head to head · open source
ActivityWatch vs Ueli
ActivityWatch has 19,481 GitHub stars, 1,068 forks, 186 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Ueli has 4,615 stars, 273 forks, 73 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. ActivityWatch leads on adoption by 322% (19,481 vs 4,615 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 | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 273 |
| 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
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 Ueli
Ueli Ueli is a cross platform keystroke launcher. Installation Please download Ueli only from the Microsoft Store, the Website or this repository. Windows Get the app from the Microsoft Store or install it with winget: winget install Ueli s msstore . Optionally, you can also manually download and install the app from here, but note that, due to cost reasons, these binaries are not signed. Windows will prevent you from installing / opening the app. macOS Download and install the app from here. Note that, due to cost reasons, these binaries are neither signed nor notarized. Because Ueli is neither signed nor…
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Frequently asked questions
Is ActivityWatch or Ueli more popular?
ActivityWatch has 19,481 GitHub stars and Ueli has 4,615. 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 (19,481 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Ueli if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.