Best Time Tracking Apps for 2026

Time tracking transforms how you understand your work. Whether you’re a freelancer billing clients for website projects, a team manager monitoring projects, or someone who wants to improve personal productivity, tracking where your hours go reveals patterns you’d never notice otherwise.

This guide covers the best time tracking apps for different needs and budgets. From simple timers to comprehensive project management solutions, you’ll find tools that fit your workflow and help you make better decisions about how you spend your working hours.

Why Track Your Time?

Time tracking provides benefits beyond basic hour logging. Understanding where your time actually goes—versus where you think it goes—often reveals surprising insights.

• Accurate billing – Invoice clients based on actual work performed, not estimates
• Project estimates – Improve future quotes with historical data from similar projects
• Productivity insights – Identify where time gets lost to meetings, emails, or context switching
• Work-life balance – Recognize when you’re overworking before burnout hits
• Team management – Understand workload distribution and prevent bottlenecks
• Profitability analysis – Know which projects and clients actually make money
• Scope creep detection – Notice when projects expand beyond original estimates

Studies show that people typically overestimate productive time by 20-30%. Actual tracking reveals how much time goes to administrative tasks, communication, and unplanned interruptions.

1. Toggl Track

Toggl Track dominates the time tracking market with its combination of simplicity and power. One-click timers make starting and stopping tracking effortless, while detailed reports satisfy even demanding project managers.

The app runs quietly in your menu bar or browser, ready whenever you need it. Forgot to start the timer? Toggl detects idle time and asks what you were doing, helping maintain accurate records even when you forget to track manually.

Key features:

• One-click timer with keyboard shortcuts
• 100+ integrations with popular tools like Asana, Trello, and GitHub
• Detailed reporting and analytics with visual charts
• Calendar integration showing tracked time alongside events
• Team features, project budgets, and billable rates
• Offline tracking with automatic sync when reconnected
• Pomodoro timer for focused work sessions

Best for: Freelancers, agencies, and teams who need simple but comprehensive tracking without a steep learning curve.

Platform: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, browser extensions

Price: Free for basic tracking; Starter $9/user/month; Premium $18/user/month

2. Clockify

Clockify offers a genuinely free time tracker with unlimited users and projects. It’s become the go-to choice for teams wanting full functionality without per-user subscription costs eating into budgets.

Unlike competitors that limit free tiers to force upgrades, Clockify provides core tracking features to unlimited team members. The paid tiers add advanced features like time audits, GPS tracking, and custom fields, but small teams can operate entirely on the free plan.

Key features:

• Unlimited free tracking for unlimited users and projects
• Detailed reports with PDF, CSV, and Excel export options
• Project time estimates with alerts when approaching limits
• Team dashboard with permissions and approval workflows
• Billable hours tracking and basic invoicing
• Calendar view showing time entries alongside schedule
• Kiosk mode for shared workstations

Best for: Teams and businesses wanting powerful features without subscription costs, startups, and nonprofits with limited budgets.

Platform: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, browser extensions

Price: Free unlimited; Pro $7.99/user/month for advanced features

3. Harvest

Harvest combines time tracking with invoicing and expense management in one polished package. It’s particularly popular among consultants and agencies who bill hourly and need seamless client invoicing.

The standout feature is turning tracked time directly into professional invoices. Add your hourly rate, track your work, and generate invoices that show clients exactly what they’re paying for. Harvest also integrates with payment processors, so clients can pay invoices online.

Key features:

• Integrated invoicing generated directly from tracked time
• Expense tracking with receipt capture via mobile app
• Budget and cost tracking with visual progress indicators
• 70+ integrations including QuickBooks, Xero, and Stripe
• Team scheduling with Forecast add-on for resource planning
• Detailed capacity reports showing team availability
• Client-facing reports for transparency

Best for: Service businesses, consultants, and agencies who invoice based on time and want integrated billing.

Platform: Web, macOS, iOS, Android, browser extensions

Price: Free for 1 user/2 projects; Pro $12/user/month

4. RescueTime

RescueTime tracks your computer activity automatically, showing exactly where your time goes without any manual input. It’s designed for personal productivity rather than client billing—you don’t start and stop timers, the app just observes and reports.

The app categorizes activities as productive, neutral, or distracting based on customizable rules. Spent two hours in your code editor? Productive. Thirty minutes on social media? Distracting. The weekly email summary often reveals uncomfortable truths about how we actually spend our days.

Key features:

• Automatic activity tracking with no manual input required
• Productivity scoring based on customizable categories
• Website and app blocking during focus sessions
• Focus sessions with goals and alerts
• Daily and weekly email summaries
• Offline time logging for meetings and activities away from computer
• Detailed breakdowns by application, website, and category

Best for: Individuals wanting to understand and improve personal productivity habits without manual tracking overhead.

Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android

Price: Free limited version; Premium $12/month

5. Time Doctor

Time Doctor provides detailed employee monitoring alongside time tracking. It’s designed for companies managing remote teams who need visibility into how work time is spent and verification that billed hours represent actual work.

The monitoring features include periodic screenshots, website usage tracking, and app monitoring. This level of oversight isn’t for every workplace culture, but for businesses with remote contractors or hourly employees, it provides accountability that builds trust with clients and management.

Key features:

• Screenshot monitoring at configurable intervals
• Website and app usage tracking with categorization
• Payroll integration with popular payment services
• Project and client management with budgets
• Distraction alerts when visiting unproductive sites
• Detailed productivity reports for managers
• Attendance tracking for shift-based teams

Best for: Companies with remote teams needing accountability, businesses with hourly contractors, and managers requiring detailed activity verification.

Platform: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android

Price: Basic $7/user/month; Standard $10/user/month; Premium $20/user/month

6. Everhour

Everhour integrates directly into project management tools like Asana, Trello, Jira, and Basecamp. Instead of switching between apps, you track time right inside the tools you already use, with timer buttons appearing on tasks and cards.

This native integration approach means your team doesn’t need to learn a new app or remember to log time separately. Time entries connect directly to tasks, making reporting accurate and reducing the friction that causes people to skip tracking.

Key features:

• Native integration with 15+ project management tools
• In-app time tracking buttons on tasks and cards
• Budget and time estimates with progress tracking
• Team scheduling and workload management
• Invoicing capabilities with customizable templates
• Visual reports and dashboards for stakeholders
• Time approval workflows for managers

Best for: Teams already using Asana, Trello, Basecamp, or similar tools who want embedded time tracking without workflow disruption.

Platform: Web, browser extensions, native integrations

Price: Free for up to 5 users; Team $8.50/user/month

7. TimeCamp

TimeCamp offers automatic time tracking based on keywords and apps, reducing manual entry while still providing detailed project breakdowns. Set rules once—like associating Figma with design work or VS Code with development—and TimeCamp categorizes your time automatically.

This hybrid approach works well for teams that want automatic tracking’s accuracy without the Big Brother feeling of screenshot monitoring. You get detailed data without manually starting timers for every task.

Key features:

• Automatic time tracking via keyword detection
• Billable and non-billable hour categorization
• Attendance tracking with time-off management
• Extensive integrations with 100+ tools
• Invoicing and budgeting features
• Mobile apps with GPS tracking for field teams
• Detailed productivity analysis reports

Best for: Teams wanting automatic tracking with minimal manual input and reasonable privacy.

Platform: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android

Price: Free basic; Starter $3.99/user/month

8. Tick

Tick focuses specifically on budget tracking, showing you exactly how much time remains on projects as your team works. Real-time budget updates help project managers catch overruns before they become problems.

The simple interface makes it easy for team members to log time without extensive training. Running totals on cards show budget consumption at a glance, turning time tracking into a natural part of project awareness rather than an administrative burden.

Key features:

• Real-time budget tracking with visual progress
• Running totals showing budget consumption
• Integration with Basecamp, Asana, Trello, and Zapier
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android
• Simple timecard interface
• Project and task-level tracking

Best for: Project-based businesses where staying within budget matters more than detailed productivity analysis.

Platform: Web, iOS, Android, browser extensions

Price: Free for 1 project; $19/month for 10 projects; unlimited plans available

9. Clockwise

Clockwise uses AI to optimize your calendar for focus time. It automatically moves flexible meetings to create uninterrupted blocks, resolves scheduling conflicts, and protects time for deep work—turning fragmented days into productive ones.

Key features:

• AI-powered calendar optimization
• Automatic focus time protection
• Smart meeting scheduling
• Team availability insights
• Conflict resolution automation
• Integration with Google Calendar and Outlook

Best for: Knowledge workers and teams who lose productivity to fragmented calendars and meeting overload.

Platform: Web, browser extensions

Price: Free basic; Teams $6.75/user/month; Business $11.50/user/month

10. Rize

Rize automatically tracks your time and uses AI to categorize activities, calculate focus scores, and provide personalized productivity insights. No manual timers needed—it runs silently and learns your work patterns over time.

Key features:

• Automatic AI-powered time tracking
• Focus scores and productivity metrics
• Daily and weekly insights reports
• Break reminders for healthy work habits
• Session tracking for deep work
• Privacy-focused design

Best for: Individuals wanting automatic tracking with AI insights to improve focus and work habits.

Platform: macOS, Windows

Price: Free trial; $9.99/month or $79.99/year

11. Timing

Timing records everything you do on your Mac automatically—no timers, no manual entry. It tracks apps, documents, and websites, then uses AI to categorize time into projects. Perfect for people who forget to start timers or want zero-friction tracking.

Key features:

• Fully automatic time capture
• AI-powered project categorization
• Timeline view of your entire day
• Rules-based automatic tagging
• Detailed app and document tracking
• Export to invoicing tools

Best for: Mac users who want comprehensive automatic tracking without any manual effort.

Platform: macOS only

Price: Professional $8/month; Expert $12/month; Connect $16/month

12. Reclaim.ai

Reclaim.ai automatically schedules your tasks, habits, and meetings to protect focus time. It finds the best slots for work, defends against meeting creep, and reschedules automatically when conflicts arise—like having an AI assistant manage your calendar.

Key features:

• AI task scheduling from to-do lists
• Automatic habit protection (lunch, exercise, deep work)
• Smart 1:1 meeting scheduling
• Buffer time between meetings
• Integration with Asana, Todoist, ClickUp
• Team calendar coordination

Best for: Busy professionals who want AI to defend their time and automatically schedule tasks around meetings.

Platform: Web, browser extensions

Price: Free basic; Starter $8/user/month; Business $12/user/month

13. Sunsama

Sunsama combines daily planning with time blocking and time tracking. Each morning, you pull tasks from your tools, estimate time, and drag them onto your calendar. The guided workflow helps you plan realistic days and review what you actually accomplished.

Key features:

• Guided daily planning ritual
• Time blocking on calendar
• Integration with Asana, Trello, Notion, Gmail
• Time tracking built into tasks
• Daily shutdown routine
• Weekly review and analytics

Best for: Professionals who want structured daily planning with integrated time blocking and tracking.

Platform: Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android

Price: $20/month or $16/month annually

Time Tracking Best Practices

Having the right tool matters less than using it consistently. Follow these practices to get value from any time tracking app:

Track in real-time when possible. Logging time at the end of the day means guessing and forgetting. Start timers when you begin tasks, and the data stays accurate.

Use consistent project and task names. “Client work” doesn’t help analysis months later. “Acme Corp – Website Redesign – Homepage” creates useful historical data.

Review reports weekly. Data without review is useless. Spend 10 minutes each week looking at where time went and adjusting estimates for upcoming work.

Don’t aim for perfection. Capturing 90% of time accurately beats 100% accuracy that nobody maintains. Make tracking easy enough that people actually do it.

Include administrative time. Meetings, emails, and planning count. Tracking only “billable” work gives an incomplete picture of where days actually go.

Choosing the Right Time Tracker

Select based on your primary need:

For freelancer billing: Harvest or Toggl Track offer simple tracking with integrated invoicing that turns hours into payments.

For team management: Clockify provides unlimited free users with solid features, making it ideal for growing teams.

For personal productivity: RescueTime automatically tracks where your time goes without requiring any manual input.

For remote team monitoring: Time Doctor offers detailed activity tracking and screenshot verification.

For existing PM tools: Everhour embeds tracking directly into Asana, Trello, and similar tools you already use.

For budget-focused projects: Tick keeps budget consumption visible throughout project lifecycles.

For AI-powered automation: Clockwise, Reclaim.ai, and Rize use AI to optimize calendars, schedule tasks, and track time automatically.

For daily planning: Sunsama combines time blocking with task management for structured, intentional workdays.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best free time tracking app?

Clockify offers the most generous free tier with unlimited users, projects, and basic features. Toggl Track’s free plan works well for individuals with up to 5 users. Both provide full functionality without artificial limitations on core tracking capabilities.

Do time tracking apps actually improve productivity?

Research shows awareness of time usage itself improves productivity by 10-25%. When you know you’re tracking, you naturally avoid distractions. The data also helps identify patterns and inefficiencies you wouldn’t notice otherwise, enabling informed improvements to work habits.

Is employee time tracking legal?

Time tracking for work hours is generally legal in most jurisdictions. However, monitoring features like screenshots may have restrictions depending on location, particularly in the EU under GDPR. Employers should disclose tracking practices, ensure employee consent where required, and verify compliance with local privacy laws.

Can I use time tracking for client invoicing?

Tools like Harvest, Toggl Track, and TimeCamp integrate time tracking with invoicing, letting you generate professional bills directly from tracked hours. This ensures accurate billing, provides clients with detailed breakdowns, and reduces administrative time spent creating invoices manually.

How do I get my team to actually track time?

Make it easy by choosing tools that integrate with existing workflows. Explain why tracking matters for project planning and fair workload distribution. Lead by example—if managers don’t track, neither will anyone else. Avoid using data punitively; focus on improvement rather than surveillance.

Related resources: For organizing your development workflow, check our guide on code editors. Running a digital agency? Time tracking helps with client billing and project profitability. Starting out? Learn how to start a blog and track your content creation time.

Time Tracking Apps