When time often seems to slip through our fingers like grains of sand, effectively managing our resources is crucial.
Fortunately, we live in an era of technological innovation. Time tracking apps have emerged as valuable tools to help us gain more control over our schedules, boost our productivity, and make the most of every minute.
In this post, we explore the benefits of time tracking apps and bring you the best apps currently available on the market.
Clockshark: Best for timesheet tracking in construction and similar industries
BeeBole: Best for basic employee time and performance tracking
ClickUp: Best for time tracking in complex workflows
What is a time tracking app, and how does it work?
A time tracking app is a software tool that records and monitors your time. It helps you monitor how much time you spend on different tasks and activities.
Most time tracking apps work by giving you different options for tracking your time. You can use timers to automatically start and stop tracking time for specific tasks, or you can manually input the time you spend on different activities.
Some apps even integrate with other software tools, like calendars or project management systems, to make tracking your time even easier.
Benefits of time tracking apps
Are you confident that you’re spending most of your time on important tasks? Do you have an effective system for tracking how you spend your time?
If not, a time tracking app can help. It will clarify how you spend your time, help you refocus on high-impact tasks, boost your productivity, and more.
More clarity on how you spend your time
With so many distractions and competing demands on your time, it can be difficult to keep track of everything you need to do. But with a time tracking app, you gain visibility into how you allocate your time throughout the day.
You see how much time you spend on different tasks and activities, enabling you to identify areas where you might be wasting time or could be more efficient.
For example, you might discover that you spend more time than you realize checking your emails or scrolling through social media. You can then take steps to reduce these time-wasting activities and focus more on the things that matter.
Are you spending your time in a way that gets you closer to your perfect daily schedule?
Time tracking apps encourage you to stay focused and make conscious decisions about how you allocate your time. With them, you can set goals, prioritize tasks, and create schedules that optimize your workflow.
Tracking your progress in real-time helps you identify areas where you might need to make adjustments to stay on track. You can see where you’re doing well and where you might be falling behind and adjust your behavior accordingly.
Improved focus and concentration
One of the biggest challenges in today’s digital age is maintaining focus amid the constant barrage of notifications and distractions. In fact, the average adult is only able to concentrate on a task for around 15 to 20 minutes.
Time tracking apps help combat this issue by encouraging you to allocate dedicated blocks of time for focused work. Pomodoro timers or focus mode can help you ensure uninterrupted periods of deep work, allowing you to reach a flow state so you can accomplish more in less time.
Insights and analytics
Time tracking apps provide detailed insights and analytics to help you make data-driven decisions. They generate reports and visualizations that showcase your productivity trends, highlighting areas for improvement and showing you where you’re most productive.
For example, a common problem in the workplace is unnecessary meeting attendance. On average, employees have 17.7 meetings (totaling 18 hours) per week. For companies with 100 people, cutting unnecessary meetings would save nearly $2.5 million per year.
To avoid this, you can optimize your routine and allocate most of your time to your highest-impact tasks.
Collaboration and team efficiency
Time tracking apps are valuable tools for not only individuals but also teams and organizations. Collaborative time tracking apps enable teams to synchronize their efforts, track project progress, and effectively allocate resources based on team members’ availability.
Best time tracking apps today
With so many time tracking apps to choose from, it can be difficult to choose the most suitable one. We’re here to make it easier for you. We’ve tried and tested various apps and curated a list of the best ones available.
1. Motion
Motion is hands down the best time tracking app available today. With its comprehensive tracking features and AI algorithms, it’s perfect for businesses of all sizes, freelancers, and remote teams.
With Motion, you won’t have to worry about manually tracking your time or spending countless hours trying to figure out how much to bill your clients. The app is intuitive and easy to use, allowing you to focus on your productivity. Motion is also fully compatible with web and iOS platforms, providing you with flexibility and accessibility no matter where you are.
Pros: Automated time tracking, unlimited tasks, comprehensive planning features, and AI algorithms
Con: Can be costly to use for a team
Users and pricing:
Individual:
$19 per month, billed annually
$34, billed monthly
Team:
$12 per user per month, billed annually
$20 per user, billed monthly
Free trial: Offers a 7-day free trial and is easy to cancel
Toggl Track is an all-in-one time tracker designed for everyone from individuals to large teams. It promises effortless time tracking, team management, detailed reporting, and integrations with your preferred workflow tools.
With Toggl Track, you have the ability to track the time you spend on different tasks and projects and create accurate invoices to bill your clients in a timely manner.
Pros: Simple yet comprehensive interface and efficient team management features
Con: Limited free plan options
Users and pricing:
Free: Free for up to 5 users
Starter: $9 per user per month
Premium: $18 per user per month
Enterprise: Contact for pricing
Free trial: 30-day trial of Toggl Track Premium
Compatibility: Web, mobile, and desktop (Windows, Mac, and Linux)
3. Harvest
Harvest is an intuitive time tracking app that works seamlessly for businesses of all sizes. Known for its timesheet management, automated invoicing, project budget tracking, and team scheduling abilities, Harvest allows its users to easily track time and bill their clients with precision.
Pros: Easy-to-use interface, thorough budget tracking features, and quick invoicing
Con: Lacks advanced reporting
Users and pricing:
Free: 1 seat and 2 projects
Pro: $12 per month; unlimited seats and unlimited projects
Free trial: 30-day free trial
Compatibility: Web, mobile, and desktop (Mac and Windows)
4. RescueTime
Suitable for individuals and freelancers looking for ways to improve their productivity, RescueTime uses an AI-powered time tracking feature to provide automated time tracking, distraction blocking, website blocking, and weekly performance reporting.
RescueTime offers an efficient way to track and manage how much time you spend on your computer or smartphone, resulting in increased productivity.
Pros: Automated time tracking, insight reports, and comprehensive blocking features
Con: Limited manual time tracking capabilities
Users and pricing:
RescueTime: Free
RescueTime Classic: $6.50 per month or $78 per year
Free trial: Free 2-week trial for RescueTime Classic
Compatibility: Web, mobile (Android), and desktop (Windows, Mac, and Linux)
5. Clockify
Clockify is a budget-friendly time tracking app built for individuals and growing teams. This basic time tracking tool’s features include project management, detailed reporting, and integrations with other helpful workflow tools.
With Clockify, you can keep track of each minute you spend on each task or project, making it easy to generate timesheets and speed up your invoicing process.
Pros: Simple interface, free plan, and fast reporting
Cons: Limited team management capabilities and time tracking features
Users and pricing:
All plans have unlimited users.
Basic: $3.99 per user per month, billed annually (or $4.99 if billed monthly)
Standard: $5.49 per user per month, billed annually (or $6.99 if billed monthly)
Pro: $7.99 per user per month, billed annually (or $9.99 if billed monthly)
Enterprise: $11.99 per user per month, billed annually (or $14.99 if billed monthly)
Free trial: Free plan is available, as is a 7-day free trial with extra features
Compatibility: Web and mobile (Android, iOS)
6. TimeCamp
TimeCamp makes time management and organization easier for any business, whether you’re working solo or with a team. The app provides users with automatic time tracking, project management, invoicing, and billing features to analyze how they spend their time and generate insightful reports.
Pros: Automatic time tracking, integrations, and invoicing capabilities
Con: Limited mobile app features
Users and pricing:
All plans have unlimited users.
Free
Starter: $2.99 per user per month
Basic: $6.99 per user per month
Pro: $9.99 per user per month
Enterprise: Contact TimeCamp
Free trial: 14-day free trial
Compatibility: Web, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), and mobile (Android, iOS)
7. Traqq
Traqq is an efficient and free time tracking app for remote teams, freelancers, and businesses alike. Along with its automated time tracking feature, the app highlights other performance indicators, including activity tracking and screenshot-based monitoring, simplifying project management and timely delivery.
Pros: Automated time tracking, screenshots and activities tracking, and real-time monitoring
Con: Limited integrations and customizations.
Users and pricing:
Premium Starter for 3 users: free
Premium Teams for 4-100 users: $7 per user per month, billed monthly (or $6 if billed annually)
Timely is a versatile time tracking app with employee scheduling, project tracking, and automatic time tracking features. With its real-time start/stop tracking feature, users can automatically pull weekly timesheets and use the app as a team dashboard to keep track of everyone’s work schedules more accurately.
Pros: Automatic time tracking, project management, and reporting
Con: Lacks advanced reporting, billing, and invoicing
Users and pricing:
Starter: $11 per user per month for 3 teams and 50 projects
Premium: $20 per user per month for unlimited projects and teams
Unlimited: $28 per user per month for unlimited projects and teams
Unlimited+: Contact Timely
Free trial: 14-day free trial for the Unlimited plan
Compatibility: Web, desktop (macOS), and mobile (Android, iOS)
9. HourStack
HourStack is another budget-friendly time tracking application offering a wide range of features that are customizable to individual preferences. This time tracking app offers task grouping, integrations with other time-management tools, and project and task budget capabilities. Users can create, manage, and sort different task labels as they navigate projects.
Pros: Customizable task labels and time tracking for businesses and individuals
Con: Lacks advanced features and integrations
Users and pricing:
Personal: $12 per month
Team: $15 per month
Free trial: 14-day free trial as a single user or team
Compatibility: Web, desktop (Windows, macOS), and mobile (Android, iOS)
10. Homebase
Homebase is perfect for small businesses looking to manage their employees’ schedules and time clocks all in one place.
Homebase offers an intuitive time clock app for employees, GPS-enabled time tracking, rule setting for compliance, performance tracking, labor cost controls, and integrations with popular payroll partners.
You can track your hours in just a few clicks, making it easy for new employees to quickly grasp the software and begin tracking their time effortlessly.
Pros: Automatic time tracking for employees, hourly rates, and performance tracking
Con: Advanced features like PTO controls only available in more expensive plans
Users and pricing:
Basic: free for one location and up to 20 users
Essentials: $20 location per month for unlimited users
Plus: $48 per location per month for unlimited users
All-in-one: $48 per location per month for unlimited users
Free trial: 14-day free trial for all paid plans
Compatibility: Web and mobile (Android, iOS)
11. Tick
Tick positions its product as “straight-forward time tracking.” You won’t find a bunch of useless features. Instead, Tick provides users with the core essentials in an intuitive window.
The timecard is simple with the ability to mark the project, tasks, and any notes. Then, you can click “Start” or “Enter Time” to begin tracking. Once you hit start, Tick’s running timers will count up as your time increases.
One of the coolest features Tick offers is the instant budget feedback in the timecard. It shows how much of the project is complete and by what percent the specific task went over or under.
This enables businesses to keep their employees on track across multiple teams and departments.
Pros: Easy to set up and integrates natively with Basecamp
Con: Zero advanced features, like idle time detection or private time
Users and pricing:
Free to use for one project with unlimited users
Up to 10 projects: $19/month
Free trial: 30-day trial available for paid plans
Compatibility: Web and mobile (Android, iOS)
12. Clockshark
Clockshark calls itself “the industries’ #1 timesheet app” and positions the company as a solution for field service and construction professionals.
The product is an app that can be used for employee time tracking — both in the field and also in the office. If you are billing for different jobs, you can easily toggle to different tasks with different labor costs associated and record them in real-time.
Also, if you have a crew who are all working on the same project, you can take advantage of Clockshark’s Crew Clock to clock everyone in at once. By integrating with QuickBooks, ADP, or Xero, you can send employee data directly to your payroll and process payments quicker.
Pro: Robust employee time tracker software that lets you generate invoices for clients
Con: Per-user pricing can make it a lot more expensive for large teams
Users and pricing:
Standard: $40/month + $8/month per additional user
Pro: $60/month + $10/month per additional user
Free trial: 14-day trial available for all plans
Compatibility: Web, desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux), and mobile (Android, iOS)
13. BeeBole
BeeBole offers a variety of employee time tracking features, including the ability to track time, take attendance, create time logs, measure project performance, and more. You can create customizable reports to keep projects on track and under budget.
In addition, employees can clock in and out from their desktop or mobile device to keep track of all their hours worked, breaks, and even days off. With this data, management can review employee time reports, filter by billable/non-billable hours, and more.
There is also a built-in approval workflow which will automatically send an hourly overage request to an administrator for approval. Collectively, these features make BeeBole a useful solution for mid-sized, growing companies preparing to scale.
Pros: Accurate time tracking, robust approval workflows, and reliable performance tracking
Con: User interface is a bit dated and clunky
Users and pricing:
Standard plan: $6.99/user per month
Free trial: 30-day trial available
Compatibility: Web, desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux), and mobile (Android, iOS)
14. ClickUp
ClickUp is a project management platform that can also work as an employee time tracking app. With Clickup, you can track time, establish estimates, draft notes, and formulate all the data into relevant reports for your business.
ClickUp offers a free Chrome extension making it even easier to track your time without disrupting your work. You will even have ClickUp’s global timer at your fingertips, which will enable you to adjust and add time to tasks or create new entries within a specific date range.
Some of the core ClickUp time tracking features include: notes functionality, billable time denotion, filtering, edit time, labels, sorting, and rollups (viewing total time spent on a task).
In addition, you can sync your time from other time tracking apps (like Toggle, Clockify, Harvest, and more) to centralize your efforts into one cohesive dashboard.
Pros: In addition to time tracking, helps manage projects and intricate workflows
Con: Complicated user interface is difficult to set up and get started with
Users and pricing:
Free forever: for personal use
Unlimited: $7/user per month
Business: $12/user per month
Free trial: 30-day trial available
Compatibility: Web, desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux), and mobile (Android, iOS)
How to decide which time tracking app is best for you
With so many options available, choosing the best time tracking app for your needs can be daunting. When making a decision, there are several factors to consider to ensure that you end up with the perfect app. We’ll discuss a few of them below.
Purpose and features
First, ask yourself what you want to get from the app. You need to determine your purpose and the features you need.
Private vs. professional use cases: There’s a big difference between tracking just your own time and logging the billable hours of an entire team of workers.
Do you just want to visualize the way you spend your own time? Or do you need something to replace manual timesheets for your team?
Usability and price are priorities for personal use. For professional use, you’ll need more advanced features, like custom fields.
Integration options
Native integration options are crucial to consider when choosing an ideal time tracking app. You may want the app to integrate with other work management tools that you depend on daily.
User interface and ease of use
Choose an app that is easy to use to avoid losing time through complicated interfaces. A user-friendly interface will help you optimize your time, as it reduces the learning curve and improves time management.
Advanced features for professional use
If you want to make time tracking easier for your entire team or company, here are a few key features you should look for:
Goal setting and tracking
Analysis of time estimates vs. real time spent
Hourly rate support so you can automatically generate invoices
If you want activity tracking (like mouse movement or keys pressed per minute) and idle detection, be sure to be transparent with your employees. In many countries, you’re legally required to inform your employees of exactly what you’re tracking. Also, prioritize meaningful performance metrics (like number of sales or tasks completed) rather than something like keystrokes, or you risk losing focus on what really matters.
Number of users
How many people will be using the time tracking app? If it’s just you, you may need a personal app. But if other people are on your team, you need software designed for multiple or unlimited users that has the right access features.
Pricing
Determine your budget and compare the pricing plans of different time tracking tools before committing. Find out if these tools have a free version and what subscription models they offer.
Reporting and analytics
Lastly, check the reporting and analytics options each app has to offer, such as customizable reports, visual charts, and export options. These features can be beneficial for organizing and analyzing your time usage data.
Time tracking app best practices
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your time tracking app:
Set specific goals and objectives for your tasks or projects so that you can better measure your progress.
Categorize tasks or activities based on projects, clients, or categories to keep your work organized.
Use reminders or notifications to stay on track and maintain focus on your work.
Regularly review and analyze time reports to gain insights into your productivity. Use the data and analytics the app provides to identify areas for improvement and optimize your time usage.
Experiment with different time management techniques and adjust your approach to find the methods that work best for you.
Integrate time tracking apps with other productivity apps for seamless workflow management to increase efficiency.
Collaborate with team members by sharing time tracking data and coordinating efforts to maximize team productivity and enhance communication.
Track and manage your time with Motion
Time is a valuable resource, so it’s essential to manage it effectively. With the right time tracking app, you can monitor your time usage, increase your productivity, and improve your efficiency.
Motion can help you easily manage and track time, measure the time spent on each task or project, and get valuable insights into your productivity levels. But what sets Motion apart is our powerful AI that can help you automatically schedule tasks. It considers the type of task, dependencies, deadline, priority level, and other factors, and quickly fits it into your schedule in the perfect place.
Try Motion for 7 days for free and see how it can help you spend more time getting things done and less time on planning and time management.
Ragnar is a Pomodoro enthusiast and a SaaS writer with over 10 years of experience. When he's not focused on getting a sentence just right, he loves cooking and training Muay Thai.
