Productivity tracker
Tockly vs RescueTime
RescueTime is the long-running personal productivity tracker: automatic app and site logging scored on a 0 to 100 Productivity Pulse, privacy-first by design, with no screenshots and no manager-facing detail.
Tockly is work tracking that reads AI activity: every minute scored as hands-on, agent running, steering, or idle. Here is how the two compare, line by line.
At a glance
| Capability | Tockly | RescueTime |
|---|---|---|
| Classifies human vs AI-agent minutes | Every minute: hands-on, agent running, steering, or idle | No |
| Credits time supervising an AI agent | Reads agent activity directly and credits it as work | Quiet stretches over 5 minutes are not logged at all |
| Screenshots | Every 10 minutes, tied to the minute they capture | Never, by design |
| Activity tracking | Input event counts only, never keys or content | App and site logging with crowd-sourced productivity scores |
| App and site usage | Active app and window titles | Yes |
| Invoicing from tracked time | Free for up to 3 clients, unlimited on Pro | Timesheets with billing rates, no invoices |
| Free tier | Full capture, unlimited activity history | 2 weeks of history, 1 goal |
| Entry price (annual) | Free. Pro $12, Team $16 per seat/mo | $7/mo billed yearly ($84/yr) |
RescueTime details verified against its public pricing and documentation as of July 2026. Products change; check RescueTime's site for current numbers.
The minute RescueTime can't see
RescueTime's idle rule is five minutes of no input by default, and the failure mode is deletion: come back within five minutes and the gap counts, stay watching an agent any longer and the time is never logged at all. A Claude Code-heavy day does not get mislabeled, it gets shorter. The only recovery is manually logging offline time for hours you spent at the screen.
Agent minutes score as nothing happening.
Hands-on, steering, and agent time, each credited for what it is.
Pricing
Tockly
- Personal: free. Full capture, invoicing for 3 clients, screenshots from this month and last.
- Pro: $12/seat/mo annual ($15 monthly). Unlimited clients, 12 months of screenshot receipts.
- Team: $16/seat/mo annual ($20 monthly). Org rollups, roles, per-person AI adoption.
RescueTime
- Lite: free, 2 weeks of history.
- Solo Focus: $9/mo ($84/yr). Solo+ with timesheets: $15/mo ($144/yr).
- Team Focus: $12/user/mo ($120/yr). Team+: $18/user/mo ($192/yr).
Which should you pick?
Pick RescueTime if you want a private mirror of your own habits: distraction scores, focus sessions, and goals, with nothing shared and nothing to prove to anyone else.
Pick Tockly if your record has to survive AI work or convince someone else. RescueTime drops any quiet stretch over five minutes from the log entirely, so agent runs simply vanish. Tockly classifies them, credits them, and backs them with screenshots.
Frequently asked
Why does RescueTime miss hours from my day?
Its idle threshold is five minutes without input by default, changeable only by asking RescueTime support, and past it, time is not logged at all rather than marked idle. Reading, thinking, meetings, and any AI-agent run longer than five minutes disappear from the record unless you manually log offline time afterward. Tockly keeps every minute on the timeline and labels agent runs as work, sourced from the agent's own activity.
Is RescueTime or Tockly better for freelancers billing clients?
RescueTime is built for self-improvement, not billing: its Solo+ tier adds timesheets with billing rates and export, but there is no invoicing and no evidence behind the hours. Tockly invoices from classified time on every tier, free for up to 3 clients, with screenshots and a per-minute record backing each line item.
Does RescueTime take screenshots or monitor employees?
No. RescueTime states it never records keystrokes or takes screenshots, and its team plans show privacy-first aggregates rather than per-person activity detail. If you need a verifiable record, for a client, an employer, or your own AI-adoption numbers, that posture cannot produce one. Tockly is built to be the record.
More comparisons
See your own human/agent split today.
Install the app, work a normal day, and the record builds itself, minute by minute.