Super Productivity vs. Toggl Track: Developer Comparison

Time tracking is essential for developers, whether you’re billing clients by the hour or just trying to optimize your deep work sessions. Toggl Track has long been the industry standard for easy, cloud-based time tracking. But for developers who value privacy, local data ownership, and deep integration with their issue trackers, Super Productivity has emerged as a powerful open-source alternative.

In this article, we’ll compare Toggl Track and Super Productivity side-by-side to help you decide which tool fits your workflow best.

⏱️ The Contenders

Toggl Track: The Cloud Standard

Toggl Track is a polished, cloud-native time tracker known for its ease of use. It works on every device, syncs instantly to the cloud, and offers robust reporting features for teams.

• Best for: Agencies, teams needing centralized reporting, and freelancers who switch devices constantly.
• Core Philosophy: Frictionless, cloud-first time tracking with powerful analytics.

Super Productivity: The Developer’s Workstation

Super Productivity is an open-source (MIT licensed), local-first productivity suite with nearly a decade of active development and 10k+ stars on GitHub. It combines time tracking with task management, deep work tools, and integrations with Jira, GitHub, and GitLab.

• Best for: Developers, privacy advocates, and anyone who wants their time tracking linked directly to their coding tasks.
• Core Philosophy: Privacy-first, offline-first, and integrated directly into the developer’s issue workflow.

⚔️ Feature Comparison

🔍 Deep Dive: Is Toggl Track Good for Developers?

While Toggl is excellent for general time tracking, Super Productivity offers specific advantages for software engineers.

1. Privacy & Data Ownership

This is the biggest differentiator. Toggl Track operates on a SaaS model. Your data lives on their servers. While they are reputable and secure, you are ultimately trusting a third party with your detailed work logs.

Super Productivity is Local-First.

• Desktop & Mobile: Your database lives locally on your machine (e.g., in ~/.config/super-productivity). You own it. You can back it up, encrypt it, or sync it via your own Nextcloud, Dropbox, or WebDAV.
• Web Version: Due to browser limitations, the web version stores data in your browser’s local storage (requires user-supplied sync for multi-device setups). For developers working on sensitive IP or under strict NDAs, this local-only architecture is often a requirement, not just a feature.

2. Workflow Integration (Jira, GitHub, GitLab)

Toggl Track integrates with many tools through its browser extension and automation platforms like Zapier and Make, including Jira and other common productivity systems. It works well, but it’s a surface-level integration. You start a timer, and it copies the title.

Super Productivity integrates deeply via the API.

• It imports your tickets from Jira, GitHub, or GitLab as tasks.
• It updates the status in the external system (e.g., Super Productivity can be configured to update or transition Jira issues–when your Jira workflow and permissions allow it).
• It allows you to log work directly to the remote system’s worklog (e.g., syncing time spent back to the Jira issue automatically).

For a developer, this means you never have to double-entry your time. You just work on your tasks, and the administration happens in the background.

3. Focus & Deep Work

Toggl Track is primarily a recorder. It tracks time as you spend it.

Super Productivity is an active assistant. It includes:

• Pomodoro Timer: Built-in and configurable.
• Break Reminders: “You’ve been working for 2 hours, take a stretch.”
• Focus Mode: A minimal interface that shows only the current task.
• Anti-Procrastination: Offers guidance and UX nudges to help you break down large, intimidating tasks into smaller sub-tasks when you’re stuck.

4. Cost

Toggl Track has a generous free tier, but features like billable rates, rounding, and project templates are locked behind a subscription (approx. $10-$20/user/month).

Super Productivity is free and open source (FOSS). All features are available to everyone. If you want to support development, you can donate, but the software itself is free.

⚖️ Where Toggl Track Wins

To be fair, Toggl Track excels in areas where Super Productivity (by design) does not.

1. Team Reporting & Invoicing: If you manage a team of 10 people and need to see who worked on what project instantly, Toggl’s dashboard is superior. Super Productivity is optimized for the individual contributor.
2. Mobile Experience: Toggl’s mobile app is highly polished and native. Super Productivity’s Android app is built on the same codebase as the desktop and web versions. It works well for most workflows, but because it is not fully native, background execution may be restricted on certain Android devices.
3. Zero-Config Sync: Toggl syncs automatically. Super Productivity requires you to set up your own sync provider (Google Drive, Dropbox, WebDAV) if you want to share data between devices.

🏆 The Verdict

Choose Toggl Track if:

• You need to manage a team’s time and generate centralized invoices.
• You rely heavily on a polished mobile app for tracking time on the go.
• You want “set it and forget it” cloud sync without configuring WebDAV or Dropbox.

Choose Super Productivity if:

• You are a developer working with Jira, GitHub, or GitLab.
• You care about privacy and want full ownership of your data.
• You want a tool that helps you plan and focus, not just track time.
• You prefer open-source software and hate subscription fees for personal tools.

🚀 Ready to switch?

Migrating to Super Productivity is easy. You can start using it today without signing up for an account.

• Download Super Productivity for Linux, macOS, or Windows.
• Check out our Get Started Guide to set up your first project.