Time tracking · checked 2026-10-20

Can I vibecode Time Doctor?

KINDA· weekend project

For one person the core is small: a timer, an agent that notes the active app, window title and idle time, a screenshot every few minutes and a daily timeline. An agent writes that for one operating system in a weekend. The time goes into the fussy parts: macOS screen-recording and accessibility permissions, Windows differences, Wayland blocking screenshots, and deciding what to hide. What you can't copy is the manager side: attendance, approvals, payroll and benchmarks across a team. Tracking other people's screens also has consent rules in many places, so the prompt covers only your own machine.

$8/moprice per seat

$96you'd save a year

weekendbuild time

—people replaced it

Before you start

What you need on hand.

DifficultyIntermediate · Some system setup or keys.

TimeA weekend; operating-system permissions are the slow part

Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
Python 3.12On macOS, the pyobjc packages need Xcode command-line tools to install.
Screen Recording and Accessibility permissionmacOS asks once per terminal or app; the agent captures black images until you grant it.
A Windows machine for the second platformOptional; the prompt targets macOS first.

Before you buildTime Doctor has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. If you only need your own hours, ActivityWatch records app and window time for free, without screenshots.

1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.

The prompt

Build me a personal work tracker with activity logging and screenshots to replace Time Doctor. Requirements:

- Python 3.12 + FastAPI. `python -m worklog` starts a background agent and serves a local page on
http://127.0.0.1:4860 with a day timeline and reports. Target macOS first and keep the capture code
behind a Platform interface, with a Windows implementation as the second file.
- Storage: SQLite (sqlite3 module) in ~/WorkLog/worklog.db: projects, tasks, sessions (start, end,
project, task) and samples taken every 10 seconds (app name, window title, idle seconds).
Screenshots are JPEGs in ~/WorkLog/shots/YYYY-MM-DD/, with the file path stored on the sample.
- Capture: `pyobjc` (NSWorkspace) for the active app, `pywinctl` for the window title, `pynput` for idle
time and `mss` for one screenshot every 5 minutes while a session runs. Pause on screen lock.
- Privacy list in config.yaml: apps (password managers, banking) whose screenshots are skipped and
whose window titles are stored as "hidden".
- Sessions: start, stop and switch project from the page or a global hotkey. After 5 idle minutes,
stop the session at the last activity and ask whether to keep or discard the idle stretch.
- Ratings: ratings.yaml maps app names and title regexes to productive, neutral or unproductive; the
day view shows a coloured timeline, hours per project and the share of each rating.
- Reports: a week view, CSV export of sessions, a screenshot gallery with a delete button, and a
retention setting that deletes screenshots older than N days (default 30).
- Single user, local-first. No accounts, no telemetry, no uploads; the server binds to 127.0.0.1 only.
- Out of scope: other users, approvals, payroll, a cloud dashboard, Linux and Wayland capture.
- README: granting Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions on macOS, what is stored where,
and a reminder that tracking anyone but yourself needs their written consent.

Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.

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Then keep going

Next prompts, same folder.

The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Time Doctor.

Extend the work tracker in this folder. Requirements:

- Add a clock-in and clock-out button and a break timer; store them as attendance rows in SQLite.
- A day view shows first activity, last activity, break minutes and a note when a session ran past a daily limit set in config.yaml.
- Weekly CSV export of attendance with one row per day.
- Update the README.

Add a daily digest to the work tracker in this folder. Requirements:

- At 18:00 local time (set in config.yaml) write ~/WorkLog/digests/YYYY-MM-DD.md with hours per project, top five apps, share of productive, neutral and unproductive time, and the longest idle gap.
- Optionally send the same text to an SMTP address from .env.
- A command `worklog digest --date 2026-10-14` regenerates any day.
- Update the README.

Add rating suggestions to the work tracker in this folder. Requirements:

- A page listing apps and window-title patterns seen in the last 14 days that match no rule in ratings.yaml, sorted by total minutes.
- A button per row writes a productive, neutral or unproductive rule back into ratings.yaml, keeping comments in the file.
- Re-rate past samples after a rule changes without touching the screenshots.
- Update the README.

What you lose

Dashboards, schedules and attendance across many people
Time approvals, payroll and 60+ integrations
Benchmarks and unusual-activity reports built on team data
A central server where managers open screenshots, with desktop clients managed from one place
Support and a vendor who answers for the data when a client asks

Why people still pay

Companies pay for one view of a distributed team: who worked when, which apps were open and a payroll export that matches the hours. A tracker on your own laptop answers none of that, and the company, not the individual, usually carries the bill.

Moatcollaboration integrations execution polish

Do the math

Time Doctor or your own copy?

Seats

Over

Your usage

Count my time12h ×$/h

Time Doctor, 1 yr$96

Your own copy, 1 yr$8running + build session

You keep$89pays for itself in the first month

Estimate · Runs on your machine; screenshots are the only growth, so keep the retention setting on. The build is token usage on your agent plan.

Leaving Time Doctor

Take your data, then cancel.

1 · Take your data out of Time Doctor

1Web & App Usage: open Reports > Web & App Usage, set the users and date range, then click Export to download CSV or XLS.
2Custom Export: Reports > Custom Export builds a CSV or Excel file with the columns you pick, such as names, emails and time fields.
3Timesheet and payroll reports also export to CSV or XLS.
4What we read doesn't mention a bulk download of screenshots: save the ones you need before you cancel.

2 · Cancel Time Doctor

1Sign in as the company owner and open Settings / Billing.
2In the Billing details section choose Cancel account, pick your reasons and confirm.
3Accounts in the 14-day trial or without a card on file don't show the option, and need no cancellation.
4A manager or assistant can't cancel: they email support@timedoctor.com from the owner's registered address and answer verification questions.

Finance usually completes the cancellation within 24 to 48 hours; if nobody answers within 72 hours the ticket goes to the Finance team.
Data stays reachable for up to 6 months after the termination date, but export first.
Cancelling billing doesn't switch the app off: uninstall it for every user to stop tracking.
To reactivate, add a card again on the Billing page; to undo a pending request, write to support@timedoctor.com.
The article says nothing about refunds, so ask support before you rely on one.

Checked 2026-10-20 against Time Doctor's docs: 1, 2, 3, 4

The escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These are already free.

ActivityWatchOpen sourceMPL-2.0 automatic tracker for app, window and idle time with all data kept locally; it takes no screenshots.★ 19k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
Windows, macOS, LinuxVisit ↗CattrFreeSelf-hosted time tracking with screenshots, activity reports and a desktop client; source-available under SSPL, not an OSI open-source licence.★ 103 · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
Web, Windows, macOS, LinuxVisit ↗Ever GauzyOpen sourceAGPL-3.0 business platform with timesheets and a desktop timer app; large to run for one person.★ 8.4k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
Web, Windows, macOS, LinuxVisit ↗

All 5 free alternatives to Time Doctor ›

The numbers

Time Doctor pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual, per month	What you get
Basic	$8	$6.67	Automatic tracking, projects and tasks, timeline report, screenshots, online and offline tracking, groups; 3 months of history.
Standard	$14	$11.67	Basic plus schedules, attendance, time approvals, web and app usage reports, productivity ratings, leave and break tracking, payroll, 60+ integrations; 6 months of history.
Premium	$20	$16.70	Standard plus Benchmarks AI, an Unusual Activity AI report, video screen recording, SSO, open API, executive dashboard and a success manager; 2 years of history.
Enterprise	custom	—	Everything in Premium plus private cloud deployment, custom BI dashboards, guided onboarding and professional services.

Free tier: No free plan; the only free access is the 14-day all-features trial.
Billing: Monthly or annual per user. Annual is two months free (the page calls it 16.6%). Charges start when the trial ends. Cards only: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover. Prices exclude sales tax or VAT, which appears at checkout. The monthly and annual figures come from the page's own pricing data feed because the page text renders them with a script.
Hidden costs: On Basic and Standard, per user per month: Benchmarks AI $3, Unusual Activity report $3, video screen recording $3, Software Cost Insights $3, Meeting Insights $2, Office vs Remote report $2. HRIS and payroll integrations are $200 a month each, SSO and automated user provisioning $200 a month each, and BigQuery access $1,500 a month.
Source: www.timedoctor.com

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Questions

Time Doctor, briefly

Not answered here? Tell us and we'll add it.

Ask a question ›

No free plan: a 14-day trial gives every Premium feature, and the page says no credit card is needed.

Kinda. The core is a weekend build with the prompt on this page, but real gaps remain: Dashboards, schedules and attendance across many people, Time approvals, payroll and 60+ integrations.

About $8 a month on the Basic plan per seat, $96 a year (checked 2026-10-20).

Dashboards, schedules and attendance across many people; Time approvals, payroll and 60+ integrations; Benchmarks and unusual-activity reports built on team data; A central server where managers open screenshots, with desktop clients managed from one place; Support and a vendor who answers for the data when a client asks. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.