# ActivityWatch vs polar

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | ActivityWatch | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 ✓ | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 11 in Time Tracking | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 19 417 ✓ | 10 436 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +441 ✓ | +157 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 13 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | v0.14.1 · 10 Oct 2026 | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

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

ActivityWatch ships more often: 13 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.

If you want the quickest setup, ActivityWatch is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.

ActivityWatch is growing faster right now (+441 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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