Managing time efficiently is critical to all companies in today’s crazy-competitive and productivity-driven business world.
Monitoring and tracking your time is the first step on your path to becoming more productive. By monitoring where you, or your employees, spend most of your time, you can work on your time-spending and time-wasting habits to achieve higher productivity.
Luckily for us, plenty of excellent free time tracking software are either completely free or offer a free basic plan with everything you need.
Top 10 Free Time Tracking Software
- Toggl
- Time Doctor
- Hubstaff
- TimeCamp
- Rescuetime
- Tick
- Harvest
- AccountSight
- My Hours
- Trigger
#1) Toggl
If you are looking for a free time tracking software that is easy to use, you really can’t go wrong with Toggl. The solution was made with freelancers in mind and is available for use on Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Android, iOS, and as a chrome extension, which means you can basically use it on any device you have.
Toggl enables you to track your work easily as all you need is to start a timer to start tracking your work without requiring you to enter any additional details, such as the case with other time tracking tools.
The solution also enables you to add and mark different entries with tags. With Toggl, you will easily manage your clients, tags, teams, and workspace.
Toggl gives you detailed and insightful reports that are easy to understand thanks to the presented visuals, making it easy to follow all your data at a glance.
What do you get for free?
Toggl’s free plan is more than enough for freelancers as it offers all the basic features you need.
This includes:
- Time Tracking
- Project Management
- Team Management
- Bulk Editing
- Manual Editing and deletion of entries
- Timelines
- Autotracking
- Offline mode and Idle detection
- Time formats
- Exporting entries to PDF & CSV
- Importing CSV files
- User Groups
- Integrations
- Mobile Apps
Cons
The desktop application of Toggl needs some work. Not only does it have a somewhat old interface, but it’s also not as smooth as the chrome extension. It would also be nice to see them offer more integrations as it currently doesn’t provide integrations to all accounting software, for example.
#2) Time Doctor
Time Doctor is another excellent option for businesses, especially international companies where the teams consist of people from all over the world that live in different places and speak different languages. What makes it great for international teams is its multi-lingual interface which you don’t find in other time-tracking software.
The app can track computer activities such as chat, websites, and app usage. It comes with powerful reporting features and detailed timesheets.
Time Doctor also features the screenshotting feature like the one found on Hubstaff. Of course, you can track your time by clients or projects, and it has an open API.
The solution can integrate with third-party apps such as Jira, Asana, Trello, G Suite, Monday, Intercom, Office 365, Salesforce, Slack, and Todist.
Time Doctor doesn’t offer a free plan. However, they offer a 14-day free trial on all their paid plans, and you can get two months free if you pay for ten months of service in advance.
Cons:
TimeDoctor is not the easiest solution to use, and their mobile app could use some work as it sometimes lags on phones that aren’t flagship smartphones.
#3) Hubstaff
Hubstaff markets itself as “the most accurate desktop timer,” and many will support that claim, reviewers and users alike.
Hubstaff comes with all the features you expect; a time clock system, a reporting feature, and their surprisingly-useful random screenshotting features. It also comes with accounting features such as Payroll, which is useful if you can’t afford another app dedicated to payroll.
The app is entirely free for a single user and comes with all the functions and features: no hidden fees and no limits on its use. You will have to upgrade to a paid plan for more than one user.
Hubstaff integrates with over 30 apps and services, including Asana, QuickBooks, Salesforce, Zendesk, Podio, FreshDesk, Basecamp, Zoho, Wrike, and PayPal. It comes with timesheet templates as well.
What do you get for free?
- Time tracking
- Timesheets
- Activity levels
- Limited screenshots
- Limited reports
- Limited payments
Cons:
Hubstaff needs some work on the solution’s ability to track idle time. Sometimes, the solution will count time as idle time just because the mouse isn’t moving while the user is working.
#4) TimeCamp
TimeCamp is a great time tracking application for freelancers and teams alike. It can be used to track time for an unlimited number of projects, tasks, and even subtasks. It can monitor what applications and websites users spend their time on, and users can set up projects as either fixed-price or billable hours.
Another great feature of Timecamp is Project costing, which lets users view project profitability and budget based on actual time vs. estimated.
TimeCamp integrates many third-party apps and services, including JIRA and Pivotal Tracker.
It’s worth noting that only the solo version of TimeCamp is free, but you can still try the paid versions for free for 14 days.
What do you get for free?
- Unlimited users
- Unlimited Projects & tasks
- Desktop & Mobile app
Cons:
The setup of TimeCamp could be a little easier, and its interface could use some work to be more modern and easier to navigate.
#5) RescueTime
RescueTime is a free time tracking software that’s very easy to use. RescueTime can track your time to the minute, and it will monitor and record all your digital activities. This means the solution will record every website you visit and app you open and log all this data.
It will then calculate your productivity score, which can be used as a metric to improve your productivity. You can also start recording time manually via the mobile application, which is available for iOS and Android. A chrome extension allows you to peek into your productivity score or offer a shortcut to the dashboard.
RescueTime offers two tiers of service for personal use: Lite (free) and Premium ($9 per month).
The solution offers advanced features such as notifications and reminders for the Premium Plans. You also get alerts and the ability to track offline time (time away from the computer), and it allows you to set focus time at when it will block distracting websites, such as social media networks.
What do you get for free?
As a free time tracking app, RescueTime is probably the simplest one available. Their Lite plan offers all the necessary features and is free forever.
What it offers:
- Time Tracking in websites and applications
- The ability to edit activities’ categories
- Reporting (3 months report history)
- Weekly email report
Cons
RescueTime is not a new application, so it should’ve gotten much better in categorizing activities by now. You can custom-categorize them, which is great, but it takes a couple of steps which means that, for some, they will spend a considerable amount of time editing the categories to get the accurate results they need.
#6) Tick
Have you ever used a timer? Then you will find Tick very easy to use. Tick is one of the best task management and project management tools for small teams tackling large projects with no budget to buy expensive project management software. Tick allows you to track your working hours by merely starting and stopping the timer.
One of Tick’s best features is that it will update its users on any budget changes with each time card, so you don’t need to do budget tracking a spreadsheet anymore. Client or person do time tracking. Tick offers mobile apps for phones and integrations and extensions for browsers.
Tick integrates smoothly with many 3rd party apps and services, including Basecamp, Asana, FreshBooks, Trello, Zapier, and QuickBooks. Tick is free for one project, has no user limit, and comes with the Basecamp integration. You will have to go for a paid plan for more projects and features.
What do you get for free?
- Unlimited People
- Basecamp integration
- Unlimited Archived Projects
- Desktop timers
- SSL for Secure Web Pages
- Full Reporting
- RSS Project Tracking
- iPhone App
- Unlimited clients, tasks, and people
Cons:
Editing a time entry from any summary view is not as easy as it could’ve been. To edit a time entry, you need to find it in the task, note the date, and then navigate to the date.
#7) Harvest
Harvest is a time tracking solution that works for businesses of all sizes. It lets users set hourly and fee-based rates for the job at hand. You can also follow estimated costs versus actual budget costs.
With Harvest, you can also track billable as well as non-billable hours. You also will not have to worry about team members forgetting to complete their timesheets, thanks to Harvest’s automatic reminders.
Harvest also comes with invoicing features with payment reminders and online payment included.
The app integrates with several platforms, including Teamwork and Trello. Harvest’s free version includes one user, two projects, and four clients. For more, you will have to upgrade to a paid plan. If you want to try out the paid version, you can do so without a cost as they offer a free 30-day trial.
What do you get for free?
- 1 seat
- 2 projects
- Time Tracking
- Reminders
- Reporting
- Integrations
- Cost Tracking
Cons:
The Chrome extension and Asana integration could use some work, and Harvest could benefit from more customizable permissions. The reports could also use some work to be a bit easier to read.
#8) AccountSight
AccountSight is a great time tracking app for freelancers and small businesses. With its reasonable pricing and excellent customer service, Account Sight is one of the best-reviewed time trackers you can find.
Users can easily use Account sight to track their time online or submit their timesheets via Excel. The app will also send users messages to nudge them if they forgot to turn their clocks on. Managers will be able to review and approve or reject timesheets right from the app.
AccountSight integrates with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop for added functionality, and it can manage receivables, payables, and company cash.
The app is free for a single user, five clients, and five projects, but it has no limits on the number of invoices. You must go for the paid version to have more users and unlimited clients and projects.
What do you get for free?
- 1 User
- 5 Clients
- 5 Projects
- Unlimited Invoicing
- Unlimited T&E
Cons:
Some users complained about the editing process needing extra steps. Users need to use the edit tool to edit anything, while other time management & tracking software allow you to click and start editing right away merely.
#9) My Hours
My Hours is a time-tracking software created for individuals and freelancers. It can track time by tasks under projects and clients.
It also offers automated time tracking and manual time log entries and can track billable and nonbillable hours on tasks and projects.
Billing is made more comfortable with pay rate assigning and their invoicing features. You can choose from three invoicing methods; person hourly rate, hourly task rate, and project hourly late.
You can export, print, or share data via email right from the dashboard for added functionality.
The solo version of My Hours is free and has all the software features. Teams looking to use the program will have to get the paid version which comes with additional features and functionalities, such as team monitoring.
What do you get for free?
- Unlimited team members & projects
- Organize projects
- Project budgeting
- Track time and expenses
- Set billing rates
- Track your costs
- Manage your team
- Team workflow
- Reporting
- Invoicing
- Integrations
- Mobile apps
Cons:
MyHours suffers from the problem where it gets updates too frequently, which means the updates often come with bugs and issues, which are then solved by another update but one which could also bring some other bugs. Customer service is also not that great.
#10) Trigger
Trigger is a user-friendly, easy-to-use, powerful project management app that is a strong contender for Trello and Asana. However, unlike Asana and Trello, Trigger comes with time-tracking functionality.
The trigger also comes with CRM functionality to help the sales teams keep track of their communications with customers and clients.
Time Reports can be allocated to specific tasks, and tasks can be incredibly detailed.
Trigger has many useful functions and features, including templates and storage, automated invoices, timesheets, online reports, and time reports specific to the tasks.
Trigger integrates with Xero, Zapier, Dropbox, Drive, Basecamp, FreshBooks, and more. The app is free for up to three team members, five active projects, and five clients. For more, users will have to upgrade to a paid plan.
What do you get for free?
- Up to 3 team members
- Up to 5 clients
- Project management
- Time tracking
- Calendar
- Dashboard reports
- Downloadable reports
- Milestones
- In-app and email support
Cons:
Invoicing and billing are difficult, and customer support is not always great. There are also some limitations on project management and planning/budgeting functionalities.
And that’s it for now! I hope you found this article helpful. If you did, share it with your friends.
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