Cattr
Open SourceOpen-source time tracking for distributed teams and freelancers
AI Summary
Cattr is a free, self-hosted time tracking solution for monitoring work hours and project activities. The platform is designed for remote teams, agencies, and freelancers who want to transparently monitor and bill their productivity.
✓ Pros
- + Fully open-source and self-hosted for maximum control
- + Cross-platform compatible on Windows, Mac, and Linux
- + No licensing fees or hidden costs
✗ Cons
- − Requires technical knowledge for self-hosting and maintenance
- − Smaller community compared to commercial alternatives
Use Cases
- → Time tracking for remote teams and distributed workforces
- → Project-based time tracking and hourly billing
- → Productivity monitoring and activity analysis
- → Freelancer management and client billing processes
Who is it for?
Ideal for technically savvy teams, DevOps-oriented companies, and freelancers who want full control over their time tracking data.
Tags
What is Cattr?
Cattr is an open-source time-tracking application that helps teams and freelancers track working hours and project activity. The software runs on your own infrastructure. Anyone who does not want to hand their time-tracking data to a SaaS platform retains full control over their data. Cattr is free to use, with no licence fees or usage-based costs.
Core features
- Project-based time tracking: Working hours can be assigned to individual projects and tasks, which simplifies client billing.
- Activity analysis: The platform collects productivity data and provides reports that make working-time patterns visible.
- Cross-platform client: The desktop application runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, so mixed team environments are not an obstacle.
- Self-hosted operation: Installation and data storage lie entirely with the operator. There is no dependency on external services.
- Remote team support: Multiple users and roles can be managed, making Cattr useful for distributed teams with different access permissions.
Who is Cattr for?
The primary audience is technically experienced teams and individuals for whom data sovereignty is a concrete requirement, not a marketing promise. Agencies that bill working hours per project benefit from the project assignment feature. Freelancers who need to document client invoicing will find a free tool here without subscription pressure.
Without experience in server administration or Docker, setup can quickly become an obstacle. Running the software requires ongoing maintenance, updates and backup strategies. Anyone who cannot or does not want to handle that should prefer a hosted alternative.
Context & alternatives
Cattr sits in the segment of self-hosted time-tracking tools. Commercial SaaS products such as Toggl or Harvest offer similar core features, but host data on their own servers and charge monthly fees above certain team sizes. Kimai is another open-source alternative in this space, also built around self-hosting, with a somewhat larger community.
The key differentiator for Cattr is the desktop client for all three major operating systems combined with full data control. For anyone who needs both and can handle the operational side, Cattr is hard to look past in this price segment.
