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Opal vs ActivityWatch

Side-by-side comparison for macOS

Opal

8.0
Utilities

Screen time app

ActivityWatch

7.5
Productivity

Time tracker

Metric Opal ActivityWatch
Category Utilities Productivity
AI Score 8.0 7.5
30-day Installs 13 225
90-day Installs 40 634
365-day Installs 159 1.6K
Version 1.5.7 0.13.2
Auto-updates Yes No
Deprecated No No
GitHub Stars 5.4K 16.9K
GitHub Forks 272 840
Open Issues 89 179
License Apache-2.0 MPL-2.0
Language Python Python
Last GitHub Commit 2mo ago 2mo ago
First Seen Jun 29, 2025 Aug 9, 2023

Reviews

Opal

Opal is a screen time management app that offers detailed tracking and customizable policies. It's ideal for users seeking advanced control over their device usage.

Tracks and manages screen time with customizable policies.

Pros

  • + Open-source with Apache-2.0 license
  • + Detailed screen time tracking
  • + Integration with policy agents for customization

Cons

  • - Low installation count
  • - May appeal to a niche audience
  • - Several open issues on GitHub

ActivityWatch

ActivityWatch is a unique, open-source time tracker that automatically records your activity across applications. It's privacy-focused, cross-platform, and extensible, making it ideal for remote workers and developers seeking transparency into their work patterns.

Automatically tracks time spent across applications to provide insights into productivity and usage patterns.

Pros

  • + Open-source and privacy-focused
  • + Cross-platform support
  • + Extensible with plugins and integrations

Cons

  • - Lacks auto-updates
  • - Significant number of open issues may indicate areas needing improvement