If you bill clients by the hour, run a team on project budgets, or just want to know where your working day actually goes, a spreadsheet stops being enough fast. Time tracking software records hours automatically or with a one-click timer, ties them to clients and projects, and turns the totals into invoices and reports you can act on. The catch is that these tools pull in two different directions: some are built for billing and team management, others for personal productivity and focus. Picking the wrong type means paying for features you'll never open. This guide compares four tools that cover both ends — from a free team timer to automatic productivity tracking — so you can match the tool to what you're actually trying to measure.
Pricing is quoted per user (or seat) per month, billed annually unless noted. All four offer a free plan or trial.
| Tool | Free tier | Starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toggl Track | Yes — up to 5 users | $9/user/mo | All-round team time tracking |
| Clockify | Yes — up to 5 users | $3.99/user/mo (annual) | Free & budget teams |
| Harvest | 1 seat, 2 projects | $9/seat/mo ($108/yr) | Billing & invoicing |
| RescueTime | Lite (limited) | $7/mo (Solo, annual) | Automatic focus tracking |
Prices verified September 2026 — confirm current rates with each provider before purchasing.
1. Toggl Track: Best overall
Toggl Track is the tool most small teams reach for first, and for good reason: starting and stopping a timer is genuinely a one-click action, the interface stays out of your way, and the reporting is clear enough to hand to a client without cleanup. It works everywhere — web, desktop, mobile, and browser extensions that add a timer button inside tools like Asana and Trello — so time gets logged where the work happens instead of in a separate window you forget to open. The free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited time tracking and projects, which is enough for a lot of freelancers and small teams indefinitely.
Paid tiers add the team-management layer. The Starter plan is $9 per user per month and adds billable rates, project templates, and time estimates. Premium is $14 per user per month for the first year (then $18) and adds team scheduling, project profitability, required fields, and admin controls. Toggl's automatic idle-time detection and reminders also help catch hours you'd otherwise forget to log.
- Fastest, most frictionless timer in the category
- Generous free plan (up to 5 users, unlimited tracking)
- Integrations put a timer inside the tools you already use
- Clean, client-ready reports with billable rates
- Premium renews at a higher rate ($18/user/mo) after the first year
- Invoicing is lighter than Harvest's — it tracks billable time but isn't a full invoicing tool
- Advanced admin controls are gated behind Premium
Best for: small teams and freelancers who want reliable time tracking and reporting without a learning curve. Skip it if your main need is turning tracked hours into invoices and collecting payment — Harvest does that better.
2. Clockify: Best free and budget option
Clockify built its reputation by giving away time tracking that competitors charged for, and it's still the value leader. The free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited projects, timesheets, the timer, and reports — the core of what most people need. When you outgrow free, the paid tiers are the cheapest in the category: Basic is $3.99 per user per month (annual) and adds bulk edit, time estimates, and required fields; Standard is $5.49 and adds invoicing, time off, and approvals; Pro is $7.99 and adds scheduling, expenses, labor-cost and profit analysis, screenshots, and GPS tracking.
That climbing feature ladder means Clockify scales from a simple free timer up to something close to a workforce-management tool without a steep price jump at any step. The trade-off is that the interface is denser than Toggl's and the mobile apps are less polished, but for teams watching every dollar, the price-to-feature ratio is hard to beat.
- Full time tracking free for up to 5 users
- Lowest paid entry price in the category ($3.99/user/mo)
- Feature ladder scales up to scheduling, expenses, and profit analysis
- Optional monitoring features (screenshots, GPS) for teams that need them
- Interface is busier and less intuitive than Toggl Track
- Mobile and desktop apps feel less refined
- Some useful features (invoicing, approvals) require the Standard tier
Best for: budget-conscious teams and anyone who wants serious time tracking for free. Skip it if you value polish and simplicity over price — Toggl Track is the smoother daily experience.
3. Harvest: Best for billing and invoicing
Harvest is the pick when tracking time is really about getting paid. It records hours and expenses, then turns them directly into professional invoices you can send to clients, with online payment collection through Stripe or PayPal built in. That end-to-end path — timer to invoice to payment — is what sets it apart from tools that stop at reporting. It also connects to accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero, so billable time flows into your books without re-entry.
The free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects, enough for a solo freelancer testing the waters. The Teams plan is $9 per seat per month ($108 per seat annually) for unlimited seats and projects, team reporting, and the full billing toolkit. Enterprise is $14 per seat per month ($168 annually) and adds custom reports, profitability reporting, timesheet approvals, and SSO. If your business runs on billable hours, the invoicing and payment features often justify Harvest's price on their own.
- Turns tracked time and expenses straight into invoices
- Built-in online payments (Stripe, PayPal) and accounting integrations
- Clear project budget and profitability reporting
- Simple, approachable interface
- Per-seat pricing adds up faster than Clockify for larger teams
- Fewer productivity-monitoring features than Clockify Pro
- Free plan is limited to a single seat
Best for: freelancers and agencies who bill clients by the hour and want invoicing and payment in the same tool. Skip it if you don't invoice from your tracked time — you'd be paying for features you won't use.