Time tracking software is a program that you can install on your employees’ computers in order to track their time on different tasks and projects. This form of time tracking practice started in the service industries but it’s now, among other business tools, recognized as an important part of business and project management in many companies of various sizes and industry niches.

Not only does it give you a clean overview of project workflow but it can also be used to track your budget and expenses during those projects. It’s no wonder, then, that it’s slowly becoming a standard practice in the business world.

But as this trend spreads around, the question inevitably arises: What is the best app for tracking time?

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In order to help you reach the answer to this question, we’ve reviewed 10 of the most popular and highly praised time tracking platforms on the market today. And we’ve done that by taking into consideration eight general factors:

• Platform: It’s important to know whether an app will work on the devices and operating systems that you wish to track.
• Features: Arguably one of the most essential considerations is the range of functionalities you need your employee hours tracker to have. The most basic ones are tracking time on projects and tasks, but the additional advanced features might make all the difference for your company.
• Price: Understandably, you want your system to be affordable, but these reviews will give you a chance to compare their price to the features and flexibility they offer to get the actual value for money. Note that most apps here charge a monthly fee per user so their price will depend on the size of your team.
• Free trial/free version: Always look for a free trial because that’s the only completely reliable way to see whether the software fits your needs before you purchase it. In addition, some time management apps offer a freemium version for a limited number of users, so that might be worth looking into in case you’re a freelancer or have a very small team.
• Integrations: If it’s critical for you to have a program that integrates with some of the project management or payment apps, then this aspect is what you should pay attention to.
• Ease of use: You don’t want to waste your time trying to figure out how to use the time tracker and then onboarding your employees as well. That’s why your chosen software should be as intuitive as possible. In order to be completely thorough and unbiased, we’ve also included other customers’ opinions and experiences in our evaluation.
• Customer support and resources: You should be looking for nothing but perfection when it comes to customer support, and having blogs, tutorials and other helpful resources is certainly handy as well.
• Capterra rating: To get the best and most complete picture of a particular app, you shouldn’t take (only) our word for it. This is why we’re including average Capterra rating which reflects general customer experiences. Since we’re only looking at the best, all of the systems on our list have a rating of at least 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Before we move on to our time tracking software list, we’re going to explain more closely some of the terms that we’ll mention when we talk about the features of time trackers, just in case you’re not already familiar with them:

• Client login - the ability to give your clients access to time tracking data, status and reports concerning their own project
• Project template - saving the tasks and processes so that you can use them to outline another similar project faster
• Billable hours - time you charge your clients for, time tracking software usually gives you an option to set the hourly rate for billable hours; Non-billable hours - time you spend researching, reporting to a client, etc. that you don’t normally charge for
• Automatic time mapping - using AI to automatically associate tasks to specific projects and allocate the time based on that

Now that we’ve discussed which aspects we’ll be reviewing as well as introduced you to some industry-specific terms, we’re ready to dig in! So, here it is - the list of the 10 best time tracking software:

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1. Insightful

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Insightful is a true rising star among time tracking systems. It’s primarily a web app, so you can access its manager dashboard online, but time tracking data can be collected from Mac and Windows computers. It’s one of the more affordable solutions but you get full functionality at the same time.

It’s great for tracking tasks and budgeting, but it also has some additional features, such as real-time project updates for task completion, notifications, attendance tracking, and it’s also one of the rare systems that enables you to share real-time reports with your clients. Another useful feature is automatic time mapping where the software AI recognizes which project each task belongs to and allocates the time accordingly.

Apart from being a well-rounded time tracking platform, Insightful also has useful functionalities for in-depth task and project analysis. These include activity levels, app and website usage tracking, screenshots, etc.

This time tracker is very intuitive and easy to use, and it has excellent customer support in the form of in-app support, email, phone and help center. It also has a vast knowledge base including a blog, productivity and remote worker resources. The only downside to this software is the fact that it doesn’t have any integrations yet, but this project is in the pipeline and you can expect to see some integrations in the coming period.

Insightful charges $6 per employee per month, but you get a discount for an annual subscription. There are no tiers, which means that you get all of the features for this price. There’s also custom pricing for enterprises as well as a 7-day free trial.

This time tracking software is one of the highest ranking ones on Capterra with an average score of 4.7 out of 5.

2. Hubstaff

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One of the most popular time tracking apps currently on the market, especially for small teams, is Hubstaff. This software can be downloaded on Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems, but there’s also an iOS and Android mobile app as well as a Chrome browser extension.

Apart from basic task and project tracking features and reports, Hubstaff also has an invoicing feature, attendance and timesheets, and even GPS tracking. Just like Insightful, it offers some of the monitoring functionalities as well, most notably screenshots and productivity analysis. This software also gives you the possibility to implement some form of automatic time tracking based on geolocation, which might be useful for field workers.

This time tracker app is generally user-friendly and detailed, but its productivity tracking feature only responds to mouse movements and keystrokes, so it won’t recognize video conferencing, for example, as productively spent time. On the other hand, it does have some helpful resources such as help center, blog and remote team resources, as well as more than 30 integrations with apps for project management, payment and invoicing, CRM and help desk.

Hubstaff offers three pricing plans - Basic, which starts at $5.83 per user per month, Premium, which is $8.33, and Enterprise for $16.67 per employee per month. They also offer a free plan but only for a single user. For other plans, you get two weeks free to test it out.

Capterra users seem to be relatively happy with Hubstaff since its rating is 4.6 stars.

3. Toggl

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Toggl is a pretty versatile time tracker app that can be installed on desktops running on Mac, Windows and Linux, mobiles running on iOS and Android, and also as an online app or as a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox.

It has all the regular task and project tracking features, but it also enables manual time entries for those who prefer to take care of their timesheets after they finish all the work. In addition, the system is able to detect idle time and automatically remind employees to get back to work. And there’s also an automatic time tracking feature, which works based on applications used or keywords. One other interesting feature is the built-in Pomodoro timer which can be used to remind employees to take breaks regularly in order to avoid overworking.

Toggl is easy to use and its detailed reports are especially handy, but the in-browser user experience is not the best on mobile devices. You can reach their support online or via email, but they also have a help center, blog and other helpful resources, including productivity and remote work knowledge base as well as a time card calculator. Another good news is that Toggl has over 100 different integrations, some of which are Asana, Basecamp, FreshBooks, GitHub, etc.

As for the price plans, you can choose between Starter (for a monthly fee of $9 per user) or Premium, which is double the price. Toggl is free for up to 5 users, but you also get a 30-day free trial for larger teams and a special offer for enterprises.

Users rated this app on average 4.6 on Capterra.

4. Time Doctor

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Time Doctor is another one of the time tracking software that also includes monitoring functionalities. It’s compatible with Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, and it also has its own Chrome app.

Even though you can certainly use it to track projects and tasks, this platform is much more productivity-oriented than most apps on this list. Therefore, you’ll be able to find things like activity level tracking, screenshots and even chat monitoring. Especially useful features, though, are client login and the ability to receive regular email reports. On top of this, Time Doctor has about 40 integrations with different project management, invoicing, communication and other apps.

This time tracking software is generally good in terms of functionality and it’s intuitive to use, but the only way to contact their support is online, which is rather limiting. If you need additional information and help, you have their help center, as well as business and product blogs.

Time Doctor has a single price plan of $9.99 per employee per month and a 14-day free trial to see whether this solution is a good fit for you.

With generally good user experience and functionality, this time tracker has a solid rating of 4.6 on Capterra.

5. Harvest

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Harvest is another pretty popular time tracking app. There are versions for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, as well as a Chrome extension.

This is a very versatile software in terms of what you can do with timesheets. This versatility extends to features such as manual entries, adding notes to tasks, entering time in bulk, and editing time tracking mistakes within reports. On top of this, you get billable hours tracking and some budgeting features like budget limit alerts. This system also has a sister app for scheduling called Forecast, but that is outside the scope of this review.

Harvest is very easy to use and its invoicing feature is especially handy, but it’s somewhat limited when it comes to customization of some of its features. Their customer support is available via phone, email or online, and they have an extensive knowledge base including help center, blog, templates and other resources, and even webinars. Plus, this software is integrated with many different apps used for project management, analytics, communication, contracts, productivity, etc.

This app is free for one person and two projects but if you need it for a whole team, you’ll have to upgrade to Pro. The monthly free for this plan is $10.80 per employee, which is on the more expensive side, but you will get access to all of the features with it. Plus, you have an entire month of free trial to see if it works for you.

Harvest has an average Capterra score of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

6. TimeCamp

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TimeCamp is a time tracking system with a wide range of features. It works on all major mobile and desktop operating systems, but you can also access it online.

Besides some basic-level task and project time tracking features, TimeCamp lets you edit timesheets and compare actual and estimated time on projects. Additionally, it’s one of the apps that has an automatic time tracking functionality. And it can also be used to track computer activity, productivity as well as attendance. This software supports 30+ integrations, including Todoist, Slack, Podio, Trello, Zoho, Asana, and calendar integration.

TimeCamp is user-friendly and has a good range of features. You can get customer support through various channels - email, online or support ticket. They also have extensive documentation, a blog and their YouTube channel with additional video resources.

Apart from the Solo plan, which is free but limited to one user, you can opt for Basic (from $5.25 per user per month) or Pro plan (from $7.50 a month per employee). There’s a custom price for enterprises and a free trial.

This time tracker is one of the best ranking according to Capterra reviews with an average user score of 4.7.

7. Timely

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Timely is a software heavily centered around automatic time tracking, which we’ll explain in more detail in a bit. It can be installed on Mac and Windows computers as well as iOS and Android mobile phones.

You get multiple project management features with this software, including editing timesheet entries in bulk, organizing employees into teams and departments, real-time visibility, scheduling, as well as payroll, performance reviews and invoicing templates. But the real focus of Timely app is its AI that you can ‘train’ to automatically track time on different tasks and compile timesheets accordingly.

Timely is relatively easy to use, although it could use a bit more functionality besides automatic tracking. This software offers email and chat support, help center, blog and their own podcast. In addition, it has some useful integrations like Trello, Asana, Office 365, GitHub, Wunderlist and others.

This time tracking software has two price plans for teams - Growth, which costs $99 per month for up to 5 users and is limited to 50 active projects, and Business, which costs $299 a month for up to 15 employees. Every additional user you wish to add will cost you the extra $19-20 a month. This is by far the most expensive software on the list, but you get a two-week free trial to see whether their automatic AI solution is worth the price. There are also individual plans, but we’re not going to list them here.

Timely’s customers seem to be pretty happy with the product, as its rating on Capterra is 4.7 stars.

8. Everhour

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Everhour is slightly different from other time tracking systems on the list because it can only be used as a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox. Even though they officially offer an iOS app, this is still only in its beta phase.

This software has an array of time tracking and budgeting features, including real-time dashboard, budget alerts, reminders, setting project estimates, as well as task and timesheet editing. Apart from these, Everhour includes invoicing, payroll and even scheduling.

This time tracker isn’t always intuitive to use, but it does have many handy integrations such as Asana, Trello, Basecamp, Jira, GitHub and others. Their support team can be reached via email or chat, and they have their own blog and help center. In addition, Everhour has some pretty useful resources like time card calculator, timesheet template and invoice generator.

If you’re looking for a one-user solution, you have a free plan, which doesn’t include integrations or a Solo plan, which costs $8 a month. For an unlimited number of users, there’s a Team tier, which costs $7 per user per month, but there are also volume discounts on offer and a 14-day free trial.

On Capterra, Everhour is rated 4.7 stars on average.

9. Tick

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Tick is a time tracking app that you can install on Android and iOS mobile devices and even an Apple Watch, or you can use it as a Chrome extension. However, if you plan on downloading a desktop software, Mac operating system is the only supported platform.

You can do quite a few things with Tick in terms of tracking time on projects and tasks. For example, add notes to timecards, switch between multiple timers, assign tasks to employees, and track budgets for individual tasks. In addition to this, you get real-time updates on the project’s time and budget, and there’s also a recurring projects feature which lets you automatically generate project templates if they’re scheduled to run at regular intervals.

Tick is a simple and easy-to-use app, but you can only contact their customer support via email. They have a blog and help center, but what’s particularly interesting is that this software boasts over 750 different web app integrations.

The pricing for this time tracker functions a little bit differently from other similar software. Rather than being charged per employee, your monthly fee depends on the number of active projects and allows for an unlimited number of users. Tracking a single project at a time is free, while the price for 10 projects is $19 a month, 30 projects cost $49 and 60 projects are $79 a month. If you want unlimited projects, that will cost you $149 each month. There’s also a 30-day free trial.

Tick is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars on Capterra.

10. TMetric

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TMetric is probably one of the most versatile time tracking systems on the list in terms of the platforms on which it can work. Apart from being compatible with all major mobile and desktop operating systems, it’s also available as a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Edge.

As for time tracking functionalities, you get timelines, client login feature, you can edit time in bulk and set permissions for time editing as well as billable rates for projects and employees. You also get some additional budget features, such as alerts and implementing recurring budgets. TMetric can also help you track attendance and it’s one of the software that have a couple of monitoring features, like activity levels tracking and productivity measurements.

This time tracking software is simple and easy to use, but it’s not always stable when it comes to performance and the fact that you can only reach their support via chat can prove to be an impediment. To compensate for this, they have a help center and a blog as well as video tutorials.

Some of TMetric’s 50+ integrations are Zoho, Wrike, Trello, Visual Studio, QuickBooks, Microsoft Office Online, Azure DevOps and so on.

The price rate of this time tracker depends on the number of employees you have. It’s free for up to 5 users, and then their Business plan starts at $7 per employee per month and Professional plan at $5 per user per month, but the price per employee decreases the more employees you add. They offer a month-long free trial and a discount for annual subscription.

TMetric scores on average 4.5 on Capterra.

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11. PoofHub

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You can set time estimates and create time reports, which is a great way to keep track of the productive time being spent by your resources on tasks and projects. It also gives you the flexibility in time tracking as you have the option to track time manually in timesheets or use a timer. You can also export these timesheets for quick invoicing and billing purposes.

Apart from its easy-to-use time tracking functionality, ProofHub has all the features you need to stay in ultimate control of your tasks, teams, projects, and communications. You can use simple to-do lists or create custom workflows using Kanban boards. To boost team collaboration, it offers an in-built chat app and a dedicated space for real-time discussions. It also has an online proofing tool that lets you review files, annotate design files using markup tools, and proof them without any hassle.

Another great thing about ProofHub is that unlike its competitors, it has simple, no per user pricing. The Ultimate Control plan with unlimited users and projects is available at just $89 per month.

Having a lot more to offer besides efficient time tracking, this feature-rich software has an average rating of 4.3 on Capterra.

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Conclusion

Hopefully, at this point, you have a pretty complete overview of some of the most popular and most functionally advanced time tracking software on the market. While this basic information about each of them is a good start, the next step is to match their functionalities to your business needs and get a free trial to see your chosen software in action. Good luck in finding the perfect time tracking solution that’ll take your project management to the next level!