# How to Vibe Code Your Own Rize (and Stop Paying for It)

> Automatic time tracking that gives your whole team visibility

- Site: https://rize.io
- Category: Productivity & Time Tracking
- Platforms: macOS app, Windows app
- Verdict: **Serious undertaking** (42/100 vibecodeable)
- Estimated effort: 6+ weeks of part-time systems and full-stack development

## Verdict

Build a web-based dashboard prototype in a weekend, but the native OS background tracker requires serious systems programming.

Cloning Rize for personal use exposes a brutal division: building the Next.js analytics dashboard and Supabase database layer is straightforward, but capturing background window metadata reliably on macOS and Windows without draining batteries or hitting OS accessibility permission walls is a serious engineering undertaking. A solo developer can build a web interface wrapper and mock data quickly, but writing a robust, low-overhead native daemon in Swift and C# to replace the core capture engine takes weeks of low-level systems debugging.

### What you can't replicate

- Rize's battle-tested cross-platform native client stability across thousands of varied user machines
- Instant organic brand trust and high-profile creator network effects
- Extensive pre-built integrations with third-party enterprise tools

## What it does

Rize is a desktop-first automated time-tracking and productivity-visibility software that captures foreground window metadata, categorizes work with AI, and surfaces deep work metrics and billable hours without invasive employee surveillance.

### Core features

- OS-level foreground window tracking daemon (macOS/Windows)
- Local event debouncing and idle state detection
- AI categorization engine mapping raw app titles and URLs to projects
- Focus Quality Score and deep-work session calculation
- Distraction blocker with configurable app/site rules
- Google Calendar and task management integrations (Asana, ClickUp, Linear)
- Project profitability and billable hour calculation engine
- Team utilization and workspace management dashboard

## The business

### Pricing

- Individual Basic: $9.99/mo — Billed annually for individuals starting out with automatic tracking.
- Individual Pro: $29.99/mo — Advanced insights, focus tools, and productivity analytics.
- Team: $29.99/seat/mo — Billed annually per active team member for agencies and professional services.

Founded 2020.
Team size: 1-10.

## The hard parts

- Building a lightweight native system daemon (Swift/AppKit for macOS, C# for Windows) that polls OS accessibility APIs without battery drain or triggering security alarms
- Real-time local event aggregation and privacy filtering so raw untagged data never leaks upstream
- Reliable client-side LLM categorization pipelines mapping noisy window title strings to semantic business projects
- Two-way calendar sync and robust offline-first synchronization logic

## How to vibe code Rize

### Prerequisites

- macOS / Windows Machine (existing hardware): Required to compile and test native background tracking daemons.
- Xcode / Visual Studio (free): Native IDE tooling for building Swift/AppKit or C# system tray daemons.
- Node.js (free): Runtime environment for building the web dashboard frontend and API backend.
- GitHub Account (free): Repository hosting and CI/CD deployment pipelines.

### Recommended AI tools

- Claude Code: Agentic terminal tool best suited for scaffolding multi-file full-stack dashboards and debugging complex backend logic.
- Cursor: AI-native code editor ideal for reviewing and refining UI components and native binding bridges.

### Stack

- Frontend: Next.js
- Backend: Next.js API Routes / Node.js
- Database: Supabase
- Auth: better-auth
- Payments: Stripe
- Other: Swift / SwiftUI (macOS native daemon), C# / Windows Forms (Windows native daemon), OpenAI API, Tailwind CSS, Vercel AI SDK

### Hosting

- Vercel (Hosting the Next.js web dashboard and analytics API endpoints): $0/mo
- Supabase (Managed Postgres database storing user activity logs, projects, and summaries): $0/mo

### Build guide

1. **Scaffold Full-Stack Web Dashboard & Database** — Initialize the Next.js project with Tailwind CSS and configure Supabase Postgres schema for users, time entries, projects, and categories.

```
Create a new Next.js project configured with TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and better-auth. Set up Supabase database integration with tables for users, projects, time_entries (columns: id, user_id, app_name, window_title, browser_url, start_time, end_time, duration_seconds, category_id, is_billable), and categories. Write migration scripts and database type definitions. Implement the main analytics dashboard layout with responsive sidebar navigation and placeholder charts for daily focus time and productivity scores.
```

2. **Build macOS Native Background Tracking Daemon** — Develop a lightweight Swift/AppKit application that utilizes macOS Accessibility APIs to poll active foreground application names and browser URLs.

```
Write a standalone macOS application in Swift using SwiftUI and AppKit that requests accessibility permissions (AXIsProcessTrusted). Implement a background polling timer (every 5 seconds) to retrieve the active frontmost application bundle identifier, process name, and window title. For supported browsers (Google Chrome, Safari, Brave), use AppleScript or browser extension messaging to extract the active tab URL. Write a local SQLite caching layer and a background HTTP sync worker that pushes batched activity logs securely to the Next.js backend API.
```

3. **Build Windows Native Background Tracking Daemon** — Develop a C# system tray utility for Windows 10/11 using Win32 API hooks to capture foreground window handles and titles.

```
Create a Windows desktop system tray application in C# (.NET) that uses Win32 API functions (GetForegroundWindow, GetWindowThreadProcessId) to monitor active window switches. Capture process executable names and window titles. Implement a local SQLite buffer for offline activity logging and set up an HTTP client background service that syncs batched time logs to the central Supabase backend endpoint with proper authentication headers.
```

4. **Implement AI Categorization Pipeline** — Build backend background jobs using OpenAI API and the Vercel AI SDK to automatically parse raw window metadata and assign projects.

```
Implement an asynchronous processing pipeline in the Next.js backend that analyzes incoming raw time entry logs. Using the OpenAI API and Vercel AI SDK, evaluate window titles, app names, and URLs against user-defined project definitions to classify each session into correct projects and categories with an AI confidence score. Store the categorized results back into Supabase and provide an endpoint for users to review, approve, or override AI tags.
```

5. **Develop Focus Metrics and Productivity Analytics** — Calculate deep-work sessions, distraction frequencies, and custom Focus Quality Scores based on aggregated time entries.

```
Build analytics computation engines in the Next.js dashboard that aggregate time logs into daily, weekly, and monthly views. Implement algorithms to detect deep-work blocks (sustained activity without app switching) and calculate a composite Focus Quality Score incorporating session duration, context-switching frequency, and break intervals. Build interactive charts using Recharts to visualize focus time, meeting hours, and distraction trends.
```

6. **Add Billable Hours, Profitability, and Team Workspaces** — Implement organization workspaces, member management, hourly billing rates, and real-time project profitability calculators.

```
Extend the database schema and backend APIs to support multi-tenant team workspaces, member roles, and seat deactivation with data preservation. Add configuration screens for hourly rates per project and client. Build a profitability dashboard that multiplies billable hours by hourly rates, displaying team utilization metrics, revenue margins, and exportable client report summaries.
```

### Cost vs paying

**Starting costs (one-time):**

- Apple Developer Account (optional for personal local sideloading): $0 (local build) / $99/yr (signed distribution)
- AI Coding Assistant Subscriptions: $20.00
- Total: $20.00 one-time

**Ongoing costs (monthly):**

- Supabase Database & Vercel Hosting: $0/mo (Hobby Tiers)
- OpenAI API Categorization Calls: ~$2-5/mo
- Total: ~$3-5/mo

- Paying for the SaaS instead: $29.99/mo (Team plan)
- Build time: 45-60 hours
- AI tool credits: $20.00 (Claude Pro / Cursor)
- Break-even: Not a financial substitution — build for personal control and learning

## Sources

- [Rize Official Website & Marketing Pages](https://rize.io)