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SiteKeeper

A RescueTime Chrome extension alternative with limits in the same install

RescueTime’s old Manifest V2 extension was delisted from the Chrome Web Store on August 28, 2026, during Chrome’s Manifest V2 removal (about 40,000 installs, version 3.2.10). The new extension’s Chrome Web Store listing shows version 3.4.0, updated August 29, 2026: “RescueTime for Chrome and Chrome OS,” with 543 users on the Chrome Web Store as of October 3, 2026. RescueTime staff announced it on their forum on September 8, 2026. It tracks the active tab after you sign in to a RescueTime account. SiteKeeper is the browser-only alternative that also caps each site, and tracking starts without an account.

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TL;DR

The new RescueTime extension is a tracker tied to a RescueTime account: active tab, away detection, auto-categories, and a Very Productive to Very Distracting scale. The help center describes it as how you track Chrome without the desktop app. RescueTime’s blocking is still paid Focus Sessions. SiteKeeper tracks the active Chrome tab and applies per-site daily and weekly caps, including on a Chromebook, Chrome on Linux, or a locked-down work PC where you cannot install desktop software. Stay with the RescueTime extension if your history and Focus Sessions already live in that account. Choose SiteKeeper if you want the log and the cap in one extension.

SiteKeeper vs the RescueTime extension vs the desktop app

  • Where it runs

    SiteKeeper
    Chrome extension, including ChromeOS and Linux
    RescueTime extension
    Chrome extension
    RescueTime desktop
    Windows and Mac desktop app

  • Account before tracking starts

    SiteKeeper
    Not required
    RescueTime extension
    Required. You sign in with your RescueTime email and password.
    RescueTime desktop
    Reports are built from activity sent to their servers

  • What it tracks

    SiteKeeper
    Active Chrome tab only
    RescueTime extension
    Active tab. Stops when it detects you are away.
    RescueTime desktop
    Active application and website

  • Categories

    SiteKeeper
    Tags: on-device Chrome model when available, else keywords. You can edit them.
    RescueTime extension
    Very Productive → Very Distracting
    RescueTime desktop
    Productivity Pulse on their reports

  • Pause or delete tracked time

    SiteKeeper
    No pause switch
    RescueTime extension
    Yes. The listing says you can pause tracking or delete time.
    RescueTime desktop
    Not in the sources we checked

  • Per-site daily and weekly caps

    SiteKeeper
    Yes. Free for up to 6 sites.
    RescueTime extension
    Not in the feature list we checked. RescueTime blocking is paid Focus Sessions.
    RescueTime desktop
    Paid Focus Sessions (a timer you start), not a standing daily cap

  • Path-level time

    SiteKeeper
    Yes, opt-in per site. Free on 3 hosts.
    RescueTime extension
    Not in the feature list we checked
    RescueTime desktop
    Site, sometimes a top-level path

  • Productivity number

    SiteKeeper
    0–100 score
    RescueTime extension
    Site scores on their scale
    RescueTime desktop
    Productivity Pulse; Lite shows 2 weeks of reports

  • Price to start

    SiteKeeper
    Free Chrome extension
    RescueTime extension
    Lite: 2 weeks of reports; no Focus Sessions
    RescueTime desktop
    Solo Focus $9/mo or $7/mo annual; Solo+ $15/mo or $12/mo annual

How the two extensions actually differ

What happened to the RescueTime Chrome extension

The old extension (id bdakmnplckeopfghnlpocafcepegjeap, version 3.2.10, last updated May 29, 2020) was Manifest V2. It was delisted from the Chrome Web Store on August 28, 2026, during Chrome’s Manifest V2 removal. Chrome’s Manifest V2 timeline said those extensions would be gone from the store by August 31, 2026. The public record of the old listing is on Extpose: about 40,000 installs.

RescueTime staff wrote on their community forum on September 8, 2026: “Happy to report we have an updated extension in the Chrome Store!” An earlier staff note said Windows and Mac users running the desktop app did not need the extension, and that Chromebook users were the most affected. The new listing is “RescueTime for Chrome and Chrome OS,” version 3.4.0, updated August 29, 2026, with 543 users on the Chrome Web Store as of October 3, 2026. Sources named here: the Chrome Web Store, Extpose, Chrome’s Manifest V2 timeline, and the RescueTime community forum.

Tracking when you cannot install a desktop app

RescueTime’s help center says the extension is optional if the desktop app is already running, and that you use the extension to track Chrome without that app — for example on a managed or locked-down computer. You still sign in. The desktop app, on Windows and Mac, also records other applications. SiteKeeper never sees those apps.

SiteKeeper is only a Chrome extension, so the same install covers a Chromebook, Chrome on Linux, and a work laptop that allows extensions but not desktop software. It counts the active tab in the focused window, and it pauses when that window is unfocused, the OS is locked, or you go idle. A video with no keyboard or mouse input stops counting. It does not track background tabs or other browsers.

Limits versus Focus Sessions

The new extension’s store description is tracking: the active tab, away detection, automatic categories, a productivity scale, and the ability to pause or delete time. RescueTime’s blocking, on paid plans (Solo Focus and above), is Focus Sessions — a timed block you start. Lite has no Focus Sessions. Goals can warn you. They are not a standing cap that holds until midnight.

SiteKeeper uses per-site daily and weekly caps (the week starts Monday). Time windows with their own budget, for example a stricter cap on weekdays. Outside the window, daily and weekly caps still apply. This is not a hard scheduled block. When a cap is hit, the block page says “Time's Up!” You can add 5, 15, 30, or 60 minutes, which raises the saved cap, or you can turn the limit off. There is no hard lock.

What the RescueTime extension still does better

If your Pulse history, categories, and Focus Sessions already live in a RescueTime account, the new extension puts Chrome time back into that account. It can pause tracking or delete time. SiteKeeper has no pause switch. SiteKeeper also has no desktop-app tracking and no timesheet product.

Privacy-first; we never sell or share your data. Tracking works without an account. Signing in is only for subscription status and an optional batch classify. Browsing history is not synced across devices. We do not claim the new RescueTime extension is missing anything the store listing does not mention.

Pricing: SiteKeeper vs RescueTime

  • Free tier

    SiteKeeper
    Free to start, no account required to track. Daily and weekly limits on up to 6 sites. Path analysis on up to 3 hosts. Productivity score and CSV export included.
    RescueTime
    Lite: 2 weeks of reports; no Focus Sessions

  • Paid personal

    SiteKeeper
    Pro $4.99/mo or $24.99/yr
    RescueTime
    Solo Focus $9/mo or $7/mo billed annually ($84/yr)

  • Upper personal

    SiteKeeper
    Lifetime $29.99 once — all Pro features
    RescueTime
    Solo+ $15/mo or $12/mo annual — timesheets, clients, billable-rate reports

RescueTime prices from their public pricing page (September 2026). The Chrome extension signs in to that same account. SiteKeeper has no team plans and no timesheets.

Why people look for a RescueTime extension alternative

The desktop app is not an option

Chromebooks, Chrome on Linux, and managed work machines can install a Chrome extension and still block a desktop agent. Both the new RescueTime extension and SiteKeeper fit that constraint. SiteKeeper also caps each site. A per-site daily cap is not in the RescueTime extension feature list we checked; RescueTime’s blocking is paid Focus Sessions.

A log and a cap in one place

The RescueTime extension records Chrome time. In the sources we checked, RescueTime’s blocking is Focus Sessions, not a standing daily cap. SiteKeeper does both the log and the cap without starting a Focus Session.

No account to see today

The RescueTime extension asks you to sign in before it can file time against your account. SiteKeeper starts tracking as soon as the extension is in Chrome.

A new listing, not a missing one

RescueTime does have a Chrome extension again. It is version 3.4.0, updated August 29, 2026, with 543 users on the Chrome Web Store as of October 3, 2026. If you need their account, use that listing. If you need limits beside the timer, compare it with SiteKeeper instead of hunting for the delisted build.

Which should you use?

Choose SiteKeeper if

  • You can install a Chrome extension but not RescueTime’s desktop app
  • You want per-site daily and weekly caps, not only a log
  • You want to start without a RescueTime account
  • You want path-level time and a 0–100 score on browser time

Choose the RescueTime extension if

  • You already use RescueTime and want Chrome time in that account
  • You want their Very Productive → Very Distracting scale, plus pause and delete
  • You run the Windows or Mac desktop app and only need the extension as a supplement
  • You want paid Focus Sessions instead of standing site caps

Switching from the RescueTime extension

There is no import. RescueTime history stays in RescueTime. You recreate any site caps by hand in SiteKeeper.

What you can take with you

  • A RescueTime report CSV, if your plan can export one. Keep it as an archive. SiteKeeper will not read it.
  • The names of sites you already treat as distracting. Those become SiteKeeper limits.
  • Nothing from desktop apps, phone activity, or Solo+ timesheets.

What you set up again

  • Tags. Set them in SiteKeeper. RescueTime’s Very Productive to Very Distracting scale is a different system.
  • Daily or weekly caps in place of Focus Sessions. A session blocks while it runs. A SiteKeeper cap blocks when the time is used up, and you can raise it.
  • Time windows if weekday hours should have a tighter budget than evenings. That is an extra budget, not a hard clock block.

Install SiteKeeper, set caps on the sites that matter, and leave the RescueTime extension in place until a week of overlap looks right. Then sign out of whichever one you are done with.

Keep exploring

Frequently asked questions

Track the tab. Cap the site. No desktop app.

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