TV Time shut down on July 15, 2026
Trakt vs Simkl: which one after TV Time?
These are the two most-cited replacements, and they are less alike than people say. The difference is not about features — both track very well — but about what you pay, and what you lose if you do not.
Checked on September 30, 2026
Trakt et Simkl and WatchTrail, point by point
| Criterion | Trakt et Simkl | WatchTrail |
|---|---|---|
| The free tier | Trakt: 250 items per watchlist or list, 5 personal lists (announced February 2026). Simkl: free core, with ads | Tracking, calendar, statistics and import, uncapped |
| The price to lift the limits | Trakt: VIP at $60 a year, doubled in February 2025. Simkl: three tiers, free, PRO and VIP | There is none |
| What paying adds | Simkl: ad-free, automatic backups, calendar sync and two-way sync with MyAnimeList | Nothing: the core is complete, and ad-free |
| Extended universes | — | MCU, Star Wars, DC checklists, with dual order |
What Trakt et Simkl does better than us
- **Trakt has the richest ecosystem out there**: dozens of third-party apps connect to it, and nothing matches that.
- **Simkl covers Japanese animation remarkably well**, with a two-way MyAnimeList sync nobody else offers.
- **Both import from TV Time**, and both track episode by episode without reproach.
- Simkl keeps an uncapped free core, where Trakt tightened its own.
Where Trakt et Simkl falls short
- At Trakt, the free tier tightened and VIP doubled in 2025: that is the point to check before committing.
- At Simkl, ads are the price of free — they are removed by VIP.
Trakt et Simkl is the right pick if…
If you want to plug in your media centre, your box or ten third-party apps, take Trakt: its ecosystem has no equivalent, and VIP is justified in that case. If you watch a lot of Japanese animation, take Simkl.
So where does WatchTrail fit?
WatchTrail sits where neither of those goes: extended universes, films and shows in one checklist, and a core with neither caps nor ads — so no feature to buy back later. What we do not have: their third-party app ecosystem, and that is worth knowing before choosing.
Frequently asked questions
Does Trakt really cost $60 a year?
$60 is the full price ($5/month billed yearly). First-period discounts sometimes appear on their page; we do not quote them without re-reading them. The free account remains usable, with its caps.
Is Simkl free?
Its core is, with ads. VIP removes them and adds backups and syncs.
Can I move between them?
Both export, and our importer reads a spreadsheet with the right columns.
The real criterion: your history
Whatever tool you pick, check that it takes your TV Time export — and how. On WatchTrail, every show is matched by its ID, not by its title.
See how to move my historyOther comparisons
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Other services' pricing and features change over time: this page shows when it was last checked. When in doubt, the service's own page is authoritative.