The best time tracking software for small businesses should be affordable, easy to use, and offer multiple time entry options. The software should also include the ability to manage projects, invoice customers, and create detailed reports. We looked at more than a dozen products and narrowed it down to our top 10.
Top 10 Time Tracking Software for Small Businesses 2019
| Time Tracking Software | Best For |
|---|---|
| Harvest | (Best Overall) SMB looking for an all-in-one time tracking, project management, and invoicing software. |
| FreshBooks | Freelancers who need to streamline customer invoicing and payment collection. |
| actiTIME | SMBs with more than five users that need a budget-friendly time tracking software. |
| TSheets by QuickBooks | Companies looking for a software with GPS tracking within a time tracking app. |
| TMetric | Businesses that manage several projects and can benefit from advanced project tracking tools. |
| Time Tracker by eBillity | Law firms that could benefit from a software with legal features. |
| ClockShark | SMBs in the construction and field service industries. |
| HourStack | SMBs that need to give view-only access to unlimited guest users. |
| Toggl | Businesses that have an invoicing solution and just need time/project tracking only. |
| MavenLink | A business looking for extensive business intelligence reporting. |
How We Evaluated Time Tracking Software for Small Businesses
We looked at several time tracking software products and compared them based on cost, features, ease of setup, and ease of use, among other criteria, and narrowed it down to our top 10.
Below are seven key areas we used to evaluate time tracking software for small businesses:
- Cost – Includes affordable pricing plans for small businesses.
- Setup/Ease of Use – Easily allows teams to get up and start running.
- Time Entry Options – Logs time manually or starts one or more timers to keep track of time.
- Project Management – Creates tasks and assigns individuals to a team or a project.
- Invoicing – Easily transfers time to an invoice so that you can bill customers right away.
- Integration with Other Systems – Integrates with your existing accounting, CRM, or payroll software to reduce double entry.
- Reports – Generates detailed reports by project, team, or task to stay on top of billing and budget versus actuals.
Based on the above criteria and the time we invested in learning how each product performed, we recommend Harvest as the best time tracking software for small businesses. Harvest offers a free plan for solopreneurs who don’t need to add users. Paid plans are $12 per user per month, and all plans include time tracking, project management, and invoicing.
Harvest: Best All-In-One Time Tracking Software
Harvest checks all the boxes when it comes to affordability, user friendliness, and included features. Harvest is ideal for a solopreneur with no employees or a small business with several employees and contractors. In addition to a free plan, paid plans start at $12 per month for one user and $12 per user per month for multiple users.
Harvest Pricing & Features
Harvest offers three pricing plans between $0 and $12 per user per month, which makes it one of the more economical products on our list. However, TMetric is the most budget friendly at $4 per user per month. The primary differences between the three Harvest plans are the number of users, projects, and cost. The Free and Solo plans do not allow you to invite additional users, whereas the Team plan allows you to have two or more users.
Harvest Time Tracking App Plan Comparison & Summary
| Cost | |||
| Number of Users | |||
| Multiple Time Entry Options | |||
| Invoicing | |||
| Project Management | |||
| Integration with Other Systems | |||
| Detailed Reports | |||
| Expense Tracking | |||
| Create Estimates | |||
| Resource Scheduling/Forecasting |
The Harvest pricing plans and the type of business each is right for are:
Harvest Free Plan:
The Harvest Free Plan is ideal for freelancers and solopreneurs who have no more than a couple of projects they need to keep track of and they don’t need to give anyone else access to their data. Similar to the TMetric and TSheets free plans, this plan is 100% free but does not allow you to give anyone else access.
Harvest Solo Plan:
The Harvest Solo Plan is ideal for freelancers and solopreneurs who have a number of projects they need to track time and expenses for. Similar to the Free plan, you cannot give other users access to your data and unlike the Free plan, you will pay $12 per month or $144 per year.
Harvest Team Plan:
The Harvest Team Plan is ideal for a small business that needs to give access to multiple users and track time, income, and expenses for several projects. It is the top-tier plan at $12 per user per month.
Based on our minimum criteria, here is how Harvest stacks up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
You can create your Harvest account in just a few minutes and start using the software right away. Invite your employees and contractors so they can start tracking their time. You can also add projects and assign a team to a project as needed. The easy-to-read dashboard provides you with how your team is doing and the status of each project, all in one place. Like many of its competitors, the dashboard gives you key information on one screen.
Below is a snapshot of the dashboard in Harvest time tracking software:
Time Tracking Dashboard in Harvest time tracking software.
The information you can expect to see in the Harvest time tracking dashboard includes:
- Weekly View: Toggle between different weeks to view time entries for a seven-day period.
- Hours Tracked: The total hours for the time period selected will display in this field.
- Billable Hours: This field will breakdown the total billable hours (12.24 in the above example) and total non-billable hours (13.10 in the above example).
- Billable Amount: This is the total amount in dollars that is billable to your clients.
- Uninvoiced Amount: This is the total billable amount that has not been invoiced to your customers. As you can see in this example, the total uninvoiced amount is $1,597.00.
- Time Frame: From the drop-down, you can select the time period of your choice: week, semi-month, month, quarter, year, all time, or a custom time frame.
- Data Filter: You can select the type of data you would like to view in this section of the screen; options are clients, projects, tasks, or team.
- Data Output: You can export your data to Excel or CSV file or print a detailed report.
Time Entry Options
Similar to the other nine competitors on our list, Harvest allows you to enter time in a couple of ways. You can use a timer to track time as you work or enter the total hours worked once you are done. You can also enter time for multiple days in the weekly time sheet. You can track time to specific clients, projects, and tasks as well as add detailed notes for each entry.
Project Management
Similar to TSheets and Toggl, you can create budgets, set up tasks, and assign team members to a project. Run reports to gain key insights such as how much time you have tracked to a project, billable amounts, costs, and uninvoiced hours, all in one place.
Invoicing
Like FreshBooks, you can transfer hours to an invoice and bill clients for hours worked. Harvest allows you to email your invoices to customers and accept online payments using Stripe or PayPal—additional fees will apply. Finally, Harvest will send automatic reminders to customers so they can pay their invoices on time.
Integrations
Out of all the companies on our list, Harvest integrates with the most apps—100! Harvest seamlessly integrates with other popular accounting, CRM, and project management software like QuickBooks, G Suite, Trello, and Slack. Check out all 100 apps that integrate with Harvest for more information.
Reports
Like the other companies that made our list, Harvest allows you to run detailed time tracking reports to show the amount of hours for a given time period for all clients, projects, tasks, or teams. You can export data to an Excel spreadsheet or print it out for review and analysis.
Additional Features
In addition to the features we have covered, Harvest also includes:
- Unlimited Estimates – Create unlimited estimates and send them to potential clients for approval.
- Expense Tracking – Keep track of expenses paid on behalf of your clients so that you can get reimbursed. You can tag expenses by project or client to ensure proper billing.
- Resource Scheduling/Forecasting – Harvest Forecast is a scheduling tool that you can add on for an additional $5 per user per month. It can be used to estimate the length of a project and includes a scheduling tool to keep track of employees who are underbooked or overbooked.
FreshBooks is the only other time tracking software that allows you to create unlimited estimates and to track expenses like Harvest does.
What Harvest Is Missing
While Harvest met all of the criteria on our list, it does not include a tool to create schedules like MavenLink, TSheets, and ClockShark do. However, you can add Harvest Forecast, which will allow you to do scheduling and forecasting for an additional $5 per user per month.
Harvest User Reviews
Harvest users like how easy it is to keep track of time away from the office by using the time tracking app. In addition, they like the simple user interface, which leaves very little room for error. While it was difficult to find negative reviews, one user mentioned limitations using the app versus going to the website. Head over to the Harvest User Reviews page to read all of our reviews.
Where to Find Harvest
You can use Harvest for free the first 30 days. Just visit their website, provide your contact information, and your account will be set up immediately. There is no credit card required and you can start tracking time, expenses, and projects right away!
FreshBooks: Best Time Tracking Software for Freelancers
FreshBooks is ideal for freelancers looking for a time tracking software that will streamline the customer billing and payment process. FreshBooks is known for its ability to create custom, professional invoices. At a starting cost of $15 per month versus $0 for Harvest, it is not cheap, but it includes income and expense tracking.
FreshBooks Pricing & Features
FreshBooks has three pricing plans that run between $15 and $50 per month. Each plan includes one user and you can add additional users for an additional $10 per user per month. Out of all of the products on our list, FreshBooks is the second priciest behind MavenLink. However, FreshBooks goes beyond time tracking and includes the ability to track all of your income and expenses for your business!
FreshBooks Time Tracking App Plan Comparison & Summary
| Monthly Pricing | |||
| Maximum Number of Clients | |||
| Multiple Time Entry Options | |||
| Invoicing | |||
| Expense Tracking | |||
| Project Management | |||
| Integration with Other Systems | |||
| Detailed Reports | |||
| Create Estimates | |||
| Income Tracking | |||
| Connect Bank/Credit Card Accounts | |||
| Share Data with Accountant | |||
| Accept Online Payments |
The pricing plans for FreshBooks and who each option is right for are:
FreshBooks Lite Plan:
The FreshBooks Lite plan is ideal for freelancers who need to track time for individuals or teams, manage projects, and bill no more than five clients each month. If you have more than five clients, you should go with the FreshBooks Plus plan, which allows billing for up to 50 clients.
FreshBooks Plus Plan:
The FreshBooks Plus plan is ideal for freelancers who have more than five clients but less than 50 clients they need to bill each month. The Plus plan includes the same time tracking, project management and invoicing features as both the Lite and Premium plans.
FreshBooks Premium:
The FreshBooks Premium plan is ideal for freelancers with more than 50 clients and less than 500 clients that need to be invoiced monthly. As mentioned, this plan includes the same features as the Plus and Premium plans—the only difference is the maximum number of clients you can invoice is 500 versus five for the Lite plan and 50 for the Plus plan.
Based on our minimum criteria, here is how FreshBooks stacks up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
The time tracking dashboard is very easy to read, like those of its competitors. You can review time for an individual or a team for any time period that you choose. Similar to Harvest and other competitors, it is very easy to set up and use.
Below is a snapshot of the time tracking dashboard in FreshBooks:
FreshBooks Time Tracker Dashboard
Below is a brief description of the info included on the dashboard in FreshBooks:
- Filter Time by Team Member: If you have a team of people who work for you, their names will be listed in this column. You can click on an individual’s name to see just their time or you can look at the entire team’s hours by clicking on “All Team Members,” as indicated in the above screenshot.
- Time Frame: Select the month to review time entries for.
- Client Details: Based on your selections for items one and two, the client name and total hours logged will appear here. Just click on the client’s name to review the detailed hours logged.
Time Entry Options
Similar to the other companies on our list, you can manually record time in FreshBooks or you can use the timer. When logging your time, you can tie it to a client or project, indicate the type of service (e.g., consulting), and add any additional notes. If you are recording time that is not billable, you can easily remove the default check mark from the billable field.
Project Management
Similar to Harvest, you can create and manage projects, invite team members to join a project, and assign tasks with due dates to an individual or a team. Stay on top of the progress for each project by reviewing the dashboard to see what tasks have been completed versus those that have not been started.
Invoicing
Unlike the other competitors on our list, FreshBooks is known for its invoicing capabilities. You can create customized invoices by selecting from a library of designer templates and adding your logo and colors. Transfer time entries to a client invoice in just a few minutes and email the invoice to your customers directly from FreshBooks!
Integrations
Like Harvest and other competitors, FreshBooks integrates with several other CRMs, bookkeeping services, and payment solutions like Gusto, Bench, and Stripe.
Reports
Similar to its competitors, FreshBooks has several reports that you can generate to review time entry and project tracking data. Reports can be run for any time period for employees and contractors by client, project, or service type. You can print reports or download them to Excel.
Additional Features
As mentioned, FreshBooks goes beyond time tracking to include features that allow you to manage all income and expenses for your business. You can download expenses from your bank and credit card accounts into FreshBooks, accept online payments, schedule recurring invoices, and share your data with your accountant. While Harvest does not allow you to track all income, you can easily keep track of your expenses like you can in FreshBooks.
What FreshBooks Is Missing
FreshBooks does not include a scheduling or forecasting tool, nor does it have a scheduling or forecasting tool that you can add on, like Harvest does. Therefore, if you need a tool that will allow you to manage resources, you should choose Harvest with the Harvest Forecast add-on tool.
FreshBooks User Reviews
FreshBooks users like how easy the software is to use and mentioned that the customer service team is pretty good. However, users shared that the website is not very mobile friendly and should consider making some improvements so that it’s easier to manage time and invoicing on the go. Click here to see all our FreshBook user reviews.
Where to Find FreshBooks
Like most of the companies on our list, FreshBooks gives you the opportunity to try their software before you buy it. Head over to their website, provide some basic contact details, and you will gain access to a fully functional account for 30 days. At the end of the trial period, you will need to sign up for a paid account to continue using the software.
actiTIME: Best Budget-Friendly Time Tracking Software
actiTIME is ideal for small businesses with five or more users. It’s the only product on our list that gives you a price break on additional users. While TMetric offers the lowest per user cost at $4 per user per month, actiTIME integrates with QuickBooks and allows you to customize the software. TMetric does not work with QuickBooks.
actiTIME Pricing & Features
actiTIME has pricing plans starting at $8.00 per user per month for up to five users to 150 users at $1.95 per user per month; the more users you have, the lower your cost will be.
All pricing plans include the following features:
- Time tracking
- Invoicing
- Project management
- Integration with QuickBooks
- Ability to customize the software
TSheets, Harvest, FreshBooks, and MavenLink also include all of the above features in their software.
actiTIME Time Tracking App Plan Comparison & Summary
| Cost | |||
| Multiple Time Entry Options | |||
| Invoicing | |||
| Project Management | |||
| Detailed Reports | |||
| Expense Tracking | |||
| Create Estimates | |||
| Integration with Other Systems | |||
| Product Customization | |||
| Work Scope Mgmt Tools | |||
| Project Cost Control | |||
| Kanban Board |
Listed below are the pricing plans for actiTIME and who each is right for:
actiTIME Five-User Plan:
The actiTIME five-user plan is ideal if you have no more than five employees or contractors who you need to keep track of time for. While this plan has the fewest users, at $8 per user per month, it will cost you more than the 10-user or 20-user actiTIME plans. The QuickBooks integration and the ability to customize the software are also included.
actiTIME 10-User Plan:
The actiTIME 10-user plan is ideal for a business that has more than five users but no more than 10 that need to track their time. You will save 50 cents per user per month with this plan because it only costs $7.50 per user per month versus $8.00 for the five-user plan. This plan includes the same features as the five-user plan.
actiTIME 20-User Plan:
The actiTIME 20-user plan is ideal for a business that has more than 10 users but no more than 20 that need to track their time. At $5 per user per month, this plan is $3 cheaper per user per month than the five-user plan and $2.50 less per user per month than the 10-user plan!
Based on our minimum criteria, here is how actiTIME stacks up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
Like its competitors, actiTIME is easy to setup and very user friendly. In addition, you can use your own terminology if the default settings don’t meet your needs. For example, instead of using Customer, Project, or Task, you could use the terminology that works best for your business workflow, such as Client, Job, or Activity.
Below is a snapshot of the dashboard in actiTIME time tracking software:
actiTIME Time Entry Dashboard.
The time tracking information found on the actiTIME dashboard includes:
- Navigation Buttons: Similar to TMetric and Time Tracker, you can navigate between Time Track, Tasks, Reports, and Users by clicking on the icons at the top of the dashboard.
- Time Period: An option to select the time period you would like to see data for in this field.
- Task/Customer/Project: In this column, you can see the description, client, and project for each time entry.
Time Entry Options
Unlike Harvest and MavenLink, you don’t have the option to enter time using a timer in actiTIME. However, you can enter time in a weekly time sheet and you can track time to a project or task and add detailed comments. actiTIME also keeps track of paid time off (PTO) and will calculate overtime in compliance with the overtime laws.
Project Management
Like Harvest, setting up projects is super simple in actiTIME. You can create projects, assign individuals to a project, or create and assign a team to a project.
You can manage projects in actiTIME in a couple of ways:
- Assign a Manager to Each Project – Managers will be responsible for reviewing and approving the time for each team member assigned to them.
- Receive Automatic Notifications -If costs for a project have exceeded the budget or work is taking more time than originally estimated, actiTIME will automatically send you notifications so that you can take action.
Invoicing
actiTIME also allows you to create PDF invoices so that you can bill your customers as you and your team complete work on a project. Similar to FreshBooks, you can add a logo and your branding to customize the invoices for your business.
Integrations
Unlike most of its competitors that integrate with a number of other systems, actiTIME integrates with only one—QuickBooks. If you use QuickBooks, you can easily transfer time from actiTIME into QuickBooks in order to invoice clients and pay employees. This will eliminate the need for double entry, which will save you a ton of time!
Reports
Similar to its competitors, actiTIME includes a number of detailed reports to give you insight into team productivity, budget versus actuals by project and overtime, and leave costs. Reports are available in several different formats, including charts, HTML, spreadsheets, CSV, or PDF.
Additional Features
In addition to the features we have discussed, actiTIME also includes the following features:
- Work Scope Management Tools – Unlike many of its competitors, you can create tasks in bulk or upload them from a CSV file, easily delegate work to a project team or individuals, and monitor work in progress.
- Project Cost Control – Like many of its competitors, you can track project costs based on hourly pay rates of employees.
- Kanban Board – Similar to Hour Stack, you can visually manage tasks by moving cards around on a customizable Kanban Board to see what projects are completed, in progress, and near completion.
What actiTIME Is Missing
Unlike Harvest and FreshBooks, which both offer expense tracking and the ability to create estimates, actiTIME does not include either of these features. However, as we discussed, actiTIME integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks so you can import your hours into QuickBooks, which includes the ability to track expenses and create estimates.
actiTIME User Reviews
Overall, actiTIME has positive user reviews. actiTIME users like how simple and easy it is to use it and the fact that it makes it easy to keep track of hours worked by employees. The negative reviews that we found were centered around how steep the price is compared to other competitors. Check out our actiTIME User Reviews page to see all reviews.
Where to Find actiTIME
Getting started with actiTIME is as easy as providing a few contact details about your business. Head over to their website and provide your business information, and an account will be created for you—no credit card required. You can use the software free for the first 30 days. At the end of the trial period, you will need to sign up for a paid account to continue to use the software.
TSheets by QuickBooks: Best Time Tracking Software for GPS Tracking
TSheets is ideal for businesses that have employees who work in the field, because of its GPS tracking. The GPS tracker allows you to track the location of an employee throughout the day. Paid plans start at $5 per user per month plus a base fee of $20 per month, versus $12 per user per month for Harvest, which doesn’t include GPS tracking.
TSheets Pricing & Features
Similar to Harvest, Toggl, and TMetric, TSheets offers a free plan to small businesses that don’t need to add users. Their paid plans start at $5 per active user per month, plus a base fee of $20 per month. All plans include time and project tracking, GPS tracking with the time tracking app, and a time clock kiosk that allows you to turn your tablet into a time clock!
TSheets Time Tracking App Plan Comparison & Summary
| Cost | |||
| Base Fee | |||
| Multiple Time Entry Options | |||
| Invoicing | |||
| Expense Tracking | |||
| Project Management | |||
| Integration with Other Systems | |||
| Detailed Reports | |||
| Create Estimates | |||
| GPS Tracker | |||
| Timeclock Kiosk | |||
| Email Alerts and Reminders |
Listed below are the pricing plans for TSheets and who each is right for:
TSheets Self-Employed Plan:
Similar to the Harvest and Toggl free plans, the TSheets Self-Employed plan is ideal for a business owner who doesn’t have any employees or contractors and only needs to track their time. However, if you hire an employee or contractor in the future, you will need to upgrade to the TSheets Small Business plan.
TSheets Small Business Plan:
The TSheets Small Business plan is ideal for a business that has at least one additional user but no more than 99. This plan includes all of the same features you will find in the Self-Employed plans, like time tracking, project management, and invoicing.
TSheets Enterprise Plan:
The TSheets Enterprise plan is ideal for large companies with 100+ users that need to track their time. Similar to its other plans, you can track time, manage projects, invoice customers, and access detailed reports with this plan.
Based on our criteria, here is how TSheets stacks up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
Like many of its competitors, TSheets is very easy to use and simple to set up. When you first log in, there is a TSheets Guide that is broken up into six sections; add employees, add jobs, setup payroll and overtime, set up PTO, set up invoicing, and set up time clock kiosk. You simply click on the section that you want to set up and follow the on-screen instructions.
Below is a snapshot of the home screen in TSheets time tracking software:
TSheets Time Tracking Home Screen Page
Listed below is a brief description of the information found on the TSheets dashboard:
- Clock In: In this section, you can clock in when you are ready to start tracking time.
- Who’s Working: This section allows you to see who’s on the clock, on break, or off the clock. In addition, if an employee is using the TSheets time tracking app, you can click the Map button and see their GPS location!
Time Entry Options
When it comes to time entry options, TSheets gives you multiple options for recording time entries. Employees and contractors can log into TSheets from their desktop computer, the time tracking app, or a time clock kiosk. Similar to other competitors, time can be entered manually or you can use the timecard feature, which requires employees to clock in.
Project Management
You can track all time entries to a specific project or job in TSheets. This will allow you to run reports by project or job and create invoices for unbilled hours for a project or job. Like Harvest and Toggl, project management is available in all TSheets plans.
Invoicing
While TSheets doesn’t have as many options to customize invoices as FreshBooks, you can easily create invoices in TSheets so that you can bill your customers. Invoicing is available in all three TSheets pricing plans.
Integrations
TSheets integrates with more than 30 apps versus the 100 apps that Harvest integrates with. However, one of the features that sets TSheets apart from other competitors on our list is that they also integrate with payroll solutions like Sage, ADP, and Paychex.
This means that you can easily transfer hours to these companies, streamlining your payroll process. Finally, since TSheets is a QuickBooks company, it also integrates with both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop.
Reports
Like Harvest and the other competitors, TSheets has several reports that you can generate in just under two minutes. You can run an approvals report to see what hours have been approved versus unapproved. You can run a payroll report that can be used to process payroll for employees outside of TSheets. Finally, you can run reports to review total job or project costs to see where you are over/under budget.
Additional Features
In addition to the features we have already discussed, TSheets includes a few more features that we think are worth pointing out.
Below is a list of the additional features included in TSheets:
- GPS Tracker – Similar to Time Tracker, TSheets allows you to reduce fraudulent time entries by having employees in the field use the TSheets time tracking app, which includes a GPS tracker so you can see the employee’s location when they clock in or out.
- Time Clock Kiosk – Like ClockShark, you can use your own tablet as a punch clock. Employees can clock in and out using a four-digit pin. You can also enable facial recognition for additional security, and managers can receive alerts when there is a questionable clock-in.
- Email Alerts and Reminders – Set up custom emails to alert employees and contractors that they need to enter their time prior to a set deadline. This will save time and ensure critical payroll deadlines are met.
What TSheets Is Missing
Similar to all the other products on our list except for Harvest and FreshBooks, TSheets does not allow you to track expenses or create estimates. However, it does integrate with over 30 other programs, like QuickBooks, so you can easily transfer your data and create estimates, invoices, and track expenses, all within QuickBooks!
TSheets User Reviews
TSheets users said that the customer support team is excellent and they like how well the product integrates with QuickBooks. The negative reviews for TSheets centered around product improvements users would like to see, like more reports for customers and ways to easily differentiate customers within the system. You can read all reviews on our TSheets User Reviews page.
Where to Find TSheets
As we mentioned, you can sign up for the TSheets Self-Employed account for free. However, if you want to try the TSheets Small Business or Enterprise plans, you can sign up for a free 14-day trial. Just head over to their website and provide your information to sign up. At the end of the trial period, you will need to convert to the free account or a paid plan.
TMetric: Best Time Tracking Software with Advanced Project Tracking Tools
TMetric is ideal for companies that have several projects to keep track of because of its advanced project tracking tools. Out of the 10 products that made our list, TMetric has the most advanced project tracking features. With TMetric, you can create billable hours by project or by individual. You are also able to track time by the type of work as well as the ability to create budgets. TMetric has a free plan, and paid plans start at $4 per user per month.
TMetric Pricing & Features
TMetric has a free plan and two paid plans that start at $4 per user per month. When compared to the free plans offered by Harvest and Toggl, the TMetric free plan is the only one that allows you to have more than one user (maximum of five). All TMetric plans include time tracking and project tracking features. The mid- and top-tier plans include invoicing and advanced project tracking tools.
TMetric Time Tracking App Plan Comparison & Summary
| Monthly Pricing | |||
| Multiple Time Entry Options | |||
| Invoicing | |||
| Expense Tracking | |||
| Project Management | |||
| Detailed Reports | |||
| Create Estimates | |||
| Billable Rates for Projects | |||
| Personal Billable Rates | |||
| Time Estimates for Projects | |||
| Budgeting for Projects | |||
| Integration with Other Systems | |||
| Billable Rates for Work Types |
Listed below are the pricing plans for TMetric and who each is right for:
TMetric Free Plan:
The TMetric Free plan is ideal for a small business that needs to track time for no more than five users. Unlike the Harvest and Toggl free plans, which don’t allow you to add users, the TMetric free plan allows you to have up to five users. Unfortunately, you can’t invoice customers with this plan like you can with the Professional and Business plans.
TMetric Professional Plan:
The TMetric Professional plan is ideal for a small business that has more than five users they need to track time for. This plan runs $4 per user per month and includes features that are not available in the Free plan. Some of the features this plan includes are invoicing, time estimates for projects, and budgeting for projects.
TMetric Business Plan:
The TMetric Business plan is ideal for a small business looking for a payroll solution. You can process payroll for employees and contractors with this plan, which is not available in the Free or Professional plans. As a matter of fact, none of the other competitors offers this option.
Based on our minimum criteria, here is how TMetric stacks up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
TMetric has a very user-friendly, intuitive interface. I was able to figure out how it works without watching a video tutorial or looking at the help menu. I particularly like the clean interface and the large font so that I don’t have to squint to see what’s on the screen. This dashboard is much better organized than the other competitors.
Below is a snapshot of the dashboard you will see when you log into your TMetric account:
TMetric Time Tracking Dashboard
The key features you’ll see on the TMetric dashboard are:
- Timer: Clicking this green button will start the timer for any task that you choose. You can pause, start, or stop the timer as needed.
- Navigation Bar: At the top of the screen, you will see a navigation bar that allows you to toggle between time tracking, projects, tasks, reports, invoices, and your TMetric account.
- Total: In this section, you will see the grand total number of hours that have been logged for the time period you have selected.
- Time Entries: In this section, you will see a brief description of each time entry and the start/stop time.
- Add Time Entry and Break: In this section, you can manually add time by clicking the Add Time Entry button, and you can also add breaks by clicking the Add Break button (shown in the above screenshot). A summary of the time entered will display in this section.
Time Entry Options
Similar to its competitors, TMetric lets you can enter time manually into TMetric or you can use the timer. Employees and contractors can download the TMetric time tracking app and use it on any device with an internet connection, or they can log into TMetric from their desktop computer.
Project Management
Like Harvest, Toggl, and TSheets, all three TMetric plans allow you to manage projects. However, the Professional and Business plans have a few advanced project tracking features that you won’t find in the Free plan. A breakdown by task for each project, billable rates for projects, billable rates for work types, time estimates for projects, and budgeting for projects are just some of the additional features included in these plans.
Invoicing
Unlike the Harvest free plan, which includes unlimited invoicing, the TMetric free plan does not include invoicing. If you choose TMetric, you will have to go with the TMetric Professional or Business plans if you need to invoice customers.
Integrations
Unlike Harvest, which integrates with 100 apps, TMetric integrates with only three: JIRA Cloud, Redmine, and Zapier, which are open source development tools. You can access their open API to create custom integrations with other apps that you are currently using, like QuickBooks and Xero, which support an open platform. Integrations are available for all three TMetric pricing plans.
Reports
Like its competitors, detailed reports are available in TMetric for time tracking, project management, and invoicing. There is a variety of reports available to view time tracking by project, team, or client.
Four reports that you can run in TMetric to analyze time tracking data are:
- Time Entry by Person – Review time entries on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis for individual employees or contractors.
- Time Entries by Team – Compile time entries for specific teams and run reports for any time period for an entire team or department.
- Time Entry Reports by Project – Stay on top of time entries by project to ensure that you don’t exceed budget and to make sure that you are on track to meet the project deadline.
- Budget vs. Actuals Reports by Project – Available in the Professional and Business plans only, you can run reports to compare the budget versus actuals for projects so that you can stay on top of any projects that are running significantly over budget or under budget.
Additional Features
The Professional and Business plans include some advanced project management features not found in the TMetric Free plan and not found in many of the competitors on our list. TMetric allows you to establish billable rates for projects, individuals, and work types.
The advanced features you will find in TMetric are:
- Billable Rates for Projects – You can set flat hourly rates for projects and bill your clients by these rates.
- Personal Billable Rates – You can set an hourly rate for each person involved in a project. Using this information, you can calculate billable amounts.
- Billable Rates for Work Types – Define standard work types and set hourly rates for each.
- Time Estimates for Projects – You can estimate time per project or per person and compare the estimated time to the actual time tracked.
- Budgeting for Projects – Establish a sum of money as a budget for a project and track budget to actuals.
What TMetric Is Missing
Similar to most of the companies on our list (except Harvest and FreshBooks), TMetric does not have the ability to track expenses or create estimates. However, you can create invoices with the Professional and Business plans, but not the Free plan.
TMetric User Reviews
TMetric users like how simple and user friendly the software is, and the ability to use the software for free is a huge plus. On the negative review side, users don’t like that employees can’t enter time that goes back more than three days, and they would like to see more advanced reporting options.
Where to Find TMetric
Similar to Time Tracker, FreshBooks, Toggl, and Harvest, TMetric allows you to try their product for free for the first 30 days. All you have to do is head over to their website and provide some basic contact information to create your account. If you decide you want to continue using TMetric, you will need to convert to a paid subscription or downgrade to the Free version.
Time Tracker by eBillity: Best Time Tracking Software for Law Firms
Time Tracker by eBillity is ideal for law firms because their Legal pricing plan was customized for the legal industry. Unlike any other competitor on our list, Time Tracker Legal includes ABA coding, trust accounts, and realization reports. This pricing plan is $15 per user per month plus a base fee of $20 per month.
Time Tracker Pricing & Features
Time Tracker has three pricing plans that run between $5 and $15 per user per month plus a base fee that starts at $10 per month. It goes beyond time tracking to include additional features like a client portal, the ability to accept online payments from customers, and a plan that is customized just for the legal industry!
Time Tracker Time Tracking App Plan Comparison & Summary
| Cost | |||
| Base Fee | |||
| Multiple Time Entry Options | |||
| Invoicing | |||
| Expense Tracking | |||
| Project Management | |||
| Integration with Other Systems | |||
| Detailed Reports | |||
| Create Estimates |
Listed below are the pricing plans for Time Tracker and who each is right for:
Time Tracker Basic Plan:
Time Tracker Basic plan is ideal for a company that is looking for a time tracker only and has another system they use to track projects, invoice customers, and track expenses. This plan includes GPS tracking, admin approvals, alerts and reminders, detailed reports, and integrations with other software.
Time Tracker Billing Plan:
The Time Tracker Billing plan is ideal for a company that needs the ability to invoice clients and track expenses. At $10 per user per month, this plan is double the cost of the Basic plan ($5 per user per month). For the additional cost, you get several additional features such as a free outlook app, a free offline app, expense tracking, client portal, invoicing, and the ability to accept online payments.
Time Tracker Legal Plan:
Time Tracker Legal plan is ideal for law firms and attorneys. In addition to the features included in the Billing plan, it also includes customized features for the legal industry. The additional features included are ABA codes, legal invoicing format, trust accounts, conflict checker, and realization reports.
Based on our minimum criteria, here is how Time Tracker stacks up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
Like its competitors, Time Tracker is easy to set up and use. The user interface is very similar to TMetric, with the navigation tabs at the top of the screen as opposed to in a left menu bar like most of its competitors.
Below is a snapshot of the dashboard in Time Tracker time tracking software:
The information that you will find on the Time Tracker dashboard is as follows:
- Navigation Menu – Easily navigate to other areas of the program like Time Entries, Project, Client, Billing, and Admin by clicking on the appropriate tab.
- Navigation Submenu – Navigate to see an overview of time entries, reports, contacts, and the scheduling sections of the program by clicking on the appropriate tab.
- User – From the drop-down, select the user you would like to see time entries for or select all to see total time entries for all projects.
- Billing Legend – This color-coded legend breaks down time entries into three categories: unbilled, pre-billed, and billed. In the example above, all time entries for this user are categorized as unbilled.
- Time Period – From the drop-down, select the time period you would like to see. The options are daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
- Billing Type Filter – Filter the data by including or excluding one or more of the three billing types: unbilled, pre-billed, and billed.
Time Entry Options
Like all of the competitors on our list, you can enter time manually or by using a timer in Time Tracker. You can also use the Time Tracker time tracking app to keep track of your hours while on the go. Similar to TSheets, all Time Tracker plans include geolocation, so when an employee or contractor clocks in or out, you can see their exact location.
Project Management
Unlike Toggl and TSheets, Time Tracker does not have the ability to track projects. Therefore, you will need to go with FreshBooks or Harvest if you need this capability.
Invoicing
Similar to TMetric, Time Tracker only includes invoicing in their mid- and top-tier plans; the Basic plan does not allow you to invoice customers. If you decide to go with the Basic plan, you will need to invoice customers outside of Time Tracker.
Integrations
Like MavenLink, Time Tracker integrates with 10 other software products, including QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, Reckon, MYOB, Sage 50, Sage Intacct, Clio, Concur, and Gusto.
Reports
One of the unique features you will find in Time Tracker is the ability to create custom reports. Unlike its competitors, which include generic reports that you can run, with Time Tracker you can create your own custom reports and save them for future use. Reports can be run for all users, clients, and expenses for any time period that you choose.
Additional Features
On top of meeting our minimum criteria for time tracking software, Time Tracker includes a few additional features that you won’t find in any of the other competitors on our list.
Listed below are just a few of the unique features you will find in Time Tracker:
- Client Portal – Unlike its competitors, Time Tracker clients can log in to view completed work and outstanding invoices, and they can even pay their invoices online!
- Online Payments – Like FreshBooks, you can connect your Stripe account to Time Tracker and you can accept online payments from customers. A payment link will automatically be added to all of your invoices so customers can make their payments.
- Custom Features for the Legal Industry – As discussed, the top-tier plan, Time Tracker Legal, has customized features for lawyers and law firms. These features include ABA coding, trust accounts, conflict checker, and realization reports. None of the other competitors offers these custom legal features.
What Time Tracker Is Missing
While Time Tracker met all of our requirements for time tracking software, it does not include the ability to create estimates, like FreshBooks and Harvest. In addition, it does not have project management tracking. If you need project management, you should go with Harvest.
Time Tracker User Reviews
Overall, the online reviews for Time Tracker are positive. Time Tracker users like the user-friendly interface and the time-saving features, such as copying repetitive hours, multiple billing, and the QuickBooks integration. On the negative side, users complained about glitches with the auto-save feature and that the program has a few annoying bugs.
If you are a current or former user of Time Tracker, head over to our Time Tracker User Reviews page and leave a review.
Where to Find Time Tracker
You can get started with Time Tracker by heading over to their website and providing some basic contact information about your business. Your account will be created immediately and you will be able to use it for free for the first 30 days. At the end of the trial period, you will need to convert to a paid account to continue to use the software.
Visit Time Tracker by eBillity
ClockShark: Best Time Tracking Software for Construction & Field Service Businesses
ClockShark is ideal for small businesses in the construction and field service industries because it includes many features that are ideal for these industries. For example, the employee scheduling tool, GPS location tracking, jobs tracking, and reporting are just a few features included for $5 per user per month plus a base fee of $25 per month.
ClockShark Pricing
Out of the ten companies that made our list, ClockShark has the simplest pricing structure. Unlike its competitors, there is only one pricing plan. ClockShark is $5 per person per month plus a base fee of $25 per month versus Time Tracker Basic, which is only $5 per user plus $10 base fee per month.
ClockShark Features
The ClockShark pricing plan includes time tracking, invoicing, expense management, and employee scheduling. In addition, it also includes GPS tracking, kiosk time clock, and a number of detailed reports that you can use to review and analyze time entries and expenses by employee, project, or client.
Based on our minimum criteria, here is how ClockShark stacks up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
ClockShark is very easy to navigate and set up for your business. Like many of its competitors, it has a menu bar at the top of the page, and below it has large icons for tasks like the time tracking app, setting up employees, jobs, and tasks.
Below is a screenshot of the ClockShark time tracking software dashboard:
Dashboard for ClockShark Time Tracking Software
Time Entry Options
Like many of the companies on our list, there are many ways to record time entries in ClockShark. Employees and contractors can clock in using the time tracking app from their desktop or using a kiosk time clock you have set up on a tablet. When entering time, employees must select a job and task for each entry to ensure proper job costing and billing later on.
Project Management
Unlike Harvest and FreshBooks, ClockShark does not have the ability to track projects. If you need a project tracking tool, you should go with Harvest or FreshBooks. Both of these products offer time tracking, invoicing, and project management tools.
Invoicing
One of the downsides to using ClockShark is that it does not have invoicing capabilities like Time Tracker, Harvest, TMetric, TSheets, and FreshBooks. Therefore, if you need to invoice customers, we recommend that you go with one of the above-mentioned competitors. However, if you currently use QuickBooks, you can download your time entries from ClockShark into QuickBooks, invoice your customers, and pay your employees and contractors.
Integrations
Similar to Harvest, ClockShark not only works with QuickBooks, but it also integrates with ADP, Sage 100 Contractor, and Xero. The seamless integration with these products allows you to streamline your payroll processing and accounts receivable by connecting your ClockShark account to one of the accounting or payroll services that you currently use. The data will automatically sync—no manual entry required.
Reports
Similar to its competitors, there are several detailed reports you can generate in ClockShark to review, approve, and analyze time entries. Reports can be filtered by date, employee, department, or business location. You can also download reports to a PDF format or export the data to a CSV file.
Listed below are the time tracking reports that you can run in ClockShark:
- Time Sheet Report
- Employee Summary Report
- Jobs Summary Report
- Employee Details Report
- Job Details Report
- Task Details Report
- Task Summary Report
Additional Features
In addition to including the basic features you would expect in a time tracking software, ClockShark also has the following features:
- GPS Tracking – Similar to TSheets, ClockShark has the ability to track the GPS location of employees and contractors so that you know their exact location when they clocked in or out.
- Kiosk Time Tracker – Similar to TSheets, ClockShark allows you to turn your tablet into a time clock, and employees use a four-digit pin number to clock in and out.
- Employee Scheduling – Create schedules for employees that includes job names, address, shift details, and file attachments. You can easily send all of this information to a mobile device so it can be accessed from the field.
What ClockShark Is Missing
One of the downsides to using ClockShark is that it does not have project management functionality. Therefore, if you need the ability to track projects, we recommend you choose FreshBooks or Harvest.
ClockShark User Reviews
ClockShark users like how easy the software is to use, the detailed reporting features, and the excellent customer service. On the negative side, users shared that the GPS location does not always show where workers have been. You can check out all of our ClockShark User reviews to learn more.
Where to Find ClockShark
Similar to TSheets, you can try ClockShark out for the first 14 days, free of charge. After the trial period is over, you will need to convert to a paid plan to continue using the software.
HourStack: Best Time Tracking Software with Ability to Grant Access to Unlimited Users
HourStack is ideal for small businesses that need to grant access to unlimited users. With HourStack, you can give an unlimited number of people “read-only” access to view reports, time entries, and projects, restricting their ability to make any changes. HourStack is the only company on our list that doesn’t charge for this type of users. HourStack plans start at $7 per user per month.
HourStack Pricing & Features
HourStack offers three pricing plans between $7 and $29 per user per month. The Personal plan, which is $7 per month, is for one user and does not allow you to add users, whereas the Professional and Enterprise plans do. Similar to Toggl, none of the HourStack plans allows you to create invoices, estimates, or track expenses.
HourStack Time Tracking App Plan Comparison & Summary
| Monthly Pricing | |||
| Multiple Time Entry Options | |||
| Invoicing | |||
| Expense Tracking | |||
| Project Management | |||
| Integration with Other Systems | |||
| Detailed Reports | |||
| Create Estimates |
Listed below are the pricing plans for HourStack and who each is right for:
HourStack Personal Plan:
HourStack Personal plan is ideal for a solopreneur with no employees or contractors and who has another software they can use to invoice customers and create estimates. This plan does not allow you to add users, so if you do need to track time for employees or contractors, you will need to sign up for the HourStack Professional plan
HourStack Professional Plan:
Unfortunately, we do not recommend the HourStack Professional plan. This is primarily due to the steep cost of $15 per user per month on top of the fact that you can’t invoice customers, track expenses, or create estimates. Instead, I recommend that you go with the FreshBooks Lite plan. You can invoice customers and track all of your expenses too!
HourStack Enterprises Plan:
When it comes to the basic requirements of time tracking software, the HourStack Enterprise plan is not much better than the Professional plan. Similar to the Personal and Professional plans, you can’t invoice customers, track expenses, or create estimates. However, this plan includes data import, an account manager, and training.
Based on our minimum criteria, here is how HourStack matches up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
HourStack is not as intuitive as the other time tracking software on our list. However, their video tutorials provided me with step-by-step instructions that guided me on how the software works. The layout for HourStack is much different than its competitors. It is a much more visual layout that uses multiple colors with cards that represent time entries.
Below is a snapshot of the HourStack time tracking dashboard:
HourStack Time Tracking Dashboard
Time Entry Options
Like Harvest, MavenLink, and Toggl, you can manually enter time or user a timer to keep track of time. One thing I noticed with HourStack is that there is a field to enter allocated time for each time entry. When the actual time reaches the allocated time, the timer will go red and a notification will appear in your browser. At that point, you can keep working and just adjust your allocated time or stop the timer. None of the other competitors that we looked at offers this feature.
Project Management
Similar to Harvest and Toggl, all HourStack pricing plans include project management tools. The allocated time feature allows you to see which employees are under or over their allotted time, so you can make adjustments accordingly. You can easily toggle to an employee or contractor and see what tasks they have scheduled for a day, week, or month. With the Professional and Enterprise plans, you can create project budgets and compare them to actuals for further analysis.
Invoicing
Similar to Toggl, HourStack does not allow you to transfer hours to an invoice so that you can bill your customers. Instead, you will have to use another software, like FreshBooks, to bill your customers so that you can get paid.
Integrations
HourStack integrates with 11 apps versus Harvest, which integrates with more than 100. The apps that HourStack integrates with are Slack, Asana, Trello, Google Calendar, Google Spreadsheet, GitHub, todolist, Office 365, Bitbucket, HubSpot, and Zapier.
Reports
Similar to Harvest and other competitors, both the HourStack Professional and Enterprise plans include detailed time tracking reports that will give you insight on time for individuals and teams. In addition, you can run reports to see the status of a project and stay on top of project budgets to ensure hours do not exceed their allotted amount. Reports can be downloaded in XLS and CSV format.
Additional Features
As mentioned previously, HourStack includes several features that you won’t find in its competitors. Some of these include weekly templates, unlimited guests, and a user permission matrix.
Below you will find a brief explanation of the additional features included in the mid- and top-tier HourStack plans:
- Weekly Templates – Create a template for recurring projects so that you don’t have to create it from scratch each time.
- Unlimited Guests – You can give an unlimited number of guests access to HourStack. Guests are users with read-only access who can see everyone’s time entries, but they cannot make any changes or track their own time.
- User Permission Matrix – This matrix allows you to control what users have access to. You can give access to create entries, view reports, and see all users or just certain users.
What HourStack Is Missing
Similar to Toggl, you cannot create estimates, invoice customers, or track expenses in HourStack. Unlike Toggl, HourStack does not integrate with FreshBooks or any other accounting software. This is why we recommend that you go with FreshBooks, which allows you to do time tracking, project tracking, invoicing, create estimates, and track expenses.
HourStack User Reviews
HourStack users like how easy it is to plan an entire week of tasks as well as the Google Calendar integration. The negative reviews from HourStack users were centered around how pricey it is to upgrade to a plan that allows additional users.
Where to Find HourStack
Similar to TSheets and ClockShark, you can try HourStack out for free for the first 14 days. Head over to their website and provide a few contact details about your business to set up your account. At the end of the trial period, you will have to convert to a paid plan if you want to continue to use the software.
Toggl: Best Time Tracking Software for Businesses with an Invoicing Solution
Toggl is ideal for a small business that has another software they use to invoice customers. Similar to HourStack and ClockShark, you cannot transfer hours to an invoice within Toggl. While you can transfer hours from Toggl to FreshBooks, which has advanced invoicing capabilities, we recommend that you use FreshBooks, which does it all. Toggl offers a free pricing plan, and paid plans start at $10 per user per month.
Toggl Pricing & Features
Like Harvest, Toggl has one free plan and two paid plans that start at $10 per user per month. Unlike Harvest and MavenLink, invoicing and expense tracking are not available in any of the Toggl plans. In addition, the ability to create estimates is only available in the Toggl Starter and Premium plans.
Toggl Time Tracking App Plan Comparison & Summary
| Monthly Pricing | |||
| Multiple Time Entry Options | |||
| Invoicing | |||
| Expense Tracking | |||
| Project Management | |||
| Integration with Other Systems | |||
| Detailed Reports | |||
| Create Estimates | |||
| Project and Employee Profitability Charts | |||
| Schedule Reports to Email | |||
| Set Tracking Reminders, Add Time for Your Team | |||
| Assistance from a Toggl Consultant for Team Setup |
Listed below are the Toggl pricing plans and the type of business each is right for:
Toggl Free
The Toggl Free plan is ideal if you are a solopreneur, you only need to track your time, and you use another software like FreshBooks to invoice customers. However, if you do hire an employee or contractor, you will need to upgrade to the Starter plan, which allows you to add additional users.
Toggl Starter Plan
The Toggl Starter plan is ideal if you need to track time for employees or contractors and you need a software that will allow you to create estimates, which is not a feature available in the Free plan. Similar to the Free plan, you will have to invoice customers outside of Toggl.
Toggl Premium Plan
The Toggl Premium plan is ideal for a business that has a team of people they need to track time for. This plan includes assistance with onboarding your team to Toggl. You can also create reminders that will automatically go out to your team reminding them to submit their time. In addition, you can schedule reports to be automatically emailed to you.
Based on our minimum criteria, here is how Toggl stacks up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
The Toggl dashboard is very similar to its competitors. It has a left menu bar that allows you to easily navigate from different areas, such as Timer, Reports, Projects, and Clients. It’s easy to get set up, like most of the competitors on our list.
Below is a screenshot of the Toggl time tracking dashboard:
Toggl Time Tracking Dashboard
A brief description of the information you will find on the Toggl dashboard is below:
- Toggle between Your Time and Your Team: This toggle button allows you to switch between your time and the time that has been recorded by your team.
- Time Period: Select the time frame you would like to review time entries for. Options are this week, last week, today, yesterday, this month, last month, this year, and last year, or select a custom date range.
- Time Entry: Any time recorded manually or using the timer will be shown in this section. For this example, 58 minutes was recorded on Tuesday, December 18th.
- Diagram: This section will show all time entries in a diagram format, as shown above.
Time Entry Options
Similar to its competitors, you can manually enter time for one or more days or you can use the start/stop timer to keep track of the time you spend on a project. Time can be tracked for an individual, a team, and a project.
Project Management
Similar to Toggl and TSheets, project tracking is included in all Toggl plans. You can create a project, add tasks, and assign them to an individual or a team.
Invoicing
Unfortunately, invoicing is not available in Toggl, as it is in Harvest and MavenLink. However, if you use FreshBooks, you can import your hours from Toggl into FreshBooks and create your customer invoices. Toggl does not integrate with any other accounting software programs.
Integrations
Toggl integrates with six other software products: iCal feed, Asana, Basecamp, FreshBooks, GitHub, and Teamweek. This is a small number compared to Harvest, which integrates with over 100 other products and MavenLink, which integrates with 10 other software products.
Reports
Both the Free and Starter Toggl plans include basic reports that you can run to review time for an individual or teams and to stay on top of your projects. Like most of its competitors, you can export reports in multiple formats, such as PDF, CSV, and Excel. If you choose the Toggl Premium plan, you can schedule reports to be automatically emailed to you as often as you like.
Additional Features
On top of the time tracking and project tracking features that Toggl has to offer, it includes tags, idle detection, offline mode, and a Pomodoro timer. You won’t find any of these features in Harvest or any other competitor on our list.
A brief description of the additional features included in Toggl is below:
- Tags – Tags can be used to add additional information to a time entry. For example, categorizing an entry by type such as “consulting” versus “training.”
- Idle Detection – Idle detection notifies you of the time that you’ve been away from the keyboard. You can decide whether to keep the time or discard the idle time.
- Offline Mode – Offline mode will automatically be enabled whenever you are not connected to the internet. All of the data that is created while offline will automatically sync once your internet connection is restored.
- Pomodoro Timer – You can schedule the Pomodoro timer to notify you when it’s time to take a break.
What Toggl Is Missing
Toggl is missing two key features found in most of its competitors. First, you can’t invoice customers within the software and second, you can’t create estimates to bid on new projects. However, as we mentioned, Toggl integrates seamlessly with FreshBooks, which includes the ability to create estimates and invoice customers.
Toggl User Reviews
Overall, Toggl users are positive about their experience with using the software. They like how easy the software is to set up and use. Toggl users also like the ability to track time whether they are online or offline, as well as the detailed reports that are included. A few of the negative reviews posted centered around the timer having a few bugs and the need for more complex reports. You can check out all of our reviews on our Toggl user reviews page.
Where to Find Toggl
Like Harvest, you can take Toggl for a test drive for free the first 30 days. At the end of the 30-day trial, if you decide to continue to use the software, you will need to sign up for a paid subscription or use the Free version.
MavenLink: Best Time Tracking Software for Business Intelligence Reporting
MavenLink is ideal for a small business looking for a software that has advanced business intelligence reporting. Out of all 10 products that we reviewed, MavenLink is the priciest at $39 per user per month for their tier one plan versus $12 per user per month for the Harvest top-tier plan!
MavenLink Pricing & Features
MavenLink offers a total of five pricing plans, but we will focus on three: Professional, Premier, and Enterprise. The MavenLink Free plan and the Teams plan do not have the ability to track time, which is why they were excluded from this guide. The mid- and top-tier pricing plans are customized to meet your business needs, so you need to call MavenLink to receive a custom quote.
MavenLink Time Tracking App Plan Comparison & Summary
| Cost | |||
| Multiple Time Entry Options | |||
| Invoicing | |||
| Project Management | |||
| Integration with Other Systems | |||
| Detailed Reports | |||
| Expense Tracking | |||
| Create Estimates | |||
| Project Templates | |||
| Activity Feed | |||
| Resource Planning | |||
| Advanced Services | |||
| Business Intelligence Reporting |
Listed below are the MavenLink pricing plans and the type of business each is right for:
MavenLink Professional Plan
MavenLink Professional is ideal for a small business looking for time tracking and project management tools and doesn’t need financial reports or the ability to plan for and schedule employees. If you’re looking for detailed financial reports or the ability to do resource planning, you will need to sign up for MavenLink Premier.
MavenLink Premier Plan
MavenLink Premier is ideal for a small business looking to go beyond time tracking and project management and needs tools to do resource planning and detailed financial reports for in-depth analysis. Since this plan is more customized to fit your specific needs than the Professional plan, you need to contact MavenLink to request a pricing quote.
MavenLink Enterprise Plan
MavenLink Enterprise is ideal for a small business that could benefit from the extensive library of business intelligence reports. This includes over 100 pre-built reports that give you details on time and expense, projects, profit margin, and costs.
Based on our minimum criteria, this is how MavenLink stacks up against its competitors:
Setup/Ease of Use
Like Harvest and other competitors, MavenLink is very easy to set up and use. On the main dashboard, you can access key information like your team, an activity feed, time and utilization tracking, projects, upcoming tasks, and outstanding invoices.
Below is a snapshot of the dashboard and menus that you will find on the MavenLink dashboard:
Time Tracking Dashboard in MavenLink
Below is a brief description of the information you will find on the MavenLink dashboard:
- Profile: New users can upload a profile picture and include a short bio along with links to their social media pages, like LinkedIn.
- Add a New User: You can invite a new user by clicking on the “+” sign and entering the user’s name and email address.
- Activity Feed: Stay on top of project conversations by reviewing recent message activity.
- Time and Utilization Tracking: By clicking on the “Track Time” button, you can start a timer to keep track of hours worked or enter time for hours previously worked.
- Projects: Create new projects directly from this screen and stay on top of their progress.
- Tasks: View upcoming tasks for all open projects in this section.
Time Entry Options
Similar to Harvest and other competitors, you have a couple of different options for entering hours worked. You can start/stop a timer while you are working on a project or you can log total hours worked for a day or multiple days at one time.
Project Management
You can create projects and assign tasks to individuals, teams, or both. MavenLink even allows teams to collaborate on projects by messaging within the software! The activity feed allows team members to stay current with the latest communication on a project. This feature is not included in any of the other products on our list.
Invoicing
Similar to Harvest, you can invoice customers within MavenLink. Simply select the hours that you would like to transfer to an invoice and with a click of a button, the invoice is created for you! MavenLink allows you to manage accounts receivable by listing all of your outstanding invoices on your dashboard.
Integrations
Like many of its competitors, MavenLink integrates seamlessly with other popular software programs: NetSuite, QuickBooks, Salesforce, G Suite, Jira, Expensify, Xero, Concur, Sage Intacct, and Slack. In addition, if you sign up for the Enterprise plan, you gain access to the API so that you are able to create custom integrations for other systems that you may use.
Reports
When it comes to reporting, only two out of the three plans we recommend include detailed reports: the MavenLink Premier and Enterprise plans. While the MavenLink Professional plan doesn’t include detailed reports that you can export to Excel or print, it does have on-screen detailed information for time entries. Harvest and many other competitors include detailed reports in all of their pricing plans.
Additional Features
MavenLink includes a few features that you will not find in any of the other competitors on our list. Activity feed and Project templates are included in all three plans, and Business Intelligence is available in the MavenLink Enterprise plan.
Below are three additional features you will find in MavenLink time tracking software:
- Activity Feed – The activity feed allows you to stay on top of all communications related to a project. Team members can collaborate on projects by sending messages within MavenLink. All recent communications will appear in the Activity Feed section located on the MavenLink Dashboard.
- Project Templates – You can create project templates for recurring projects, which will save you a lot of time. You can also import a template from a CSV file or select a template to use from the MavenLink Marketplace. There are seven templates to choose from, including one for a Website Redesign project, RFP Project, and a new Product Launch template.
- Business Intelligence Reports and Dashboards – Business intelligence reporting is what sets MavenLink apart from its competitors. It has over 100 expert-built reports that will answer key questions impacting profitability, utilization, and project success. It also includes eight dashboards of insight reports on fees, margin and cost, utilization, resourcing, time and expense administration, and project details.
What MavenLink Is Missing
Unlike Harvest, you cannot create estimates in MavenLink and there are no exportable or download reports in the Professional plan. You would have to upgrade to the Premier plan to access these features, whereas most of its competitors include these features in all of their plans.
MavenLink User Reviews
Customers who left a positive review about MavenLink love that it is an all-inclusive software where you can track time, manage projects, bill customers, and run reports. They also said that the customer support is pretty good. Users who left a negative review said that it is very pricey compared to other products on the market, and that there can be a steep learning curve. Check out all of our MavenLink user reviews to learn more.
Where to Find MavenLink
Unlike most of its competitors that give you 30 days to try their product, MavenLink only gives you 10 days. However, it’s easy to sign up for an account—just head over to their website and provide your business contact information. An account will be created so you can start using the system right away!
Bottom Line
Now that you know who the top players are in the time tracking arena, it’s time for you to make a decision. We recommend that you choose Harvest. If you’re a solopreneur who just needs to track time for yourself and no other staff, you can sign up and use the Harvest Free plan. However, if you do have employees or contractors, you can sign up for the Harvest paid plans, which start at $12 per user per month.
Harvest allows you and your team to manage time by manual entry or a timer. In addition, you can track time to a project and easily manage projects in Harvest. Best of all, you can easily transfer hours to an invoice so that you can bill your customers right away and get paid. Sign up for a free 30-day trial of Harvest so that you can check out all of the features that we have covered in this guide.
Nandini
Great post. I’d like to suggest ProofHub for time tracking. With ProofHub’s online time tracking, get an instant breakdown of how much time is spent by you and your team on projects and tasks. This makes it easier to ensure that everyone is working efficiently and quality projects are being delivered on time. https://www.proofhub.com/
Laura Handrick
Hi Nandini,
Proofhub looks like a nice tool for project communications. Thanks for sharing with our readers.
Laura
Nepali Blogger
Hi David! Thank you for this comprehensive article. I am sure these are all wonderful time tracking software. Although, I would like to recommend you Emitii. It is a relatively new free time tracking and analysis tool for freelancers and small businesses. You might want to add it to the list. Cheers!
Jason Rueger
Nepali,
We’ll consider it for our next update on the guide. Thanks!
Jason
Finley Wood
Nice article! As for me, I use TMetric (https://tmetric.com/), it’s absolutely free, easy and convenient. Work day is visualized as a timeline, there are integrations with popular project management systems. You can also prepare flexible reports by using different filters.
Jeremy Marsan
Hi Finley,
Thanks for the tip, we’ll check it out during our next revision.
Best,
Jeremy
John
Hi, very good, informative post! I really like Toggl for it’s simplicty. But if we are speaking of the best time tracker I would add TimeCamp to the list. I left Toogl for it and I’m satisfied even when Toggl was very good.
Kevin Peter
Jeremy,
How are the support for these tools – Chat, email or do we need to dial in to get in-touch?
How swift is the response?
Do they have multiple timers for multi-task projects?
Document management, invoicing add ons?
Remote work tracking and majorily multilingual interface?
Something more we need is, analytical reporting to generate and export statistics and timesheets, spend on projects with daily backup, integration feasibility?
Jeremy Marsan
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for reading. Harvest is the only service to offer phone support – the others are email-based. Unfortunately I can’t speak specifically to their response time.
As for multiple timers, this isn’t something any of these services can do with a single user account. Starting another timer will automatically stop the first timer. If you have multiple accounts, however, each user can log in and run the clock on different tasks in the same project.
Unfortunately you can’t attach documents with any of these services, and Harvest is the only one to offer invoicing. You may also be interested in Freshbooks, which also has time tracking and much stronger invoicing functionality. Freshbooks also supports a huge number of integrations.
Both Harvest and Freshbooks offer a good variety of customizable reports and both of them allow export data.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Best,
Jeremy