If the timer was not around you and you spent one hour working on a client project, were you really on a client project? Time Tracking Apps are the best solution (That’s the saying…)
In my freelancing venture, it is my responsibility to handle every function of my business, which ranges from delivering the work for the clients to marketing, bookkeeping, and admin. I keep meticulous notes on how long each business task and client project takes me so that I can sell my services at the right price and not overcommit my schedule. Whether you are a solopreneur like me or a 9-5 office worker, you can tell where you spend your time which empowers you to know where you put your energy.
Time Tracking Apps allow you to record hours, optimize your business processes, and increase your productivity as well. The good time trackers are featured with timers but also allow you to edit or add time by hand. Some of these apps use AI to track your workflow in an automated way, which allows you to concentrate on deep work, and later analyze the schedules.
We have been reviewing the Time Tracking Apps in great detail over the months. Now, we have summed up the best time-tracking apps for individuals and teams so that you can pick the app and options that suit you the most.
Top-Rated Time Tracking Applications
- TrackingTime
- Toggl Track
- Timely
- RescueTime
- Memtime
- HourStack
What Defines The Top Time Tracking Software?
Once you understand how and what you spend your time, you will be able to analyze your work patterns and make more informed decisions about your business. It does not matter who you are working with as an individual or in a small team, time tracking software will give you complete information about your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly work
How do you use this data? Ultimately, project time tracking might be crucial in terms of getting paid. So you will be able to trust your invoices rather than trying to calculate how much time you worked in the past. For those working in a team, time tracking can answer the question “What have you been working on this month?”
- Real-time tracking. Most time-tracking apps let you track your time in real-time, ie they let you start the running clock when you begin a task and stop or pause it when you are done.
- Editing or adding time blocks manually. The best apps let you go back to and correct time tracked after the fact, such as if you left a timer running while going away for lunch. The time log should be editable so that you can subtract however many minutes you didn’t work. You want an app that lets you enter a block of time manually as well, in case you forget to start the timer. As an illustration, if your phone rings and you immediately engage in a 20-minute consulting, you may not start a timer, but you would like to capture and bill the hours worked.
- Reporting features. The top powerful time-tracking apps offer dashboards and reports that enable you to separate the data per day, week, or month for projects, people, or clients.
- Capability of issuing an invoice or exporting data. After that, you group all your working time, and you have to act on it. All these apps allow you either to let the apps generate invoices through the time tracking data stored in them or to export that information into PDFs, CSVs, or Google Sheets and share it with relevant people.
- Multiple points of access. The most useful time trackers offer an easy and convenient way to start a timer. They are designed to be highly flexible and allow you to start a timer wherever it works best for you, either in your browser, a desktop app, or your mobile device.
- Bonus: AI features. Artificial intelligence is making and simplifying the workflow through all software across all industries, and time-tracking apps are not an exception. I looked at time trackers using AI to auto-track time or machine learning that auto-assigns time blocks to related tasks and projects.
A Quick Look At The Top-Time Tracking Applications
| Name | Best for | Standout feature | Pricing |
| TrackingTime | Visualizing time differently | Robust task management features | Free for up to 3 users; from $5.75/user/month |
| Toggl Track | A free time tracking app | Easy accessibility from anywhere | Free for up to 5 users; from $9/user/month |
| Timely | Automated time tracking for large teams | AI assistant for categorizing activities | From $9/user/month for up to 20 projects and 5 users |
| RescueTime | Reducing distractions | Focus sessions to block distracting websites | Free Lite plan for individuals; from $12/user/month |
| Memtime | Simplified automated time tracking | Minimalist interface | From $12/user/month (with a 24-month subscription) |
| HourStack | Integrating with your team’s project management software | Simplicity in planning and tracking a team’s workload | From $12/month for 1 user |
The Top Time Tracking Application For A Fresh Perspective On Visualizing Time
TrackingTime (Firefox, Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Web, Chrome)
TrackingTime is a powerful collaborative time-tracking tool that doesn’t fit into the category of standard time-tracking applications. It is like blocks or a window of time just like if it were an event on your calendar. It’s not the only app that shows you your time in such a format, but it is the most versatile in terms of customization. For example, you can select from a day, week, month, and team view.
The daily view is a super helpful layout I’ve seen; it has the full month’s calendar on the left with each day showing an icon to show the quantity of time tracked and the right day, color-coded and organized by blocks of tracked time.
Time Tracking Apps focuses more on scheduling your time first before going to work instead of other apps. You can, for example, set blocks of time into your calendar for the tasks you plan to work on later in the week or for recurring events, for instance, meetings.
The Projects tab is the closest to what I assume the traditional project management tool is. With a polished and simple user interface. It is styled exactly like an Asana list, where you can view tasks that are organized by project, client, priority, or date. Clicking on a task opens a panel on the side where the time is tracked. Attachments can be added, and custom fields set. If you are searching for a time tracker that also acts as a somewhat complete task manager, TrackingTime is certainly worth a look at.
Who TrackingTime isn’t right for: Users who do not take the time to block their tasks or schedule specific events ahead of time.
TrackingTime Pricing: Free for up to 3 users and $5.75/user/month for the Pro plan which includes unlimited. Team collaboration, advanced reporting, and team and project management features.
Free time tracking app
Toggl Track (Windows, Android, iOS,macOS, Linux, Web, and browser extensions)
If Toggl Track is a time tracker tool that you need, but you can not afford it. You should use Toggl Track. Surprisingly, until I found my favorite new timer while I was looking it up for this article, Toggl has been a part of my daily freelance workflow. The time tracking tool has a free plan of service that provides all its apps (Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, web. And browser extensions) and all the basic functionality of the time tracking tool in a single click.
Toggl Track doesn’t need much effort from you because it automatically starts timing the task while you are working. Many time-tracking apps will only allow you to track time when you have a client, project, or task already inside your account. If you do not, you have to switch to a given task temporarily and set yours aside. Using Toggl Track you can start logging your time right away. View your logged time entries in grid or calendar format, and think of details later.
Additionally, the Toggl Track Chrome and Firefox browser extensions allow you to find the Toggl timer button. Almost in every web app used, from Google Docs (and other Google apps) to Help Scout. Since Toggl Track is visible to you as you work, you have a continuous realm in which to track your time. I also keep the desktop app open on my computer window. So it will show the running clock time on the menubar even if I start a timer from my browser window. What I find most convenient in Toggle’s timer is that I can use it from anywhere, and it also makes it one of the most flexible and easiest-to-use tools I’ve tried over the last three years—that’s why I’ve used it regularly.
Another benefit of Toggl Track is that it has some of the most comprehensive options that I have seen in a time-tracking app. For instance, in the Toggl Track Chrome extension, you can start. And stop time tracking automatically whether the browser is open or not. It also has good idle detection, as well, which ensures you have a consistently high level of accuracy for all your records.
The app can detect that your computer has been idle yet the timer is still running. And then it suggests ways of fixing the wrongly recorded block of time. The advantage is that if you get interrupted and you finish up in a 20-minute conversation. That 20 minutes will be deleted from your Toggl Track record. Toggl Track even has its own “Pomodoro Technique” setting so that you can work on a focused project for a set amount of time with simple stopwatch-like reminders about when you should take a quick break.
Toggl has not only recently upgraded its dashboards and reporting functionality, but also advanced in-depth data analysis. Customized dashboards can provide you with weekly statistical data or team summaries while you can also create data filtered by tag, client, or team.
Who Toggl Track isn’t right for The free plan is straightforward to use with basic time tracking. And reporting, but to get in-depth insights about your job along with saved reports and billable hours, you will have to upgrade to the Premium package. If you have to spend some dollars, a different app could be a better option for you. There is no free task management or scheduling feature, so if you are looking for a way to assign tasks. And track team workload, you will need to look somewhere else.
Toggl Track pricing: Up to 5 users are free; $9/user/month when billed annually for the Starter plan that comes with time rounding, billable rates, saved reports, and more.
Automated Time Tracking Application Designed For Teams
Timely (Firefox, Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chrome)
The most effective time-tracking tools enable you to save the most accurate record with minimal fuss of the way you are spending your time. What could be more precise and effortless than a programmed time tracker?
Time is a time-tracking app from Memory AS that makes “Memory” for every software and website you use during the day. Then, at your own convenience, you can simply drag and drop these Memories to their assigned tasks and projects to build a Timesheet.
You might be afraid if you are part of an organization and you use this tool. But Timely isn’t an employee monitoring app. All data it gathers is only for you, and it is your choice when and with whom to share it in the Timesheet. And if you don’t want the app to track your actions at any moment. You can just turn the app off from your menu bar.
The advantage of Timely is that it can be used even by the beginners. After you have downloaded the desktop program, you’ll be asked to connect to your calendar and/or conferencing tools to let Timely include your meetings in your work schedule. You will be able to easily add new projects, tasks, etc, and set your hourly rate for both people and projects.
Next, it is just you and the app working in the background. You don’t need to remember to start and stop a timer, just sit down at the end of the day and quickly drag. And drop activities in your timesheet to the appropriate project for a reliable and detailed report of how you spend your time.
It even logs you when you’re in a Chrome tab group – which I love – because that is what I use the group tab feature for, to separate my different projects done at the same time. In this insightful Timely feature, it is simple to track web activity to projects. The human AI assistant also finds habits in your time tracking and, after a day or so. Your AI assistant will start providing suggestions on categorizing activities as projects.
Timely provides well-detailed and customized reports. Conveniently see unbilled hours and reports for the entire office or just an individual project. You can also have report templates for customized views filtered by clients, projects, people, tags, and teams. Once it’s time to bill then Timely integrates with QuickBooks to generate the invoices. And once they are ready for sending they will be pushed to QuickBooks Online.
For those who like to plan, Timely provides an additional feature of a task planner for $5 per month. You can set the assignments by the assignee or the project. Next, just move your events into their matched tasks on your timesheet to compare what you planned versus what was accomplished. tracked time for every activity.
The fact that Timely is fantastic for teams lies in the fact that it focuses on project management. And team scheduling. You can click on the People button to see a dashboard view of plans vs. many logged hours, user-wise breakdown. And activities report for the team. This helps you to determine who is overloaded and who needs to be made up with a schedule. And even you can filter it by missing or overtime hours.
Who Timely isn’t right for. Users, who are not in favor of the AI tool monitoring their every move on their device. Further, if you do loads of work not on your computer screen, Timely may not be for you either; it’s mainly targeted at computer work.
Timely pricing: $9/user/month for the Starter plan (up to 20 projects and 5 users). The Premium plan costs $16 per user per month and offers unlimited projects and 50 users.
Best App Time Tracking For Reducing Distractions
RescueTime( Brave, Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome, Firefox)
RescueTime is an automatic time-tracking program that places these values (mindfulness, deep work, and distraction reduction) at the forefront of your workday.
If you’d like to try the “Focus” version of RescueTime (which, in my opinion, is much better), download a small monitoring program on your computer first. This program operates silently and watches your computer usage then RescueTime Assistant “digital wellness coach” is powered by it.
The Assistant can be found on the menubar, taskbar, or system tray of your desktop and you can use it to monitor your daily work progress, set goals, and write reports. For example, it might tell you when you tend to be more distracted and multitask more than usual.
Probably, the most interesting set of features of RescueTime is made to help you to focus. And think in terms of deep work – high-level value, demanding mental projects. RescueTime categorizes this type of work as “Focus Work”. You can decide the types of activities that constitute Focus Work and set goals on how much Focus Work you want to have completed in a day.
After you decide it’s time for you to delve into this type of deep work, you run a “Focus Session.” The goal of the focus session is to block any websites that you’ve identified as personal activities (such as social media sites or YouTube). It remembers how focused you are and provides you with a complete report at the end of the session.
There is a learning curve associated with rescue time. You need to memorize all these terms and how RescueTime defines and allocates different activities. However, once you are familiar with the vocabulary and the settings, you will leave it almost untouched. And can just jump right into your deep work.
This is the only app out of all 4 on this list that does not enable you to download your hours. Or create an invoice automatically. Rescue time is for people who need to track how they spend their hours simply for their benefit. Learn more about their working habits and how to be productive.
One word of warning: After signing up for RescueTime. You may choose your priority (the “Focus” option or the “Analytics” option). The strengths of RescueTime are its focus-friendly features so if you give it a try. I would recommend picking the Focus option when you sign up. Despite this, the desktop app was very minimalist and directed me to a browser dashboard. Where I could see a list of my activities, but it lacked the powerful categorizing. And exporting elements that Timely had.
Besides, although RescueTime has lately added a new “Timesheets AI” feature that allows you to put your tracked time. In respective projects, I found it not so smooth. Perhaps with a few updates, RescueTime will become the ideal twin distraction cutter and time register. However, for now, it is a great tool for concentration.
Who RescueTime isn’t right for: Users who need to track the time of the particular tasks and projects.
RescueTime pricing: The Lite Free plan for individuals, is missing activity blocking, advanced reporting, goal setting, and offline time entry. RescueTime Premium is $12 per user per month.
Top Choice For A Time Tracking App With Easy Automatic Tracking
Memtime (Linux, macOS, Windows)
Memtime (formerly timeBro) is a new, yet excellent automated time-tracking tool that has efficiently replaced a lot of the time-consuming manual tracking I used to do before. I may have to abandon my long-bearing Toggl use after replacing it with Memtime by using it in the background.
There is something similar to Timely named Memtime. Memtime is a desktop application that helps to categorize your computer activity. No need to remember to turn a timer on and off, and, at the end of your workday. Simply access the app to review and sort your tasks by category.
At Memtime, what I love the most is the simplicity of it. The other auto-tracking tools (including Timely) have such an emphasis on team project management. And schedule creation that many may get confused. If, however, you’re working and need to give timesheets. The likes of Timely may just be an expensive overkill for you. Timeon’s interface is much simpler, you can see your day’s activities in a feed, an easy way to add tagged. And numbered entries and things you do every day. There is another tab for project management: add clients and projects manually. Or import them from other apps to this part; you can see your productivity stats on the reporting tab. You can also integrate memo: Time with your calendar to see events in a schedule all together with recorded activities.
To create new time entries in the Timeline view, just click on the timeline. And grab the cursor moving it to adjust the entry’s duration. The display is split into 5-minute intervals (or you can choose the breakdown every minute. If you like to be more granular and don’t mind scrolling). You can choose the List view that lets you add and log new entries by just dragging and dropping activities.
The other thing is that Memtime only works in a desktop application; no mobile app or web option. With Memtime having five-minute sessions as default in the Timeline view. I discovered that the total time logged was less accurate than that of Timely. However, seeing that its main purpose is for my gain, I believe the minimalism of Memtime is reasonable enough.
If you’re specifically interested in trying out the automated time-tracking features. While avoiding being overloaded with team and project management functions, by all means, go for Memtime.
Who Memtime isn’t right for: Users who don’t agree with installing an AI app on their computers. The tool is also a little underpowered for team. If you’re looking for many integrations or a mobile app, search elsewhere.
Memtime Pricing: $12/user/month (a 2-year subscription) for the Basic plan that comes with fully automated time tracking and calendar sync. Connect plan costs from $18 / user/month for project management software integration.
The Top Time Tracking App For Seamless Integration With Your Team’s Project Management Tools
HourStack (Microsoft Edge, Web, Chrome, Firefox)
If you need a time tracker that cooperates seamlessly with your preferred project management tool. Whether for planning or tracking the time of your team, HourStack is worth checking out.
HourStack is a calendar and time clock that is elegant and effortless to use and still amazes me. The application works seamlessly with the best project management tools such as Asana, Google Tasks, Trello, Todoist, and even Google Calendar. You can see your tasks from a sidebar when you connect to one of these apps. You can even drag and drop them directly into the calendar of Hourstack to schedule your team’s workload.
And the best part? Integration goes two ways, so you can check tasks as completed in HourStack and they’ll sync with your project manager. When it comes to productivity tool nerd, I was excited and impressed by this feature.
HourStack’s strength is in its simplicity There is no risk of being weighed down. Or distracted by the involved features and interfaces. The Calendar page allows you to know planned tasks and lets you schedule and record work time. The Reports page, which is filterable by clients, projects. And labels, lets you compare your scheduled vs. tracked hours plus how many tasks you have finished. Moreover, we have browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox. And Microsoft Edge where you can begin to create or add project time without the need to input a task or project first.
Who HourStack isn’t right for: Users who are looking for a desktop and/or mobile app. As it works right in the browser and through the browser extensions. It offers a limited amount of entry points, and some users could feel constrained by this.
HourStack pricing: $12/month for one user; $ 15/ user/month for teams.
How To Choose The Best Time Tracking App?
The right Time Tracking Apps is a guesswork-free process when it comes to scheduling and accounting for the whole workday. With just one mouse click, you can start or pause timers, add or edit time entries manually. Or export or review your data for more precise invoicing and planning. And you can save even more of your precious time by getting the data flow between this time tracking app. And other apps set up automatically. That means you should spend your time on where it is important for you.
