# ActivityWatch vs Kimai

> Two self-hosted [Time Tracking projects](https://selfhost.directory/time-tracking), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | ActivityWatch | Kimai |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 ✓ | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 11 in Time Tracking | #2 of 11 in Time Tracking |
| GitHub stars | 19 413 ✓ | 5 110 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +445 ✓ | +72 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 13 | 23 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.14.1 · 10 Oct 2026 | 2.71.0 · 25 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Python | PHP |

## Which one should you pick?

ActivityWatch scores 80/100 against 71/100 for Kimai, so it is the safer default.

Kimai ships more often: 23 stable releases in the past year, against 13 for ActivityWatch.

ActivityWatch is growing faster right now (+445 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [ActivityWatch](https://selfhost.directory/project/activitywatch) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/activitywatch.md)
- [Kimai](https://selfhost.directory/project/kimai2) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/kimai2.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/activitywatch-vs-kimai2