What Can Time Tracking Apps Actually do for You?

Being a contemporary working professional is a balancing act: both the demand of hundreds of tasks and activities with looming deadlines alongside an ever-growing tech stack of apps. Adding yet another app, tool, or project management app may seem daunting, but what can a time tracking app actually do for your productivity? Is it worth the effort of downloading, logging-in, optimizing and using?

Let’s dive into time-tracking apps today, analyzing the most popular tools for ease of use, cost, effect on productivity, and feature breakdown.

Toggl Track 

Toggl Track (formerly Toggl) is a time-clocking app designed to help individuals and teams accurately track their time spent on tasks and enhance productivity. Getting started with Toggl is easy. At its core, Toggl is a simple timer that counts seconds and minutes. Once you finish a session, the total time is automatically saved to your Toggl account. You can log your activities for each session, whether for Client X or Project Y. This capability allows you to review which projects consume the most time and gain valuable insights into your work patterns.   

Toggl also empowers freelancers by precisely tracking billable and non-billable hours, ensuring accurate invoicing and fair client compensation. The app’s free plan offers essential time-tracking features, including a timeline, auto-tracking, idle detection, editable time logs, tags, offline tracking, and weekly reports, which are invaluable for managing your workload efficiently. You can also create unlimited projects and clients. However, it’s important to note that Toggl does have some limitations. It lacks calendar integration, task management, billable rates, time rounding, project templates, and other advanced features that might suit larger teams.    

Cost: Free to download

Available on: Web, Desktop apps for Linux, Mac and Windows, Mobile apps for iOS and Android. 

Clockify 

Clockify is a time-tracking software that allows companies of all sizes to accurately monitor their billable hours across various projects and tasks from any internet-connected device, regardless of location. Its user-friendly interface features a simple timer for logging hours on different projects, with a one-click option that simplifies manual time tracking and allows for easy categorization or editing of entries. The auto tracker feature further streamlines the process by automatically recording the time spent on various apps and providing a quick summary. You can effortlessly create timesheet entries from this logged activity, which remains visible only to you. The idle detection feature can also pause the timer, helping users avoid mistakenly tracking time spent away from their computer or outside of work. 

Cost: Clockify’s standout feature is its forever-free plan, which provides a robust suite of time-tracking tools without limitations. This plan allows users to track an unlimited number of projects and grants access to unlimited users, making it particularly valuable for small businesses. For those with more complex needs, Clockify offers four paid plans with extensive features tailored to your business’s size and requirements, providing more variety than many other time-tracking software options.   

Available on: Web, Desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux, Mobile apps for Android and iOS. 

Harvest 

Harvest is a time-tracking app designed for freelancers. In addition to its time-tracking capabilities, Harvest includes functionalities for creating invoices, managing expenses, and facilitating team management. It features a running timer that displays the hours and minutes spent on tasks. However, it’s worth noting that this timer is only visible in the Mac app, where it conveniently appears in the menu bar. For users accessing the web app—essential for Windows and Linux—the timer is only visible when the web page is actively open. 

Harvest also generates clear and informative reports that provide insights into how team members allocate their time. These reports highlight whether individuals are approaching or exceeding their workload, with each team member represented by a bar graph divided into two sections: total time worked and billable time. A red bar alerts that an individual is nearing or surpassing their capacity, allowing for proactive work distribution management. Users can customize these reports to reflect any desired time, such as a week or month, making it easier to analyze productivity over time.   

One of Harvest’s key features is its extensive integration with tools like Jira, PayPal, QuickBooks, and Salesforce, ensuring accurate time tracking and streamlined workflows.

Cost: Harvest offers a free plan and two paid options: Solo for individuals and Team for groups. Users can start with a 30-day free trial of the Team account to explore its features before committing. 

Available on: Web, Desktop app for Windows and macOS, Mobile apps for iOS and Android. 

In addition to the time-tracking apps mentioned earlier, several other options are available, such as TimeCamp, Paymo, My Hours, and Deputy. Consider your specific needs and preferences to determine which app best suits your workflow.   

Distilled 

In the cutthroat world of business, time is a precious resource. Every minute wasted is an opportunity missed. By leveraging the power of time-tracking tools, you can regain control of your schedule, boost productivity, and reduce stress. These essential tools provide invaluable insights into how you spend your time, helping you identify unproductive activities, prioritize tasks effectively, and allocate resources strategically.