Hackatime is a free coding time tracker that helps you see how much time you spend programming. It tracks your coding time across different languages and editors.

Yes! Hackatime is completely free to use. There are no paid plans or hidden costs.

How is Hackatime different from WakaTime?

Hackatime is free and open source, while WakaTime has paid plans. Hackatime gives you all features for free and you can host it yourself.

Is Hackatime the same as WakaTime?

No. Hackatime is a separate, independent open-source project built by Hack Club. While both track coding time, Hackatime is completely free and designed for high school students in the Hack Club community.

Hackatime

The open-source coding time tracker

Name: Hackatime
Availability: InStock
Author: Hack Club

Hackatime is a free, open-source replacement for WakaTime. Your coding habits, project breakdowns and language stats belong to you - not a proprietary database!

Start tracking Read the docs

24,538 users

1,594,245 hours tracked

Your coding data should belong to you

We have an extensive API you can play around with, and you can export your data to any tool you like, anytime.

No artificial limits

Other trackers delete your history after two weeks unless you pay. Hackatime stores it indefinitely, making it a perfect alternative to WakaTime.

Community built

Built by the makers at Hack Club. Anyone can contribute to the codebase and help shape the product!

Everything you need, nothing you don't.

Granular telemetry for your development environment that helps you stay productive.

Time tracking

Automatic tracking that starts when you type and stops when you take a break.

Language stats

See your actual tech stack - how much time do you spend writing React vs Svelte?

File-level insights

Drill into specific files and find the ones consuming all your time.

Zero lock-in

Your data is yours. Export your entire history as JSON.

Leaderboards (coming soon)

Create private leaderboards for your team or hackathon.

Privacy-first

We never see your code, so your projects stay private.

Works where you work.

Hackatime uses the open-source WakaTime plugin ecosystem. If your editor has a plugin, it works with Hackatime.

Start tracking in 30 seconds.

Register

Create a free account on Hackatime. You'll get an API key — that's how your editor identifies you.

Install Plugin

Install the WakaTime plugin for your editor (VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, etc.) from its extension marketplace.

Configure

Enter your API key and set the api_url to Hackatime. Done.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this really free?

Yep. Hackatime is a free service by Hack Club. We made it for ourselves and our events, and it's good marketing :)

How do I migrate from WakaTime?

Point your existing WakaTime plugin at Hackatime's API URL and enter your Hackatime API key! You can even import your WakaTime data into Hackatime.

Is my code private?

Hackatime only receives metadata (e.g. file names, project names, timestamps, language). We never see your actual source code.

Can I self-host this?

Yep! The entire codebase is open source on GitHub. Spin up your own instance for complete data sovereignty.

Start tracking your code.

Join 24,538 users who have tracked 1,594,245+ hours of coding with Hackatime.

Create free account

Free to use, forever · Open source (MIT)