Know where your
time actually goes.
Automatic time tracking for macOS — zero effort, total privacy.
The automatic time tracker that replaces manual timers and timesheets. No timers to start, no projects to tag manually. Offline, private, open source.
A full dashboard,
right inside the app.
Real-time SPA dashboard with client management, bulk assignment, brand merging, and AI-powered project suggestions. Everything runs locally on your Mac.
Live SPA Dashboard
Day, week, and month views with interactive charts, project breakdowns, and a real-time local API. No static HTML — a full single-page app served from your menu bar.
Bulk Selection & Assignment
Select dozens of activities, pick a project, assign all at once.
Client Merge
Duplicate client? Merge all projects into another brand with one click.
Client Detail View
Click any client — see projects, hours, and monthly activity.
Smart Auto-Creation
Select a client with no projects — one is created on the fly.
Period Tabs
All Time, This Week, This Month — switch instantly on any app detail view.
It Learns Your Patterns
Scans unassigned activities, detects URL domains, folder names, window titles, and Figma files. Suggests clients, projects, and matching rules.
Client Management
Add, rename, delete, and color-pick clients and projects directly from the dashboard.
Replace manual time tracking
with automatic tracking.
Manual trackers require you to start timers, log hours, and tag projects by hand. Pulse does all of this automatically.
- ×Start & stop timers manually
- ×Forget to log? Data is lost forever
- ×Assign every task to a project by hand
- ×Context-switch between tracker & real work
- ×Pay $10-30/mo per seat
- ×Your data lives on someone else's server
- ✓Tracks every window & app automatically
- ✓Never misses a second — always running
- ✓AI detects patterns & assigns projects for you
- ✓Zero interruption — sits silently in menu bar
- ✓Free & open source, forever
- ✓100% offline — data never leaves your Mac
Stop filling timesheets. Start getting real data.
Automatic time tracking
for every app you use.
No timers to start. No buttons to click. Pulse tracks every app, browser tab, terminal command, and design file on your Mac.
Automatic Window Tracking
Detects your active app and window every 2 seconds. No manual logging needed.
Menu Bar Control
Start, pause, or stop tracking from the menu bar. Minimal and always accessible.
Smart Site Separation
YouTube, GitHub, ChatGPT, and more are tracked as separate virtual apps inside your browser.
Terminal Monitoring
Tracks background processes like compiling, git operations, and npm scripts in Terminal.
Now Playing
Logs Safari URLs, Spotify tracks, and Apple Music songs alongside your work sessions.
Idle & Sleep Detection
Auto-pauses when you step away. Detects screen lock, sleep, and 10-minute idle periods.
HTML Reports
Beautiful daily reports with donut charts, timeline views, and per-app breakdowns.
Historical Reports
Browse past days anytime. All data is stored locally in SQLite and never expires.
JSON Export & AI Analysis
Export weekly or monthly data as JSON. Feed it to Claude or any AI copilot for productivity insights.
Detailed time reports
generated automatically.
Daily productivity reports with time-per-app charts, activity timelines, and project breakdowns.
Offline time tracking.
Your data never leaves your Mac.
Unlike cloud-based time trackers, Pulse runs 100% offline. No accounts, no subscriptions, no data collection.
No Network Dependencies
The only dependencies are SQLite and a CLI parser. Nothing phones home.
Local SQLite Storage
All data lives in a single file on your machine.
Smart Idle Detection
Never tracks when you're away. Auto-pauses after 10 minutes.
100% Open Source
Every line is auditable. MIT licensed.
Install in 60 seconds.
Track time automatically forever.
Install
Clone the repo and run the install script. Takes under a minute.
Open
Launch from Spotlight or Applications. Grant accessibility permission once.
Forget
It tracks silently from the menu bar. Check your reports whenever you want.
Download Pulse
for macOS. Free.
Works on macOS 13 Ventura and later. No account needed, no credit card, no trial period.
Then open Pulse from Spotlight or Applications folder.
Frequently asked
questions.
How is Pulse different from manual time trackers?
Manual time trackers require you to start and stop timers for each task. Pulse tracks your time automatically by monitoring which app and window is active on your Mac. It also auto-categorizes work using AI pattern detection.
Can Pulse replace manual timesheet logging?
Yes. Pulse captures every minute spent in VS Code, Terminal, Figma, or your browser automatically. Create brand/project hierarchies and auto-assign activities using classification rules.
Is Pulse free? What's the catch?
Pulse is 100% free and open source under the MIT license. No premium tier, no data harvesting, no subscription.
Does Pulse work offline?
Yes, 100% offline with a local SQLite database. No internet required. Your data never leaves your Mac.
What apps does Pulse track?
Every macOS application: VS Code, Figma, Safari, Chrome, Terminal, Slack, Notion. Browser tabs like YouTube, GitHub, ChatGPT are tracked separately.
How does automatic project classification work?
7 rule types: URL domain, URL path, window title, terminal folder, Figma file, bundle ID, page title. AI pattern detector suggests rules automatically.
Is Pulse good for freelancers?
Built for freelancers and agencies. Automatically tracks client projects, generates hour reports, and separates billable from personal time.
Why choose Pulse over manual time tracking?
Manual trackers require discipline. Pulse runs in your menu bar and captures everything automatically, without monthly cost or cloud dependency.