head to head · open source
ActivityWatch vs SolidTime
ActivityWatch has 18,919 GitHub stars, 1,012 forks, 186 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SolidTime has 8,923 stars, 507 forks, 32 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ActivityWatch leads on adoption by 112% (18,919 vs 8,923 stars). ActivityWatch is written in Python under MPL-2.0; SolidTime is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. ActivityWatch has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, SolidTime 6%. ActivityWatch was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (time-tracker, time-tracking, timetracker, timetracking), 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 | SolidTime | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 8.9K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 507 |
| 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 SolidTime if
- You want the SolidTime feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and SolidTime 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 SolidTime
SolidTime is a modern open source time tracking application built for freelancers and agencies. It is written in PHP on the Laravel framework, with a Vue front end, and it lives in the Laravel and Vue ecosystems that its topic list names. The project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 and is developed in the solidtime io/solidtime repository. It ships with 8,923 stars, 508 forks, and 32 open issues at the time of writing, and it presents itself as a self hosted alternative with an optional hosted service.
read the full SolidTime overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ActivityWatch or SolidTime more popular?
ActivityWatch has 18,919 GitHub stars and SolidTime has 8,923. ActivityWatch has the larger community by that measure.
Are ActivityWatch and SolidTime free?
Both are open source. ActivityWatch is licensed under MPL-2.0 and SolidTime under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ActivityWatch and SolidTime?
ActivityWatch is written in Python and SolidTime in PHP. 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 SolidTime?
Choose ActivityWatch if you want the larger community (18,919 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose SolidTime if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.