The Best Free Habit Tracker for PC — No Install, Works in Your Browser
If you spend your working day at a computer, there's something absurd about your habit tracker living exclusively on your phone. You're at a screen for eight hours — but to tick "deep work session" you have to find your phone, unlock it, open an app, and try not to get kidnapped by notifications on the way.
The search for a "habit tracker for PC" usually ends in disappointment, because the habit-app world is overwhelmingly phone-first. Here's the lay of the land, and the simplest way to get real habit tracking on Windows, Mac, or Linux — free.
Why most habit trackers don't work on PC
The popular habit apps were built for app stores. Loop Habit Tracker is Android-only. Streaks is Apple-only. Most others are iOS/Android with, at best, a limited companion view on desktop or a paywalled web version. Maintaining a separate Windows or Mac app is expensive, so almost nobody does it.
That leaves PC users with three options:
- An emulator — running an Android app on Windows via BlueStacks. Clunky, heavy, and absurd for ticking a checkbox.
- A spreadsheet or Notion page — works on PC, but with no streaks, no reminders, and all the upkeep problems that make spreadsheet trackers fail.
- A web-based habit tracker — runs in the browser you already have open. This is the right answer for almost everyone.
What a browser-based tracker gets you
A good web habit tracker is the best of both worlds, and it's not close:
- Nothing to install — no admin rights needed on a work machine, no updates, no emulator.
- Every OS at once — Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS. If it has a browser, it works.
- Phone and PC stay in sync — tick a habit at your desk, see it on your phone at the gym.
- It's already where your attention is — one pinned tab next to your email, not a device away.
Trace: a free habit tracker built for the browser
Trace is a free online habit tracker designed web-first rather than ported from a phone app, which shows in how it uses a big screen:
- Streaks with partial wins — log 50% on a busy day instead of breaking the chain.
- A 365-day heatmap — the full year visible at once, the way a desktop screen deserves.
- Habit stacking — anchor new habits to ones you never skip, nested in your daily agenda.
- Tasks next to habits — your to-dos and routines on one screen, which matters at a desk where you're actually planning your day.
- Money tracking included — multi-currency accounts, subscriptions, credit-card due dates, invoices attached to expenses. Desk time is when you do money admin anyway.
- Free — sign in with Google, no card, no trial timer.
Pin tracebyme.com as a browser tab, and your habits live one click from your work — exactly where they should be if your day happens at a computer.
Track habits where you actually work
Open it in your browser, sign in with Google, pin the tab. That's the whole install.
Open Trace on your PC Free · no card · Windows, Mac & Linux · syncs with your phoneFrequently asked questions
Is there a free habit tracker for Windows?
Yes — Trace runs free in any browser on Windows (and Mac and Linux). No download, no install, with streaks, habit stacking, and a year-long heatmap.
Does Trace work offline on PC?
Trace is a web app, so it needs a connection to sync. The trade-off is automatic backup and sync across all your devices — no manual export files.
Can I use the same tracker on my PC and my phone?
Yes — that's the point of being browser-based. Sign in with the same Google account anywhere and your streaks, tasks, and money data are identical on every device, instantly.
What about a habit tracker widget for my desktop?
A pinned browser tab does the same job: one click to your full tracker. Trace's daily agenda is designed to be glanceable — habits, tasks, and today's money at a glance.