Overview
WakaTime is the leading automatic time tracking tool purpose-built for software developers. It provides detailed insights into coding activity through open-source plugins that integrate with your development environment, tracking time spent in different projects, files, languages, and branches automatically.
Features
- Automatic Time Tracking: Tracks coding time automatically while you work
- 40+ Editor Plugins: Supports VS Code, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, Sublime Text, Vim, Emacs, Atom, and more
- Language Metrics: See time spent in each programming language
- Project Breakdown: Automatic project detection and time allocation
- Branch Tracking: Git integration shows time per branch
- File-Level Detail: Track which files you work on most
- Daily/Weekly Goals: Set coding time targets and track progress
- Private Dashboards: Visualize your coding activity over time
- Leaderboards: Compare with team members (optional)
- Calendar Heatmap: GitHub-style visualization of coding activity
- Editor Metrics: Track which editors you use
- OS Detection: Automatic operating system tracking
- Offline Support: Syncs when reconnected
- API Access: Programmatic access to your data
- Privacy-First: Code content never leaves your machine
Supported Editors
- Visual Studio Code
- JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.)
- Sublime Text
- Vim/Neovim
- Emacs
- Atom
- Visual Studio
- Xcode
- Android Studio
- And 30+ more
Metrics Provided
Dashboard Views
- Daily coding time and trends
- Programming languages used
- Projects and time allocation
- Most edited files
- Operating systems
- Editors used
- Categories (coding, debugging, building, etc.)
Insights
- Best day for each language
- Average daily coding time
- Streak tracking
- Productivity patterns
- Weekly reports via email
Use Cases
Personal Productivity
- Track actual coding time vs. work hours
- Identify time-consuming projects
- Monitor progress on learning new languages
- Set and achieve coding goals
Team Management
- Understand team capacity and workload
- Identify bottlenecks in projects
- See technology stack usage
- Track distributed team activity
Freelance Development
- Accurate time tracking for client billing
- Evidence of work completed
- Project time estimation improvement
- Transparent reporting to clients
Code Analysis
- Which projects take most time
- Frequently modified files (potential refactoring targets)
- Language distribution in polyglot projects
Privacy
- Only metadata is collected (time, file names, languages)
- Code content never transmitted
- Private by default
- You control what's tracked
- Can exclude specific projects or files
- Open-source plugins = transparent
Pricing
Free tier: 2 weeks of history
Premium: $9/month - Unlimited history, goals, private leaderboards
Teams: $11/user/month - Team dashboards, insights, and management
