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Technology · head to head

RescueTime vs Umami

RescueTime logo

RescueTime

Technology

Take back control of your time

From
$12/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Umami logo

Umami

Marketing

Open source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Umami has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: RescueTime no free tier since 2023, making it costly for individual experimentation; Umami there is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • They diverge on capability: RescueTime covers Automatic time tracking, Umami covers Cookie-free tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which RescueTime and Umami actually diverge.

Attributes where RescueTime and Umami differ
AttributeRescueTimeUmami
Starting price$12/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownPer month by event count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Android, WebWeb, Linux
CategoryTechnologyMarketing
Founded2006Unknown

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 RescueTime

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

Only in Umami

  • Cookie-free tracking
  • Self-hosting
  • Small tracking script
  • Custom events
  • Funnels and goals
  • Multi-site and teams
  • Public dashboards

Both cover

  • API access

What people use each for

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

RescueTime

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

Umami

  • A developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent bannernot RescueTime
  • An organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a US advertising companynot RescueTime
  • A high-traffic site where hosted analytics priced by pageview band has become expensive and self-hosting removes the ceiling entirelynot RescueTime
  • A team that wants analytics data in a database they already control so they can query and join it themselvesnot RescueTime

Where each one falls short

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

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

Umami

  • There is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • Self-hosting is only free in licence terms; you own the database, the upgrades, the backups and the query performance at scale, and a busy site's events table grows quickly enough to need real attention.
  • Because it stores no persistent identifier, it cannot follow a user across devices or sessions in any meaningful way, which makes returning-visitor and lifetime-value questions unanswerable by design rather than by omission.
  • Cloud overage is billed per event beyond the plan allowance, so a traffic spike or a badly instrumented custom event can produce a bill materially above the $20 or $200 headline before anyone notices.
  • It is maintained by a small team, so the pace of new capability is modest and enterprise expectations such as SSO, granular role permissions and formal support agreements are limited compared with commercial analytics vendors.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Umami

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • MIT licensed, no licence fee
    • No event limit imposed by the software
    • Unlimited websites and users
  • Cloud HobbyFree
    • Up to 100,000 events per month
    • 3 websites
    • 6 months data retention
  • Cloud Pro$20/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 events per month
    • Unlimited websites
    • Unlimited team members
  • Cloud Business$200/month
    • Up to 10,000,000 events per month
    • All Pro features
    • Higher volume overage rate

Which should you pick?

Choose RescueTime if

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

Choose Umami if

  • You need cookie-free tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want self-hosting.
Umami review

Questions people ask

Is RescueTime or Umami better?
Neither clearly leads. RescueTime starts at $12/month and Umami at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, RescueTime or Umami?
Umami has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $12/month for RescueTime and Free for Umami.
Does RescueTime or Umami run on more platforms?
RescueTime runs on Windows, macOS, Android, Web. Umami runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Umami for free?
Yes. Umami has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. RescueTime starts at $12/month.
What is RescueTime best used for?
RescueTime is most often used for personal productivity tracking, time audit, focus improvement, work-life balance. Of those, personal productivity tracking and time audit are not what Umami is typically brought in for.
What can RescueTime do that Umami cannot?
RescueTime covers Automatic time tracking, Productivity scoring, Detailed categorization, FocusTime blocking. Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Self-hosting, Small tracking script, Custom events. Both handle API access.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Umami: Is Umami really free?

Self-hosted, yes; it is MIT licensed with no event cap. You pay for the server and database. Umami Cloud has a free tier at 100,000 events a month and paid tiers from $20.

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
Umami: Do I need a cookie consent banner?

For Umami analytics specifically, generally no, because it sets no cookies and stores no personal data. Other tags on your site may still require one.

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
Umami: Can it replace Google Analytics?

For traffic, referrers and event counts, yes. For attribution modelling, audiences and advertising integration, no.

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
Umami: What does it need to run?

A container and a PostgreSQL or MySQL database. Most people deploy it on infrastructure they already pay for.

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