8 Best Free Time Tracking Software in 2023

All of the free timekeeping software we reviewed offer multiple time clock apps that you can access via mobile and desktop devices (computers/laptops). Standard reports with customization options and the capability to view, edit, and export online time sheets are also available. Below are some key features.

	Free Plan Limits	Paid Plans (Monthly Pricing)*	Scheduling and Project Tracking**	Invoicing**	Payroll Integrations**
	1 user	$7–$10/user; min. 2 users	✓	✓	✓
	Visit Hubstaff
	1 user 2 active projects	$12 per user seat	Project tracking only	✓	✕
	Visit Harvest
	Unlimited	$4.99–$14.99 per user	✓	✓	✕
	Visit Clockify
	Up to 60 time entries Comes with ads	$4.99–$11	✓	✓	✓
	Visit TimeTrack
	1 business location	$24.95–$99.95 per location	✓	✕	✓ has a payroll tool (costs extra)
	Visit Homebase
	Unlimited	$5–$7	✓	✓	✓
	Visit TMetric
	1 user 5 clients 5 projects	Starts at $10 per user	✓	✓	✓
	Visit AccountSight
	1 user 3 clients 50 tasks 100 time entries	$5.95–$24.95 per user	✓	✓	✓
	Visit Paymo

• Payroll management: You can automatically process payroll by just inputting your employees’ hourly rate and schedule (weekly, monthly, biweekly). Hubstaff does not support overtime calculations; you’ll have to calculate manually. For the free plan, you export payroll information to send payments manually.
• Smarter, streamlined time tracking: Like most of the software in this guide, Hubstaff works with desktop, mobile, and web apps. It can also record your time even when it is offline.
• Mobile app: The mobile app has a timer and reports and works offline. It rates 4.5 out of 5 with around 1,300 reviews on the App Store but only a 3.2 out of 5 with 800+ reviews on Google Play—one of the lowest scores for Android of those on our list (Homebase and Timesheet are best for Android).
• Geofencing and GPS tracking: Like several others on our list, Hubstaff has geofencing, but it goes a step further by reminding employees to clock in or out when in the zone—or, like TimeTrack, it can clock employees in automatically within a zone. Its GPS tracking system lets you see workers’ routes as they travel.
• Monitor activity levels: Track how your employees spend their time by monitoring mouse and keyboard usage and by taking screenshots (limits apply with the free plan).

Harvest’s packages only differ by the number of seats and projects you get.

• Invoicing and getting paid: Harvest generates invoices—but, unlike most of the other providers on our list, it also tracks payments. It especially stands out, however, in that it integrates with Stripe and PayPal, so your clients can easily pay online or from their email (although Paymo has more payment integrations). You can copy your payments to QuickBooks or Xero for accounting.
• Time tracking: Harvest itself says it’s a “lightweight” tracking experience. You can track hours with timers on your desktop and mobile or enter them at once. Harvest also has codes for adding a Harvest timer button, which lets you track time when working in a particular software. Meanwhile, TMetric has a button option for 50 apps.
• Project costs and tracking: You can track hours and check expenses and labor costs against budgets. The team view (with the paid plan) lets you see when an employee is over their allotted time. Reports let you dig into the details of how employee time is spent. You can also edit and approve time sheets.
• Reports: Harvest has fewer reports than other time trackers in this guide, but the reports cover the basics and are customizable. Reports can be saved, exported, or shared with clients.
• Integrations: Harvest integrates mostly with product management tools (like Asana), Slack, calendar apps, and browser extensions. For payroll and POS, we suggest Homebase; meanwhile, AccountSight works with QuickBooks Payroll, whereas Hubstaff has its own payroll tool.
• Mobile app: The mobile app tracks time, billable hours, mileage, and expenses. It also has invoicing and time sheet management. It rates 3.8 out of 5 with around 640 reviews on the App Store and 3 out of 5 with about ‎2,400 reviews on Google Play. This is about average and good, especially for iOS users. Even better, there were few complaints about glitches in the apps but had requests for more features.

• Flexible time tracker: Clockify’s time tracking tool is accessible via computers, mobile devices (iOS and Android), and web browsers. It also has browser extensions for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox (TMetric, by contrast, has 50+ app integrations for its timer). Like with many time trackers on our list, you can access it offline, and it will automatically sync the data to your account once the internet connection has been restored.
• Project management: With Clockify, you can monitor your work hours and progress on every project. You can even break projects down by task, categorize time by job type, and track the status of each task. Its management tools are strong, but if you need more, consider Paymo, which has Gantt charts and Kanban boards.
• Detailed reporting and analytics: Clockify provides you with a visual time breakdown and customizable reports that you can share with others via a link and/or export as PDF, CSV, and Excel files. With this feature, you can set up project estimates for both time and costs, and then check your budget versus the actuals. You can even compare your labor costs against the amount you charge clients. Unlike others on our list, however, you need to export data to create custom reports.
• Mobile app: The mobile app has a timer and reports and works offline. It rates 4.6 out of 5 with about 1,500 reviews on the App Store and 3.9 out of 5 with around 1,490 reviews on Google Play.
• Multiple third-party integrations: Clockify integrates with over 80 third-party software and web apps. Some of its partner systems include Jira, Asana, Basecamp, GitHub, QuickBooks, Zendesk, Zapier, and Freshdesk (although for QuickBooks integration, you need the Standard Plan). For the best payroll and POS integrations, try Homebase.

TimeTrack’s free plans include all these features (lacks cloud store and sync) but are limited to one user and 60 time entries. The paid plans also get premium support.

• “Hey, Siri”: TimeTrack is the only tool on our list that specifically works with voice commands, allowing you to start your timer with a simple command. This is great not only if you are on the go but also for people with disabilities. You can also give commands to your Apple Watch. How convenient is that? Only Timesheet comes close to this convenience.
• Time tracking: Enjoy automatic GPS time tracking by creating workplaces. TimeTrack will automatically start your timer when you enter the work area and stop it when you exit (the other providers on our list—like Hubstaff, Homebase, and Clockify—only have geofencing). It also has time rounding, overtime, pause timer, and more.
• Billing and invoicing: In addition to tracking billable hours for invoicing, you can add expense entries, even by taking photos of receipts. It has over 40 settings to create custom invoices and billing.
• Project management: Like most of the time trackers we evaluated (except Homebase), TimeTrack is focused on projects. As such, the software includes project planning with tasks and budgets, performance at a glance, and reports. Many of the time trackers on our list have these functions, but some may only be in paid plans.
• Employee management: Unlike Homebase and Clockify, the employee management tools are only found in the paid versions. You can manage time sheets and leaves (like vacation and sick leaves) and get paid leave reports. TimeTrack is the only time tracking software on our list that lets employees log in via kiosk using NFC/RFID tags like a keycard or fob. It also alerts you if breaks are not being taken.
• Integrations: TimeTrack falls short on integrations compared to the other providers here, although it does integrate with QuickBooks for accounting. For payroll, it integrates only with lexoffice. It has an API for making your own integrations, however. Homebase is the best for integration capability, although Clockify is best for integrating with project management tools.
• Mobile app: TimeTrack’s iOS app is one of the highest-rated, with 4.8 out of 5 with more than 100 reviews on the App Store. The Android version is for the Enterprise plan only and has no ratings. We suggest Homebase for Android devices.

• Hiring tools: While not related to time tracking, Homebase offers hiring tools like job postings, customizable job descriptions, and applicant tracking tools—even in the free plan. This is a great asset for companies in a staffing crunch or that have high turnover.
• Time clock: Your employees can clock in with a variety of devices, from computers to tablets and smartphones. You can even integrate it with POS systems, a functionality that most of the time trackers on our list don’t have. Homebase offers employee-specific PIN codes, can snap photos of the person logging in, and has geofencing. Unlike the other systems we reviewed, Homebase offers alerts for overtime based on work hours; most have alerts that are based on project hours instead.
• Scheduling: Most of the time trackers on our list have scheduling capability, but offered only in paid packages or in relation to project planning rather than store hours. Homebase’s free plan, however, lets you create templates, consider availability and time off requests, and set open shifts.
• Employee communications: Homebase is the only provider with a free version that includes employee messaging, such as messaging another team member for shift swaps. Employees can also indicate availability.
• Mobile app: The mobile app includes clock-in and communications tools. It rates 4.8 out of 5 with ‎around 39,800 reviews on the App Store and 4.4 out of 5 with ‎more than 17,000 reviews on Google Play. Note, though, that there are reports of login issues.

• Time tracking: Like most apps, you can track time with a click using desktop, mobile, or web app. It has idle detection, manual and even bulk time adding and editing, plus the ability to categorize your time using tags or labels like milestones, location, or special status. With the paid plan, administrators can disable time entry editing, set required fields for time entries, and permit manual and mobile time tracking functions that are unique to the software.
• Reporting and analytics: TMetric’s range of reports provides detailed information about all projects, tasks, team members, and even the apps and websites they use. It’s rivaled only by AccountSight. These reports are customizable and can be exported to PDF and CSV formats for printing or post-processing.
• Mobile app: This app works with multiple projects and lets you categorize time, create reports, and monitor your team. It rates 3.8 out of 5 with 15 reviews on the App Store and 3.2 out of 5 with ‎180+ votes on Google Play. These are some of the lowest scores for mobile apps. If mobile is important, consider Homebase, Paymo, and Timesheet.
• Multiple third-party integrations: TMetric’s timer button works well in 50+ web apps, more than we’ve seen among the free time tracking software in this guide. However, it integrates only with a handful of third-party systems unless you use a REST API. Homebase and Clockify offer more variety.

The free plan includes all features but limits to one user, five clients, and five projects.

• Time sheet management: The free plan enables you to create a time sheet for yourself, but AccountSight’s paid plans let your employees upload time sheets individually or in bulk through Excel. It allows up to five levels of approval. Managers get reminders to approve or reject time sheets individually or in bulk to avoid delays. In either plan, you can add comments and upload expense reports or other files with your time sheet.
• Project planning: AccountSight’s project planning goes beyond most of the platforms we evaluated in that it allows you to plan projects and forecast resource needs, coordinate teams, and identify and allocate available resources based on role and skill set. You can also monitor forecasted versus actual hours and control costs, plus track expenses for each phase and task.
• Attendance tracking: Similar to Hubstaff, Homebase, Clockify, and TMetric, AccountSight has an easy-to-use leave monitoring system (with the paid plans). Time off requests can be routed for multiple levels of approvals, and managers can view all leave requests in the dashboard’s calendar and approve/reject requests accordingly. AccountSight also works seamlessly with Outlook.
• Expense tracking: Aside from tracking work hours, AccountSight allows users to track and manage all project expenses—just like Hubstaff, TimeTrack, and TMetric. You can set your own expense types with charge rates or per-unit costs before completing the online expense sheets—which can be updated and submitted individually or by bulk at a specific time. Project managers can also approve or reject single, multiple, or all pending expenses simultaneously.
• Invoicing: You can create three types of invoices: recurring invoices for costs, manual invoices, and invoices based on billable hours and expenses. It also has an option to copy existing invoices. In the paid plan, invoice roles are set. Managers can print or email invoices to clients from the system, while administrators can predefine tax rates, discounts, and price adjustments. They can also set notifications to track payment delays, send reminders to clients, and monitor the billing history of all paid and due payments. Only a few timekeepers in this guide have such permissions in their higher plans.
• Reporting: AccountSight has more premade reports than others on our list. In addition to reviewing and analyzing all weekly time sheet data, you can view and compare all invoiced and uninvoiced project expense data. Its dashboard provides a pictorial presentation of time, expense, and invoice data and a summary with bar and pie charts. Reports can be printed, saved as a PDF file, or exported to Excel.
• Mobile app: Not many people have rated its mobile app. It scored 3 out of 5 with only three reviews on the App Store and 2.2 out of 5 with 20 reviews on Google Play—the lowest score for Android apps on our list. If you need mobile time trackers for Android devices, we suggest Homebase and Harvest.

The free option has some limits to tasks, project templates, and invoices.

• Billing and invoicing: While Harvest is our top choice for invoicing, Paymo is the best for international billing. With over 85 currencies, invoicing in 15 languages, and integrations with multiple payment providers, it’s easy to create an invoice that gets you paid, no matter where your client resides. Plus, it can track partial payments.
• Time tracking: Like most of the timekeeping software we evaluated, you can track time on desktop, via mobile, and with a widget on your browser. It does not have geofencing, however. We suggest TimeTrack for automated clock-ins and Hubstaff or Homebase for standard geofencing tools.
• Job costing and reports: You can estimate costs and track expenses—even adding expenses by snapping receipts like TimeTrack does. You can set up live reports that automatically update when someone reviews them so you don’t have to manually create them each time. No other provider on our list mentioned this capability. You can share reports with clients as well.
• Integrations: Paymo integrates with calendar apps, Slack, QuickBooks, and a few other productivity apps. It does not integrate with payroll or POS apps, although it does integrate with Square as a payment processor. Look to Homebase for integrating with payroll and POS.
• Mobile app: Paymo’s mobile app handles project management, time tracking, and invoicing. It has excellent rates, though not many reviews. It has a 4.5 out of 5 with 50+ reviews on the App Store and 4.1 out of 5 with around 180 reviews on Google Play. It has very few complaints of glitches or errors.