Time tracking for Linux

A proper desktop tracker for Ubuntu and Debian, with the same screenshots, activity and idle detection as the macOS and Windows apps.

Why this page exists

Most time tracking tools treat Linux as a web page and leave it there. If your team works on Ubuntu, that means no screenshots, no application activity, and no idle detection — the parts that make the timesheet worth having.

Happy Tracker ships the same desktop tracker on Linux as it does on macOS and Windows, from the same codebase, with the same features.

What the Linux app does

• Clock in and out against a project, a client and a task.
• Screenshots at the interval your administrator sets, or off entirely. Blurred before upload on Starter and above, so an unblurred copy never leaves the machine.
• Application activity — how much keyboard and mouse activity there was, and which application was in the foreground. Never the content of what is typed.
• Idle detection, so idle minutes are not billed as work.
• Offline queueing. If the connection drops it keeps tracking and uploads when the network returns.
• A visible recording indicator. There is no hidden mode.

Installing it

Download the .deb from your workspace under App Download, then:

sudo apt install ./happy-tracker_*.deb

Or, if you prefer dpkg and want apt to resolve the dependencies afterwards:

sudo dpkg -i happy-tracker_*.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

Launch it from your applications menu, sign in with your work email, pick a project and press start.

Which distributions

Built and tested on Ubuntu. It installs on Debian and on the Ubuntu derivatives — Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, elementary OS — because they share the same package format.

On Wayland, screen capture goes through the desktop portal, so the first capture asks your permission. That prompt is the system's, not ours, and granting it once is enough.

Mixed teams

Most teams that ask about Linux are mixed. Everybody appears in the same workspace, the same timesheet and the same reports, whichever operating system they are on — macOS, Windows, Ubuntu, or the web app for anyone who does not want a desktop app at all.

An administrator can require the desktop app for clocking in, and still allow named people to use the browser.

What it does not do

No GPS or location tracking. No keylogging — activity is counts and the foreground application, never content. No hidden or stealth mode. And nothing is captured unless the person is clocked in.

Try it on the free plan

Free for five users, no card, and the Linux app is included — desktop apps are not a paid extra. Rs 499 per user per year after that.

Create a free workspace · Thirty questions answered · Documentation