As a freelance worker, tracking how you spend your work hours doesn’t just help you bill clients accurately. The best time tracking software for freelancers also lets you visualize time spent so that you can make better bids or see if you’re spending too much effort on unimportant tasks. In addition to timers that you can easily start and stop, the better ones should include invoicing, online payments, reports, and integrations. Most will do it all for a reasonable price—or even for free.
To find the best software that can handle time tracking for freelancers, we evaluated 20 solutions and narrowed it down to our top five recommendations.
- Clockify: Best (overall) time tracking software for freelancers
- TimeCamp: Best for freelancers needing strong productivity tools
- Harvest: Best for freelancers looking for free tools to track time, bill clients, and accept payments
- Toggl Track: Best for freelancers requiring robust integration options
- Hubstaff: Best for those wanting a secure way to pay freelancer teams
If you’re looking for budget-friendly solutions, our guide on the best free time tracking software has several great options.
How We Evaluated the Best Time Tracking Software for Freelancers
We started our search with 20 time tracking solutions, comparing each software’s pricing, ease of use, and online user reviews. We also looked for features that are essential to freelancers, such as versatile time trackers that work across devices, online timers with easy start/stop buttons, reporting tools, and the capability to allocate hours to jobs. Software that can track idle time, generate invoices, accept client payments, and integrate with accounting, scheduling, and project management solutions were also given extra points.
Based on our evaluation, Clockify is the best time tracking software for freelancers. It topped our list because of its ease of use and free-to-use time tracking tools that come with unlimited projects and user seats. While you have to pay extra for invoicing and productivity solutions—such as idle time detection and a Pomodoro timer—its monthly fees are reasonably priced (starts at $4.99 per user).
Click through the tabs below to see our full evaluation criteria.
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Aside from having access to standard and pre-built reports, users should be able to customize reports. TimeCamp received perfect scores here; the others didn’t because of limited report customizability.
Clockify
PROS
- Simple and intuitive interface
- Free tier comes with web, desktop, and mobile time tracking apps; supports unlimited users and projects
- Built-in invoicing tools to bill clients
CONS
- Invoicing, time sheet approvals, and labor cost versus budget comparisons cost extra
- Limited report customizability; users can’t create and add new fields
- Doesn’t support online payments from clients
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Time Tracking Functionality | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Billable Hours & Job Labor Costing Functions | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
Clockify is one of two providers (TimeCamp is the other) in this guide that lets you track time for unlimited projects for an unlimited number of users at no cost. It ranked higher than TimeCamp because it monitors billable and non-billable hours for free (this is a paid option for TimeCamp), it has live phone support in addition to email and chat (TimeCamp offers only email and chat), and it’s more popular among users.
Clockify also makes time tracking for freelancers easier given its timer apps that work on web browsers, desktop computers, and mobile iOS/Android devices. You do have to pay extra if you want to generate invoices from tracked time and monitor your team’s productivity across projects. Plus, it doesn’t support online client payments like Harvest and TimeCamp do. Harvest may even be a better option for you, especially if you’re looking for free time tracking, invoicing, expensing, and client payment tools—provided you need only one user seat and two active projects.
Overall, Clockify scored 4.49 out of 5 in our evaluation with perfect marks in pricing and time tracking, and it earned high ratings in nearly all of our evaluation criteria except for reporting. While it has pre-built reports that you can generate and export into CSV, PDF, and Excel files, its customization options are limited—you can’t create and add your own data fields. However, users said they find its reports helpful, adding that it’s very efficient yet simple to use.
To learn more about its functionalities and premium tools, check out our Clockify review. You can also check our best time tracking software guide to see how Clockify compares with other competitors.
Clockify Pricing
- Free option: In addition to online timers and time sheets for tracking billable/non-billable hours, Clockify’s free plan includes project and task tracking, reporting tools, and a calendar where you can view tasks and add/edit time blocks. It also supports unlimited projects and users.
- Optional upgrades: If you need additional features, Clockify offers five packages:
- Basic: For $4.99 per user monthly, you get administration tools that include project templates, time audits, and the capability to add time for one or multiple users.
- Standard: Priced at $6.99 per user monthly, you get all of Basic’s features plus time sheeting and billing tools like time sheet approvals, invoicing, and QuickBooks integration.
- Pro: For $9.99 per user monthly, this plan’s additional features include productivity and profit tools, scheduled reports, GPS tracking, and automatic email alerts when a project hits its allocated budget.
- Enterprise: This tier costs $14.99 per user monthly and comes with premium control and security solutions like account management, single sign-on (SSO), and a custom subdomain.
- Server: This custom-priced plan lets you host Clockify on your own servers.
Clockify Standout Features
- Flexible time tracking: With Clockify, you’re not limited to tracking time on specific devices. You can access its online timer on iOS and Android mobile devices and web browsers (Firefox, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge). It even has desktop apps that work on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. The other providers in this list offer mostly desktop and mobile apps (like Harvest and TimeCamp)—not all three options.
- Leave management: If you upgrade to at least its Standard plan, you are granted access to a leave management module where you can track accruals and balances and manage paid time-off requests and approvals. Other providers (except for TimeCamp and Hubstaff) don’t have this feature, although they can also track leave hours by creating specific “leave tasks” to record vacation, sick, and holiday hours.
- Computer screenshots: Aside from idle time detection, website and apps tracking, and a Pomodoro timer, Clockify has a screenshot recording tool that takes snapshots of your computer screen every five minutes while your timer is running, though you have to upgrade to either its Pro or Enterprise to get this feature. However, if your clients don’t require detailed proof of work or if you find it invasive, then consider Harvest since it doesn’t have this tool and provides more features in its free plan.
- Third-party software integrations: Clockify integrates with more than 50 web apps, allowing you to easily track time from inside other solutions like Asana, Trello, Salesforce, Basecamp, and Zendesk. However, it doesn’t connect with scheduling software, payment gateways, and accounting solutions (except QuickBooks). If you require robust integration options, Toggl is a good option since it connects with more than 100 apps.
TimeCamp
PROS
- Free plan includes unlimited users and projects
- Has robust employee productivity tools
- Offers leave management
CONS
- You have to upgrade to its paid plans if you want billable/non-billable hours tagging and email/chat support
- Client invoicing and online payments available only in higher tiers
- Lacks phone support
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Time Tracking Functionality | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Billable Hours & Job Labor Costing Functions | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
TimeCamp is another time tracking software for freelancers that, like Clockify, offers a free tier with unlimited projects and user seats. It didn’t top our list since it lacks phone support (Clockify provides phone, email, and chat assistance) and because you have to get a paid plan if you want to tag hours as billable or non-billable (this is free with Clockify). It also has a lower number of average user reviews on G2 and Capterra as of this writing—Clockify has 800 online users reviews, whereas TimeCamp only has 350.
Scoring 4.46 out of 5, TimeCamp earned perfect marks in pricing, time tracking, and reporting. It also rated highly in billable hours and job labor costing features given its productivity, invoicing, and online payment tools. Many users even said that TimeCamp is a good tool for monitoring hours spent on projects and provides useful reports about their daily work routine and productivity.
TimeCamp Pricing
- Free plan: You can use TimeCamp’s desktop and mobile apps to track time for unlimited projects for an unlimited number of users. This plan also comes with project templates, bulk edits, PDF exports, and integration with one software.
- Basic tier: For $7 per user monthly, you get all of Free’s features plus custom reports, management roles, billable time, and XLS file exports. You are also granted access to unlimited integrations, email and chat support, and tools to help you track your team’s productivity.
- Pro option: Priced at $10 per user monthly, this plan’s additional features include billing rates, invoicing, client payments, time sheet approvals, and custom user roles.
- Enterprise package: If you want personalized training, private cloud implementation, and a self-hosted service, then consider this custom-priced package that also has all of Pro’s features.
TimeCamp Standout Features
- Attendance and leave management: Not only does its time tracker help you log hours for projects, but it can also be used to monitor clock-ins/outs and overtime. And, similar to Clockify and Hubstaff, it has leave management capabilities to help you track vacation, sick and holiday leaves.
- Productivity tools: TimeCamp has a wide range of online tools to help monitor work productivity. It tracks idle time and monitors the hours spent on websites, apps, and documents. With its productivity assistant feature, you can set goals and measure your productive and idle hours. You also have the option to activate its computer screenshots function in case you want full transparency and present proof of work to clients. Similar to Harvest and Hubstaff, it doesn’t have a Pomodoro timer, but TimeCamp has a private time mode that you can turn on if you want to take breaks or d.
- Invoicing and client payments: TimeCamp has smart invoices that you can easily generate and send to clients via email, as a private link, or a PDF file. Clients can even pay you directly from the invoice through PayPal. However, you have to upgrade to at least its Pro plan to get these features. For a more budget-friendly option, consider Harvest since it offers its invoicing and online payment tools for free—provided you need only one user seat and two active projects.
Harvest
PROS
- Free option lets you track time for projects, send invoices, accept client payments, and submit expense reports
- Handles online payments through Stripe and PayPal integrations
- Offers a 30-day free trial for its paid Pro plan
CONS
- Free tier has only one user seat and two projects
- Time tracking for unlimited projects is included only in its paid Pro plan; this option can get costly, especially if you have a big team
- Mobile apps can be glitchy at times; features aren’t as robust as the desktop version
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Time Tracking Functionality | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Billable Hours & Job Labor Costing Functions | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
Harvest is a great time tracking software for freelancers working on only a handful of projects but prefer to have all of the essential tools like invoicing, expensing, and online payments. While it offers all these features for free, you only get one user seat and two active projects. If you require unlimited projects and user seats, you have to upgrade to its paid tier. If you want unlimited time tracking, projects, and users for free, then consider either Clockify or TimeCamp.
Scoring 4.33 out of 5 in our evaluation, Harvest received high marks in almost all of our evaluation criteria—with a perfect score in billable hours and job labor costing features. However, it earned a low rating in reporting capabilities primarily because of its limited customization options.
In terms of user reviews, those who left feedback on online sites like G2 and Capterra said that it has user-friendly tools and solid integration options. On the other hand, some commented that its paid plan can be expensive for freelancers and small business owners. A few reviewers also said that its mobile app can be glitchy at times.
If you’re wondering if Harvest has the time tracking tools that your business needs, read our Harvest review as it can help you gauge whether or not it’s the right solution for you.
Harvest Pricing
- Free option: Harvest’s time tracking apps, client invoicing, online payments, and expense reporting tools are free to use, but it only includes one user seat and time tracking for up to two projects.
- Pro plan: Priced at $12 per user monthly, this plan has unlimited user seats and projects. While this option might seem affordably priced, it isn’t cost-effective if you have a large team. For a budget-friendly paid tier with invoicing and payment tools, we recommend TimeCamp’s Pro plan that costs $7.50 per user, per month.
Harvest Standout Features
- Feature-rich free tier: Despite having only one user seat and two active projects, Harvest’s feature-rich free plan has time tracking, expensing, invoicing, and online payment tools. While some of the providers in this list have invoicing, payments, and expensing capabilities, you have to upgrade to a paid plan to get these features.
- Expense reporting and client payments: With Harvest, you can mark expenses that you incurred while working on client projects as billable. You can even include it in invoices for client billing. Sending its web invoices even provides your customers with an option to pay you online either through PayPal or Stripe.
- Third-party software integrations: Harvest integrates with more than 50 solutions, and the systems that it partners with are more robust than Clockify, which offers mostly productivity and project management tools. Harvest, meanwhile, also integrates with communication, customer relationship management (CRM), analytics, and issue tracking software. However, if you want a time tracking solution that connects to over 100 apps, then consider Toggl Track.
Toggl Track
PROS
- Free plan includes unlimited time tracking and projects; also comes with idle time detection and a Pomodoro timer
- Integrates with more than 100 apps
- User-friendly interface
CONS
- Free option comes with only five user seats
- Doesn’t have invoicing capabilities
- Paid options are expensive
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Time Tracking Functionality | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Billable Hours & Job Labor Costing Functions | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 3.13 | OUT OF | 5 |
Toggl Track, one of Toggl’s online solutions, is an easy to use time tracking tool that can integrate with more than 100 apps—enabling you to log time from a wide range of software. It also has a free plan that can track unlimited projects like Clockify does, but it has a slightly higher user seat allocation than Harvest (five versus one). And, unlike Hubstaff, you can use many of its productivity tools like idle time detection and URL/apps tracking at no cost.
Overall, Toggl Track earned 4.03 out of 5 in our evaluation with perfect marks in pricing and time tracking. It posted low scores (2.5 out of 5) in reporting and managing billable hours because of its limited reporting customizability, plus it doesn’t have the online payment capabilities that Harvest does or the invoicing tools that other providers in this list offer. However, users still consider Toggl Track a good time tracking solution, especially for freelancers and solopreneurs. They also appreciate its free version that makes managing time, projects, and clients easy.
Toggl Track Pricing
- Free option: This comes with five user seats, unlimited projects, exportable reports, automated time tracking triggers, and access to 100+ integration options. In addition to its time tracker apps for desktops, web browsers, and mobile devices, you can also use its idle time detection features and Pomodoro timer to let you know when it’s time to take breaks.
- Starter tier: For $10 per user monthly, you get everything in Free plus additional features like billable rates, project estimates and alerts, and pre-populated project templates.
- Premium option: Priced at $20 per user monthly, this tier’s additional tools include project forecasts and analysis, team time tracking reminders, and time audits.
- Enterprise package: This custom-priced plan comes with unlimited users and has all of Premium’s tools plus priority support, expert assistance, and customizable solutions.
Toggl Track Standout Features
- Free-to-use productivity tools: Unlike Hubstaff, you don’t have to pay in order to access Toggl Track’s idle time detection and URL/apps tracking tools. It even has a Pomodoro timer that automatically reminds you to take breaks for every 25 minutes of work or any length of time you choose.
- Robust integrations: Toggl Track makes time tracking for freelancers seamless given its wide selection of integration options. You can log time from inside 100+ solutions such as Asana, Basecamp, Jira, Evernote, Trello, Wrike, Salesforce, Zendesk, Slack, and Zoho. However, it doesn’t integrate with QuickBooks and payment gateways like most of the providers in this list do.
- Flexible time tracking: You can log hours through Toggl Track’s apps for web browsers, computers, and mobile iOS and Android devices. While its desktop app works on Windows and Mac computers, it doesn’t support Linux computers like Clockify does.
Hubstaff
PROS
- User-friendly interface
- Offers a free plan with basic time and activity tracking
- Integrates with several payment gateways for online employee payments
CONS
- Free version is limited to one user only
- Invoicing, employee payments, expense tracking, and advanced productivity tools cost extra
- Occasional app glitches
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Time Tracking Functionality | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Billable Hours & Job Labor Costing Functions | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Popularity | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Reporting | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 3.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
Hubstaff is great for freelancers who manage teams because, aside from offering time and productivity tracking tools, it integrates with several payment gateways where you can easily send payments. While the other providers in this list (except for Toggl Track and Clockify) also partner with online payment solutions, this is mainly to accept client payments and not process worker pay.
Scoring 3.82 out of 5 in our evaluation of the best time tracking software for freelancers, Hubstaff earned 4 and higher scores in pricing, billable hours, job labor costing, and user popularity. The only criteria that it posted low scores (2.5 out of 5) on is reporting because users can’t add their own data fields to reports.
In terms of user reviews, many of those who left feedback on G2 and Capterra said that it is generally easy to learn and use with efficient tools for tracking time and productivity at work. However, some complained about having occasionally experienced slow loading times, mobile app glitches, and integration issues.
Hubstaff Pricing
Hubstaff offers three time tracking products (Hubstaff Time, Hubstaff Desk, and Hubstaff Field), wherein each have several tiers. For freelancers, we recommended Hubstaff Desk, which comes with time tracking, team management, and productivity monitoring tools. It has four plans:
- Desk Free plan: This is ideal for those needing only one user seat. You get basic time and activity tracking, plus access to a limited number of reports, payment options, and computer screenshots.
- Desk Starter tier: This plan has all of the tools of the Free tier, plus unlimited screenshots, one integration, per user settings, and two user seats. It costs $7 per user monthly, but the required monthly minimum is $14 given the two user seats.
- Desk Pro option: With this option, you get the following additional tools: invoicing, client and project budgets, URL and apps tracking, time sheet approvals, expensing, and full payment and integration options. It costs $10 per user, per month, but has a monthly minimum of $20 given the starter two user seats.
- Enterprise package: Monthly fees for this plan starts at $40 ($20 per user X two user seats) and has all of Hubstaff Desk and Hubstaff Field’s features plus VIP support, concierge set up, and unlimited job sites.
If you only need to track time, generate invoices, and pay your freelancer team, then consider Hubstaff Time. Its plan options and features are similar to Hubstaff Desk but don’t have the productivity tools. You can sign up for a free tier (with one user seat) or upgrade to its paid options with a minimum of two user seats (monthly fees range from $7–$20 per user).
For those who need to track time and location of field workers, Hubstaff Field is a good choice. In addition to Hubstaff Desk’s features, this product comes with geolocation tracking, work orders and jobs, and fleet monitoring. However, subscription options only include paid plans, each with a minimum of two users seats, costing anywhere from $15–$20 per user monthly.
Hubstaff Standout Features
- Multiple time tracking products: With Hubstaff, you can choose from any of its three time tracking products in which each cater to the slightly different needs of users. Hubstaff Time is great for those who want simple time tracking and reporting, Hubstaff Desk is best for users who also need solid productivity tools, and Hubstaff Field is optimal for those who require geolocation tracking in addition to time monitoring.
- Productivity tools: Idle time detection, computer screenshots, and URL/apps tracking are just some of the tools that Hubstaff offers. With its productivity rates, you can spot dips and improvements based on keyboard and mouse usage. If you set hours or productivity goals for your freelancer team, you can celebrate wins and recognize employees by giving them virtual high fives through Hubstaff. None of the providers in our list has this feature.
- Employee payments: While Harvest and TimeCamp integrate with payment gateways to accept client payments, Hubstaff connects with PayPal, Wise (formerly TransferWise), Payoneer, and Bitwage so that you can pay your team members online. You can also export your tracked time data to payroll providers like FreshBooks, QuickBooks, and Gusto.
If you’re interested in learning more about time tracking solutions, then check out our guide to the top time and attendance software.
Bottom Line
The best time tracking software for freelancers depends on their needs. Some simply track and record time; others offer expense recording and billing. Nearly all will handle teams and integrate with other programs, especially project management tools. Before choosing, think about what you need, look at popular options (some are even free-to-use), and whether you are willing to pay extra for advanced features.
For most freelancers needing time tracking tools for work projects, we found Clockify to be the best. It offers PTO management, invoicing, and a wide range of productivity tools. Pricing is also reasonable—you get a free version with unlimited projects and user seats, and paid tiers with monthly fees that start at $4.99 per user. Sign up for a free plan today.
