Kimai vs ActivityWatch

Compare Kimai and ActivityWatch on pricing, features, platforms, and ratings — both Time Tracking tools, Freemium / Open Source vs Free (open source) pricing…

At a Glance

 KimaiActivityWatch
Primary categoryTime TrackingTime Tracking
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemium / Open SourceFree (open source)
Starting priceFree (self-hosted); Kimai Cloud from EUR 2.99/user/monthFree
Free planYesYes
Free trialYesNot documented
PlatformsWebWeb, Android, Mac, Windows
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresNot documentedNot documented
Public APIYesYes

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Kimai

Self-Hosted — Free N/A
Kimai Cloud Standard — EUR 2.99/user/month (annual), EUR 3.99 monthly Monthly or annual
Kimai Cloud Professional — EUR 3.99/user/month (annual), EUR 4.99 monthly Monthly or annual

ActivityWatch

No individual plan breakdown documented yet.

Pros & Cons

Kimai

Pros

  • Free, self-hostable open-source core with no user limits
  • Low per-seat pricing on Kimai Cloud compared to many SaaS competitors
  • Extensive JSON API and plugin ecosystem for customization
  • GDPR-compliant hosting option in Germany
  • Active development with a long project history since 2006

Cons

  • Self-hosting requires server setup and maintenance effort
  • Advanced features like approvals and expense tracking require the Professional plan or plugins
  • Smaller company behind the product compared to large SaaS time-tracking vendors
  • Interface may feel less polished than premium commercial competitors
  • Non-profit discount pricing requires annual billing

ActivityWatch

Pros

  • Completely free with no premium tiers, usage limits, or ads
  • Strong privacy model — data never leaves the user's device
  • Open source (MPL-2.0) and extensible
  • Cross-platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android

Cons

  • No official iOS app
  • Cross-device data synchronization is still in development
  • As a volunteer-maintained project, support and integrations depend on community contribution rather than a commercial team

Use Cases

Kimai

  • Freelance time and invoice tracking — Freelancers track billable hours per client and generate invoices automatically.
  • Agency project time management — Agencies track team hours across multiple clients and projects with approval workflows.
  • Self-hosted internal time tracking — Companies with data-residency requirements self-host Kimai to keep full control of timesheet data.

ActivityWatch

  • Personal productivity tracking — Understand where your time actually goes across apps and websites.
  • Developer time tracking — Track time spent coding directly from your editor via plugins.
  • Digital wellbeing awareness — Build awareness of screen time and app usage habits.
  • Privacy-conscious time tracking — Track time without sending any data to a third-party server.

Read the full Kimai review · Read the full ActivityWatch review