ActivityWatch vs AppBlock
ActivityWatch
activitywatch.net
AppBlock
appblock.appSide by side
| Figure | ActivityWatch | AppBlock |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4.17/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 4 | 2 |
| Spec score · Screen Time Management Apps | 8.6 (#3) | 8.2 (#9) |
| Purpose | ActivityWatch automatically tracks how users spend time on their devices, including applications and websites. | AppBlock helps manage screen time and block distracting apps, websites, URLs, and keywords. |
| Support | The project offers community discussion through its forum and Discord server, and says development is volunteer-built and may slow at times. | The site links to Android, iOS, and extension help pages, contact support, and feature requests, and invites users to join its Discord community. |
Plans
ActivityWatch
- Personal$5 a month
- Business$20 a month
- Personal yearly$50 a year
- Believer$450, paid once
In their own words
ActivityWatch
ActivityWatch has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
AppBlock
AppBlock helps manage screen time by blocking distracting apps, websites, URLs, and keywords. Users can create profiles that start automatically by time, day, location, or connected Wi-Fi. Strict Mode makes blocks harder to bypass and includes Cooldown and third-party approval options. Usage limits, app and website tracking, and reports show screen-time habits over time. Allowlist Mode blocks everything except selected essential apps. The iOS feature list includes schedules, Strict Mode, Quick Block, Allowlist, approval access, and Pomodoro sessions. Extensions for Chrome, Edge, and Brave offer Quick Block and scheduled website blocking. The maker presents uses for work, students, parents, ADHD, mental health, and well-being. Its privacy policy says core blocking rules, screen content read for blocking, and detailed usage statistics are processed locally, subject to stated exceptions. Installed-app package names are sent to servers for category-based blocking, and backups upload blocking configuration when that feature is used. The Free plan costs nothing and has platform-specific limits; a 7-day trial is listed.