We picked the two best-known names in this space and put them next to Pulse — feature by feature. Where they're better, we say so. Where they're not, we explain why.
The single-row pitch for each product, in their own positioning language.
EU-hosted, privacy-first, self-hostable workforce analytics for IT teams. Lightweight Rust agent on Windows, macOS and Linux. Built by an MSP for MSPs.
Best for: enterprise IT, MSPs, EU-regulated industries.
The market leader for productivity analytics. Mature SaaS, polished HR/Ops dashboards, deep reporting. US-hosted by default; EU residency is a paid add-on.
Best for: HR-led productivity programmes, mid-market knowledge work.
Budget time-tracker with screenshots. Aimed at agencies and small businesses billing hours to clients. US-hosted, screenshot-heavy.
Best for: small agencies, freelancer teams, billable-hour tracking.
Last reviewed May 2026 against public documentation and pricing pages. We'll update this when they ship something we missed.
| Excis Pulse | ActivTrak | TeamLogger | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deployment & data residency | |||
| Where data is hosted | ● EU onlyFrankfurt + Amsterdam | ● US defaultEU as paid add-on | ● US only |
| Cloud / SaaS | ● Included | ● Yes | ● Yes |
| Self-hosted backend | ● YesSingle binary + Postgres | ● No | ● No |
| Air-gapped install | ● Yes | ● No | ● No |
| Tenancy / multi-customer | ● Native multi-tenantDesigned for MSPs | ● Per-account only | ● Per-account only |
| Platforms | |||
| Windows | ● Win 10 / 11, Server 2016+ | ● Win 10 / 11 | ● Win 10 / 11 |
| macOS | ● Intel + Apple Silicon | ● Yes | ● Yes |
| Linux | ● NativeX11 + Wayland | ● Not supported | ● Not supported |
| Citrix / RDP / AVD | ● Tested every release | ● Supported, paid tier | ● Not supported |
| Agent | |||
| Memory footprint | ● ~25 MB RAM | ● 80–150 MB RAM | ● 60–100 MB RAM |
| Install size | ● < 20 MB | ● ~120 MB | ● ~85 MB |
| Language / runtime | ● Rust, no runtime | ● .NET | ● Electron + Node |
| Offline buffer | ● Encrypted SQLite, 500 MB | ● Limited, in-memory | ● Drops on disconnect |
| Privacy & compliance | |||
| Agent-side redaction | ● Process & regex rules | ● Server-side scrub | ● Not supported |
| Working-hours window | ● Per device/tenant | ● Per group | ● Per user |
| GDPR / UK DPA aligned | ● By default | ● With configuration | ● With configuration |
| SCC / EU transfer issues | ● No transfer — EU only | ● SCCs required | ● SCCs required |
| SOC 2 Type II | ● In progress (2026) | ● Yes | ● No |
| End-user transparency UI | ● Tray icon + report on demand | ● Opt-in | ● Silent agent |
| Data & integrations | |||
| Open event schema | ● Public JSON spec | ● Proprietary, partial | ● Not published |
| REST API | ● All plans | ● Paid tier | ● Limited |
| Webhook / streaming export | ● Yes | ● Enterprise tier | ● No |
| SIEM / BI integration | ● Splunk, Elastic, Power BI, Snowflake | ● Power BI only | ● CSV export |
| Commercial | |||
| Per-seat price (entry) | ● €6 / user / month | ● $10 / user / month | ● $3 / user / month |
| Free trial | ● 30 days, 25 seats | ● 14 days | ● 14 days |
| MSP / reseller programme | ● Built-in tenancy & billing | ● Partner programme | ● Not available |
Sources: vendor websites, public pricing pages and documentation as of May 2026. Spotted something we got wrong? Tell us.
We're not pretending to be everyone's answer.
You're an HR-led productivity team that wants polished out-of-the-box dashboards, doesn't need Linux, doesn't need EU residency, and is comfortable with US-hosted SaaS. Their reporting suite is best-in-class.
You're a small agency billing clients by the hour, you need screenshots-for-proof, and price-per-seat is your dominant constraint. It's a fine tool for that exact use case.
You're IT or MSP-shaped. You have Linux endpoints, EU-regulated customers, or a security team that won't sign off on US-hosted SaaS. You want one tool you can deploy to 50 endpoints or 50,000.
The fastest way to know if we're right for you is to put us in production. We'll help you set up a parallel pilot on 25 endpoints so you can see the data side-by-side.