RescueTime alternative
A RescueTime alternative that knows which project you worked on
RescueTime tells you how long you spent in Chrome. Didon tells you it was the Acme pricing page. If you want a RescueTime alternative for Mac that reads context with an AI model running on your own machine, this page shows what changes and what you give up.
Why do people look for a RescueTime alternative?
RescueTime has tracked computer time in the background for years. It records the active app, the website URL, the window title and when you started and stopped, then turns that into productivity scores and reports in your account. Its privacy policy lists exactly those fields.
That works if your question is "how much time did I lose to Slack?" It works less well if your question is "how many hours went to the Acme project this week?" App names and URLs don't map neatly to clients and tasks. You still end up sorting the day yourself.
The other reason is privacy. RescueTime's reports live in its cloud service. Some people would rather the record of their workday never leave the laptop.
What changes when you switch to Didon?
Didon is a macOS app. While tracking is on, it takes a screenshot every 30 seconds and a vision model running on your Mac reads it: window titles, file names, visible text. It matches each moment to the projects you listed. Anything that doesn't match goes to "Other".
- Projects, not apps. Your day is grouped by the work, so "Cursor, 47 min" becomes "Acme checkout form".
- A written daily journal. Time per project, a category split and a short summary of what you did.
- Ask your history. Type a question like "What did I do for Acme last week?" and get an answer from your own logs.
- Local by design. Screenshots are analysed on your Mac and never uploaded. Logs are saved in
~/Documents/Didon/. - Nothing to start or stop. Didon launches with your Mac and pauses when it sleeps.
Should you pick Didon or RescueTime?
Pick Didon if you work on a Mac, care about which project got your hours, and want the record to stay on your machine. Freelancers billing several clients, founders running more than one project and developers who want honest numbers for their week get the most out of it.
Stay with RescueTime if you need tracking on Windows or your phone, want app and site blocking during focus time, or manage a team. RescueTime also has billable rates, integrations and years of history behind it. Didon has none of those, and we'd rather say so here than in a support ticket.
How do you switch from RescueTime without losing a week?
Run both for five working days. It costs nothing on Didon's free plan.
If you also look at Rize or Timing, see the Rize alternative and Timing alternative pages. The longer argument for automatic tracking is in AI productivity tracker vs manual work tracking.
- Export what you want to keep from RescueTime before you cancel. Didon doesn't import RescueTime data.
- Install Didon and type your active projects as a comma-separated list, such as "Acme Website, Client App, Internal".
- Name things clearly. "acme-checkout-redesign" gives the model far more to work with than "Untitled".
- Compare on Friday. Open both reports and ask which one answered "where did my week go?" without extra sorting.
Didon vs RescueTime at a glance
| Topic | Didon | RescueTime |
|---|---|---|
| How it tracks | Screenshot every 30 s, read by an on-device AI model | Active app, URL, window title and timestamps |
| What you see | Time per project, category split, written daily summary | Time by app, site and category, productivity score |
| Where analysis runs | On your Mac | RescueTime's cloud service |
| Platforms | macOS (Apple Silicon) | Desktop, web and iOS apps |
| Focus blocking | No | Yes, Focus Sessions block apps and sites (paid) |
| Free plan | Yes, 1 week of history | Yes (Lite); free users see up to 2 weeks of history |
| Paid price | €9/month (AI Work Tracker), €20/month (AI Work Manager) | Solo $7/month billed yearly or $9 monthly; Solo+ $12 yearly or $15 monthly |
| Export | CSV with timestamps, on any paid plan | CSV and Excel exports with Timesheets |
| Teams | No team plan | Team and Team+ plans |
RescueTime prices from rescuetime.com/pricing, checked 26 October 2026, in USD.
FAQ
Common questions about how Didon compares.