Ruby under MIT. ActivityWatch has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Hackatime 83%. Hackatime was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | Hackatime | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 204 |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 169 |
| 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 Hackatime if
- You want the Hackatime feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and Hackatime fits your workflow better
About ActivityWatch
ActivityWatch is the free and open source automated time tracker in the productivity and time tracking ecosystem. It is written in Python and uses the MPL 2.0 license. The project records what a user does so the user can know how time has been spent, while keeping the data under the user's control.
read the full ActivityWatch overview →
About Hackatime
Hackatime is a free, open source, WakaTime compatible coding time tracker built by Hack Club that records how long a developer spends coding across more than 70 editors, and it is intended for individual programmers and Hack Club community members who want that time data collected and displayed without paying for a proprietary service.
read the full Hackatime overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ActivityWatch or Hackatime more popular?
ActivityWatch has 18,919 GitHub stars and Hackatime has 204. ActivityWatch has the larger community by that measure.
Are ActivityWatch and Hackatime free?
Both are open source. ActivityWatch is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Hackatime under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ActivityWatch and Hackatime?
ActivityWatch is written in Python and Hackatime in Ruby. 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 Hackatime?
Choose ActivityWatch if you want the larger community (18,919 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Hackatime if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.