PersonalAnalytics non-intrusively tracks your computer activity and lets you reflect on your work habits — without ever sending data to the cloud.
Developed by the Human Aspects of Software Engineering Lab (HASEL) at the University of Zurich, PersonalAnalytics is a free, open-source desktop app that runs quietly in the background — collecting computer interaction data and optional self-reports, all stored locally on your machine.
PersonalAnalytics was spotlighted for its decade-long impact on productivity research — from a master’s thesis to a university-funded research infrastructure used with over 1,500 participants across 12+ peer-reviewed studies.
Read the full spotlight →Records active applications, window titles, website usage, and aggregated user input (keystrokes, clicks, scrolls) — the core of what PersonalAnalytics captures.
Periodically prompts you to self-report on mood, stress, or perceived productivity using configurable Likert-scale or free-text questions.
An end-of-day summary timeline shows how your time was fragmented and allocated, supporting reflection on your work habits.
Optional daily check-ins at the start and end of your workday, timed relative to your own work hours.
All data lives in a local SQLite database. Nothing is uploaded automatically. You decide if and what to share.
Built with Electron and GitHub Actions, the app updates silently so you always have the latest improvements.
Whether you’re a developer, researcher, student, or anyone spending long hours at a computer — PersonalAnalytics helps you understand how your time is actually spent, and how that relates to your productivity and well-being.
The daily retrospection gives you an honest timeline of which apps and websites consumed your day, and how fragmented or focused your work was.
The periodic self-reflection pop-up is a brief pause to gauge how the last session went. Our research showed this quick check-in helps people notice when they’re stuck, need a break, or should reach out for help — before the moment passes.
Optional morning and evening surveys let you set intentions at the start of your workday and reflect on how it went before you close the laptop.
Your data never leaves your computer unless you choose to export it. No accounts, no cloud, no ads.
Download and install PersonalAnalytics free — available for Windows and macOS:
Detailed installation instructions for Windows and macOS are available on GitHub, including tutorial videos.
Instead of building data collection infrastructure from scratch, fork PersonalAnalytics, configure it for your study, and deploy it to participants — with code signing, auto-updates, and privacy-respecting data export built in.
PersonalAnalytics is part of D2USP, a Digital Society Initiative (DSI) infrastructure at the University of Zurich that aims to support researchers in capturing quantitative computer interaction data paired with qualitative self-reports, in a privacy-friendly manner.
The core of PersonalAnalytics: captures active app and website usage, window titles, and aggregated user input (keystrokes, clicks, scrolls) — without keylogging. Gives an objective picture of how participants spend time at their computer.
Prompts participants to self-report at configurable intervals using Likert-scale, single-choice, multi-choice, or free-text questions. Supports randomized timing, user-adjustable frequency, and optional disabling.
Daily surveys triggered relative to each participant’s own work hours — a morning check-in shortly after they start, and an evening reflection before they finish. Supports all question types and partial-submission control.
An end-of-workday timeline showing activity fragmentation and time allocation. Opens automatically at the end of the workday to give participants a structured moment for reflection.
A guided wizard walks participants through reviewing and obfuscating their data — redacting window titles and URLs — before export. They stay in full control of what reaches the researcher.
A single study.config.ts controls study name, privacy policy, upload URL, trackers, and questions. GitHub Actions handles code-signed builds for Windows and macOS, with silent auto-updates pushed to all participants.
Full documentation for researchers: RESEARCH.md on GitHub · Fork the repository
PersonalAnalytics has been used with over 1,500 participants in peer-reviewed field studies at top-tier venues. When using PersonalAnalytics in your work, please cite the main publication and the repository.
Cite this project: Meyer et al. (2017), DOI: 10.1145/3134714 · Full citation guide
Download PersonalAnalytics for free, or fork it on GitHub to run your own study.