Free WakaTime Alternative: Why Developers Are Switching to Lync in 2026

WakaTime is a great tool - but its $9/month price tag puts it out of reach for many developers, especially students, freelancers, and indie hackers. Lync offers the same core tracking features completely free, forever.

The WakaTime Pricing Problem

WakaTime's free plan limits you to 14 days of history. Want more? That's $9/month or $108/year. For a developer tool, that's a significant ongoing cost.

| Feature | WakaTime Free | WakaTime Premium | Lync | |---------|--------------|-----------------|------| | Price | Free (limited) | $9/month | Free forever | | History | 14 days | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Projects | Limited | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Dashboards | Basic | Full | Full | | Team sharing | No | Yes ($) | Yes (free) |

Why Developers Are Making the Switch

1. No Paywall - Ever

Lync's entire feature set is free. No trial period. No "upgrade to unlock" popups. No credit card required. The features you see on day one are the features you'll have on day 1,000.

2. Same Core Tracking Accuracy

Both Lync and WakaTime track coding time based on VS Code activity. Lync syncs every 5 minutes, builds detailed per-project and per-language analytics, and provides accurate daily/weekly reports - the same core functionality WakaTime charges for.

3. Privacy-First by Design

Like WakaTime, Lync never reads your actual code. Only metadata (time, language, project name) is tracked. Your intellectual property stays on your machine.

4. Cleaner, Faster Interface

No feature bloat. Lync's dashboard shows exactly what developers need: daily time, project breakdown, language stats, and trends. Fast to load, easy to read.

How to Migrate from WakaTime to Lync

Moving is straightforward:

• Step 1: Install the Lync VS Code Extension
• Step 2: Create a free account at lync.life/signup
• Step 3: Generate an API key and paste it into the extension settings
• Step 4: Start coding - Lync tracks automatically from the first keystroke

The entire migration takes about 2 minutes.

What Lync Doesn't Have (Honest Assessment)

Lync is newer than WakaTime. Here's what WakaTime still has that Lync is working toward:

• Multi-editor support (Lync is VS Code only for now)
• Some advanced team analytics features
• A larger community/ecosystem

If you use multiple editors or need enterprise features, WakaTime may still be worth the cost. But for the vast majority of VS Code developers, Lync provides everything needed - for free.

The Bottom Line

If you're paying $9/month for WakaTime and primarily use VS Code, you're paying for features available free in Lync. The switch takes 2 minutes and costs nothing.

Try Lync free today - no credit card, no trial, no limits.

Get Started Free →