# ActivityWatch vs temporal

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

| | ActivityWatch | temporal |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 11 in Time Tracking | #1 of 1 in Workflow |
| GitHub stars | 19 421 | 24 063 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +445 | +785 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 13 ✓ | 11 |
| Latest release | v0.14.1 · 10 Oct 2026 | v1.30.8 · 12 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Python | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

temporal scores 82/100 against 80/100 for ActivityWatch, so it is the safer default.

ActivityWatch ships more often: 13 stable releases in the past year, against 11 for temporal.

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

## Details

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

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