16 Best Time Tracking Software in 2023 (Free and Paid)

Users can track time with Time Doctor using any of their web extensions, as well as mobile or desktop applications. The interface is quite dated but it is simple enough to use. To track time, users will simply have to add a task and click on the timer to start the count. Users can also pause the timer to go on breaks and return to continue tracking.

On the desktop application, users can save (drag and drop) tasks into folders for smooth organization and management. The app displays an activity bar that shows up on top of every application window you use. This ensures users can see whether or not Time Doctor is tracking. It is useful to avoid the risk of not tracking time due to accidentally pausing the timer.

Toggl Track is characterized by a simple and friendly workspace interface where you will be spending most of your time. From this workspace you can track time with just one click, create time entries, create tasks, and so on. Toggl Track’s autotracker is one of the most stand-out features the software offers. Once you set up autotracker for certain apps you use regularly for your work, you will get alerts to start tracking time when you forget to turn on the timer.

Still on the subject of automatic tracking, Toggl Track’s “timeline feature” automatically records every website or application you use for more than 10 seconds. At the end of the day, you can review the data to see where and how you spent your day. Although you cannot automatically create time entries with the data, you can use it to prepare your timesheet and ensure you are accurately paid for the work you do.

You can easily track billable time on your Mac, Windows, and Linux devices as well as on the web with its chrome extension and Firefox plug-in.

DeskTime features an automatic one-click timer that is available on the web app as well as the desktop and mobile devices. The timer starts tracking time once it is enabled and the software references tracking data to calculate total time and productivity levels. One thing to note with DeskTime is that it does not provide online timesheets that logs your tracked time. All user time data will be kept and accessed through the “My DeskTime” dashboard. Users will not be able to enter manual time entries from this dashboard as well. This option is made available in the “offline tracking” section of DeskTime’s interface. Which brings us to the next feature.

DeskTime offers a feature they refer to as offline tracking but it is quite different from how it is used on most time tracking solutions. Offline time for most software is usually the time spent doing work while the internet connection times out. For DeskTime, it refers to time you want to record while you are away from your computer. For example, instances where you forgot to turn on the app or perhaps you visited a client would all qualify as offline time.

You can log time on Everhour automatically by using the timer, or manually by adding a time entry for a specific date. Additionally, you can include comments or notes with your time entries to give more context to your work. When you stop the timer for a task, you can always go back to restart the timer or manually update them from your timesheet. 

Everhour provides a timecard feature that shows when an employee clocks in, when they clock out, how much time they spent on breaks, and the total number of hours worked in a day. This feature is perfect for businesses with salaried workers that do not necessarily need to log their hourly work. 

The most interesting time tracking feature Everhour offers is their auto-stop timer. With this feature, users can configure their software to automatically stop the timer at the end of the workday.

Paymo makes it possible for you to track time directly from your browser, via a desktop widget, or on your mobile phone with their proprietary timer. The desktop widget features a timer that records the amount of time you spend on tasks so you can accurately bill clients for the work you do. Conversely, you can add time entries manually. 

Additionally, Paymo features some productivity tools like a pomodoro tracker and idle time detection. When configured, the pomodoro tracker will let you know to take a 4-minute break for every 25 minutes of work done. The idle time detection feature sends notifications to either add idle time to timesheet or discard it when the user is away from the computer for up to 5 minutes. 

At the administrative level, managers can get a real-time view of when team members are tracking time.

Timely is probably the only software from this selection that can completely automate time tracking tasks with next to zero input from the user. The tool tracks time in an unconventional way— using activity data to record time spent on tasks and projects to then form time entries based on this data. Hence you can reach a point where you don't have to start any timers or click any buttons to track time spent on a task.

To use Timely, you will have to download the memory AI app. This app is the heart of the Timely software and it is responsible for this unconventional automatic time tracking. It is under 100MB in size and it is compatible with most windows and Mac operating systems. Once installed and activated, it will automatically start tracking as you use your Timely web app. You can equally add entries manually from the platform’s dashboard as well.

It is possible to track time on BigTime with a timer that features on the software’s dashboard. Users would have to start the timer and then once the task is finished stop the timer for it to log time entry on a timesheet. This is unlike most time trackers that log time entry automatically as you track. 

Managers can access this timesheet to see how much time their employees spend on specific tasks. As a manager, you can also limit the timesheet information that your employees can see, approve, or reject timesheet submissions. 

The timesheet review and approval feature helps managers check for errors. This feature, in a way, acts as a dummy employee monitoring feature because, while the manager or administrator cannot see their employees track time in real-time, they can at least review the timesheet before it is recorded.

Employees can log time manually with BigTime. They simply need to head over to the time/expense section, select the project they’re working on, the category of that project, and log the time they spent on the fields made available.

You can log time on clockify in three different ways. The first way is to use the one-click timer. This tracks time automatically and creates a detailed entry at the end of your work session. Another way is to add time entries manually from the dashboard in the “manual mode”. The third way to log time is in the timesheets section. This section contains all your projects and their respective time tracked per day. You can select any of these projects and log time in cells that represent days of the present week.

A big part of clockify’s time tracking offering is their calendar feature. This feature represents your time entries on the in-built calendar app on the platform, which can be useful to visualize workflows. The calendar also connects with Google or Outlook calendars to automatically create time entries from events.

Clockify has announced that they are working on a kiosk feature that will debut sometime in 2022. This feature will make it possible for employees to clock in and out from a central device, in a central location. This can be useful for businesses where employees have to report to a designated place of business.

Hubstaff users can track time with the one-click timer made available on the software's dashboard. As the app tracks time, it also automatically populates an online timesheet that can be used to process payroll, prepare invoices, and give managers a clear view of internal costs.

Although Hubstaff does not send reminders to alert users to track time, their manual entry feature compensates for this pitfall. With this feature, employees can manually add time entries anytime they forget to track time automatically with the timer.

You can track time with My Hours with just one click, as well as manage your tasks and projects on a simple, easy-to-use interface. Not only does it automatically track and log your activities throughout the day, you can also manually add time spent on tasks on the weekly timesheet interface. My Hours has a firm stance against employee monitoring so you should not expect to see any features that keep tabs on your employees' activities. 

My Hours' UI is sleek, easy to use, and fast. Which is laudable for a software launched in 2002, considering the fact that most software in the same age range has somewhat dated or slow interfaces.

Like most time tracking software, Harvest features a one-click timer that records the time you spend on specific tasks and projects. In each project, users can create as many tasks as possible and track time for each of those tasks. The number of projects, however, can be limited (only 2) when you are using the free version of the software. In addition, you can set the billable rate for each task.

Once you start recording, the timer starts counting in hours and minutes spent (does not include seconds). This can be attributed to Harvest’s time rounding feature as time tracked is rounded up to the next 6 minutes. Time formats within the Harvest platform can be confusing because the app uses different configurations in different sections. For example, Harvest follows the HH:MM format for timesheet and uses a decimal time format for other sections like reports. 

With Harvest’s automated reminder feature, administrators and team members can set up recurring timesheet reminders to send automatically as frequently as needed (weekly or daily). This nudges your team members to be more diligent with their time tracking.

Timecamp features an automatic timer that tracks time at the click of a button. The UI is very clean and easy to navigate. Time tracked is represented on a timesheet from where time can be added manually. The way Timecamp handles idle time is probably the best because it does so in a non intrusive way. Rather than send a barrage of alerts that could be irritating, Timecamp will simply stop tracking automatically.

Timecamp gives you the ability to tag your projects and tasks for better categorization. You can also edit time entries to change the date, leave a note or make it billable/non billable. Even after you have logged a time entry, you can always go back to continue tracking.

Quickbooks Time allows you track time on all computer operating system types and mobile devices. The time tracking window displays your current time, as well as the time you have tracked during the day, and your week total. You can also switch between tasks on the tracking window and the current time will refresh to reflect the time you are tracking for the new task.

Quickbooks Time also makes it possible for you to take breaks and clock out when you are done for the day. Another way you can track time is by using the manual time card option. With this feature, users can select tasks, add time entries and save.

Quickboooks is available on mobile and desktop platforms. As a cloud-based solution, you can mix and match your time tracking across all your devices. You can, for example, clock in using your mobile phone, track time with your desktop computer, and clock out using the time kiosk feature.

Apploye functions like most time trackers. By using a one-click timer, users can track hours spent on tasks and projects. The time tracked is then automatically logged on a timesheet. You can only use the timer on the desktop or mobile app. The software’s web app is mostly used for administrative purposes. You should also bear in mind that Apploye uses Paddle as their payment gateway. You will not be able to use your credit card directly to pay for this software. 

Apploye is designed to demand accountability from employees, as it is evident in most of their features. For example, employees are required to state reasons for deleting timesheet logs or adding manual time entries. This feature, in addition to other employee monitoring features Apploye offers, can feel like excessive micromanagement. So when implementing this software, managers should seriously consider how the app fits into their company’s work culture.

Offline tracking is one of Apploye’s time tracking offering. The app will track time even when internet connections are interrupted. It then syncs the data when the user gets back online. This feature is useful for teams that have workers in remote areas with poor internet connection.

As it is with most time tracking software, Insightful provides a timer for users to track time using simple clock-in and clock-out buttons. Though Insightful is available as a web and desktop application, the latter is more suited to tracking the time. The web app, on the other hand, is best for administrative tasks (employee monitoring, tasks assignments, etc). 

One problem you might experience with Insightful’s timer is that, in some cases, the time of the app does not correspond with that of your computer. Also, it takes more than 24 hours for the time to be reconciled.

One of Insightful’s standout time tracking offerings is their time keeping feature. With this feature, users can access time tracking records for as far back as two years ago. This feature can come in handy for companies that undergo audits from time to time. Insightful also makes it possible for clients to access your dashboard and track project progress without interfering with your work.

ProofHub users can track time using the one click-timer provided or by adding time entries manually. Once you start tracking time, the timer will keep running in the background even when you close the ProofHub window. ProofHub does not have idle time detection which notifies you when you are inactive on your computer. However, a prompt asks you whether you want to log the time as an entry whenever you pause the timer. You can either choose to save or discard the entry. This pretty much resolves the problem of logging idle time as productive time entries.

One interesting time tracking feature that ProofHub offers is the ability to set timesheets as private. By doing so, the timesheet will only be made visible to  selected team members. ProofHub does not have a native desktop application so no installation will be required. It is, however, available on Apple and Android mobile devices.