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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs RescueTime

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
RescueTime logo

RescueTime

Technology

Take back control of your time

From
$12/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Earthly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; RescueTime no free tier since 2023, making it costly for individual experimentation
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, RescueTime covers Automatic time tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and RescueTime actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and RescueTime differ
AttributeEarthlyRescueTime
Starting priceFree$12/month
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIWindows, macOS, Android, Web
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
Founded20202006

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

Only in RescueTime

  • Automatic time tracking
  • Productivity scoring
  • Detailed categorization
  • FocusTime blocking
  • Goal setting
  • Alerts & notifications
  • Offline time entry
  • API access

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot RescueTime
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot RescueTime
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot RescueTime
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot RescueTime

RescueTime

  • Personal productivity trackingnot Earthly
  • Time auditnot Earthly
  • Focus improvementnot Earthly
  • Work-life balancenot Earthly
  • Team productivity analysisnot Earthly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

RescueTime

  • No free tier since 2023, making it costly for individual experimentation
  • Limited iOS support compared to competitors that offer full mobile app access
  • Requires integration via categories and rules rather than direct app detection on some platforms

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

RescueTime

$12/month
  • Standard$12/month
    • Automatic time tracking
    • Focus Time
    • Idle time monitoring
  • Team$6/month
    • All Standard features
    • Team analytics
    • Cross-device tracking

Which should you pick?

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Choose RescueTime if

  • You need automatic time tracking.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want productivity scoring.
RescueTime review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or RescueTime better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and RescueTime at $12/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or RescueTime?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and $12/month for RescueTime.
Does Earthly or RescueTime run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. RescueTime runs on Windows, macOS, Android, Web.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. RescueTime starts at $12/month.
What is Earthly best used for?
Earthly is most often used for enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers, automating incident response procedures across all repositories, embedding compliance requirements into development workflows, standardizing build processes with earthfiles. Of those, enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers and automating incident response procedures across all repositories are not what RescueTime is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that RescueTime cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. RescueTime covers Automatic time tracking, Productivity scoring, Detailed categorization, FocusTime blocking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
RescueTime: Does RescueTime still have a free tier?

No. RescueTime discontinued its free tier in 2023. The service now requires a paid subscription starting at $12 per month or $78 per year.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
RescueTime: What platforms does RescueTime support?

RescueTime supports Windows, macOS, Android, and web. iOS support is limited to passive features like calendar sync and mobile summary emails.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
RescueTime: What are the key productivity features in RescueTime?

RescueTime offers automatic time tracking, Focus Time for blocking distractions, idle time monitoring, goal-setting with reminders, and in 2026 adds AI-Based Focus Sessions with real-time alerts to detect poor focus patterns.

Source
RescueTime: Is there a team plan for RescueTime?

Yes. The team plan costs $6 per user per month when billed annually, with a minimum of 3 users required.

Source
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