Honest comparison
Focus Meter vs RescueTime
RescueTime pioneered automatic time tracking — then made you pay for it forever and ship your activity log to their servers.
RescueTime and Focus Meter answer the same question: where does my time go? The difference is how. RescueTime streams your activity to the cloud behind an account and a monthly subscription. Focus Meter keeps everything on your Mac and charges you once.
At a glance
| Feature | RescueTime | Focus Meter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.50–$12 / mo ($78–$144 / yr) | $19 one-time |
| Data storage | Cloud (their servers) | Local only (your Mac) |
| Account required | Yes | No |
| Native Mac app | No (Electron) | Yes (Swift/SwiftUI) |
| Focus score | Yes | Yes |
| Website tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Works fully offline | Limited | Always |
| Export (CSV / JSON) | CSV (Premium only) | Always included |
| Team features | Yes | No (individual focus) |
Where RescueTime shines
- Mature product with over a decade of development.
- Team features, alerts, and goals for organizations.
- Cross-platform — Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome extension.
Where Focus Meter is different
Your data never leaves your Mac
RescueTime uploads every app switch and URL to their servers. Focus Meter makes zero network requests — your activity is stored in a local SQLite file you own.
$19 once vs $78–$144 every year
At RescueTime Premium’s cheapest annual plan, you pay more in two months than Focus Meter costs forever. After year one, the subscription gap only widens.
Native Mac, not Electron
RescueTime is an Electron wrapper that ships a full Chromium with it. Focus Meter is Swift/SwiftUI — a menu bar app that uses single-digit megabytes of memory.
No account, no login
RescueTime requires an account to use at all. Focus Meter opens and starts tracking — no email, no signup, no password reset flow three months from now.
Works offline, forever
Focus Meter tracks on a plane, on a train, during an internet outage. RescueTime depends on its cloud to be fully useful.
Cost over three years
| RescueTime | Focus Meter | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $78–$144 | $19 |
| Year 2 | $156–$288 total | $19 total |
| Year 3 | $234–$432 total | $19 total |
Use RescueTime if…
Teams that need shared dashboards, managers tracking team productivity, and users who want cross-platform (Windows/Linux) support.
Use Focus Meter if…
Individual Mac users who want the same insights without a subscription, a cloud database of their activity, or an account.
FAQ
Is Focus Meter a RescueTime alternative for Mac?
Yes — specifically built for people who want RescueTime’s automatic tracking and focus scoring without the cloud upload, the account, or the subscription. It’s Mac-only, $19 once, and fully on-device.
How is Focus Meter cheaper than RescueTime?
No server bills to cover. RescueTime runs a cloud backend that ingests activity from millions of users. Focus Meter has no backend — your data stays on your Mac — so a one-time $19 price covers development and updates.
Can I import my RescueTime data into Focus Meter?
Not today. Focus Meter tracks forward from the moment you install it. You can export RescueTime history for your own records; Focus Meter’s own data is always exportable as CSV or JSON.
Does Focus Meter have team or admin features like RescueTime?
No. Focus Meter is deliberately single-user and on-device. If you need shared team dashboards or admin oversight, RescueTime and Toggl are better fits.
Same insights. No subscription. No cloud. $19 once.
$19 one-time · No subscription · 100% on-device