Updated August 2026
Rize review, and when to use something else
We build a competing time tracker, so read this accordingly. We have tried to write the version we would want to read: what Rize costs, what the AI credits actually mean, the parts it does better than us, and the specific case where we are the better answer.
Is Rize free?
How much does Rize cost in 2026?
What are AI credits, and do they matter?
What Rize genuinely does well
It is actively maintained, the current build shipped in July 2026, and the macOS app is well made. The focus tooling is real: blocking, Pomodoro sessions, break reminders. And Pro carries things we simply do not have, including scheduled client reports in PDF and CSV, an efficiency dashboard, an API, webhooks, Zapier and an MCP server.
If you bill clients by project, or you need to pipe your time data somewhere, stop reading. Rize does that and we do not.
The honest criticism
Two things drive people to look for something else, and neither is that Rize is bad.
It is a lot of product. A Basic subscription includes automatic tracking, AI categorization and tagging, AI chat with frontier models, productivity and focus insights, focus music, smart breaks, personal reports, exports and integrations. That is a platform. If what you wanted was an answer to “where did my week go”, you are paying for and navigating something built for a different job.
Categorization still asks you for help. The backbone is substantially rule-based, so when it meets an app or site outside its ruleset it hands you a dropdown. Each prompt is trivial; collectively they are why people stop opening it.
Cronus versus Rize
| Rize | Cronus | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $12.99 / $28.99 / $49.99 per month | $6 a month |
| Free trial | 7 days, no card | 3 days, counts only days you use it |
| AI metering | 500 / 1,000 / 3,000 credits a month | None |
| Categorization | Rule-assisted, asks when unsure | AI infers from context |
| Goal-aware | No | Yes |
| Screen captured | No | No |
| Focus tools | Blocking, Pomodoro, focus music | Nudges only |
| Client reports | Yes, on Pro | No |
| API / webhooks / MCP | Yes, on Pro | No |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows | macOS, Windows in progress |
The one difference that decides it
Rize classifies activity. Cronus classifies activity against what you said you were trying to do.
A rule engine has to decide once and for all whether youtube.com is productive, and it will be wrong about half the time. Cronus can read the same video as research while you are learning a library for the project you told it about, and as a distraction when you are not, because the context is an input rather than a setting.
If your work is stable and maps onto a fixed set of apps, rules cover most of it and Rize will feel fine. If your work involves unfamiliar tools and wide research, or the same sites mean different things on different days, the gap widens quickly.
Which to pick
Stay with Rize if you bill clients, need the API or MCP server, want hard blocking and Pomodoro built in, or need Windows today.
Try Cronus if you want to know where your time went without configuring rules, without a credit balance to think about, and for less than half the price.
Three days free, then $6 a month
The trial only counts days you actually use the app. Cronus never captures your screen.
Longer write-ups: Cronus vs Rize, every Rize alternative compared, and the 2026 roundup.