Local-first time tracking: your data never leaves your device

A time tracker sees more of your life than almost any other software you run: every app you open, every site you visit, every client you work for, and exactly when. Local-first means that record lives in a file on your own machine — not in someone else's cloud — and the software works fully offline. This page explains what that buys you and how to check whether a tracker actually delivers it.

Why “cloud” is a different risk here

For most SaaS, cloud storage is a convenience trade you make with your eyes open. Activity tracking is different in degree and kind: the dataset is a minute-by-minute log of your working life. Hosted trackers ask you to accept several things at once:

• Terms you probably didn't parse. Some hosted trackers' terms grant the vendor broad, perpetual licenses to use the data you upload. People do eventually read these — usually in a Reddit thread, after they've been a customer for a year.
• A breach surface you can't control. Your complete work history is exactly as safe as the vendor's weakest security decision, forever.
• Access that outlives your subscription. Stop paying and the record of your days often becomes inaccessible — some tools won't even let you keep using an old version.
• Corporate data exfiltration by default. If you track on a work machine, a cloud tracker uploads a log of internal tool names, repo names, and client names to a third party. Many IT policies quietly prohibit exactly this.

What local-first means concretely

In a genuinely local-first tracker, all of these are true at once:

• The database is a file on your disk you can find, copy, back up, or delete. (DayReplay's is a SQLite file under your user profile.)
• No account is required to install or use it — if it wants an email before showing you your own data, your data is the product's hostage.
• It works offline indefinitely. Capture and review should not care whether you have a network connection.
• Network traffic is enumerable. The vendor can tell you every request the app makes, and the list is short enough to actually read.

What DayReplay sends over the network

The honest version of “nothing leaves your device” is a short, complete list of what does. DayReplay makes exactly two kinds of outbound request: an update-manifest check (platform, channel, current version — no identifier), and, if you buy Pro, license activation and revalidation calls to Lemon Squeezy (the license key, an activation UUID, and your hostname as a device label). Captured activity is never sent anywhere. The full detail, including endpoints, is in the privacy policy and on the security page.

How to verify any tracker's privacy claim

Marketing says “private” easily. Five checks that don't rely on trust:

1. Can you locate the data file? If support docs can't tell you where your data physically lives, it lives on their servers.
2. Does it run without an account? Sign-up-before-use is the tell that data flows through the vendor.
3. Does it keep working with the network cable pulled? Block it with a firewall for a day and see what breaks.
4. Is there a plain-English list of network calls? Not a 40-page policy — a list.
5. Does it take screenshots or log keys? Neither is necessary for time reconstruction; both mean your actual content — not just metadata — is being captured.

Local-first trackers worth considering

DayReplay isn't the only tool that takes this stance, and honest comparison beats a sales pitch:

• ActivityWatch — free, open-source, local. Excellent if you enjoy configuring watchers and building your own views. How DayReplay compares.
• Qbserve — the Mac one-time-purchase classic; local and solid, though Mac-only with infrequent updates lately. How DayReplay compares.
• DayReplay — local-first on Windows and macOS, automatic capture with browser URL/tab context, session timeline, invoice-ready CSV. Free tier covers 7 days of history; Pro extends it to 90 days with a one-time lifetime license or monthly plan.

Coming from a cloud tracker instead? See vs RescueTime, vs Rize, or the full comparison hub.

Try DayReplay

Free shows your last 7 days with day navigation — no account, no card, and nothing leaves your machine.

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