ActivityWatch vs Kimai
No clear leader: ActivityWatch (59.8) and Kimai (55.3) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for time tracking. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
ActivityWatch
An application that records which programs and websites you use on your computer throughout the day, keeping all information stored locally on your device. Designed for users who want to understand their digital habits while maintaining complete privacy with no cloud synchronization.
Kimai
Kimai is an open-source time-tracking application that helps teams and freelancers monitor work hours, manage projects and tasks, and generate invoices for billing. It can be deployed as a cloud service or self-hosted.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
ActivityWatch
Free with optional Pro subscription from $5/month
- FreeFree
- Automated activity tracking
- Local storage
- Browser extensions
- REST API
- Dashboard
- +2 more
- Pro$5/month
Kimai
From €2.99/user/month. 30-day free trial available.
- Standard€2.99/user/month (annual) or €3.99/user/month (monthly)
- Project time tracking
- Billable and non-billable hours
- Invoicing
- Data export
- Audit logs
- +1 more
- Professional€4.99/user/month (annual)
- All Standard features
- Working time account
- Holidays, vacation, sick leave management
- Custom fields
- Task management
- +5 more
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
ActivityWatch
Not documented yet.
Kimai
- Google Workspace
- Azure AD
- Authentik
- LDAP
- SAML
- Bexio
- GrandTotal
- Excel
- Chrome
- Rainmeter
- KDE Plasmoid
ActivityWatch or Kimai: which one depends on you
A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.
Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.