The 5 Best Time Tracking Apps in 2023 | Toggl Blog
Skip to content
22 min read

The 5 Best Time Tracking Apps in 2023

Sean Collins Sean Collins Last Updated:

With nearly 600 time tracking apps, how do you pick the best time tracker? 

You can easily spend 100s of hours going through all the options and reviews online.

Just look at this G2 grid for the top time tracking software products. 😢

Source

In this guide, we’ll go through four tried and tested time tracking apps that millions have used across the globe to try and find you the best one.


⏳ Looking for a time tracking app for your small business? Click here.


The best time tracking apps of 2023

  1. Toggl Track — best timer tracker for small businesses
  2. Clockify — best for freelancers
  3. Replicon — best for enterprise companies
  4. Hubstaff — best for field service companies
  5. RescueTime — best for individuals

Note: apps are not ranked in order. We have selected the best time tracking apps for different use cases.

Here’s a quick overview.

SoftwareG2 RatingNo. ReviewsFREEPerfect for
Toggl Track4.61,500+YesSmall businesses
Clockify4.5130+YesFreelancers
Replicon4.3600+NoEnterprises
Hubstaff4.3400+YesField teams
RescueTime4.180+YesIndividuals

Data taken directly from G2. Accurate as of October 2022.

What makes the best time tracking software?

This depends on what you want to get out of it. There are plenty of apps out there to track time — each for a different type of user. For example, software built for an enterprise company won’t be helpful for someone who wants to track their time at home to be more productive.

But you may want to consider the following general criteria when choosing what time tracking software is best for you:

  • Ease of use (especially for teams) 
  • Features that address your problems
  • A price point that works with your budget
  • UI – nobody likes a clunky tool!

Now let’s explore each time tracking app in detail. 👇

1. Toggl Track

Best time tracking app for small businesses — 4.6 rating based on 1.5K+ reviews with over 1M+ downloads

Source

Disclaimer: This is our app. We believe our ratings and the reviews we receive online justify our position on this list. We hope you do, too! 😊


With over 1,500 reviews on G2 alone, Toggl Track is considered one of the best time tracking apps out there.

It’s a simple time tracking tool that makes tracking time a breeze — whether you manage projects in single or multiplayer mode. 

But most importantly, it’s built for small businesses and agencies. It will help to keep projects profitable and your team productive. Let’s examine the core features you and your agency may find helpful.

Check out our demo video below.

Core use cases for your business

Let’s look at the core features of Toggl Track that can help your business.

FeatureDescription
Employee and resource managementGet the data you need without disrupting your team’s workflow. Track’s one-click time tracking syncs across multiple platforms.
Billing and invoicing Track billable hours for projects and clients as you go. Invoice clients for the exact time you put in.
Project time trackingCreate realistic project scopes based on time tracking data. Manage team workloads to prevent burnout.
Project reportingFine-tune your pricing, prioritize, and grow your business with profitability projections, earning-per-client data, ROI reports, and other key insights.
Payroll time trackingAssign billable rates to view reliable payroll data linked to every employee and contractor.

Employee and resource management

One of the most significant benefits of using time-tracking software is increased team visibility and work visibility. 

Toggl Track works as your employee time tracking software, so you can learn how to manage your team by assigning team members to projects and running reports on their tracked hours. You can then view the ‘team’ tab for their tracked hours. 

Source
Top tips to enlarge those brains Top tip:

Take your employee and resource management to the next level with Toggl Track’s reports dashboard. The reports available allow you to get a birdseye view of your team’s work within seconds. Allowing you to spot if people have available time for extra project work and reshuffle if needed.

Jump to the reporting section below to learn more.

Project time tracking and budgeting

Getting the client to approve a project budget is easy compared to keeping the project within budget.

Using Toggl Track, you can manage your project budgets in real-time. You can view your current billable amount against the project budget inside the project dashboard.

Example of project data in Toggl Track

Giving you an overview of project costs and time on all your projects.

You can also dig a little deeper into each project budget and see the trendline for each one to know if you’re on track to stay within budget.

Project insights in Toggl Track

The Insights Dashboard will also give instant access to data such as total project earnings, labor cost, and the remaining budget balance.

Project insights in Toggl Track

Core time tracking features for your projects include

Check out the project time tracking page for more information.

Project reporting

Want to see where your team spends their time at a glance? You can do this with Toggl Track’s Reporting Dashboards. They allow you to filter time entries by project, team, or date to create insightful reports.

How does the reports dashboard work?

You get access to three different types of reports.

Report typeDescription
Summary ReportOffers an overview of time tracked. With its grouping options, this report is perfect for sending clients who do not want to see the daily nitty-gritty details of your time tracking but only need a quick overview. 
Detailed Report
The Detailed Report includes a list of all time entries based on the chosen filters in chronological order. Use this report to go through time entries with a fine-tooth comb using our Audit feature or as an attachment to your client invoices. 
Weekly Report For a weekly overview, use the Weekly Report. This report shows hours tracked by day, split by activity. Users can also sign up for a weekly overview email with their hours on their Profile page

Check out the video below for a quick overview of the reports dashboard in Toggl Track.

The reports in Toggl Track helped PR Firm Sweat+Co to recuperate 20% of profitability.

Payroll time tracking

It’s time to ditch the chaotic time cards and time codes. Toggl Track lets your team track time on any device across projects. Allowing admins to export payroll timesheet data in two clicks.

How? Toggl Track will help you to

  1. Ditch the chaotic time cards and time codes. Your team can track time on any device across projects. 
  2. Export payroll timesheet data in two clicks.
  3. Assign billable rates to team members and calculate how much they’ve contributed to billable work. 

Check out our payroll hours tracking page for more information.

Billing and invoicing 

Leave behind messy spreadsheets and forgotten time cards. The time tracker in Toggl Track allows you and your team to easily track billable time with one click across multiple projects, tasks, and clients.

How?

One-click timers used within time tracking software make tracking your billable hours super easy.

With Toggl Track, here’s how:

  1. Type in your ‘time entry description’
  2. Find your client
  3. Select what “project’ you’re working on
  4. Select the ‘task’ within a project
  5. Start the timer
Timer mode in Toggl Track

You can track down to the second, or, if it’s standard in your industry, round up your time using our round-up feature.

It takes a few seconds to switch your timer to a different task and drastically improve the accuracy of your billable hours.

You can then easily export and use this time tracking data to accurate create invoices for your clients.

Suggested reading:

What buyers like about Toggl Track

Source
  1. “This is essential: everyone has his own schedule and personal workflow and Toggl adapts to it rather than forcing a new approach. You can use the web app, the mobile app, the desktop one, and mails reports are a great tool to keep you updated.” – Alessandro B
  2. “Toggl allows me to learn from past projects and estimate better for future projects. I can learn through metrics and improve time estimates. I love the different views this allows me to understand my agenda and the projects my team spends the most time on.“ – Lorena M.
  3. “Toggl Track’s ease of use makes it an invaluable tool; I’ve used it for professional and personal time tracking. There is a great deal of room for customization and error checking, and the start/stop of the timer is very seamless.” – Lisa O.

Check out more reviews on G2.

Integrations

Screenshot of a webpage by Toggl Track showing their available integrations.
Source

What about integration capabilities; can Toggl Track connect to your favorite apps?

You bet your boots it can! Toggl Track integrates with popular project management tools such as Asana, Trello, Jira, and more. It can also work with payment systems like Quickbooks and Zoho Books.

Whether in the office or on a business trip, you could be on the freakin’ moon, and Toggl Track will still track your hours.

Pricing

Screenshot of a webpage by Toggl Track showing their pricing options.
Source

Toggl Track can be used as a free time tracking app, or you can unlock premium features on the paid plans.

PlanCost
Free$0
Starter$9 per month per user
Premium$18 per month per user
EnterpriseCustom pricing – unlimited users (contact us for more info).

The free plan gives you access to unlimited projects and clients and full access to our web, mobile, and desktop apps. Visit our pricing page for more information.

2. Clockify

Best time tracking app for freelancers — 4.5 rating based on 134+ reviews

Like Toggl Track, Clockify is another good time tracking app for freelancers and contractors that lets you track billable hours and hourly rates. It can work for anyone who bills by the hour. Regardless if you’re a consultant, freelancer, or independent contractor.

Core features for freelancers

Clockify has the same set of great core features as many of the other apps out there. Let’s take a look at some of them!

FeatureDescription
Multiple appsTrack time from anywhere with Clockify’s desktop and mobile apps. Track time using the one-click timer or add missing time manually later.
Reporting featuresClockify can produce summary and weekly reports that automatically calculate amounts based on your billable rates. Perfect for client invoices and tracking project hours.
Track your earningsClockify calculates your money earned based on your billable rates and project ROI and assesses your productivity levels. . 

Multiple time tracking apps

Tracking time on the go is critical for any freelancer or contractor. With Clockify, you can track time anywhere using their desktop or mobile apps.

Source

Their apps allow you to track time using a one-click timer or add missing time manually later. Plus, they integrate with other favorite task and project management apps!

Reporting features

Ever wonder where your time is being spent? Well, with Clockify, you can get access to that information in an instant!

Their summary and weekly reports automatically calculate your work hours based on your tracked time billable rates. All information can easily be exported as PDF, CSV, or Excel files for your clients.

Source

Track your earnings

Start getting paid what you deserve with Clockify’s ability to automatically how much you’ve earned per client or project. This will help you to assess project profitability in real-time with their project time tracker.

Source

What do buyers like about Clockify?

Source
  1. “Clockify is a free tool for tracking your time. It allows me to select clients, different projects, and even tasks that I defined in advance. I can also add details to each tracking time.” – Damla V
  2. “…integrates seamlessly with our tools, and their reports and reviewing make time tracking a breeze. We can easily use reports to view breakdowns of which projects are being worked on and taking the most time…” – David M
  3. “The web interface is great, the ‘spirit’ that comes through pricing, new features and branding and it just works so well. The free version is very usable, and the paid features do still add value.” – Mohamed

Check out more reviews on G2.

Integrations

Source

What about integration capabilities; can Clockify connect to your favorite apps?

Yep! Their integration capabilities make it easy to track time from anywhere on the web with one click. Just install their browser extension, log in, and a timer button will automatically appear inside other apps.

Pricing

PlanCost
FreeFree forever
Basicstarts at $3.99/mo
Standardstarts at $5.49/mo
Prostarts at $7.99/mo
Enterprisestarts at $11.99/mo

View their pricing page for more information.

3. Replicon

Best time tracking app for enterprises — 4.3 rating based on 600+ reviews 

Source

Replicon provides end-to-end Time Management software and services to enterprises of all sizes. Capture, analyze, and optimize time, your organization’s most critical asset, to improve profitability, productivity, and employee satisfaction.

You can leverage Replicon’s scalable, agile platform to manage project time across your global business and share it across your ecosystem.

It’s one of the best time tracking tools for enterprise companies.

Check out their demo video below.

Core features for enterprises 

Let’s look at some of its top features for enterprises.

FeatureDescription
Auto-time trackingAutomatically captures global employees’ time and work data by leveraging AI/ML to create review-ready timesheets.
Analytics dashboardLeverage a unified time tracking platform to collect time data and transform the information into costs, utilization, billing, pay, and other metrics.
Global complianceImplement and adhere to compliance and labor laws irrespective of your geographic location

Auto-time tracking with ZeroTime

Source

We both know employees don’t like time tracking in general. Replicon alleviates this pain with ZeroTime. It’s an AI-powered auto-time tracking tool that replaces manual work.

ZeroTime can:

  • Collect accurate employee time data from various sources
  • Assemble pre-filled timesheets for your employees to review and submit
  • Save the valuable time of employees, ensuring up to a 10-15% increase in productivity
  • Enable up to 10% growth in project profitability

ZeroTime leverages AI to

  • Reconstruct the work week across multiple projects
  • Add up to $26,500* annual revenue per employee
  • Capture accurate time spent across projects

Check out the ZeroTime page for more information.

Analytics dashboard

Source

Leverage a unified time tracking platform to collect time data and transform the information into costs, utilization, billing, payment, and other metrics.

The analytics dashboard by Replicon allows you to

  • Plan and forecast project metrics accurately based on historical and real-time information and manage delivery in the now.
  • Easily analyze your project data to go well with your business requirements.
  • Avoid over/under allocation with configurable reports and daily visibility into granular work status.

Check out the analytics page for more information.

Global compliance

Source

Replicon has a compliance dashboard that allows you to implement and adhere to compliance and labor laws irrespective of your geographic location. Replicon takes the hassle out of compliance management for work, overtime, minimum wages, and time off.

Enterprises can benefit from

  • Global statutory default pay rules library
  • Unified platform to manage time and pay compliance
  • Monitored for statutory updates
  • Continuous over-the-air updates
  • Built-in change management for compliance updates

Check out the compliance page for more information.

What do buyers like about Replicon?

Source
  1. “The system is easy to use. You can copy the project codes from the last timesheet period to save time by avoiding the need to re-enter this information. And if there is a different project code that needs to be reported in the current period, it is easy to search for the project code name directly in the field where the project code gets entered.” – Matthew V (CFO)
  2. “Customer service experience is unparalleled, and the features of the software serve all of my corporate timesheet and expense tracking needs.” – Sean G (President)
  3. “very user-friendly, solid support team that is always happy and eager to help and provide advice. Gives solid insights into hours spent vs budgeted and allows project managers to create a rolling forecast. Easy access to project information and budgets spent. Solid options for time off registration. Good features for KPI’s. The tool saves lots of time when dealing with many projects to manage” – Ingrid R (Director Operations)

Check out more reviews on G2.

Integrations

Source

What about integration capabilities; can Replicon connect to your favorite apps?

Yep! Their integration capabilities make it easy to share Replicon data with your existing business applications, including project management, HR, payroll, accounting, ERP systems & more.

Pricing

Source
PlanCost
Project time tracking suitestarts at $12/mo
Time and attendance product suitestarts at $6/mo
Professional services automation suitestarts at $29/mo

View their pricing page for more information.

4. Hubstaff

Best time tracking app for field services — 4.3 rating based on 400+ reviews

Source

Its range of tracking and monitoring features makes it one of the best time tracking apps for field services.

Hubstaff’s field service software helps you schedule jobs, track time from mobile apps, and streamline the entire payment process for greater profitability.

Check out their demo video below.

Core features for field services

Let’s look at some of its top features for field services.

FeatureDescription
GPS TrackingTrack locations, optimize routes, and see time spent at different job sites.
Geo-fenced time cards Avoid human error by automatically clocking your crews in and out based on their GPS location.
Work ordersCreate work orders for clients and maintenance requests and schedule jobs, so crews stay on track just with their mobile devices.

GPS tracking

Source

The biggest draw for this feature is that you can see who is working and where they are working.

How does it work?

Your team will have to download the app and be sent a link to install it on their phone within seconds. 

You will then be able to monitor their time and location, see what routes employees took to the job and when they clocked in and out. 

Timesheets are then generated for each employee based on the hours they tracked per day.

Other benefits include

  • See how long workers spend at each location
  • Know when a job starts late or goes over budget
  • Monitor travel routes in real-time

Check out their GPS time tracking page for more information.

Automated time cards based on location

This feature in Hubstaff allows field service companies to create geofences that can send alerts or start tracking the time their employees enter job sites.

Source

How does it work?

  1. Your crew installs the geofence time clock app on Android or iOS devices and grants permission.
  2. Using geofences, the app for mobile devices can automatically start the timer when crews arrive at a job site. Or, it can send a reminder for them to clock in as they arrive.
  3. You’ll get detailed, location-based records of work hours and can see when scheduled shifts start on time.

Benefits include:

  • Schedule shifts and track them with geofences
  • Set up and organize jobs based on work orders
  • Track employee location as they travel. Including routes taken and stops made

Check out their geo-fencing page for more information.

Work orders

Source

Improve service delivery with work orders you can create and assign to the right people. Schedule jobs with start times, locations, and other details, so your field workers always know where to go next.

How do they work?

  • Create and schedule new work orders – Enter details and checklists specific to each client so everything’s in one place.
  • Teams and asset management – Schedule your crew to the right jobs or maintenance tasks to reduce downtime.
  • Your team tracks time toward a scheduled job – With an automatic functionality to clock in and out on work requests, your team can manage their time right from their device through the mobile app.

Benefits include

  • Organize and access client details all in one place
  • Messy paper schedules or spreadsheets are no more
  • See locations and management processes any time

Check out their work order page for more information.

Top tips to enlarge those brains Top tip:

While the number of monitoring and tracking features available is excellent for managers, you must consider your team before picking any time tracking tool. They’re going to be the ones using it daily. 

Unless you need it (which is debatable), employee surveillance is a waste of time, in our opinion. It’s just noise. 

Random screenshots and location data with no context provide no real insight into how people work. You’re doing it wrong if you spend time poring over employee web surfing data to assess performance.

Toggl Track stands against employee surveillance and micromanagement. Monitoring has never been a feature in our software or our culture—and it never will be.

When evaluating employee performance, we measure output, not input.

What buyers like about Hubstaff

  1. “I find its widget/app the best because you need not sign in every time or do a lot of clicks. Just open the widget, click the start button, and that’s it! It’s easier to track the time you spent in working…” – Fel M. Student Service Representative
  2. “You can track employees’ hours in a detailed way, see random screenshots, and also get clarity on the quality of their work based on their activity.” – Administrator in Real Estate“This tool has helped me to generate effective reports based on its tracking and monitoring feature which has enabled me to analyze the onsite work progress of my team” – Emily F. Director Of Finance And Operations.
  3. “This tool has helped me to generate effective reports based on its tracking and monitoring feature which has enabled me to analyze the onsite work progress of my team” – Emily F. Director Of Finance And Operations.

Check out more reviews on G2.

Integrations

What about integration capabilities; can Hubstaff connect to your favorite apps?

Hubstaff has over 30 different app integrations for time tracking, project management, accounting, and payments.

Pricing

Hubstaff has four available plans.

Source
PlanCost
Desk Free$0
Desk Started$5 per month per user
Desk Pro$8 per month per user
Enterprisecontact for more info.

Visit their pricing page for more information.

5. RescueTime

Best time tracking app for individuals and students — 4.1 rating based on 80+ reviews

Source

Do you struggle to focus on your work? Constantly jumping from one task to another? 

RescueTime is a simple time tracking app that’s great for individuals that struggle with being productive.

RescueTime provides automatic time-tracking and distraction management tools to millions of people around the world. With 14 years of experience, RescueTime is a leader in habit-building software.

Check out their demo video below.

Core features for individuals

Let’s look at some of the basic time tracking features for individuals.

FeatureDescription 
Focus SessionsRescueTime’s Focus Sessions eliminate distractions and keep your focus where it belongs.
Automatic time trackingRescueTime’s automatic time tracking software tracks what you’re working on and alerts you to the best times for uninterrupted work or when you’re losing focus and trying to tackle too many tasks at once.
ReportsUnderstand your productivity and how you’re spending your time and use that information to accomplish more while improving your work/life balance.

Focus Sessions

Source

Imagine a world where you only need to focus on one thing at a time. Focus Sessions make it possible.

Focus Sessions are just one of the tools included in RescueTime’s time-tracking and time-management software, so you get a complete picture of your work habits.

How do they work?

  • Customize your Focus Session in seconds
  • Improve your mindset with Focus Session prep
  • Focus! (they’ll handle the distractions)

Features of Focus Sessions include

  • Pre-session warmups – A narrated warmup prepares you to set aside mental distractions and “mono-task.”
  • Mood music – Connect Spotify and pair your session with the perfect focus playlist.
  • Work companions – Drop by our virtual workspace to focus on people worldwide.
  • Post-session reports – Check your Focus Session summary to watch your work habits improve.

Check out the Focus Sessions page for more information.

Automatic time tracking

Source

To become your most productive self, you must understand how you spend your time. This is where RescueTime steps in.

How? 

The automatic time tracking feature from RescueTime automatically pays attention to 

  • the apps you use 
  • which files you open
  • what websites you visit
  • logs how much time you spend on each of them

Check out their site for more information.

Reports

Source

Imagine if you could see a clear picture of your work day. This is whereRescueTime’s reports can help you out. 

Understand your productivity and how you’re spending your time and use that information to accomplish more while improving your work/life balance.

Check out their site for more information.

What do users like about RescueTime?

Source
  1. “Absolutely easy to automate tracking 100%. Just configure it once and forget about it. RescueTime can track the titles of the documents in every app (if you choose to enable it) — so much so, that you can ignore a particular Twitter page, but mark another as productive, and another as distracting. – Karthik R.
  2. “It’s so easy, you don’t have to do anything. Just work and it will track your activity. It is 0 annoying, as they only notify you of really relevant events.” – Xavier C.
  3. “I liked that I learned a lot about where my time goes. I can often get distracted when I’m researching something, and end up on a totally unrelated task. FocusTime definitely made me more aware of when I started wandering.” – Lauren T.

Integrations

Source

What about integration capabilities; can Hubstaff connect to your favorite apps? RescueTime can connect to hundreds of apps through IFTTT and Zapier.

Some of its core intergrations include:

Pricing and available platforms

Source

RescueTime has two available plans.

PlanCost
Lite$0
Pro$12 per month per user

Visit their G2 pricing page for more information.

Ready, set, choose your best time tracking app!

And there you go; a list of four contenders for the crown of the best time tracking app.

What do you think? Did any app stand out to you above the rest? If so, fire up that free trial and give it a whirl!

Sean Collins

Sean is a Content Marketer at Toggl. He's been involved in SEO and Content Marketing since 2017. Before working for Toggl, Sean ran SEO at a digital marketing agency—so he's all too familiar with time tracking and project management.

Join 30,000+ subscribers getting the best tips on productivity, work management, hiring and more!

We promise we won't spam you and you can unsubscribe anytime.