head to head · open source
ActivityWatch vs SolidTime
ActivityWatch has 19,481 GitHub stars, 1,068 forks, 186 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. SolidTime has 9,102 stars, 532 forks, 32 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ActivityWatch leads on adoption by 114% (19,481 vs 9,102 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%. SolidTime 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| ActivityWatch | SolidTime | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 9.1K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 532 |
| 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
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 SolidTime
solidtime The modern Open Source TimeTracker solidtime is a modern open source time tracking application for Freelancers and Agencies. Features Time tracking: Track your time with a modern and easy to use interface Projects: Create and manage projects and assign project members Tasks: Create and manage tasks and assign tasks to projects Clients: Create and manage clients and assign clients to projects Billable rates: Set billable rates for projects, project members, organization members and organizations Multiple organizations: Create and manage multiple organizations with one account Roles and permissions…
read the full SolidTime overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Time & Task Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Time & Task Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is ActivityWatch or SolidTime more popular?
ActivityWatch has 19,481 GitHub stars and SolidTime has 9,102. 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 (19,481 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.