TV Time vs Trakt: Where to Move Before Shutdown
With TV Time shutting down July 15, 2026, is Trakt the right new home? Compare features and data portability — and how to bring your history along.
Overview
For years TV Time was the default place to log episodes, react to plot twists, and see what a huge community was watching. That era is ending, so the practical comparison is no longer "which app is nicer" but "where do I move, and will my history come with me." For most people weighing the switch, Trakt is the destination that comes up first.
TV Time is shutting down. Its service ends after July 15, 2026, and after that date the app is removed from the App Store and Google Play, tvtime.com goes offline, and all account data is deleted. Export your data from TV Time's self-service tool before July 15 — this close to the deadline it is the reliable route, since email requests can take up to 30 days.
TV Time reached more than 25 million users and over 26.4 million lifetime installs (per Appfigures via TechCrunch), but parent company Whip Media says it is no longer sustainable to run as a free app and there was not enough demand for a paid one. Trakt takes the opposite shape: it has run since 2010 as an open, portable hub, and it is designed so your history is never trapped in one place. This comparison looks at how the two differ and, more importantly, how to carry your watch history across.
TV TimeSocial watch platform, shutting down July 15, 2026
traktOpen, portable tracking hub running since 2010
Feature Comparison
| Feature | TV Time | Trakt |
|---|---|---|
| Movie tracking | ||
| TV episode tracking | ||
| Community comments & reactions | ||
| Badges & gamification | ||
| Data export / portability | ||
| Plex / Kodi sync | ||
| Third-party app ecosystem | ||
| Built-in TV Time importer | ||
| Web access | ||
| Operating after July 15, 2026 | ||
| Free to use |
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Key Differences
Social Platform vs Open Portable Ecosystem
TV Time was built around community. After you marked an episode watched, you could read what other viewers thought, react, vote for characters, and earn badges. That social layer is a big part of what people loved, and it is the thing Trakt does not try to replicate in the same way.
Trakt is built around portability and integration rather than a social feed. It works as a hub that scrobbles from Plex and Kodi and connects to a large ecosystem of third-party apps, so your history follows you across devices. If the community was your favorite part of TV Time, Trakt will feel more utilitarian. If tracking and data ownership were the point, Trakt is a step up.
It helps to separate what you can carry over from what you cannot. Your watch history — every episode you marked and where you stopped in each series — moves to Trakt through the importer. The community threads, reactions, and badges do not; those lived only on TV Time and end with it. Knowing that split up front makes the switch less jarring, because you are preserving the record of what you watched even if the social feed around it does not come along.
Data Ownership
This is the difference that matters most right now. TV Time keeps your data inside its own platform, and that platform is being switched off, with all account data deleted after July 15, 2026. There is no way to keep using it after the shutdown.
Trakt is the opposite. Your history exports everywhere, syncs to Plex, Kodi, and third-party apps, and Trakt even ships a built-in TV Time importer that pulls your history across, with most people reporting around 95% accuracy or better. Export from TV Time first, then run the importer; if it misses an account, you can fall back to the export file. The import TV Time to Trakt guide walks through it step by step.
Longevity
The most practical difference is simply which service still exists next month. TV Time reached impressive scale, but Whip Media — acquired by lender Blue Torch Capital in early 2025 and now pivoting to enterprise AI — has decided the consumer app is no longer sustainable. Trakt has run since 2010 and serves as the backbone for a whole ecosystem of trackers, which makes it a durable place to land after watching one app close down. When you have just lost years of history to a shutdown, a service with a long track record is worth a lot.
- Your data exports everywhere and stays portable
- Built-in TV Time importer with roughly 95% typical accuracy
- Syncs with Plex, Kodi, and a large third-party ecosystem
- Running since 2010 with a proven track record
- Free core tracking with an optional VIP tier
- No TV Time-style community comments or badges
- Web interface is more utilitarian than TV Time
- Official mobile apps are basic, so many people use a third-party app
Which Should You Choose?
With TV Time closing, the choice is really about where to rebuild. Trakt is the safe, durable backbone: it imports your TV Time history, keeps that data portable, and has been running long enough that you are not betting on another young service. If you want one place your watch history lives that you never have to worry about locking you in again, Trakt is the sensible answer.
The one thing Trakt is not is a polished daily app, especially on mobile. That is where a third option helps. On Android, you can put Moviebase on top of Trakt: Moviebase syncs bidirectionally with Trakt and gives you an ad-free interface with episode progress, custom lists, a release calendar, and free viewing statistics, while Trakt keeps everything portable underneath. You get the durable hub and a tracker that is pleasant to use every day. See Moviebase vs Trakt for how that split works, or the TV Time alternatives overview for the full field. If you would rather move straight into a native app, the guide on how to switch from TV Time to Moviebase covers the whole path.