Where your day went,
by project.
Time Wheel sorts your computer time into your own projects, like clients, content and admin, instead of app names. See any day, week, month or year as one wheel: today and this week on your desktop, and every range on your account from any computer. No timers, and nothing to start or stop.
Same week, two answers
Why app names don't helpMost trackers stop at the app. "Chrome, 41%" is true and tells you nothing, because Chrome was three clients, your invoices and a course. Time Wheel keeps going until it can name the work.
By app
What most trackers showNine hours in a browser. Doing what, for whom?
By project
What Time Wheel showsNine hours on clients, three on admin you could batch, and 90 minutes of learning.
How it works
About ten minutes, onceSet it up once. After that, it runs by itself.
Install it
Run one file. It sets up everything, including ActivityWatch, the free tracker it runs on.
Name your projects
Give each project a few words, like a client's name or "invoice". Any window with that word counts.
See your wheel
Today and this week sit on your desktop. Any day, week, month or year is on your account, from any computer.
Try the sorting
Runs in your browserThese are window titles from a made-up freelancer's morning. Edit the words next to each project and watch where the titles land. Separate words with |. The first match wins, top to bottom, which is why the Harlow invoice counts as client work. This is exactly how the app sorts, on your own computer.
What stays on your computer
The privacy lineThe sorting happens on your machine. Your account only gets project names, time per project per day, and each computer's name and last sync time. It never sees what you were looking at.
Stays on your computer
- Every window title and app name
- The list of Unsorted titles that helps you write rules
- ActivityWatch's own history, in its own local database
Sent to your account
- Project names, and seconds per project per day
- The name you gave the computer, and when it last synced
Time away from the screen
It asks, it doesn't guessCalls, site visits and training all happen away from the keyboard. Add them by hand in a few taps and they go straight on your wheel. Nothing goes on it unless you put it there. Coming next: connect your calendar, and Time Wheel will suggest entries from it and wait for your yes.
All your screen time,
for you or your whole team.
What's here, what's comingToday, Time Wheel covers up to three Windows computers on one account, added together into one wheel. The aim is every screen you work on, for you or for a team, with nothing switched on unless you choose it. None of the four below is ready yet.
Mac and Linux
ActivityWatch already runs on both. Time Wheel will follow, on the same account.
Connectors
Link your calendar first, then other accounts. Time Wheel will suggest the time they show and wait for your yes. Each one stays off until you switch it on.
Your phone
Opt-in only. Phones limit what apps can see, so this ships only if it can keep the same rule: totals leave the phone, nothing else.
Teams
Each person runs Time Wheel on their own computers and chooses to share project totals with the team. Window titles never leave anyone's computer, so nobody sees what anyone else was looking at, including Plain Systems.
What you can check for yourself
Before you pay- Try the sorting above. It's the same rule the app uses.
- See exactly what one day sends to your account, in the sample above.
- ActivityWatch is free and open source. You can open it and see everything it holds.
- The download comes with a published SHA-256 checksum, so you can confirm the file hasn't been changed.
- Export or delete everything from your account page, whenever you like.
- 30-day refund, no questions.
Buy it once,
or get every tool.
Two ways to payBuy Time Wheel once and keep it, with your account and the online wheel included. Or join the membership: every Plain Systems tool on one account, paid monthly or for 3, 6 or 12 months at a time. The membership waitlist is open now.
- Desktop widget for today and this week, updated every 15 minutes
- Your wheel online from any computer: any day, week, month or year
- Up to three Windows computers on one account
- Your own projects and words, changed any time
- Time away from the screen, added by hand in a few taps
- Export or delete everything, whenever you like
Sales open soon: join the waitlist to hear first. At launch, checkout is on Gumroad. Your licence key arrives by email. Create a free account here and enter the key: that lets you pair your computers, and they start syncing. 30-day refund, no questions.
Every Plain Systems tool
Time Wheel and every other Plain Systems tool on one account, including each new one as it's released. Pay monthly, or for 3, 6 or 12 months at a time. The price goes on the membership page before it opens.
Buying Time Wheel today doesn't lock you out of anything. You keep it whether you join or not.
Join the waitlistWindows 10 or 11 · ActivityWatch (free, installed for you)
Mac, Linux, phone and teams: not yet · see what's coming
Questions
Does it record my screen or my typing?
No. It notes which app and window title were in front, and for how long. No screenshots, no keystrokes, no microphone or camera.
What is ActivityWatch?
A free, open-source time tracker that keeps its data on your own computer. Time Wheel reads from it locally. You can open ActivityWatch's own view any time and see exactly what it holds.
Why pay, if ActivityWatch is free?
ActivityWatch notes which window was in front. Time Wheel is everything on top: the setup, your projects and words, the desktop widget, your wheel online from any computer, and time away from the screen.
Does it need admin rights?
Time Wheel itself doesn't. If ActivityWatch isn't installed yet, the installer asks first, and Windows may ask you once to allow it.
What if a window doesn't match any project?
It goes into Unsorted. The widget lists your biggest Unsorted windows, so you can see which word to add to a project.
Does time count when you walk away?
No. When the computer has been idle for a few minutes, that time isn't counted. Time away from the screen only goes on the wheel if you add it.
Can you use it on more than one computer?
Yes, up to three Windows computers. Once your licence key is on your account, each computer pairs with a one-time code, and the wheel adds them together.
Does it work on a Mac or my phone?
Not yet. Time Wheel runs on Windows 10 and 11 today. Mac and Linux are coming, a phone version is being explored, and every extra device will be opt-in. Join the waitlist to hear when.
Can my team use it?
Not as a team yet. Each person can buy their own copy today. The team version, where each person chooses to share project totals and never window titles, is on the waitlist.
Is there a monthly option?
Not for Time Wheel on its own. The membership will cover every Plain Systems tool, paid monthly or for 3, 6 or 12 months at a time. Its waitlist is open now.
What if you stop using it?
Nothing breaks. The widget keeps working on your computer, and your account keeps your history until you delete it. You can export everything as a file first.
Refunds?
30 days, no questions. Reply to your receipt email.