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Tokify vs Toggl
Looking for a free, open-source alternative to Toggl on your Mac? Here’s an honest look at how Tokify differs.
| Tokify | Toggl | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free plan + paid tiers |
| Account | None required | Account required |
| Works offline | Yes, fully | Apps cache data; syncs to cloud |
| Your data | Plain-text ~/.tock.txt | Cloud account (exportable) |
| Open source | Yes (GPL-3.0) | Proprietary |
| Platform | Native macOS | Cross-platform (web, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows) |
| Teams | Shared activity, end-to-end encrypted | Shared projects, cloud synced |
What Toggl is good at
Toggl Track is one of the most polished time trackers available. It has a generous free plan, well-designed apps on every platform (web, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows), and strong team features like shared projects, dashboards, and reporting. Its cross-platform availability is a real advantage if you switch between devices or work with a team — and it has been refined over many years. If those things matter to you, Toggl is a genuinely excellent choice.
Where Tokify is different
Tokify is a native macOS time tracker, free and open source under GPL-3.0. For personal use, you can install it, type what you’re working on, and press Start. Teams can work from shared activity history when they turn on sync.
The other main difference is where data lives. Toggl stores your time entries in the cloud (and lets you export them). With Tokify, your history is always a plain-text file at ~/.tock.txt on your own Mac — no database, no lock-in. Sync is optional, and when you turn it on, individual and shared team activities are end-to-end encrypted before they leave your machine.
Which should you pick?
If you want a well-established, cross-platform service with great apps everywhere, Toggl is a strong fit. If you’re a Mac user who prefers a calm, offline-first tracker with end-to-end encrypted team activity and data you fully own, that’s where Tokify is different.
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/relegate-to/tokify/main/install.sh | shFree · Open source (GPL-3.0) · macOS 11+ · No account required