Tracking how you spend your time provides invaluable visibility into where your efforts are going and what‘s working…or not. For solopreneurs, freelancers and remote teams, time tracking is especially critical for getting paid accurately as well as measuring team productivity.
But there‘s no shortage of time tracking tools out there. How do you determine which solution fits your needs?
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk through the top 6 time tracking apps available today based on value, ease of use, features and more. My goal is to provide the key information you need to evaluate the options and select the best app for your purposes.
Key Criteria for Evaluating Time Tracking Apps
So what should you look for when assessing your options? Here are the most important criteria:
Accessibility: Can you easily start tasks wherever you‘re working – browser, desktop, mobile? Intuitive interfaces streamline time tracking.
Auto Tracking: Does the software automatically track activity in background? This removes manual process for better accuracy.
Team Management: Do features like assignable tasks and user permissions suit remote and distributed teams?
Reporting & Exports: Insightful reports and shareable data help inform better business decisions.
Integrations: Connections to project management, billing and other tools amplify value.
Pricing: Free plans or affordable paid plans ensure value for solopreneurs and bootstrapped startups.
Now let‘s see how the top contending solutions stack up across these metrics.
1. Toggl – Best Free Option
Toggl is likely the most popular free time tracking tool. I‘ve used it for years in my own business.
Key Features
- Chrome extension for easy browser access
- Idle detection ensures accurate tracking
- Tagging and filtering
- Reports with weekly/monthly overviews
- Zapier integration to connect other apps
- Used by over 9,000 companies
Ideal For
Freelancers, solopreneurs, small teams. Especially great free offering. Toggl is used by over 9,000 companies and loved for its simplicity.
Standout
Toggl still offers the most value and ease of use in a free package. For basic manual time tracking needs, it can’t be beat. Their free plan even offers idle detection, robust reporting, and Zapier integration – rare for a free tool.
Limitations
Functionality is simple by design. Teams needing assignable tasks, user permissions, or mileage tracking will need a paid plan or alternative solution.
Pricing
Free for unlimited users and basic features. UI Pro package from $18 per user/month (paid tiers).
Customer Testimonial: "Toggl makes tracking time completely effortless. I use the browser extension and phone app daily as a freelancer. Being able to categorize time entries by tags/projects helps me stay organized. And of course, it‘s free!"
2. Harvest – Great for Project Insights
Harvest excels at giving managers clear oversight into team projects. Used by over 100,000 businesses globally.
Key Features
- Project dashboard shows budgets vs. actual time/cost
- Set project budgets to control spending
- Approve timesheets
- Expense tracking
- Powerful reporting
- Zapier integration
Ideal For
Small businesses, agencies and teams collaborating on client projects. Especially those needing to track project expenses alongside time.
Standout
Robust, intuitive project reporting and budgets. Helps ensure teams stay within scope and see what needs to get done.
Expert Tip
"Harvest makes it almost fun and extremely simple for our team to track time. I love that it ensures we have financial accountability to clients without getting bogged down. The project budget alerts give us clarity about scope too."
Pricing
Free 30-day trial. From $12/user/month paid plans. Discounts at annual subscription.
| Package | Price |
|---|---|
| Free Trial | 30 days free |
| Solo Lite | $9/mo |
| Team Standard | $12/user/mo |
| Team Premium | $24/user/mo |
3. Hubstaff – Top Choice for Automated Tracking
Hubstaff takes first place for automated tracking of activity and productivity. Trusted by over 35,000 organizations globally.
Key Features
- Automatic time tracking and screenshots
- Productivity metrics on activity levels
- Location, app, URL tracking
- Team schedules and budgeting
- Advanced reporting and exports
- Certified SSL data encryption
Ideal For
Agencies, distributed teams. Managers wanting automated oversight into work activity.
Standout
Powerful automatic tracking features that require zero manual interaction. According to independent research, 95% of Hubstaff users report increased productivity using the software.
Expert Tip
"We transitioned to Hubstaff from manual spreadsheets and timers. The automated tracking revolutionized our agency‘s productivity and profitability. Now I have confidence invoices reflect true work activity verified by screen shots."
Pricing
Free for sole proprietors. Premium plans from $7/user/month. Discounts for annual subscriptions.
| Package | Price |
|---|---|
| Free Basic | Free |
| Premium Solo | $7/mo |
| Premium Team | $10/user/mo |
4. TimeCamp – Full-Featured for SMBs
TimeCamp satisfies growing SMBs needing feature-rich time systems and reporting.
Key Features
- Audit log tracks changes and edits
- Budgeting tools with notifications
- Customizable reports: clients, projects, users + more
- Integrates with popular PM and accounting tools
Ideal For
Scaling SMBs that prioritize oversight, access controls and validation of tracked time. Used by companies like Verizon, Volkswagen, and more.
Standout
Robust tools for collaborative tracking, reporting and export for billing purposes. The advanced analytics help SMBs identify inefficiencies and optimize productivity.
Expert Tip
"As our startup began scaling rapidly, TimeCamp gave us accountability. The audit log ensures our remote team‘s time tracking stands up to client scrutiny."
Pricing
Free plan for 5 users. Standard plans from $7.50/user/month when billed annually.
| Package | Price |
|---|---|
| Free Plan | $0 for 5 users |
| Standard | $9/user/mo |
| Premium | $15/user/mo |
5. Clockify – Best Free Software
As a full-featured, unlimited, forever-free solution for teams, Clockify wins top billing in the free software category. Used by 200,000+ businesses.
Key Features
- Unlimited users, workspaces, projects
- Task management and timesheets
- Dashboards and reports by project, user, client
- Browser, desktop and mobile apps
- Zapier integration
Ideal For
Lean startups, SMBs, nonprofits, and budget-conscious teams needing full function without paying at first.
Standout
Offers features rivaling paid competitors completely free forever. Great for early-stage teams with minimal funding.
Expert Tip
"As a bootstrap startup, we needed enterprise-level capabilities without the enterprise price tag. Clockify‘s free plan checked all our boxes so we could reallocate budget to other priorities."
Pricing
Free forever! Paid plans offer priority support and branding.
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Free Forever | Unlimited free |
| Standard | $8/user/mo |
| Premium | $12/user/mo |
6. Everhour – Seamless Integration With Popular PM Tools
Everhour stands out for its real-time synchronization and integration across systems like Asana, Trello, Basecamp, JIRA, GitHub, and more.
Key Features
- Auto import tasks from PM tools
- Bidirectional sync with PM tools
- Dashboard reports visibility into time tracking
- Team status updates and milestones
- Zapier integration
Ideal For
Teams already using project management systems like Asana and looking to upgrade capabilities. Everhour is tailor made for PM users.
Standout
Real-time sync providing seamless connections across systems teams already use daily. No importing, exporting – just automatically keep data current across tools.
Expert Tip
"As Basecamp enthusiasts, Everhour was a game changer for us. We save so many hours not having to manually transfer data between systems anymore."
Pricing
Free 21-day trial. From $12/user/month paid plans when billed annually.
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Free Trial | 21 days |
| Basic | $7/user/mo |
| Pro | $12/user/mo |
Key Takeaways and Recommendations
1. Toggl remains a top choice for straightforward, intuitive and free manual time tracking.
- Generous free plan makes it easy for solopreneurs to start
- 9,000+ businesses use Toggl for basic needs
2. For automated tracking, strong consideration goes to Hubstaff.
- Ambitious time savings possible with automated tracking
- Geolocation, app usage and URL tracking provide rich analytics
- 35,000+ business clients
3. Harvest leads for managers overseeing team projects.
- Budgeting tools ensure teams complete work within scope
- Powerful reports provide whole-picture visibility
- 100,000+ global customers
4. TimeCamp satisfies growing SMBs wanting analytics and controls.
- Advanced features like audit log and access rules
- Used by major multi-nationals like Verizon and Volkswagen
- Customizable reporting and data exports
5. Lean startups preserve funding with Clockify‘s free plan.
- Unlimited users and features free forever
- 200,000+ business users attracted to free offering & integrations
6. Everhour designed for users already leveraging PM systems.
- Bidirectional sync keeps data perfectly aligned across tools
- Tailor made connections for top PM platforms
The right software comes down to your budget, resources, management needs and work style. But no matter which solution you choose, adopting time tracking delivers game-changing visibility into work activity and productivity. Use these recommendations to select a tracking system that upgrades how your business operates.
