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Choosing the right time tracking software is essential for keeping your business within budget and having precise records of resource usage. It’s concerning that over 34% of employees spend up to five hours weekly in meetings that produce no tangible results. Time tracking tools can help reduce this waste. They also play a crucial role in payroll processing, ensuring that employees are fairly compensated for their work.
The challenge lies in finding a suitable time tracking solution that fits your business—whether you’re a freelancer or managing a team of many employees—which can often be costly and time-consuming. Many available options are either overly complicated or too simplistic. If you’re new to time tracking software, knowing where to start can be confusing. To help you out, I’ve reviewed the seven best options currently on the market, so you can choose the right one for your needs. Let’s dive into the details of these top solutions.
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What are the Leading Time Tracking Software and Apps?
Here are the best options available today for time tracking tools and applications.
1. Monday.com.
The ideal platform for creating workflows within a single interface.

Monday.com excels at centralizing all your time management and workflow processes into a single dashboard. It offers a clear overview of team activities and project statuses, making it easy to switch between different tasks effortlessly. You can assign tasks to team members, which automatically syncs with everyone’s calendars, providing transparency on deadlines and responsibilities.
This platform enhances team productivity through its intuitive task management features, making it suitable for managing employees and projects alike. Additionally, it seamlessly integrates with existing tools, enabling you to track time alongside other critical data, streamlining your overall workflow.
Features:
- Round-the-clock customer support to assist whenever issues arise.
- Workflow-centric design that simplifies employee time management, accessible even via mobile devices.
- Custom views that let you monitor how time is allocated and identify areas for improvement.
- Automation features that save time and ensure accurate reporting across platforms.
Pricing

There is a free 14-day trial available to help you determine if Monday.com suits your needs. You don’t need to provide a credit card to start this trial. After the trial, you can choose from five different plans: the Free plan at no cost, Basic at $8 per user each month, Standard at $10 per user per month, Pro at $19 per user per month, and Enterprise which requires contacting the company for a custom quote. These prices assume a team size of three members; costs will vary based on the actual number of users. Switching to annual payments provides an 18% discount compared to monthly billing.
Get started with Monday.com.
2. Wrike
Best suited for effortlessly managing time tracking workflows.

Wrike offers a streamlined way to manage your projects and keep track of time efficiently within a single, user-friendly platform.
As a cloud-based tool, Wrike caters to everything from small tasks to complex projects, making it suitable for teams seeking an integrated management solution. Its customizable workflows are straightforward to set up, helping your team monitor time without wasting effort trying to align everyone’s understanding.
The platform’s intuitive interface allows team members to quickly grasp its features, making it perfect for small businesses or managers who want employees to adopt it with ease. Plus, Wrike provides various timeline views to monitor project progress over time, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
Features include interactive Gantt charts for visualizing task timelines, detailed reports for tracking progress, a focus on priority tasks, and predictive tools to foresee project developments at any stage.
Pricing varies across five plans, accommodating different team sizes and needs: a free option for initial teams, professional at $9.80 per user monthly for scaling teams, business at $24.80 per user per month for larger organizations, and enterprise or pinnacle plans requiring direct contact for quotes.
Begin your journey with Wrike today.Wrike.
3. Timedoctor.
Ideal for enhancing overall productivity within your team or organization.

Timedoctor is one of the top options for time tracking because it is user-friendly and straightforward. Employees value the simplicity of tracking their hours without hassle, and Timedoctor delivers exactly that. The tool automates time recording for predefined projects, providing insights into team performance and highlighting areas for improvement. By monitoring how team members allocate their time, you can boost overall engagement and efficiency. Additionally, accurate tracking enables precise client billing and ensures you’re not paying for unproductive hours.
Features:
- Timedoctor allows you to see the duration employees spend on each task and project, making it ideal for accurate invoicing and resource management.
- Managers receive detailed weekly reports covering hours worked, websites and applications used, task breakdowns, and client activity.
- It promotes healthier work habits by helping to prevent burnout and manage workload stress effectively.
- You can track usage of specific programs, applications, and websites to better understand productivity patterns.
Pricing

Pricing varies based on the user count in your organization. For a single user, prices start at:
- Basic: $5.9 per month per user
- Standard: $8.4 per month per user
- Premium: $16.7 per month per user
All plans include a free 14-day trial with no long-term commitments, allowing you to cancel whenever needed.
4. Hubstaff.
Best suited for minimizing time spent on tracking activities.

Hubstaff offers a simple yet powerful lightweight application compatible with a variety of devices. Whether on desktop, Chrome extension, mobile, or web on Windows, Linux, or Mac, users can manage unlimited projects, set timers, conduct advanced time monitoring, and generate comprehensive reports—all from a single platform. It’s particularly suitable for startups aiming for an easy-to-use interface to streamline time tracking, freeing up resources to focus on growth. Larger teams with distributed workforces will also find Hubstaff effective for keeping track of time and managing billing seamlessly. It automates team oversight and billing processes, making project and resource management more efficient.Saving money and time is easy with Hubstaff, making it the ideal choice for your business management needs.
Managing profitability and tracking time doesn’t have to be complicated. With Hubstaff, all you need to do is click to start tracking, and the software takes care of the rest, giving you more control with less effort.
Hubstaff serves a diverse range of companies across over 100 industries, offering a wide variety of features suited to your specific requirements. You can set weekly budgets or time limits for your teams and receive alerts if projects go over budget or miss deadlines. This ensures everyone is aware of their priorities and when it’s time to transition between tasks. You can monitor multiple projects by client and see exactly how your team spends their time without needing to set up separate timers for each project. Additionally, combining tracking data from experienced employees with onboarding software helps new recruits to get up to speed smoothly and adapt quickly within your organization.
In terms of pricing, Hubstaff provides both annual plans—where you save two months’ worth—and monthly options. There are three main plans based on your company’s needs: Hubstaff Time, Hubstaff Desk, and Hubstaff Field.
For team management and time tracking behind a desk, Hubstaff Desk offers several pricing options. The free plan accommodates one user, while the Starter plan costs about $5.83 per user per month, and the Pro plan is roughly $8.33 per user per month. For larger organizations, an enterprise plan is available with customized pricing to suit your specific requirements.
Paymo is another excellent option, especially for keeping your team aligned and engaged. It provides tools to manage tasks effectively, ensuring everyone knows what they’re responsible for and what’s due. Paymo also simplifies tracking time across various projects, allowing you to measure the effort spent on each task and understand individual or team productivity. The platform enables you to organize tasks into projects, sub-tasks, and milestones, keeping everything streamlined and manageable. Custom reporting features help maintain clear communication and ensure all team members are on the same page.
Paymo offers both desktop and mobile applications for iOS and Android, allowing you to track work whether you’re in the office or on the move. It provides visibility into team availability and workload, making it easy to adjust assignments as needed. You can review detailed task lists, view all ongoing projects at a glance, and generate live or static reports to update clients about project progress.
Pricing for Paymo varies, with different plans catering to various business sizes and needs, ensuring you can select an option that fits your budget while providing the essential features for effective team and project management.

There are three available plans, and you can choose whether to pay monthly or yearly. The plans include a free option and three paid options with different features and pricing, which are billed per user each month.
The options are:
– Free: $0 per user per month
– Starter: $4.95 per user per month
– Small Office: $9.95 per user per month, with no limit on the number of users
– Business: $20.79 per user per month, also with no user limit
A trial period of 15 days offers unlimited use of the paid plans so you can test all features before committing.
6. Clockify.
Ideal for a tool accessible from multiple devices.

Clockify enables you to monitor your team’s productivity through detailed reports showing task assignments, tags, and project filters. Its user-friendly interface allows both managers and team members to quickly start using the system without a steep learning curve, helping everyone stay efficient without being overwhelmed by complex features.
By assigning tags and labels to specific tasks, Clockify helps you stay focused on priorities. It prevents distractions caused by unnecessary features, ensuring your team remains on track with their work.
Features:
- Track daily tasks and analyze time spent to identify improvement areas, allocate tasks appropriately, and understand how much time is devoted to various requests.
- Invite team members to log hours, see who is working on what, balance workloads, and gather attendance info for payroll purposes.
- Provide your clients with clear reports on how much time was spent on their projects and individual tasks, including progress percentages.
- Create precise invoices based on the detailed reports generated by the system.
Pricing

Clockify offers four main plans, each with a free trial period so you can explore the features before deciding. The plans include:
– Basic: $3.99 per user monthly, billed annually
– Standard: $5.49 per user monthly, billed annually
– Pro: $7.99 per user monthly, billed annually
– Enterprise: $11.99 per user monthly, billed annually
Monthly billing options are also available, which slightly increase the monthly cost for each plan.
7. Toggl Track.
Ideal for users seeking a straightforward, easy-to-use time tracking tool.

You can use Toggl Track regardless of your company’s size or your work location. Whether you’re running a small business with one employee or managing a large team of a hundred, in-office or working remotely, Toggl Track offers solutions that fit your needs. The platform provides clear insights into how your team allocates their time through a straightforward interface, helping you stay organized by tracking specific tasks across various projects.
This tool delivers valuable data on how long projects take to complete, making it ideal for collaborative teams. Managers can review how time was spent, which aids in planning and forecasting future projects based on past performance. Keeping everyone accountable becomes easier with Toggl Track’s handy reporting features, one of the software’s strongest points. These reports support transparency and help ensure that all team members adhere to their schedules, making Toggl a top choice for efficient time management.
Features:
– Toggl Track can suggest time entry ideas based on the applications you’re using, which is especially helpful for those prone to forgetfulness.
– Its calendar view displays scheduled events, including dates and times, allowing you to quickly start or add time entries for upcoming appointments.
– One of its core functions is automatically tracking activity across applications and websites used for more than 10 seconds, converting this into detailed time logs.
– You can send automated reminders to your team to ensure consistent and accurate time tracking.
Pricing:
There’s a 30-day free trial available for all premium plans, along with a 10% discount when you opt for annual billing. Toggl Track offers four subscription options:
– Free: $0 for up to 5 users
– Starter: $9 per user per month
– Premium: $18 per user per month
– Enterprise: Custom pricing for unlimited users
Understanding what time tracking software is:
Time tracking software is a tool designed to monitor how much time is spent on specific work assignments. It helps clarify how hours are allocated, particularly in projects involving multiple team members, making it easier to judge progress and manage resources. Without such tools, it can be challenging to precisely know how long tasks take, leading to misunderstandings or disagreements about workload and responsibilities. Implementing effective time tracking allows employees to log their hours accurately, while managers can access this data effortlessly to inform decisions, allocate resources better, and improve productivity.
Must-have features of time tracking software:
To be effective, your time tracking software should include several essential features. First, it must support web, desktop, and mobile tracking. Employees should be able to log hours from any device—be it a desktop, laptop, or smartphone—ensuring consistent and accurate data collection regardless of how or where they work. This flexibility improves data accuracy and provides employees with convenient access to their tracking tools.
Secondly, a customizable user interface enhances usability for teams of all sizes. Users should be able to personalize themes, views, and displayed metrics, making the software more intuitive and aligned with individual or organizational preferences. This adaptability streamlines the tracking process and can even accommodate branding requirements for larger companies.
Next, the software should handle flexible scheduling—adjusting automatically for different time zones and work hours. Many workers operate across borders or in various time zones, so automatically aligning schedules prevents confusion and ensures accurate tracking. While fixed schedules may work in some cases, having these flexible features is advantageous, even if not always used.
Additionally, the ability to customize work hours is vital. Whether for compliance with tax regulations or gaining insights into how time is spent, adjusting workday and workweek parameters improves workflow management. Tailoring these settings aligns the software with your specific operational needs, making it a more powerful and relevant tool.
Managing Work Hours and Project Expectations
Since employees may work varying hours each day, some projects could require more time than initially planned based on the estimated deadline. It is important that time tracking tools allow employees and managers to easily record any overtime or extra hours dedicated to tasks or projects. This not only helps in monitoring workload but also integrates seamlessly with expense management tools to prevent unnecessary costs. The most effective time tracking software should offer flexibility to view work hours over different periods—weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly—according to your company’s preferred tracking cycle.
Tracking Billable and Non-Billable Hours
One common concern with time tracking software is that it might reveal how employees spend their time on various tasks, including non-billable activities. The right tool, however, allows you to differentiate between billable hours—those that can be charged to clients—and non-billable time. This capability provides clearer insights into employee productivity and highlights areas where work can be optimized, leading to better resource allocation and improved operational efficiency.
Exporting Data and Software Integration
Most top-tier time tracking solutions enable you to export data in formats like CSV or spreadsheets, facilitating seamless integration with other business applications. Many also offer API access, allowing developers to build custom integrations with your existing software stack—such as document management systems, email marketing platforms, or project management tools—without compromising security. If your software doesn’t support easy data exports, you risk losing valuable information or spending extra time transferring data manually. Additionally, GPS tracking features can assist in identifying remote vs. office-based work, making data exports more meaningful by highlighting location-specific activities.
Dashboard, Reports, and Notifications
An effective time tracking system should give all users real-time visibility into their hours worked and productivity levels via intuitive dashboards. Managers and team members can use these insights to distribute work more effectively among different departments or projects. Advanced reporting features are essential, providing managers with comprehensive updates on task progress, status reports, and individual performances. Email alerts are also valuable for keeping managers informed of project updates without needing to log in constantly. Some tools even attach screenshots to emails to verify that employees stay focused during work hours.
Managerial Access to Employee Reports
A key feature of good time tracking software is the ability for managers to review how much time employees spend on various tasks at different project stages. By examining timesheets, team leaders can better assign workloads, give targeted instructions, and identify employees’ strengths and areas needing support. This transparency helps set realistic milestones and deadlines while maintaining continuous oversight of overall progress and individual contributions.
Integration with Existing Tools
For time tracking to be most effective, it needs to work smoothly alongside the software your team already uses. Good systems support integration with popular applications such as cloud storage platforms (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive), communication tools (Slack), or project management platforms. These integrations save time by preventing duplicated data entry and enable automatic backups, ensuring your data remains secure and accessible whenever needed. Some solutions also offer automatic file uploads, streamlining collaboration across different tools.
Task Assignment and Monitoring
The most versatile time tracking apps provide a central interface where managers can assign specific tasks or projects to team members directly. This functionality allows supervisors to monitor progress without repeatedly requesting updates, ensuring accountability and visibility into who is working on what. Understanding team members’ availability and workload helps prevent burnout and ensures that tasks align with individual capacities.
Other Tools with Basic Time Tracking Features
While dedicated time tracking software offers many advanced features, some popular project management platforms include simple time tracking functions. Tools like Asana, Trello, QuickBooks, Basecamp, Jira, Google Calendar, and Microsoft Teams may suffice for basic needs or quick setups. Many of these platforms offer free plans, making them a practical starting point for teams exploring time tracking options. Using templates or plugins within these tools can also help optimize initial workflows.
Summary and Recommendations
The best time tracking applications are designed to integrate effortlessly with your existing software systems, providing detailed analytics, real-time updates, and comprehensive reporting. They support core functions like project setup, task management, and user registration without incurring additional costs. Leading options include:
– Monday: Ideal for establishing cohesive workflows within a single platform.
– Wrike: Perfect for managing multiple projects seamlessly.
– Timedoctor: Designed to boost productivity quickly.
– Hubstaff: Focuses on reducing administrative time and increasing growth.
– Paymo: Keeps teams aligned and engaged.
– Clockify: Works well across various devices.
– Toggl Track: Simplifies time tracking into a straightforward process.
By considering these features, you can select the software best suited to your company’s needs and start measuring your team’s work hours and productivity more effectively. Which time tracking tool does your organization use? Share your experiences in the comments below.
 
