TimeScribe is a free, offline-first desktop time tracker for macOS and Windows, built for freelancers, remote workers and anyone who needs to log work hours without a subscription, an account or a cloud service.

What it is

TimeScribe is a desktop application that runs natively on macOS and Windows and records how working time is spent. It is written in PHP on top of the Laravel framework, using NativePHP as the desktop runtime, with Electron listed among its topics. State is kept on the machine it runs on: the README states plainly that there is no cloud, no registration and no paywall, and that the data stays on the device. The application covers a full day's workflow rather than a single stopwatch, combining timer control, project billing, absence planning and application-usage reporting in one window, with a menu-bar presence for quick access.

The concrete thing it replaces is a paid, account-based SaaS time tracker. Where those tools require an email address, a subscription and a copy of working history on someone else's servers, TimeScribe asks for a download and nothing else. It is aimed at the freelancer billing clients by the hour, the remote worker logging time against projects, and the individual who simply wants to see where the day went. Billing calculations, hourly rates and descriptions attach to tracked projects, so the output is reportable rather than merely observational, and exports to PDF, Excel and CSV make it usable in invoicing and reporting workflows.

Key capabilities

• Start, pause and stop tracking with one click, with custom keyboard shortcuts for the same actions.
• Automatic start and pause driven by screen time and idle status.
• Application-usage reporting that shows time in each app and separates work from distractions.
• Project tracking with descriptions, hourly rates and billing calculations.
• Absence planning for vacation, sick leave and holidays.
• Export of tracked data as PDF, Excel and CSV.
• Deep-link API for external control: timescribe://start/work, timescribe://start/break and timescribe://stop, usable from Shortcuts, Alfred, Raycast, AutoHotkey or custom scripts.
• Multi-language interface covering Danish, English (UK/US), French (FR/CA), German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese (BR) and Chinese, plus automatic updates.

Who uses it and how

• Freelancers billing clients by the hour, attaching rates and descriptions to projects and exporting the result as PDF, Excel or CSV for invoicing.
• Remote workers logging hours against client or internal projects without sending usage data to a third-party service.
• Privacy-sensitive individuals and teams in regulated or confidential environments who cannot upload working patterns to a hosted tracker.
• Automation-minded users who drive the timer from Raycast, Alfred, Shortcuts or AutoHotkey through the deep-link API.
• Anyone tracking absences, holidays and sick leave alongside billable time in one place, rather than keeping separate records.

Getting started

Download TimeScribe-setup.exe for Windows or TimeScribe.dmg for macOS from the latest release or from timescribe.app, or install with brew install timescribe on macOS and winget install WINBIGFOX.TimeScribe on Windows. Developers can build from source by cloning the repository, running composer install and npm install, then php artisan native:build mac.

How it compares

This registry entry names no comparable tools and no list of paid products that TimeScribe replaces, so no direct comparison can be drawn from the facts. It stands alone in this registry as a GPL-3.0 licensed, offline-first desktop time tracker. Its distinguishing facts are self-evident from the README: no account, no subscription and no server-side data store.

When to use it — and when not to

Because the application is fully local, a self-hoster runs nothing: there is no database, storage bucket or SMTP service to operate, which is the main reason to choose it. That same design is the reason not to choose it if a team needs shared, centrally visible timesheets across several machines, since there is no described sync or multi-user component. The README is also thin on detail beyond the installer and build commands, the Windows build-from-source path is marked "(coming soon or adjust accordingly)", and the last recorded push is 2026-09-14 — check the release history before committing to it for time-critical billing.

brew install timescribe

winget install WINBIGFOX.TimeScribe

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/WINBIGFOX/timescribe.git
cd timescribe

# Install dependencies
composer install
npm install

# Copy the example environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Generate an application key
php artisan key:generate

# Build for macOS
npm run build
php artisan native:build mac

# Build for Windows (coming soon or adjust accordingly)
php artisan native:build win