7 Free and Paid Clockify Alternatives to Consider for Freelancers and Businesses [March 2024]

Clockify is an easy-to-use time tracking app, popular with freelancers and businesses with simple time tracking needs. But its bare-bones UI and basic reporting make it hard for larger businesses to get insights from their tracked time and increase productivity, that’s why they’re looking for Clockify alternatives.

And some companies may be put off by its employee surveillance features.

Simply reading a few online discussions will reveal that employees aren’t exactly keen on having to install surveillance software on their equipment.

So, if you’re thinking about Clockify alternatives, that’s where we come in.

We’ve been in the time tracking space since 2006, and know what freelancers, small businesses, large businesses, and enterprises are looking for — because we serve all of them.

That’s why, we made this list to help you find the best alternative.

All apps in this article offer free plans and trials so you can test them thoroughly before deciding. We’ve also tested each by ourselves and presented our findings below for your convenience. 

Now, let’s get started with our best Clockify Alternatives!

Best free Clockify alternatives: Executive Summary

What is Clockify and why to consider an alternative?

Nenad Milanovic and Lazar Vujanic founded Clockify in 2017 when they realized the industry needed a simple and affordable time tracking app and that more people should have access to useful yet free apps.

Clockify is a timekeeping, reporting, and project management platform for straightforward projects. It has manual time tracking features designed for both factory workers and officegoers. Its Reports feature helps track billable hours, automatically calculate wages, and auto-generate client invoices.

Some may find it controversial because it’s developed for companies that expect industrial efficiency from their workforce. That’s why they offer surveillance features such as GPS Tracking, Automated Screenshots, and Force Timers that can’t be stopped or manually edited.

This fosters employee distrust, negatively impacts company cultures, and (ironically) tends to decrease productivity.

Companies also look for Clockify alternatives because of its lack of custom reporting, advanced analytics, and time tracking tools for dynamic office environments like agencies, software development, marketing, and other fully remote or hybrid teams.

What to look for in a Clockify alternative and how we curated the list?

If you’re looking for an alternative to Clockify, you probably need a tool with the same functionality without the drawbacks.

The following is the framework we used when picking the tools for the list.

Our testing methodology:

We started by finding tools on review sites like G2 and Capterra and looked for the ones listed as the best match feature-wise. We then went through their website and documentation to confirm which tools best match Clockify’s features — this allowed us to shorten the list.

Next, it was time to test the apps.

We tested 10 platforms side-by-side with Clockify to see which ones performed better. That’s how we narrowed our list down to 7 platforms that were good alternatives to Clockify and didn’t completely overlap with each other feature-wise.

Rating categories:

Online reviews and discussions around Clockify and its alternatives commonly revolve around four categories:

1. Ease of Use: Managers often mention their teams don’t want to adopt a platform that isn’t intuitive to use for employees (because time tracking becomes a chore).
2. Analytics: Many Clockify users (and time tracking software users in general) discussed the lack of good analytics features to gather insights into improving their team’s workload and productivity.
3. Employee Privacy: One of the main talking points around Clockify and similar software is how much employees hate being monitored — people often talk about leaving companies that try to impose surveillance in their workflow.
4. Price: We often find people looking for free options, so all apps on our list offer free plans. But we also compare pricing plans and their affordability.

We rated each platform’s features in all four categories to give you a quick overview of what you can expect from them.

We split the list into two categories:

We noticed the tools on our list all offer similar features, but they fall into two broad categories with different time tracking philosophies:

• Trust-based tools: These focus on employee privacy and autonomy and are designed to track time and productivity without monitoring. They try to capture productivity data without intruding on the natural workflow to help everyone in the organization improve their work-life balance and productivity.
• Tools with employee surveillance features: These include monitoring features like screenshots, activity monitoring, URL tracking, location tracking, and such. They try to force employee productivity and fundamentally function around distrust.

❗ DISCLAIMER:

Now, let’s go through an in-depth review of each Clockify alternative.

1. Toggl Track – Best overall Clockify alternative to maximize team productivity and build trust

Alari Aho and Krister Haav created Toggl in 2006 because they had a hard time accurately tracking their working hours to bill their clients. The time tracking software was renamed to Toggl Track after Toggl Plan and Toggl Hire were launched.

Toggl Track’s strength is intuitive time tracking with the Timeline feature, allowing quick adoption within any organization. However, its main distinction is the most advanced Reports, Analytics, and Insights you can get. These allow you to clearly reveal your whole organization’s work habits without monitoring employees. And, when combined with cross-platform support, integrations, extensions, and the Toggl API, Toggl Track guarantees accurate time tracking is not a chore but a seamless part of your workplace culture.

Analytics, Insights, & Reporting: Toggl Track is better at providing insights that impact your business growth than Clockify.

Similar to Clockify, Toggl Track also offers Reports.

The difference is that Toggl Track has deeper Insights to spot inefficiencies and boost productivity and that their Analytics features allow you to build fully customized reports and dashboards (unique to Toggl Track).

The Insights tool allows you to use the tracked time to get actionable insights into ROI by tracking work hours against clients, projects, and tasks.

But don’t take our word for it. Here’s how Candybox Marketing uses Toggl Track to sustain up to 40% growth YOY:

User Experience: Clockify has straightforward manual timers, while Toggl Track takes time tracking off your mind with automatic tracking, time entry duplication, and a built-in Pomodoro timer.

Toggl Track is designed to take time tracking off your mind with five ways to track time:

1. Manual time entry,
2. Time recording via the browser extension,
3. Import Google Calendar or Outlook events,
4. The timer on the web, mobile, and desktop app,
5. Local and private automatic time recording on the desktop app (lets you choose what time to submit).

It also offers an interchangeable List or Calendar View and Reminders to start or stop timers.

All these additional features are there so Toggl Track is the one adapting to your employees’ and company’s workflow, not the other way around.

Employee Privacy: Clockify has employee surveillance features while Toggl Track doesn’t because it’s made for teams with trust-based cultures.

Toggl originated as an in-house time tracker, where micromanagement has never been a part of the work culture. It doesn’t record location, keystrokes, screen, app, and URL usage, or employee webcams.

It focuses on providing insights to improve productivity, work-life balance, and profitability.

While monitoring generates a lot of data, it encourages employees to cheat the system, so the data is skewed at best and doesn’t offer any value at worst. Instead, Toggl Track’s approach is to rely on trust and a sense of ownership over work and track team performance based on output, not input.

Toggl Track Pricing: Toggl Track is free for freelancers and teams of up to 5, while its paid plans are flexible with your needs.

Toggl Track’s pricing starts with a free plan, that is all a freelancer, solo professional, or micro-team might need. In contrast, its paid plans target businesses and larger teams where advanced analytics and insights can have a huge impact on profitability and productivity.

Use Toggl Track if:

• You need an intuitive time tracker that works with your employees for maximum adoption.
• You need powerful analytics to help you improve team productivity.
• You value privacy and a trust-based work culture.

Ready to try Toggl Track? Sign up for a free 30-day trial! If you’d instead like to take it slow and need more information, read our in-depth comparison of Clockify vs Toggl Track.

2. Harvest – Best Clockify Alternative for freelancers that need invoicing

Harvest was started in 2006 when Danny Wen and Shawn Liu “made the tool they couldn’t find: a well-designed, innovative application to track time and invoice.” Thousands of freelancers and remote teams globally now use it to track and understand their time.

Harvest vs. Clockify

Harvest is a compelling Clockify alternative, especially for those who prioritize invoicing and time tracking.

It offers an intuitive user experience without surveillance features, making it a good choice for managing teams and projects.

It’s particularly well-suited for small businesses juggling multiple clients and various projects, as well as freelancers needing a robust solution for time tracking, invoicing, and billing.

While its basic reporting features might not satisfy those looking for deep business insights (where a tool like Toggl Track might be more appropriate), it excels in simplicity and user-friendliness.

It offers customizable expense reports with the ability to filter and sort data for more detailed oversight. But its focus is on basic functionalities like:

• logging time,
• tracking expenses per project (as shown in the image below),
• and distinguishing between billable and non-billable work hours.

However, what it lacks in analytics, it makes up for with its invoicing features.

Harvest is efficient for freelancers and those working with contractors, allowing them to convert timesheets into invoices and process payments directly within the app via PayPal or Stripe.

Despite its lack of automatic time tracking, it remains user-friendly.

Harvest is available as a web, desktop, mobile app, and as a Chrome extension. Additionally, with 68 integrations ranging from project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Notion to payment processors, it seamlessly fits into various workflows.

Note: For an even more detailed comparison of the two, check out our Clockify vs Harvest article!

Harvest Pricing:

Harvest’s pricing starts with a free plan, which supports one user and two projects.

The Pro plan, priced at $12 per user per month, unlocks all features, including unlimited projects and access to all integrations, accompanied by a generous 30-day trial.

Use Harvest if:

• You’re a freelancer looking for a paid all-in-one online time tracking, invoicing, & billing solution.
• You don’t need advanced time analytics features.
• You’re a lean business with multiple contractors.

Need more information? Read our in-depth breakdown of how Harvest compares to Toggl Track!

3. MyHours – Best Clockify alternative for teams on a tight budget

Launched in 2002, MyHours believes that employee time tracking is communication, that no one likes being monitored, that the future belongs to autonomous teams, that the project budgets breed creativity, and that software should be fun to use while getting the job done.

MyHours vs. Clockify

MyHours caters to freelancers and small to mid-sized teams.

While Clockify offers essential time tracking features, MyHours focuses on simplicity and efficiency in managing timesheets and invoicing. MyHours’ best features include:

• task-based, or member-based rates,
• diverse billing options, such as flat project fees,
• and its capability to track attendance with hourly rates.

These key features ensure that businesses always clearly understand the time spent on projects and tasks, making it easier to manage workloads and bill clients accurately.

MyHours lacks a calendar view, which might be a deal-breaker for those who prefer a more visual scheduling tool. 

However, it compensates with a strong emphasis on timesheets (its default view) and simplicity of use. In some cases, though, we found that certain tasks in MyHours require unnecessary steps. For example, you need to update your project (1), task (2), and expense (3) information every time you start the timer. 

This approach aligns well with its target audience of professionals and teams prioritizing straightforward time tracking over complex scheduling features.

MyHours offers reporting capabilities similar to Harvest, including a cost-profit breakdown, although it doesn’t support expense tracking. This limitation makes it a more specialized tool for those who want to monitor project profitability and use third-party tools for comprehensive financial management.

It also includes invoicing capabilities, providing a seamless transition from time tracking to billing clients, but with simpler features than more all-encompassing solutions.

MyHours Pricing:

MyHours’s pricing consists of two plans. The Free plan is meant for up to 5 users and includes unlimited projects and clients with the ability to track time on projects and tasks, set billable rates, and generate detailed reports without any cost.

Meanwhile, the Pro plan costs $8 per user per month. It includes everything from the Free plan plus priority support, generating client invoices, and adding or editing time logs on behalf of team members. It also introduces an approval workflow.

Use MyHours if:

• You don’t need advanced analytics for productivity management.
• Your business has a larger team and is on a tight budget.
• You’re looking for a trust-based tool.

4. TimeCamp – Clockify alternative with employee monitoring and an emphasis on expense tracking

TimeCamp, founded in 2008, evolved from their CEO’s class assignment — a note-taking app. It has since advanced into a smart and intuitive time management app with the idea of not controlling employees, but allowing them to focus on their assignments instead of glancing on the clock or wasting time to fill timesheets manually.

TimeCamp vs. Clockify

TimeCamp is a compelling alternative to Clockify, especially for those drawn to Clockify’s feature set but seeking a tool with a more intuitive interface and slightly more refined analytics.

At its core, TimeCamp mirrors Clockify’s strengths:

• expense tracking,
• a calendar view for scheduling,
• and screenshotting for work progress monitoring.

However, TimeCamp has a better user experience.

Its interface is simpler and more intuitive than Clockify’s, with a stronger contrast that makes navigation and task management smoother. This design philosophy also extends to its analytics capabilities, offering better analysis options than Clockify, making it easier for users to assess the profitability of their projects, tasks, and client engagements.

One notable caveat of TimeCamp is that timesheet approvals—a crucial feature for many businesses—are only available on the paid plan, at $8.

The free plan also doesn’t include invoicing, which may limit its appeal to freelancers who often rely on integrated invoicing features to streamline their billing processes. 

TimeCamp Pricing:

TimeCamp offers four paid plans:

• The Starter plan: $3.99/user/month
• The Premium plan: $6.99/user/month
• The Ultimate plan: $10.99/user/month
• The Enterprise plan: custom pricing

Use TimeCamp if:

• You want slightly more analytics options than what Clockify offers.
• You want employee performance monitoring features.
• Your main concern with Clockify is the UI.

5. Tmetric – Clockify alternative with surveillance features focused on task management

TMetric launched in 2016 as an internal productivity tool and had over 40,000 users by the end of 2017. They aspire to be an app that smooths out the work process for higher profits and more cohesive teams.

TMetric vs. Clockify

TMetric is an affordable alternative to Clockify for users and teams whose priorities are collaboration and project progress management.

While it mirrors Clockify with core features like reports, time off management, client management, and invoicing, TMetric is more streamlined. An example is its lack of a calendar view — a feature Clockify users might miss for its convenience in visualizing schedules and allocating time.

However, TMetric compensates for this with a task list view — designed to enhance project management. 

This feature allows users to assign tasks collaboratively and manage them within TMetric, allowing a more organized and streamlined workflow.

In terms of monitoring features, TMetric allows screenshots and also includes app activity tracking to provide managers with work pattern insights, not just remote team accountability.

From a pricing standpoint, TMetric is an affordable option for startups and small businesses looking to optimize their budget without sacrificing a lot of functionality compared to Clockify.

However, it’s important to note the lack of kiosk support for teams that prefer physical or kiosk-based time tracking solutions.

In essence, TMetric can be considered a “Clockify clone” with a lean towards collaboration and project management.

TMetric Pricing:

TMetric has three pricing plans:

• Free
• Professional: $5/month/user
• Business: $7/month/user

Use TMetric if:

• You’re a startup or small business and need a streamlined time tracking system.
• You want better task management features than what most time tracking apps offer.
• You want employee surveillance features.

6. Everhour – Clockify alternative with employee surveillance and a focus on project management

Everhour started as an idea in a small IT outsourcing company and based on their own time-keeping needs. They couldn’t find a time-tracking solution to fit their needs, so they made their own. Everhour is known for its best-in-class integrations with the most popular project management tools out there.

Everhour vs. Clockify

Everhour is an alternative to Clockify for users who want to integrate time tracking with other popular tools for project management.

Unlike Clockify, it has a native project timeline and integrated resource planning features. And it includes key Clockify features like expense tracking, time off tracking, and invoicing capabilities. It also has monitoring capabilities with screenshot capture, a feature that aligns it more closely with Clockify’s functionality.

However, unlike Clockify, Everhour takes reporting a step further by offering customizable report options.

While it might not revolutionize the reporting landscape with advanced features, the ability to tailor reports to specific needs adds a layer of flexibility that can be invaluable for teams with unique reporting requirements.

Everhour Pricing:

In terms of pricing, Everhour stands neck and neck with Clockify. It offers two pricing plans:

• Free: Free up to 5 users
• Team: $10/user/month (min. five users required)

Use Everhour if:

• You’re using third-party project management software and want to integrate a time tracker with them.
• You need a native project timeline and integrated resource planning features.
• You want customizable reporting options.

7. DeskTime – Clockify alternative with employee surveillance for identifying time sinks

DeskTime was born in 2011 out of the need to manage Draugiem Group’s many employees. The founders soon realized they made a tool that could be useful for many other companies. And so, the development began.

DeskTime vs. Clockify

Multiple platforms aim to simplify time tracking and enhance productivity. Still, DeskTime carves out its niche with robust shift scheduling and team management features, making it particularly appealing for teams that need to manage shifts alongside tracking productivity.

With options for away time and an “absence calendar,” DeskTime is not just about monitoring hours but ensuring that those hours align with the planned shifts and workforce availability.

This feature makes it an excellent tool for businesses that operate on a shift basis.

Like Clockify, DeskTime tracks app usage, offering insights into which applications and websites employees use during their work hours.

However, DeskTime elevates this with an automatic time tracking feature that detects app, website, or page usage without manual input, streamlining the process and providing accurate data on how work time is distributed across different tasks and tools. It also offers fixed report dashboards that cover the usual metrics expected from a time tracking solution.

The necessity to use the desktop app for all interactions with DeskTime might limit its appeal to those who prefer more flexibility in accessing their time tracking tools.

DeskTime Pricing:

DeskTime has four pricing plans to choose from:

• Lite: Free
• Pro: $7/user/month
• Premium: $10/user/month
• Enterprise: $20/user/month

Use DeskTime if:

• You want to track exactly how your employees are spending their time.
• You don’t need flexibility and are fine with only the desktop app.
• You want to plan and schedule work shifts.

To summarize:

Based on our tests and research, we listed the seven best alternatives for Clockify you can choose from.

They all offer free plans that are great for freelancers, solo professionals, and even small teams. Based on what most users seek in a Clockify alternative, you should consider four things when choosing your ideal time tracking tool:

1. Ease of Use,
2. Analytics,
3. Employee Privacy,
4. and Price.

All Clockify alternatives take one of two approaches: trust-based time tracking or forced productivity with employee monitoring features. Choose from the ones that align with your company culture.

Before making the final decision, you should test all seven and see which one works best for you. But based on our testing and experience, we recommend you go with one of these three:

1. Choose Toggl Track if you’re a team or enterprise with a trust-based culture looking to empower employees and managers with in-depth insights while respecting privacy. (Or if you’re a freelancer looking for a free time tracking app)

Get started with Toggl Track’s 30-day free trial.

2. Choose Harvest if you’re a lean business with contractors that need an all-in-one time tracking, expense tracking, invoicing, and billing solution. (Or a freelancer looking for a paid, all-in-one time tracking solution.)

Find out more about Harvest.

3. Choose MyHours if you’re a small- to medium-sized business and need a simple Clockify alternative with affordable pricing.

Find out more about MyHours.