About 22; min
Harvest and Toggl Track have dominated time tracking for freelancers and agencies for over a decade. Clockify entered as the free alternative that’s good enough for most teams. And now, project management tools like ClickUp and Monday.com include time tracking built in — making standalone tools feel redundant.
Do you still need a dedicated time tracker in 2026? We compared the top options by price, invoicing features, and reporting depth.
Quick Pricing Comparison
| Tool | Free Tier | Paid Starting At | Invoicing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clockify | Unlimited users, unlimited tracking | $3.99/user/mo (Basic) | Pro ($7.99) |
| Toggl Track | Up to 5 users | $9/user/mo (Starter) | No (use Toggl Invoice separately) |
| Harvest | 1 user, 2 projects | $10.80/user/mo | Yes (all plans) |
| ClickUp (built-in) | Unlimited (free plan) | $7/user/mo (Unlimited) | No |
Clockify: Best Free Time Tracker
Clockify’s free tier is the most generous in time tracking: unlimited users, unlimited projects, unlimited tracking hours. No catch, no trial period. A 50-person agency can track time across every project for $0/month.
The free plan includes everything needed for basic time tracking: start/stop timer, manual time entry, project assignments, and basic reports. Paid plans add invoicing ($7.99), budgets, GPS tracking, and scheduling — features that matter for client-facing agencies but not for internal time logging.
When to Upgrade from Clockify Free
- Invoicing: Pro ($7.99) generates invoices from tracked hours. If you currently export Clockify data to a separate invoicing tool, this saves the manual step
- Project budgets: Pro tracks hours against budget limits and alerts when projects approach their cap. Critical for fixed-price projects
- Time off: Basic ($3.99) tracks PTO, sick days, and holidays. Without it, you manage time off in a separate spreadsheet
Toggl Track: Best Reporting
Toggl Track’s free plan caps at 5 users — more restrictive than Clockify’s unlimited. But those 5 users get features Clockify Free doesn’t include: a Pomodoro timer, auto-tracker (detects which apps you use and suggests time entries), and calendar view integration.
Where Toggl Track justifies its higher price: reporting. Starter ($9/user) includes saved reports, project dashboards, and time estimate tracking. Premium ($18/user) adds scheduled report delivery, forecasting, and time audits that flag suspicious entries. For managers who need weekly team reports without manual compilation, Toggl’s reporting is the best in class.
Toggl Track’s Auto-Tracker
Toggl’s auto-tracker runs in the background on your desktop and records which applications, websites, and documents you use throughout the day. At the end of the day, it suggests time entries based on your activity. This catches the hours that people forget to track — typically 15–30% of actual work time. No other time tracker matches this passive tracking capability.
Harvest: Best for Client Invoicing
Harvest is built for agencies that bill clients by the hour. Time tracking flows directly into invoices: select tracked hours, generate an invoice, send it to the client, and collect payment via Stripe or PayPal. The time-to-invoice-to-payment pipeline is the smoothest of any tool on this list.
Harvest’s Strengths
- Invoicing built in: Generate invoices from tracked time with one click. Set hourly rates per project, per team member, or per task
- Expense tracking: Log expenses (receipts, mileage, materials) and include them on invoices alongside time charges
- Budget tracking: Set hour or dollar budgets per project. Visual indicators show budget health at a glance — green/yellow/red
- Payment collection: Accept credit card and PayPal payments directly from invoices. No separate payment processor needed
- QuickBooks/Xero integration: Two-way sync with accounting software. Invoices and expenses flow into your books automatically
Harvest vs Clockify Pro for Invoicing
| Feature | Harvest Pro ($10.80) | Clockify Pro ($7.99) |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice from tracked time | Yes (best) | Yes |
| Online payment collection | Yes (Stripe + PayPal) | No |
| Expense tracking on invoices | Yes | No |
| Recurring invoices | Yes | No |
| QuickBooks/Xero sync | Yes (two-way) | QuickBooks (one-way) |
| Invoice customization | Good | Basic |
Harvest’s invoicing is significantly more complete. If invoicing clients is a weekly task, the $2.81/user premium over Clockify Pro pays for itself in time saved on payment collection and accounting sync alone.
Built-In Time Tracking: ClickUp and Monday.com
Both ClickUp and Monday.com include time tracking in their paid plans. If you already use one for project management, adding a separate time tracker creates unnecessary tool sprawl.
| Feature | ClickUp ($7/user) | Monday.com ($12/user) |
|---|---|---|
| Timer on tasks | Yes (all plans) | Pro plan ($16) only |
| Manual time entry | Yes | Yes |
| Billable hours tracking | Business ($12) | No |
| Time reports | Basic | Basic |
| Invoicing | No | No |
| Integration with Harvest/Toggl | Yes | Yes |
Built-in time tracking covers basic needs: start a timer on a task, log hours, see where time goes. It doesn’t cover invoicing, budgets, detailed labor cost reporting, or client-facing time sheets. For internal time logging (“how long did this feature take?”), built-in tracking is sufficient. For client billing, you still need Harvest or Clockify Pro.
Cost Comparison: 10-Person Agency
| Tool | Monthly | Annual | Includes Invoicing? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clockify Free | $0 | $0 | No |
| Clockify Pro | $79.90 | $959 | Yes (basic) |
| Toggl Track Starter | $90 | $1,080 | No |
| Toggl Track Premium | $180 | $2,160 | No |
| Harvest Pro | $108 | $1,296 | Yes (full) |
Clockify Free at $0 covers time tracking. Adding invoicing (Clockify Pro) costs $959/year. Harvest at $1,296/year includes better invoicing with payment collection. Toggl Track at $1,080–$2,160 doesn’t include invoicing at all — you’d add a separate invoicing tool on top.
Who Should Pick What
Pick Clockify If:
- You need free time tracking for an unlimited team
- Basic invoicing ($7.99/user) is sufficient — you don’t need payment collection or expense tracking on invoices
- GPS tracking matters (field workers, delivery teams)
- Budget is the top priority and you want the most features per dollar
Pick Toggl Track If:
- Detailed reporting and scheduled reports matter to your management workflow
- Auto-tracker (passive time detection) would capture hours your team currently forgets to log
- Your team is under 5 people (free plan) and values UX quality over raw feature count
- You need Pomodoro technique built into your timer
Pick Harvest If:
- Client invoicing from tracked time is a core workflow (agencies, consultancies, freelancers)
- You need payment collection built into your invoicing (Stripe + PayPal)
- Expense tracking alongside time tracking matters (billable expenses on client invoices)
- QuickBooks or Xero integration for accounting is required
Skip Standalone Trackers If:
- You already use ClickUp or Monday.com and only need internal time logging
- Your time tracking needs are basic (which task took how long?) without billing requirements
- Adding another tool creates more overhead than the tracking data is worth
Best free time tracker: Clockify — unlimited users, unlimited tracking, $0. The default for any team starting time tracking.
Best for agencies billing clients: Harvest at $10.80/user — time-to-invoice-to-payment in one tool. The invoicing alone justifies the price over free alternatives.
Best reporting: Toggl Track Premium at $18/user — auto-tracker, scheduled reports, and forecasting. Worth it for managers who need polished weekly reports without manual work.
Best value with invoicing: Clockify Pro at $7.99/user — 26% cheaper than Harvest with basic invoicing that covers most needs.
FAQ
Do people actually track time accurately?
Studies show manual time tracking captures 67% of actual work time. Timer-based tracking captures 80%. Toggl’s auto-tracker captures 90%+. The tool matters less than the habit — but auto-tracking tools significantly improve accuracy.
Can I integrate these with my project management tool?
All three integrate with major PM tools: Asana, Jira, ClickUp, Monday.com, Trello, and Basecamp. Toggl Track has the most integrations (100+). Harvest focuses on fewer, deeper integrations (QuickBooks, Xero, Asana).
Is time tracking legal?
In most countries, tracking employee time is legal with appropriate notice. GPS tracking and screenshot monitoring have stricter regulations — check local labor laws. Clockify and Toggl both provide employee-friendly tracking (timer-based, not surveillance-based).
Should freelancers use a separate time tracker or their invoicing tool?
Harvest handles both in one tool — track time and send invoices from the same platform. If you already use FreshBooks or QuickBooks for invoicing, their built-in time trackers are sufficient. Adding a separate tool only makes sense if you need advanced tracking features (auto-tracker, Pomodoro).
