Excis Pulse is a lightweight agent for Windows, macOS and Linux that gives IT leaders the productivity signal they need — application usage, focus time, idle patterns — with privacy guardrails baked into the code, not bolted on as a checkbox. Hosted entirely in the EU.
Most workforce analytics tools were built for HR to spy on knowledge workers. Pulse was built by an MSP that already manages 60,000+ endpoints — so it cares about deployment, privacy and signal-to-noise.
Password managers, banking sites, and any process or window title you name is automatically scrubbed at the agent — before bytes leave the device.
Native idle probes on every platform. Pause when idle so you don't bill or measure people for time their hands weren't on the keyboard.
Triggered on window change, JPEG-compressed, and rate-limited. Configurable from "every five minutes" to "only on demand" — with a hard floor you can't override by accident.
Local SQLite buffer with a 500 MB default ceiling. Disconnect the laptop, fly to Singapore, plug it back in — every event is still there, in order.
All managed-service data sits in our EU datacentre — no transatlantic copies. Or point the agent at your own ingest endpoint. Your data, your perimeter.
Set a tenant- or device-level working window. Outside of it, the agent idles. Nobody at Pulse thinks knowing what someone does at 11pm is your business.
A single declarative config file. Drop it via GPO, Jamf, Intune, or your MDM of choice. No clicking through wizards on 800 machines.
Memory-safe, no runtime, stripped binaries under 20 MB. Lower CPU and RAM cost than Electron-based competitors that ship an entire browser to your endpoints.
Plain JSON events, documented schema. Pipe them to Power BI, Splunk or Snowflake — your data is yours, not stuck inside a vendor dashboard.
ActivTrak and TeamLogger let admins screenshot anything, then ask them to "be careful." Excis Pulse inverts that: redaction rules live in the agent's config and apply at capture time. The bytes never leave the device.
# /etc/pulse/pulse.toml — redaction lives in code, not a help article [privacy] redact_processes = [ "1Password", "Bitwarden", "KeePassXC", ] redact_title_patterns = [ "(?i)password", "(?i)banking", "(?i)medical", ] working_hours = "08:00-18:00" [capture] screenshot_on_window_change = true screenshot_min_interval_secs = 30 pause_when_idle = true
Both are mature products. Both are also US-hosted, cloud-only, and treat privacy as a marketing line. We don't.
| Excis Pulse | ActivTrak | TeamLogger | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data residency | ● EU onlyFrankfurt + Amsterdam | ● US, EU add-on | ● US-hosted |
| Self-hosted deployment | ● NativePoint at your own endpoint | ● Cloud only | ● Cloud only |
| Linux endpoint support | ● First-class | ● Windows / Mac only | ● Windows / Mac only |
| Agent footprint | ● < 20 MB (Rust) | ● ~80–120 MB | ● ~60–90 MB |
| Privacy redaction at agent | ● Config-defined, capture-time | ● Post-capture, server-side | ● Not supported |
| Open event schema / data export | ● JSON events, documented | ● API, paid tier | ● CSV export only |
Deploy Pulse with whatever MDM you already trust. The architecture is boring on purpose.
Signed installer or static binary. One service, one config file. Restart-on-fail handled by the OS service manager.
One URL and a tenant token. Use our hosted EU ingest, or stand up your own with the published backend recipe.
Activity, focus and idle data flows into the Pulse dashboard within minutes. Pipe the same events into your SIEM or BI tool of choice.
No, and we'd rather you didn't use it that way. Pulse is built for IT teams that need to understand application usage, focus patterns and capacity. Working-hours limits, agent-side redaction and the visible tray icon are all on by default to keep things honest with end users. We also ship a notice-to-employees template you can deploy with the agent.
Exclusively in the EU. Production runs in Frankfurt with a hot replica in Amsterdam. No data is processed, replicated or backed up outside the EU. Full detail in our security overview and sub-processors list.
Yes. The agent runs visibly in the system tray, with a one-click "what does this collect about me?" report. Transparency reduces the legal and HR risk of running any monitoring tool — silent agents create grievances; visible ones create trust.
ActivTrak is US-hosted, cloud-only, and aimed at HR and operations. Pulse is EU-hosted, self-hostable, and aimed at IT and managed-services teams. We're cheaper, lighter, and your data never leaves the EU. Full comparison here.
Events queue locally in an encrypted SQLite buffer up to a configurable ceiling (500 MB by default). When the agent reconnects, it drains the buffer in order. No data loss, no clock skew issues.
Pulse is built by Excis Compliance Ltd., a global IT services firm with a footprint in 200+ countries. We run our own service desks on this product.
No credit card. No sales call until you ask for one. Self-serve install on Windows, macOS and Linux, with a one-page deployment guide for your MDM.