ActivTrak's free plan is capped at 3 users. Trackpilots' free plan supports unlimited users — with screenshots, app tracking, attendance, and stealth mode on paid. If your team has more than 3 people, Trackpilots is the better free ActivTrak alternative.
Why Teams Search for an ActivTrak Free Alternative
ActivTrak is a well-known employee monitoring platform with a clean dashboard and solid activity analytics. But its free plan has a hard ceiling that most real teams hit immediately: 3 users maximum. The moment you add a fourth employee, you are looking at $10/user/month on their Essentials plan — $120/year per person before you get access to screenshot monitoring or stealth mode.
For small businesses, BPO teams, startups, and India-based companies where team sizes typically range from 10 to 200 employees, ActivTrak's free tier is effectively useless. You either pay from day one or you look for a better free option.
The most common ActivTrak free alternative in 2026 is Trackpilots — which offers a permanently free plan with no user cap. This article compares both platforms feature by feature so you can make an informed decision.
ActivTrak vs Trackpilots: Full Feature Comparison
The table below compares both platforms across the 10 features that matter most for employee productivity monitoring.
| Feature | ActivTrak Free | Trackpilots Free |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan user limit | 3 users max | Unlimited users |
| Screenshot monitoring | Paid plan only | Free (every 20 min) |
| App & website tracking | Yes (free) | Yes (free) |
| Attendance / time tracking | Yes (free) | Yes (free) |
| Stealth / silent monitoring | Not available | Starter Pack ($3.99) |
| Linux support | No | Yes |
| Inactivity alerts | Paid plan only | Starter Pack ($3.99) |
| Productivity reports | Yes (free) | Yes (free) |
| Starting paid price | $10/user/month | $3.99/user/month |
| No credit card for free plan | Yes | Yes |
The 3-User Limit: Why It Makes ActivTrak's Free Plan Unusable for Most Teams
ActivTrak's free tier is built for evaluation, not production use. Three monitored users is enough to prove out the concept — it is not enough to manage a real team. Consider what that limit means in practice:
- A 10-person remote startup: 7 employees unmonitored from day one
- A 30-agent BPO floor: 27 agents unmonitored on the free plan
- A 5-person accounting firm: pays from employee 4 onwards
In contrast, Trackpilots' free plan has no user limit. A 500-person organisation can run the full free tier — screenshots, app tracking, attendance, productivity dashboard — without paying a single dollar. That is not a marketing claim; it is how the platform is structured. The free plan is funded by upsells to stealth mode and 1-minute screenshots on the Starter Pack, not by forcing you to pay per head from employee 4 onwards.
Screenshot Monitoring: Free on Trackpilots, Paid on ActivTrak
Screenshot monitoring is the single most requested feature for remote team managers. It provides visual proof of work — a timestamped record of what was on each employee's screen throughout the day — that no other feature replicates.
ActivTrak reserves screenshot monitoring for its paid tiers. On the free plan, you get activity data and app usage, but no screenshots. To access screenshots, you need the Essentials plan at $10/user/month or higher.
Trackpilots includes screenshot capture on the free plan — one screenshot every 20 minutes per employee, stored securely in the cloud and accessible only to authorised managers. For teams that need more frequent captures, the Starter Pack at $3.99/user/month adds 1-minute intervals. Even then, Trackpilots' paid plan costs 60% less than ActivTrak's Essentials tier.
Stealth Monitoring: Available on Trackpilots, Not on ActivTrak
Stealth monitoring — where the tracking agent runs invisibly with no system-tray icon or notification — is a critical feature for BPO operations, call centres, and any environment where visible monitoring would alter employee behaviour.
ActivTrak does not offer stealth monitoring on any plan. The agent always shows a visible indicator on the employee's device.
Trackpilots' Starter Pack ($3.99/user/month) includes a configurable stealth mode. The agent installs as a background system service with no visible UI element. For teams that have disclosed monitoring in employment contracts and need the most authentic productivity data possible, this is a meaningful differentiator.
Linux Support: Trackpilots Yes, ActivTrak No
ActivTrak supports Windows and macOS. Linux is not supported.
For IT companies, software development teams, and Indian BPO operations where Linux workstations are common, this is a blocking issue. Trackpilots supports Windows, macOS, and Linux — all three operating systems on both the free and paid plans. No separate pricing, no separate agent. The same installation process works across all three platforms.
Pricing: What You Actually Pay
Comparing monitoring software pricing requires looking at total cost across different team sizes, not just the headline per-user figure.
For a 10-person team:
- ActivTrak free: covers only 3 users; 7 pay at $10/user/month = $70/month
- Trackpilots free: covers all 10 users at $0/month
- Trackpilots Starter Pack (all 10): $39.90/month
For a 50-person team:
- ActivTrak Essentials (all 50): $500/month
- Trackpilots free (all 50): $0/month
- Trackpilots Starter Pack (all 50): $199.50/month
The cost difference is substantial at scale. For India-based teams billing in rupees, Trackpilots' ₹399/user/month Starter Pack pricing makes it the only enterprise-capable monitoring platform with India-native pricing.
When ActivTrak Is Still the Right Choice
This comparison is not a case against ActivTrak. There are scenarios where it remains the better fit:
- Workforce analytics at enterprise scale — ActivTrak's higher tiers include advanced workforce analytics, team benchmarking, and coaching workflows that go beyond basic monitoring. For HR-driven analytics programmes at 200+ employees, these features may justify the cost.
- Existing integrations — If your team already uses ActivTrak's integrations with specific HR or project management tools, switching has a migration cost that needs to be weighed against the savings.
- 3 users or fewer — If you genuinely have a team of three and ActivTrak's free tier covers your full team, there is no reason to switch. Both free plans are competitive at that scale.
Who Should Switch to Trackpilots
Trackpilots is the better ActivTrak alternative if any of the following apply:
- Your team is larger than 3 people and you need free monitoring for all of them
- You need screenshot monitoring on the free plan without paying per user
- You have Linux workstations in your environment
- You need stealth monitoring and do not want to pay $10+/user/month for it
- You are based in India and need rupee billing
- You want to start free and upgrade only when you have proven the ROI
See the full Trackpilots vs ActivTrak comparison page for a side-by-side breakdown, or start free today — unlimited users, no credit card, set up in under 15 minutes.