Question 1

What is Self-Engine?

Accepted Answer

Self-Engine brings your work and everyday life into one app with five modules: Projects with time tracking, Tasks, Calendar, Finance and Habits. The modules work together: start the timer for a project straight from its appointment, payouts for your project work land as transactions in Finance, and tracked project time can count toward a habit automatically. Your data is kept as a local copy on your device, so you can keep working without an internet connection.

Question 2

How do I get started?

Accepted Answer

Click “Sign up” on the homepage and create your account; this needs an internet connection. Setup then takes you through a few steps: accept the terms, choose a subscription or redeem an invite code, set your language, time zone and appearance, and decide whether you want the AI assistant. Finally you pick where to start – Track time, Track finances, Build habits or Plan tasks – and land right in that module. On larger screens, a short tour shows you the essentials the first time you open each area, and the “Getting started” checklist on the dashboard guides your first steps.

Question 3

How much does Self-Engine cost?

Accepted Answer

There is one plan: Self-Engine Pro for $9 per month, billed monthly, with all five modules, the web and Mac apps, all future updates and the optional AI assistant with a usage quota of currently $1 per month. There is no free trial. The first 100 paying customers get the founding price of $5 per month; it can be booked until January 31, 2027 and stays as long as the subscription runs without interruption. Paid sign-ups open with the beta. Billing is in US dollars; all prices are final, and in accordance with Section 19 of the German VAT Act no VAT is charged.

Question 4

Is there a free version?

Accepted Answer

There is no free plan and no free trial. Beta testers use Self-Engine Pro free for six months: if you were invited as a friend or tester, enter your invite code under “Friends & testers” when choosing a subscription and click “Activate free access”. No payment details are needed.

Question 5

How do I cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

At any time, effective at the end of the current term. Cancel in your account settings (profile picture → “Account & security”) or with the “Cancel contracts here” button in the website footer.

Question 6

Which languages are available?

Accepted Answer

Self-Engine and these guides are available in German and English. You choose the language during setup and can change it any time under Settings → Language & region, where you also set the time format, time zone and default currency.

Question 7

Does Self-Engine work offline?

Accepted Answer

Yes, once you have signed in online on that device. Self-Engine keeps your data in a local database: you can work with timers, projects, tasks, transactions and habits without a connection, and your changes upload as soon as you are back online. You need the internet for the first sign-in, the subscription, the AI assistant, syncing with Google or Apple Calendar, and for exporting your data or deleting your account. Don't sign out while changes are still pending: signing out removes the local copy from the device.

Question 8

Can I use Self-Engine on several devices?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Self-Engine runs in any current browser on computers, tablets and phones, and there is a Mac app. Sign in with the same account everywhere: once your devices are online, they sync through the cloud. Settings such as language, colors and keyboard shortcuts follow you; window widths, expanded panels and open tabs stay on each device. If a change is missing on another device, check that both are online – anything recorded offline uploads only after reconnecting.

Question 9

Where is my data stored and how is it protected?

Accepted Answer

Your data lives in two places: as a local copy on every device you are signed in on, and in the cloud database (Supabase) your devices sync through. Sign-in is handled by Clerk, and access to your data is tied to your account. Which service providers are involved, where they process data and how long it is kept is described in the current privacy policy.

Question 10

Can I export my data or delete my account?

Accepted Answer

Yes, both in the web app under profile picture → “Account & security”. Under “Your data”, “Export my data” downloads a JSON file with everything stored on the server; wait until local changes have synced first. The export is a copy for you, not a backup you can restore. Under “Danger zone”, “Delete account” deletes your account and all app data once you have typed the confirmation text shown. This cannot be undone.

Question 11

What can the Mac app do?

Accepted Answer

The Mac app brings the full web app to your Mac, plus system notifications and a menu bar icon showing the running time. Clicking it opens a small window with the Timer, Today, Capture and – if enabled – AI assistant tabs. It runs on macOS 11 or later on Apple Silicon and Intel and is still an early alpha. The app checks for updates on its own; an update is only installed once you click “Download” and then “Restart now”.

Question 12

Is there an app for iPhone or Android?

Accepted Answer

Not publicly yet: native apps for iPhone and Android are in development. Until then, open Self-Engine in your phone's browser. The web app adapts to small screens and works with the same data as your other devices.

Question 13

Which project types are there, and how do I organize projects?

Accepted Answer

In the Projects module, every project gets one of four types: Hourly (time is valued at your hourly rate and paid out later), Project-based (a fixed amount through a linked finance project), Employment (with a salary as a recurring transaction) or Hobby (no money involved). The type can't be changed after creation. In the sidebar you arrange projects in nested folders and move them by drag and drop. Archive finished projects; their history is kept.

Question 14

How does time tracking work?

Accepted Answer

“Time tracking” in the header opens the tracking cockpit on every page. Pick a project under “Track a project”, or start a timer without a project, for example for your lunch break. Each project has one timer, and depending on your settings several projects can run in parallel. “Pause” and “Resume” record breaks without ending the timer, and “Save timer” turns it into a time entry. Add forgotten time with “Add time entry” in the project, or as “Tracked” in the calendar.

Question 15

What is Pomodoro and how do I use it?

Accepted Answer

Pomodoro splits work into fixed focus phases with short breaks in between. In Self-Engine you turn it on from a timer card in the tracking cockpit with “Enable Pomodoro”. By default, 25 minutes of focus alternate with 5-minute short breaks, and a 15-minute long break follows every four focus phases. Set durations, automatic phase changes and sounds under Settings → Pomodoro, and override them for individual timers. When you save, all phases end up in a single time entry.

Question 16

How do tasks work?

Accepted Answer

New tasks land in the Inbox, captured from anywhere with “Quick capture” (O, then C). When you sort them, give them a status, a project and dates: “Planned” is the day you intend to work on it, “Deadline” the real cutoff. “Today” shows everything planned or due today, “Upcoming” the days ahead. Tasks can be broken into subtasks and shown as a list or board; you customize the statuses in the settings. Recurring tasks are not available at the moment.

Question 17

Can I connect Google Calendar or Apple Calendar?

Accepted Answer

Yes, including several accounts. Under Settings → Integrations, connect Google through Google sign-in and Apple with your Apple Account and an app-specific password. Then choose which calendars are shown and which calendar new appointments are written to. Self-Engine syncs a window of one year before and after today, which requires an internet connection. In the calendar, appointments and tracked time sit side by side in the same grid.

Question 18

What can the Finance module do?

Accepted Answer

You keep bank accounts in any currency and record income and expenses with tags and contacts. Recurring transactions create regular payments such as rent or salary automatically and can be paused. Transfers move money between your accounts, finance projects hold agreed amounts, and payouts record paid project work. You see the numbers per currency under Payments → Overview. There is no bank connection or CSV import: you enter transactions yourself or through recurring transactions.

Question 19

How do habits work?

Accepted Answer

Create a habit from scratch or from a template and choose what it measures: simple done, avoid completely, an amount or limit, a number of times per period, or active days. Set its rhythm to daily, specific weekdays, per week or per month. You log it under “Today”, including past days. Streaks, success rate and heatmaps show your progress. For a holiday, pause a habit so the days off don't count as missed. Link it to a project and tracked project time counts automatically.

Question 20

Is there an AI assistant?

Accepted Answer

Yes, as an optional feature. Turn it on during setup or under Settings → AI assistant, then open it from the header or with O, then I. It answers questions about using Self-Engine based on these guides and, on request, works with your data: creating tasks, starting and submitting timers, logging time, adding appointments and transactions or logging habits. It shows you every change for confirmation first. It can't do everything the app can – for example, it doesn't create habits or change settings.

Question 21

What happens to my data when I use the assistant?

Accepted Answer

Turning it on sends no data by itself. Only when you ask something do your message and the data the assistant looks up for it go through OpenRouter to the language model – restricted to providers that, according to OpenRouter, retain nothing. Your conversations stay in this browser and are not synced. The assistant needs an internet connection and has a quota of currently $1 of model cost per month, included in your subscription; once it is used up, the assistant pauses until the next month at no extra cost. You can see your usage under Settings → AI assistant.

Question 22

Can I connect Self-Engine to Claude, Cursor or other AI agents?

Accepted Answer

With “Agent connections”, external AI agents such as Claude or Cursor can access your account over MCP. The feature is being rolled out gradually: if you don't see “Agent connections” in the settings, it isn't available for your account yet. It is independent of the AI assistant and off by default. In your agent, add the address shown as a connector and sign in with your Self-Engine account. The agent uses its own model, and you confirm changes there, not in Self-Engine. An agent can't delete anything permanently. You can revoke each connection individually and review its recent calls.

Frequently asked questions

Getting started & pricing

Data, offline & devices

The modules

AI & agents