List and Comparison of the best free Time Tracking Apps for Freelancers:
Time tracking is the process of measuring and logging the time you spent on different applications on the computer.
Several methods can be followed for logging this time like logging the time in the Excel sheet, guess-work, paper method, or making use of the software.
Making use of a time tracking system is the easiest as well as the most accurate way of tracking the time. These tools accurately measure the time that you have spent on each application. Many systems offer features that would help you with invoicing and budgeting work.
Freelance time tracking software is the time tracking system which is absolutely for freelancers.
In this article, we are listing and comparing the top time tracking software for freelancers. These systems accurately measure and log the time, generate the reports, and help freelancers to track the billable amount of work. Each system generates reports differently based on its features.
Pro Tip: While selecting the best app for freelance time tracking, you should look for some features like accuracy in time tracking, supported integration, alerts functionality, reporting capabilities, controls like pausing and unpausing, invoicing capabilities, and most importantly the price. Most of the top apps offer a free plan for individuals. Check the terms and conditions for free apps. Start with a free trial for some period before making a decision to purchase an app.
Given below is the example of the report generated by one of the freelance time tracking tool – RescueTime.
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Top Time Tracking Apps for Freelancers
Enlisted below are the most popular Freelance Time Tracking Tools that are available in the market.
Comparison of Freelance Time Tracking Systems
| Tools | Platform | Best For | Users | Type of Tracking | Free Plan | Paid plans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buddy Punch | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android. | Small to large businesses. | Employees and managers. | Automatic | No | It starts at $25/month for 1-4 employees & annual billing. |
Bonsai | Web, Mac OS, & iOS. | Freelancers | Freelancers. | Manual or automatic. | No free plan. Start for free. | Plus:$16/ month Premium: $24 /month. |
Time Doctor | Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, & Chrome. | Small to large businesses | Individuals, Remote & hybrid teams. | Automatic & Manual edit. | No | It starts at $7/user/month. |
Clockify | Any browser, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, & Android. | Freelancers | Freelancers, Consultants, Small & Medium size businesses, Consultants, Digital Agencies, & Enterprises. | -- | Free for unlimited time, users, and projects. | Plus: $10/ month /workspace. Premium: $30 /month/workspace. Server: Starts at $450 /month. |
Toggl | Chrome, Firefox, Desktop, Android, & iPhone | Individuals and teams. | Agencies, Teams, and Small businesses. | Manual or automatic-for desktop app. | Free 30 days trial. The Basic plan is free. | Starter: $9 /user /month, Premium: $18 /user /month, Enterprise: Custom pricing. |
Hubstaff | Chrome, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. | Employers with remote team. | Freelancers, Consultants, Construction, Janitorial and Landscaping companies, Architects & Engineers, Home health care companies, & Accountants. | Manual or automatic. | Free trial for 14 days. Free plan for time tracking. | Basic: $5 /month /user Premium: $10/month/ user. |
RescueTime | Windows, Mac, Linux, & Android | Freelancers and teams. | Individuals and Organizations. | -- | RescueTime Lite is free. Free Trial: 14 days for RescueTime Premium. | RescueTime Premium is at $9 per month. |
Let's Explore!!!
#1) Buddy Punch
Tagline: Simple Employee Time Tracking.
Best for small to large businesses.
Pricing: Buddy Punch offers monthly as well as annual billing plans. Two pricing plans are available, Time & Attendance ($25 per month) and Time & Attendance + scheduling ($35 per month). A free trial is available for 30 days. You can contact the company if you have more than 200 employees.
Buddy Punch is a web-based platform for managing time. It can be easily integrated with accounting software. You will be able to track time from multiple devices, laptops, desktops, tablets, or smartphones. It provides multiple options for logging in like facial recognition and a unique QR code.
Features:
- Buddy Punch can be integrated with various scheduling, invoices, and payroll processing tools.
- It will be easier to record billable hours with Buddy Punch.
- It provides the features of overtime calculations and automatic breaks.
- It contains many more features like project & job codes and vacation tracking.
| What Do You Like? | What You Might Not Like? |
|---|---|
| It is easy to use. | Sometimes its mobile app doesn’t work as expected. |
| It provides several login options. | |
| Its features of overtime calculation. |
#2) Bonsai
Tagline: Time Tracking for Freelancers.
Best for Freelancers.
Bonsai is a time tracking software for freelancers. It is available on the web, iOS, and Mac OS. It will help you with proposals, contracts, and invoices.
Features:
- It can be integrated with the contract and proposal.
- You can automate the invoicing process.
- It can be used on desktop and mobile.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| It keeps a track of various documents. | Doesn’t capture the evidence. |
| Automated creation of contracts. | |
Price: Bonsai offers two pricing plans i.e. Plus ($16 per month) and Premium ($24 per month).
#3) Time Doctor
Tagline: Smart Employee Time Tracking Software
Best for small to large businesses.
Pricing: Time Doctor is available with three pricing plans, Basic ($7 user/month), Standard ($10 user/month), and Premium ($20 user/month). You can try it for free for 14 days.
Time Doctor is an easy-to-use and feature-rich time tracking software for remote and hybrid teams. It can also be used by individuals. It has offline time tracking capabilities. It tracks the activity by automatically capturing the screenshots. It can be integrated with all the leading project management tools.
Features:
- Time Doctor provides distraction alerts.
- It has functionalities for checking the employee’s attendance, engagement, and workflow.
- It has features of online timesheets and payroll.
- It can provide insights into the usage of websites and applications.
- It captures the screenshots and measures the activity levels with the help of keyboard and mouse activity levels.
What do you like?
- Time Doctor is a customizable platform.
- It works offline and can sync data once online
- It is easy to use.
- It works on all devices.
- The mobile app contains all the features of the desktop application.
What you might not like?
- There is no free plan available.
#4) Clockify
Tagline: The only truly free time tracker for teams of any size.
Best for Freelancers.
Clockify is a time tracking app for freelancers. It works for teams of any size. It is perfect for freelancers as it is free for unlimited time and users. It accurately tracks the time and it can be integrated with many project management apps.
Features:
- It runs on any browser.
- It supports Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android devices.
- The tool will provide you with a visual breakdown of the time tracked in the reports.
- It also provides weekly summary reports.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| Its integration capabilities. | Reporting interface. |
| Ease of use | |
| Freelancers will be able to bill the client accurately. | |
| It will be easier to evaluate the project costs. |
Demo: Clockify
Price: Free. It is free for an unlimited time and for an unlimited number of users and projects. It also has three paid plans i.e. Plus ($10/ month/workspace), Premium ($30/month/ workspace), and Server (Starts at $450/month).
Website: Clockify
#5) Toggl
Tagline: Turn your team on to productivity with Toggl - The time tracker.
Best for Individuals and teams.
Toggl is a super simple time tracking software for freelancers, agencies, and teams. It will provide a bigger picture for your time spent. It includes basic features like time tracking and reporting along with some advanced features like automating timesheet management and emailing reports.
Features:
- It allows you to break down your data and get the info in reports.
- It can work on any device.
- It will allow you to automate timesheet management.
- You can schedule to get reports in your email.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| Availability on all devices. | Absence of the invoicing module. |
| Reporting capabilities. | Limited reporting capabilities with the free plan. |
| Interface. |
Price: Toggl provides a free trial of the product for 30 days. The Basic plan is free. It has three more plans i.e. Starter ($9/user/month), Premium ($18/user/month), and Enterprise (Custom pricing).
Website: Toggl
Recommended Reading => List of the Best Freelance Websites that you Should Know
#6) Hubstaff
Tagline: Spend less time tracking and more time growing with Hubstaff time tracking software.
Best for Employers with a remote team.
Hubstaff offers a time tracking solutions with screenshots, timesheets, and several other features. The tool will be useful for invoicing, project budgeting, and task management. It also offers many features like offline time tracking and data-rich reporting.
Features:
- It has an online timesheet.
- Its Employee scheduling feature will help you with attendance tracking, team management, and shift planning.
- The GPS tracking feature will allow you to track the time spent on the job site and in traveling.
- It offers several other features like Payroll, Employee Monitoring, Productivity Measurement, Online invoicing, and Project budgeting.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| It offers services to different industries. | Limited API integration capabilities. |
| GPS tracking feature. | |
| It is rich in features. |
Demo: Hubstaff
Price: A free trial is available for 14 days. It offers a free plan and also has the Basic plan ($5 per month per user) and Premium plan ($10 per month per user).
Website: Hubstaff
#7) RescueTime
Tagline: Time management software to stay productive.
Best for Individuals and teams.
RescueTime is a web-based time tracking system that is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. It is available for individuals and organizations. RescueTime for Organizations will help you to effectively utilise your talent for company goals.
Features:
- With RescueTime, you will gain a perspective of your daily activities.
- With RescueTime for Organizations, you will get insights for the Whole team.
- It includes the facility to set alarms for spending more time on social media websites.
- It also has many other features like Distraction Management, Privacy Features, Real-time notifications, etc.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| Reporting capabilities. | Data cannot be exported to files. |
| A weekly summary report will be emailed. | |
Price: RescueTime has two plans i.e. RescueTime Lite and RescueTime Premium. RescueTime Lite is free and RescueTime Premium is at $9 per month. A free trial is also available for RescueTime Premium for 14 days.
Website: RescueTime
#8) Harvest
Tagline: Time tracking for those who value insight.
Best for individuals and teams.
Harvest is an online tool for time tracking and invoicing. The tool will maintain bank-level security. It creates a visual summary for the timesheet data which will help you to manage your team. Visual reports provided by Harvest will assist you in keeping your projects on track.
Features:
- It has time and expense tracking.
- It will provide powerful reporting.
- It can provide alerts for the project budget.
- It can be integrated with more than 100 apps.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| Bank level security. | The free plan is only for 2 projects. |
| Project budget alerts. | |
| Availability on all devices. |
Price: Fully-functional trial is available for 30 days. Harvest offers a free plan for one person and two projects. There are two more plans i.e. Solo and Team. The Solo plan is for one person with unlimited projects and the Team plan is for the teams and an unlimited number of projects.
Website: Harvest
#9) TMetric
Tagline: Time tracking app for your business.
Best for teams.
TMetric is a simple and accurate time tracking software. It can be used on desktop, iOS, and Android devices. It supports Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera browsers. TMetric has features for Project Management, Team Management, and Reporting.
Features:
- It includes team management features like user groups and permissions, editing profiles, and adding time for the members.
- The software allows you to enable the setting for weekdays and holidays.
- You can create user groups and set the permissions.
- It will also assist you with budgeting and time estimates for projects.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| Reporting capabilities. | Not for individuals. |
| It can be used on Mobile devices. | The free version is limited to 5 users. |
| Supports popular browsers. |
Price: TMetric has three pricing plans. The free plan is limited to five members. The Professional plan will cost you $4 per month and the Business plan will cost you $6 per month. A free trial of 30 days is available for all plans.
Website: TMetric
#10) Tick
Tagline: Straightforward time tracking software to help your team to run more profitable projects.
Best for individuals and teams.
Tick is a straightforward time tracking software. It can be used on desktops as well as iPhones. It can be integrated with Basecamp and is useful for recurring projects.
- Running timers feature will allow you to work on multiple tasks.
- Timecard will provide feedback on the budget.
- It allows you to enter the time from anywhere.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| Timer feature. | Free for one project only. |
| Available on iPhones. | |
Price: A free trial is available for 30 days. There are five pricing plans based on the number of projects. It is free for one project and will cost you $19 per month for 10 projects.
It will cost you $49 per month for 30 projects and $79 per month for 60 projects. For an unlimited number of projects, you will have to pay $149 per month.
Website: Tick
#11) Everhour
Tagline: Simple and Transparent time tracking.
Best for individuals and teams.
Everhour software is for time tracking, scheduling, budgeting, and expenses. It has a visual dashboard and flexible reporting capabilities. It includes features for expenses and invoicing and can be integrated with popular project management tools.
Features:
- It has features for budgeting.
- Its resource planning features will allow you to monitor the team’s utilization in different projects.
- It includes time tracking features for task-based estimation.
- It has task management features.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| Resource planning features. | No free plan available. |
| Budgeting features. | The Timer can be initiated only if you are working on the listed projects. |
Price: A free trial is available for 14 days. Everhour has two pricing plans i.e. Solo and Team. The Solo plan will cost you $8 per month and as per its name, it is the plan for individuals. The Team plan will cost you $5 per user per month.
Website: Everhour
#12) TimeCamp
Tagline: Time tracking your team will actually see.
Best for individuals and teams.
TimeCamp is a time tracker for monitoring productivity and tracking computer activities. It includes features for integration and attendance tracking. It accurately tracks attendance.
Features:
- With TimeCamp, you can track your billable time.
- You will be able to evaluate the team's performance.
- It will help you with invoices.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| Automatic time recording. | Podio integration is not user-friendly. |
| Tracking of billable time. | |
| Invoicing capabilities. |
Price: TimeCamp offers four plans. The Solo plan is for individuals and is completely free. The Basic plan is $5.25 per user per month. The Pro plan is at $7.50 per user per month. A free trial is available for Basic and Pro plans. Get a quote for the Enterprise plan and you can schedule a demo as well for the Enterprise plan.
Website: TimeCamp
#13) TopTracker
Tagline: The #1 Time Tracking and Payments toll for Freelancers.
Best for Freelancers and teams.
TopTracker is a simple time tracking software that can be used on any device. It provides a Desktop app for Windows, Mac OS, Debian, and RPM. It can be used by freelancers, managers, and teams.
Features:
- It has features for invoicing.
- You can request for the payment to be time-tracked.
- You will get a centralized view of all the projects.
- Reports will provide a summary of the productivity of individuals along with the team's productivity.
| What you will like: | What you might not like: |
|---|---|
| The teams can use it for an unlimited number of projects. | No mobile app. |
| It can be used on any platform, hence all freelancers can use it. | Features are more freelancers centric. Hence, the Employers will get limited functionalities only. |
| It is completely free. |
Price: Free.
Website: Top Tracker
#14) Paymo
Tagline: Work management Software for teams.
Best for small to large businesses & freelancers.
Paymo Pricing: Paymo offers monthly and annual billing plans. There are two pricing plans, Small Office ($8.95 per user per month) and Business ($14.25 per user per month). All these prices are for annual billing. It offers a free trial for 15 days. Paymo also offers a free plan.
Paymo provides time tracking tools so that you will be able to make projects profitable. The system is suitable for the team as well as for the team managers. It will perform real-time tracking directly in your browser. The tool will allow you to add time in bulk.
Features
- With Paymo you will get to view time entries in a clear format.
- It will let you customize the timesheet settings like modifying snap intervals.
- You can toggle between views, daily views, weekly views, monthly views, etc.
- Paymo provides the features of live reports, sharing of reports, and exporting reports to pie/bar charts.
| What Do You Like? | What You Might Not Like? |
|---|---|
| Click and drag the time on the timesheet. | As per the reviews, Paymo provides a free version with a lot of limitations. |
| Agenda view will provide a timesheet in a spreadsheet-like format and you will be able to group time entries based on the predefined filters for the chosen period. | |
| Live reports and a facility to share reports and export them to a pie chart or bar chart. |
Conclusion
We have compared the top Freelance Time Tracking tools that are available in the market.
The systems that are best only for freelancers or individuals include Clockify and Bonsai. The ones that are best for both freelancers, as well as teams, include Toggl, RescueTime, Harvest, Tick, Everhour, TimeCamp, and TopTracker.
TMetric is one of the best time tracking tools but it is best for teams only. TopTracker is a completely free software for tracking time. Clockify also offers a free plan for unlimited time and projects.
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