8 Best Free Time Tracking Software in 2023
The best free time tracking software not only monitors hours worked from multiple platforms but also allows GPS tracking and geofencing, paid time off (PTO) monitoring, break options, and clock-in/out alerts. Some even have productivity and invoicing tools, enabling users to easily view idle/inactive times and bill clients.
In this article, we evaluated 18 providers and narrowed the list down to our eight top recommendations:
- Hubstaff: Best overall free time tracking software
- Harvest: Best for businesses that need to bill clients and get paid quickly
- Clockify: Best for freelancers and teams on a budget
- TimeTrack: Best for iOS users
- Homebase: Best for restaurants and retailers needing free time tracking, scheduling, and hiring tools
- TMetric: Best for improving productivity and tracking team performance
- AccountSight: Best for consulting and law firms wanting expense recording and billing tools
- Paymo: Best for accounting, manufacturing, and design businesses
Note that the above solutions also offer paid plans with advanced tools. If you’re looking for time tracking programs that are more reasonably priced than the paid options of the providers on our list, here are some of our recommended solutions.
- Deputy: Best for seasonal businesses
- TimeCamp: Best for contractors needing project management tools
Best Free Time Tracking Software Compared
Quiz: Which Free Time Tracking Software Is Right for You?
Many free time trackers in this list are limited only to a number of users or business locations. Also, these free plans usually offer basic tools to track work hours. If you have more employees or business locations than allowed in the free plan and need advanced features like time-off management, geofencing and GPS tracking, performance reviews, and customizable reporting, then it’s worth considering the paid options.
Check out our guide to the best time tracking software to find online solutions that may work for you.
Hubstaff: Overall Best Free Time Tracker
Pros
- Web, desktop, and mobile apps to track time accurately
- User-friendly, customizable user interface
- Geofencing and GPS trackers
- Paid plans priced reasonably for a great set of tools
Cons
- Advanced features like GPS tracking, PTO, and employee monitoring tools cost extra
- Free version is for one user only
- No scheduling, invoices in free version
Hubstaff Pricing*
- 14-day free trial
- Time Free: $0 for one user only
- Time Starter: $7 per user monthly (minimum two users)
- Time Pro: $10 per user monthly (minimum two users)
- Enterprise: Custom-priced
*Get two months free when you pay annually. Note that this offer may change at any time.
Hubstaff, an all-in-one time tracking and employee monitoring solution, earns the No. 1 spot on our list for its strength of features for individuals and companies. Its free plan has both time tracking and reporting functionalities, including idle detectors and a simple-to-use online time sheet, which allows you to log hours and activities. You can also set a schedule to automatically send reports to yourself, your client, or even stakeholders so that everyone is updated. The paid plans offer scheduling, invoicing, and payroll.
In our evaluation, Hubstaff earned 4.2 out of 5. Its reporting options and employee time tracking tools with geofencing and GPS trackers contributed to its high scores. Its ratings took a hit for lacking phone support, offering billing functionalities only in paid plans, and user complaints of glitches in the mobile app.
In addition to standard time tracking, Hubstaff can see routes employees take. (Source: Hubstaff)
Harvest: Best for Free Invoicing & Billing
Pros
- Invoicing and payments
- Integration with payment processors
- Free plan has all the features
- Job costing and budgeting
Cons
- Free plan limited to two active projects
- No scheduling app
- Limited integrations—none for payroll or POS
Harvest Pricing*
- 30-day free trial
- Free: $0 for one user seat and two active projects
- Pro: $12 per user seat monthly
*Get discounts when you pay annually. Note that this offer may change at any time.
Harvest stands out for its invoicing and billing, made possible through its integrations with Stripe and PayPal. It offers free time tracking, invoicing, and expense reporting for one user and two active projects. The free plan is ideal for freelancers who don’t need to give other users access to their data. Harvest also integrates with other popular software like QuickBooks, Google Workspace, Trello, and Slack, so you can easily export hours. Like TimeTrack, it lets you take photos of receipts for expenses, and it works great with Android and iOS devices.
Scoring 4.19 out of 5 in our evaluation, it earned the perfect marks in reporting and high ratings (4 and up) in almost all of our criteria—mainly because it offers nearly everything on our rubric in its free plan. It is well rated by users but lost points because it lacks an integrated scheduling tool to make time tracking easier for users (Homebase is your best choice for that). The Pro plan only differs from the Free option in that it has unlimited seats and projects.
Harvest’s time tracking interface is clear and simple. (Source: Harvest)
Clockify: Best for Freelancers & Teams on a Budget
Pros
- User-friendly with an intuitive interface
- Free tier comes with web, desktop, and mobile time tracking apps
- Offline mode using the mobile app
- Pomodoro timer and idle alerts
Cons
- GPS and PTO tracking tools are available only in premium plans
- Centralized time clock kiosk is a paid add-on
- Invoicing and labor cost versus budget comparisons cost extra
Clockify Pricing*
- 7-day free trial for the Pro plan
- Free: $0; time tracking with unlimited seats and projects
- Basic: $4.99 per user monthly
- Standard: $6.99 per user monthly
- Pro: $9.99 per user monthly
- Enterprise: $14.99 per user monthly
*Get discounts when you pay annually. Note that this offer may change at any time
Clockify is an affordable, full-featured time tracking software. Its free version is good for freelancers (it is our top recommendation for best freelancer time tracker) as it’s easy to use and available on web, desktop, and mobile. It also allows unlimited users and projects, which is why we especially recommend it for employers on a tight budget needing to manage teams. Aside from basic time tracking, you get unlimited detailed reports, API access, multiple customer support options (email, chat, and phone), and over 80 third-party software integrations for project management and productivity (though few for payroll and accounting).
In our evaluation, the system earned an overall score of 4.18 out of 5. It got high marks in pricing, popularity, ease of use, and reporting features. It lost points for billing and job costing only because those tools are in the paid plans. Users find it easy to use, but its Android app is not as good as most on our list.
You can track time with a timer or load it manually and mark billable hours. (Source: Clockify)
TimeTrack: Best Free Time Tracking Software for iOS Users
Pros
- Works with Siri, Apple Watch
- Highly flexible, customizable
- Project management tools
- Expense tracking tools
Cons
- Mobile app for Android devices not popular or well-rated on Google Play
- Cloud-based version costs extra
- Limited time entries in the free plan
TimeTrack Pricing*
- 14-day free trial for the Cloud and Enterprise plans
TimeTrack App & Cloud
- Lite: $0; comes with 60 time entries, limited features, and ads
- Pro: $4.99 (one-time fee); unlimited time entries, all features, and zero ads
- Cloud: $4.99 per month; includes real-time data syncs, web app access, and maximum data security
TimeTrack Enterprise
- Standard: $5 per user monthly (billed annually)
- Premium: $9 per user monthly (billed annually)
- Gold: $11 per user monthly (billed annually)
*Get discounts when you pay annually. Note that this offer may change at any time.
The German-created TimeTrack has been around since 2014, but it’s not popularly known in the US. Nonetheless, it offers a lot in terms of functionality, even in the free plan. Designed for iOS, it works for desktop, iPad, iPhone, and even Apple Watch. You can use voice commands to work it through Siri, something no other software on our list does. You can track time and expenses, create invoices, run reports of your working hours, view timesheets, manage projects, and more.
TimeTrack earned 4.18 out of 5 in our rubric. It took a big hit in popularity, with very few reviews for the software or the phone app (TimeTrack itself says it has 500,000 users). It only offers its Enterprise app in Android, so you’ll need to look to other providers’ apps if you don’t use iOS. One other drawback is the free version is limited to 60 time entries. However, for a one-time fee of $4.99, you can get unlimited entries, and the range of features and flexibility is remarkable. The free plan is meant for freelancers, but the paid plans for businesses are reasonably priced.
TimeTrack is an excellent timekeeping software if you use Apple products. (Source: App Store)
Homebase: Best Free Time Tracking Software for Restaurant & Retail Businesses
Pros
- By-location pricing
- Top-rated scheduling tool for retail, restaurants
- POS integration and employee management features in the free plan
- Easy to use
Cons
- Some complaints about login issues
- Time-off tracking only in paid plans
- Lacks invoicing tools
Homebase Pricing*
- 14-day free trial
- Basic: $0 for one location; comes with time tracking, scheduling, messaging, and hiring solutions
- Essentials: $24.95 per location monthly
- Plus: $59.95 per location monthly
- All in One: $99.95 per location monthly
*Get discounts when you pay annually. Note that this offer may change at any time.
Homebase’s free plan offers excellent time-tracking tools and top-rate scheduling solutions. In fact, it ranks high on our lists of the best retail scheduling software and best restaurant scheduling software. Your employees and contractors can review schedules, trade shifts, request time off, and communicate with co-workers. The system helps you stay compliant by tracking paid and unpaid breaks, as well as keeping tabs on missed shifts, breaks, clock-outs, and overtime. It also integrates with payroll and POS systems. Built for locations rather than projects, it lacks client invoicing capabilities.
It earned 4.16 out of 5 in our evaluation, with perfect marks for reporting and ease of use and high scores in pricing and time tracking functionalities. However, its paid PTO monitoring solution and the lack of invoicing tools cost it some points.
Most of the free time tracking software on our list are geared toward projects and remote work. If you want to explore more options for clock-in/out solutions with scheduling functionalities, read our guide on the best employee scheduling software.
Homebase lets you clock in from computers, mobile devices, and POS systems. (Source: Homebase)
TMetric: Best Free Timekeeping Software for Improving Productivity
Pros
- One-click retrieval of time sheet data for faster payroll processing
- Offline mode
- PTO and leave monitoring features
- Multiple currencies for invoicing
Cons
- Limited mobile app functionality
- Limited scheduling options
- Limited tools in free version
TMetric Pricing*
- 30-day free trial
- Free: $0 for one user; time tracking for unlimited projects and clients
- Professional: $5 per user monthly
- Business: $7 per user monthly
*Get discounts when you pay annually. Note that this offer may change at any time.
We recommend the free version of TMetric for freelancers and solopreneurs who need a little help with productivity. That’s because TMetric’s free plan, unlike most on our list, offers idle alerts and collects data on websites and applications that you visit. Meanwhile, its paid plans are great for running projects with teams, with everything from budgeting tools to PTO tracking and time-sync with other apps.
TMetric has an overall score of 4.15 out of 5 in our evaluation. It earned perfect marks for pricing and reporting, and high ratings in ease of use and time tracking functionalities. However, it lost points for limited integrations and only offering many billing features in paid plans.
It’s easy to get an overview of how you spend your time during any period. (Source: TMetric)
AccountSight: Best Free Time Tracking Software for Consultants
Pros
- Robust expense tracking tools
- Flexible invoicing features
- Responsive customer support
- Discounts for government and educational institutions
Cons
- Limited mobile app functionalities
- Lacks employee productivity tools
- Limited third-party integrations
AccountSight Pricing*
- No free trial
- Free: $0 for one user, five clients, and five projects
- Basic: $10 per user monthly; come with a 2–5 user pack
- Small Group: $9 per user monthly; comes with a 6–20 user pack
- Enterprise: $8 per user monthly; comes with a 21–100 user pack
*Get discounts when you pay annually. Note that this offer may change at any time.
AccountSight’s cloud-based time tracking, expense recording, and invoicing software make it ideal for professional services companies, consultants, and freelancers. With the system, you can capture work hours by manually filling up online time sheets or using the stopwatch timer to track your projects in real time. It has the best timesheet management of all the software on our list, and the system integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Online products and PayPal.
With an overall score of 4.13 out of 5 in our evaluation, it received top ratings for pricing, billing and reporting. However, compared with other providers like Clockify, Hubstaff, and TMetric, it has limited time clock options. It also lacks employee productivity tools like alerts for overtime and going past budgeted hours in a project. In addition, although some users praised AccountSight for how user-friendly it is, it has limited user feedback, which affected its score on popularity.
AccountSight’s interface is more dated than others on our list but highly rated by users. (Source: AccountSight)
Paymo: Best Free Time Tracker for Accounting, Manufacturing & Design Firms
Pros
- Free plan allows unlimited invoices and time tracking
- Projects have file versioning
- Billing tools in the free plan
- Multilingual, multicurrency
Cons
- Free plan has community support only
- No alerts for overtime or budget
- No geofencing
Paymo Pricing*
- 15-day free trial
- Free: $0 for one user; comes with three clients, 50 tasks, and 100 time entries
- Starter: $5.95 per user monthly (maximum one user)
- Small Office: $11.95 per user monthly
- Business: $24.95 per user monthly
*Get two months free when you pay annually. Note that this offer may change at any time.
The project management tools of Paymo, like Gantt charts and Kanban boards, especially in the paid plans, make it a great choice for accounting, manufacturing, and creative companies like web design firms. It also allows you to create multilingual invoices, which incorporate more than 85 currencies, and lets you get paid faster by automating payments with PayPal, Payoneer, Stripe, and Authorize.net. Only Harvest also integrates with payment processing.
It earned 4.13 out of 5 on our evaluation, with top scores in pricing, billing tools, and reporting. However, its lack of geofencing capabilities, overtime and budget alerts, and an offline option cost this provider some points.
Paymo has a bright interface that works on multiple platforms. (Source: Paymo)
How We Evaluated the Top Free Time Tracking Software
We started with 18 timekeeping software and narrowed our list down to the best eight with free plans. We compared each product’s pricing and ease of use. We also looked for essential features, like secure clock-ins/outs, invoicing, prebuilt reports, mobile apps, and the capability to allocate hours to jobs. We also considered the providers’ integration options with third-party software, like payroll and project management solutions.
To see our full evaluation criteria, click through the tabs in the box below.
20% of Overall Score
We selected providers with a free plan and transparent pricing for its paid tiers. Extra points were given to providers with paid subscriptions that are priced at $10 or less per employee monthly.
20% of Overall Score
We evaluated each time tracking software based on its accessibility using multiple devices and platforms. Additional points were given to those with digital time sheets that can be exported, PTO and break tracking, and administrator alerts for overtime and early clock-ins/outs.
20% of Overall Score
We awarded more points to the time tracking software that allows users to allocate hours by job code, compare budget versus actual hours, manage projects, and generate invoices to bill clients. Full points were given to those who offer these tools in their free plans.
10% of Overall Score
We considered online user reviews from third-party sites (like G2 and Capterra) based on a 5-star scale, wherein any option with an average of 4+ stars is ideal. We also checked if there are trends of users with complaints about app or software glitches.
10% of Overall Score
20% of Overall Score
Bottom Line
The best free time tracking software offers a variety of tools in addition to helping you track time on a project. These work on mobile and desktop and may provide scheduling, invoicing, and even project management tools. Some allow for teams, but many free plans are geared toward the solopreneur.
Overall, we found Hubstaff the best overall free time tracking software. It has efficient time tracking features and is the only one that lets you pay your team from the software itself. Its paid plans offer greater functionality and start at $14 monthly for two users.
Sign up for its free plan or try Hubstaff at no cost for 14 days.