Beyond coding stats: what a client project really took

WakaTime measures coding time automatically through open-source plugins for editors and AI tools, Claude Code included, and shows it by project, language, file and branch. For developers who want to understand their own work, it is the established choice. You need a WakaTime alternative once you bill clients for work done with AI agents: their runtime, tokens and cost in euros, your own time outside the editor, and an invoice that carries all of it. That is what Time Momentum does. Facts about WakaTime as of 11 Oct 2026, from its website and documentation.

As of 11 Oct 2026

What WakaTime does well

  • Wide reach: plugins for common editors and for AI tools such as Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, Copilot CLI and OpenCode, released as open source.
  • Automatic: plugins send a heartbeat on activity, and WakaTime joins them into durations (by default with a 15-minute timeout). File contents are never sent.
  • Detail: time per project, language, file and branch, plus goals, leaderboards and weekly reports.
  • AI insights in Premium: AI adoption, model usage and spend, and AI-generated vs. human code.
  • Invoices in Premium: projects from your code stats as line items, as a PDF.
  • Plans: Free with one week of dashboard history, then Basic, Premium with the full history, Team and Business. Current prices are on WakaTime's pricing page.

WakaTime and Claude Code

WakaTime has an official Claude Code plugin, installed from Claude Code's plugin marketplace with your WakaTime API key. Per its README it tracks AI usage, lines of code generated and time spent prompting AI, shown on your WakaTime dashboard.

Time Momentum captures Claude Code through hooks as well, but measures differently: the active runtime of every session and subagent, tokens including cache and the cost of the session in euros, assigned to a client project.

When Time Momentum is the better WakaTime alternative

Time Momentum is built for freelancers and agencies who do client work with AI agents.

  • Effort instead of editor time: with agents, five minutes of prompting can start an hour of agent work. Time Momentum records agent runtime, tokens and cost per session, next to your own time.
  • Time tracking beyond the code: parallel timers, manual entries and Stream Deck keys for calls, reviews and meetings, on the same projects.
  • Clients, not only projects: effort and cost per project and client, valued in euros.
  • Through to the paid invoice (Pro): orders and budgets, invoices with AI costs passed on, e-invoices, payments, outstanding balances and the margin per project.
  • Operated by your agents (Pro): the tm CLI and the API do the billing work you would otherwise do by hand.

WakaTime vs. Time Momentum

FeatureWakaTimeTime Momentum
Editors and AI toolsMany editors, AI CLIspartlyClaude Code, Codex, Cursor
Stats by language, file, branch–
AI-generated lines of codeIn Premium–
AI costSpend stats, PremiumIn euros, per client
InvoicesPDF from code statsIn Pro
Goals and leaderboards–
Free planpartly1 week of historypartlyAI: last 30 days
Open sourcePlugins–

As of: 11 Oct 2026

Stay with WakaTime if

  • you mainly want to understand your coding habits: languages, files, goals,
  • you work in editors or AI tools Time Momentum does not capture,
  • your team compares activity on leaderboards.

What leaves your machine

Prompts, responses and code never leave your machine. Time Momentum receives the model, tokens, runtime, working folder, repository and a session title, and you can switch off titles and folders or exclude single folders.

Switching from WakaTime

There is no import from WakaTime. Your AI sessions come from the local logs instead.

  1. Create an account

  2. Run the install command

    On macOS or Linux. It installs the tm command line, asks for an API key from the app, detects Claude Code, Codex and Cursor and adds its hooks next to your existing ones.

    curl -fsSL https://app.time-momentum.com/install.sh | sh
  3. Past sessions come along

    Claude Code and Codex sessions still in your local logs are imported right away. Claude Code keeps them for 30 days by default.

  4. Assign folders to projects

    Once per folder or repository; later sessions follow automatically.

What Time Momentum captures per session: the full effort of a project.

Frequently asked questions

Does WakaTime track Claude Code?

Yes, with an official plugin from Claude Code's plugin marketplace. It tracks AI usage, lines of code generated and time spent prompting AI.

Is WakaTime free?

There is a free plan with one week of dashboard history. The full history, invoices and AI insights come with the paid Premium plan, as of 11 Oct 2026; prices are on WakaTime's pricing page.

Is there a free WakaTime alternative?

Time Momentum Free has timers, projects and clients without limits and captures AI sessions in full; it shows AI figures for the last 30 days. Wakapi is a free, self-hosted server for WakaTime's plugins.

Is there an open source WakaTime alternative?

Wakapi, MIT-licensed and self-hosted, partially compatible with WakaTime's plugins. WakaTime's own plugins are open source too. Time Momentum is not open source.

Can WakaTime create invoices?

Yes, in Premium: it turns the projects from your code stats into line items and a PDF invoice. Time Momentum's invoices in Pro add AI costs, e-invoices and payment tracking.

Can I import my WakaTime data into Time Momentum?

No. On setup, Time Momentum reads past Claude Code and Codex sessions from your local logs, as far back as the tools keep them.

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