Beaver Habit Tracker is a tool you can use to self-host and keep track of your everyday tasks. There are many habit-tracking tools out there, but the beauty of Beaver Habit Tracker is its amazing simplicity. It just runs on any browser on your PC or mobile, and it just does the job. Here is why this app will help you stay on top of your life every day.

Simple and easy installation

You can find the Beaver Habit Tracker container in Docker

First of all, Beaver Habit Tracker is open-source and free. You can get the code from the dedicated GitHub page and implement it using Ship with Docker or Docker Compose. If you don’t care about self-hosting, you can go right to the Beaver Habit Tracker website and create an account right there, or log in with your Gmail account. You can run this code to deploy it:

docker run -d --name beaverhabits \ -e HABITS_STORAGE=USER_DISK \ -v /path/to/host/directory:/app/.user/ \ -p 8080:8080 \ daya0576/beaverhabits:latest

It took me a couple of seconds to start running the container on Docker Desktop using the GitHub code. However, after that, I also thought about looking for the image, and I found it instantly, so you don’t even need to mess with Docker Compose to run it. Running it on Docker does give you an advantage because you can run commands and change the app's variables.

It’s really a joy to use

No ads or other distractions

I don’t remember the last time when I wasn’t interrupted by ads while using an app. Yeah, I know, usually you get rid of them by paying for the premium version, but that’s not always the case. With Beaver Habits Tracker, it’s just you, with a simple interface to check the tasks you performed on that day.

The app also has the simplest menu you’d imagine. Click on the three-line menu and choose to add as many habits/tasks as you want. Then, from the same menu, you can reorder, import, or export the data as a JSON or database file (in case you self-hosted the software).

That’s it! There are no ads, interference, pop-up instructions, or other distractions. You are just checking your tasks to track them. I used it on my PC, but you can open the app on your phone's browser as well.

Your habits are for your eyes only

Self-hosting guarantees your privacy

I’ve used a couple of trackers on my PC and phone, but all that data is stored on some company’s server. You don’t know who’s reading them, and all that data can be turned into great resources for marketers.

By self-hosting Beaver Habit Tracker, you ensure that all your data remains on your server. You don’t need an expensive one; you can do that on your local machine and save the data on your drive. Next, it’s up to you to secure it as well as you can, but it’s unlikely that your tiny server will be targeted for such precious data. Nevertheless, on Docker, you can automatically analyze the vulnerabilities in your image. That's at least one thing you can do to stay on the safe side.

What I don’t like about Beaver Habit Tracker

No goals or pleasant looks

Beaver Habit Tracker doesn’t have a Goals section. In other words, for instance, if I’m tracking washing the dishes, and I miss checking it (because I didn’t actually wash the dishes), there is no mechanism to warn me that I didn’t perform that task on a given day. You just have to have your eyes peeled on the web app and notice that.

Another thing I would like is a link to my calendar to set up a date and time for a certain task. You would argue that this feature would complicate things a lot, but that would also address the no-goals issue. In other words, it’s about setting a rule to wash the dishes by 5 PM and, if not checked, trigger a notification.

The last thing to criticize on my part is the same feature I've praised: UI design. I like the fact that it's a very simple app, but it could use a bit of a design upgrade. Maybe a better-looking table or the capability to change the font would be a start to make this app look a lot better.

This tiny app might be a great start to building something better

Beaver Habit Tracker is one of the best open-source, carefree, simple web apps to track your tasks and habits. It’s so simple to use that you can even make an instance for your child to use for their simple chores.

Of course, it’s not perfect, and I mentioned a few shortcomings I’ve noticed. However, the software is free and open-source, so if you’re a developer, you can modify it to include whatever you think would make it better.