head to head · open source
ActivityWatch vs Ueli
ActivityWatch has 18,919 GitHub stars, 1,012 forks, 186 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ueli has 4,598 stars, 274 forks, 73 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. ActivityWatch leads on adoption by 311% (18,919 vs 4,598 stars). ActivityWatch is written in Python under MPL-2.0; Ueli is written in TypeScript under MIT. ActivityWatch has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Ueli 6%. ActivityWatch was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | Ueli | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 4.6K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 274 |
| 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 Ueli if
- You want the Ueli feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Ueli 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 Ueli
Ueli is a cross platform keystroke launcher that gives quick access to apps and files from a single search bar triggered by a keyboard shortcut. It is built with Electron, React, TypeScript, and Fluent UI, and it runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The project is released under the MIT license, lives at ueli.app, and is distributed through the Microsoft Store, winget, and direct release downloads from the GitHub repository.
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Frequently asked questions
Is ActivityWatch or Ueli more popular?
ActivityWatch has 18,919 GitHub stars and Ueli has 4,598. ActivityWatch has the larger community by that measure.
Are ActivityWatch and Ueli free?
Both are open source. ActivityWatch is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Ueli under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ActivityWatch and Ueli?
ActivityWatch is written in Python and Ueli 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 Ueli?
Choose ActivityWatch if you want the larger community (18,919 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Ueli if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.