Time Tracking · Researched comparison

Best Time Tracking Software for Agencies

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Key takeaways

  • Agencies bill by the hour, by retainer, or by project, so a tracker must handle billable rates, budgets, and approvals without a workaround.
  • Toggl Track, Clockify, Harvest, and Everhour cover the basics at $9 or less per user per month, while Productive and Teamwork add profitability and capacity views.
  • Time Doctor, DeskTime, and Hubstaff add monitoring and location data, which suits agencies whose clients ask for evidence of work.
  • A free plan covers a small agency on the simple trackers, but invoicing, approvals, and profitability reports sit on priced tiers.

Comparison

How these compare
ToolBest forPrice rangeFree plan
Toggl TrackClient billing with a simple one-click timer$9 per user/month (billed annually)Yes
ClockifyBudget agencies that need unlimited projects$3.99 per user/month (billed annually)Yes
HarvestSimple time and expense tracking with invoicing$9 per seat/month (billed annually)Yes
EverhourAgencies already living in Asana or Trello$8.50 per seat/month (billed annually)Yes
HubstaffField and remote teams that need GPS and screenshots$4.99 per seat/month (billed annually)Free trial (14 days)
Time DoctorDistraction alerts and productivity analytics$6.67 per user/month (billed annually)Free trial (14 days)
DeskTimeAutomatic tracking with no timers to start$6.42 per user/month (billed annually)Free trial (14 days)
TeamworkClient projects with time tracking and invoicing$9.99 per user/month (billed annually)Free trial (30 days)
ProductiveAgency profitability, budgets, and capacity$10 per user/month (billed annually)Free trial (14 days)

How we choose

We compared vendor pricing pages, product documentation, and feature lists for time tracking tools used by agencies, and we checked every price in this article against the vendor's own pricing page on 11 November 2026. We looked at timer design, billable rates, retainer and fixed-fee support, invoicing, profitability reporting, and capacity planning, and at how hours connect to client billing. We compared free plan limits and the point at which a team must move to a priced plan. We did not run hands-on trials, and we did not use review scores to rank the tools. The order below reflects fit for agency work, not a quality score.

Our full method

The shortlist

★ Best overall

The best time tracking software for agencies

2

Toggl Track

Best for Client billing with a simple one-click timer

Website: https://toggl.com

Best for: Client billing with a simple one-click timer

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: One-click timer with 100 plus integrations; clean billable rate reports

Cons: Timesheet approvals and profitability reports need Premium at $16 per user; no native invoicing or scheduling

Toggl Track is the timer most agencies reach for first, because it stays out of the way. A one-click timer runs in the browser, on desktop, or on mobile, and entries sync into projects, clients, and tags. Billable rates and project estimates sit on the Starter plan at $9 per user per month on annual billing, so a small agency can quote a job, track against the estimate, and export the numbers for an invoice without a second tool. The free plan covers up to 5 users, which fits a tiny agency, while Starter adds team reports and revenue views. Premium at $16 per user per month adds timesheet approvals, labor cost and profitability reports, fixed-fee projects, project dashboards, and single sign-on. There is no invoicing or scheduling inside Toggl Track, and no screenshot monitoring, which many agencies count as a plus. It suits teams that bill by the hour and want a clean, fast timer.

3

Clockify

Best for Budget agencies that need unlimited projects

Website: https://clockify.me

Best for: Budget agencies that need unlimited projects

Starting price: $3.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan covers 5 users with unlimited projects and tracking; very low entry price

Cons: Screenshots, GPS, and activity monitoring wait for Pro at $7.99 per user; invoicing needs Standard at $5.49 per user

Clockify is the low-cost way to give a whole agency a shared timer and a single source of truth for hours. The free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited projects, clients, and tracking, and the Basic plan at $3.99 per user per month on annual billing adds admin controls, a time audit, and bulk editing. Standard at $5.49 adds invoicing, time off, and timesheet approvals, which covers the billing workflow for many small firms. The trade-off is that anything that looks like monitoring costs more. Screenshots, GPS tracking, and activity monitoring start on Pro at $7.99, and the Enterprise plan at $11.99 adds data region choice and single sign-on. Clockify integrates with a wide range of project tools, and its reports break hours down by client, project, and person. For an agency that trusts its people and wants hours, not surveillance, the lower tiers are enough.

4

Harvest

Best for Simple time and expense tracking with invoicing

Website: https://www.getharvest.com

Best for: Simple time and expense tracking with invoicing

Starting price: $9 per seat/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Clean time and expense tracking with invoicing built in; simple to learn

Cons: Profitability reporting needs Enterprise at $14 per seat; usage fees apply on Flex

Harvest keeps time tracking simple, which is why small agencies adopt it fast. The Teams plan starts at $9 per seat per month on annual billing, and it covers time tracking, expenses, invoicing, and project budgets. A team can log hours against a project, see the budget burn, and send an invoice from the same numbers, which removes the spreadsheet step that many small agencies still use. The free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects, so a solo operator can start without a card. Enterprise at $14 per seat per month adds profitability reporting and more controls, while Forecast, the capacity planning companion, is a separate product at $5 per person per month. Harvest also charges usage fees under its Flex model for active projects, clients, tasks, and invoicing, so the monthly total can rise above the seat price. It suits agencies that want simple, honest time and invoice data.

5

Everhour

Best for Agencies already living in Asana or Trello

Website: https://everhour.com

Best for: Agencies already living in Asana or Trello

Starting price: $8.50 per seat/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Timer lives inside Asana, Trello, Jira, and GitHub; budgets and invoicing included

Cons: Free plan has no project management integrations; Team plan has a 5-seat minimum

Everhour is a time tracking layer that sits inside the project tools an agency already uses. Instead of asking people to open a second app, it adds a timer and time reports to Asana, Trello, Jira, Basecamp, and GitHub boards. The free plan covers up to 5 seats with unlimited time tracking, projects, and reports, but it leaves out the project management integrations that make Everhour worth buying. Team at $8.50 per seat per month on annual billing adds those integrations, plus budgets, invoicing, reminders, billable rates, time approval, scheduling, expenses, time cards, and API access. The Team plan carries a 5-seat minimum, so a team of 3 still pays for 5 seats, and annual billing saves 15 percent with no refund for unused months. Everhour has no screenshot monitoring, so it suits agencies that want hours tied to tasks without watching screens. The main limit is scope: it is a tracker, not a scheduler or a capacity planner.

6

Hubstaff

Best for Field and remote teams that need GPS and screenshots

Website: https://hubstaff.com

Best for: Field and remote teams that need GPS and screenshots

Starting price: $4.99 per seat/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: GPS tracking, screenshots, and payroll in one place; low starting price

Cons: 2-seat minimum on priced plans; Starter caps screenshots at 500 per user per month

Hubstaff is the tracker for agencies with people working away from the office, because it pairs a timer with GPS and screenshots. Starter at $4.99 per seat per month on annual billing covers time tracking, screenshots, activity levels, and basic reports, with a 2-seat minimum. Grow and Team tiers add scheduling, payroll, and deeper reporting, while Insights, Locations, and the silent app are extra-cost add-ons. There is no permanent free plan, only a 14-day trial, so an agency must commit after the trial ends. Starter caps screenshots and app and URL tracking at 500 per user per month, which can bind a team that tracks heavily. Hubstaff also handles payroll and invoicing, which suits agencies that pay contractors by the hour and want one system for hours and pay. It fits distributed and field teams that need proof of work alongside the hours.

7

Time Doctor

Best for Distraction alerts and productivity analytics

Website: https://www.timedoctor.com

Best for: Distraction alerts and productivity analytics

Starting price: $6.67 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Distraction alerts and web and app usage reports; payroll and scheduling on Standard

Cons: No free plan; Basic lacks integrations, payroll, and web and app tracking

Time Doctor takes the most active approach to productivity of the tools in this list. When someone opens a site a manager has flagged as non-work, a pop-up alert tells them to get back to work. Basic at $6.67 per user per month on annual billing covers time tracking, screenshots, projects, and tasks. Standard at $11.67 adds web and app usage reports, attendance, payroll, and more than 60 integrations, while Premium at $16.70 adds video screen recording and AI benchmarks. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, so an agency must commit after the trial ends. Premium features are also sold as add-ons on lower plans at about $3 per user per month each, which can cost more than simply moving up a tier. Time Doctor fits agencies whose clients ask for evidence of work and that are open about monitoring, and it is the wrong choice for a team that sees monitoring as a trust problem.

8

DeskTime

Best for Automatic tracking with no timers to start

Website: https://desktime.com

Best for: Automatic tracking with no timers to start

Starting price: $6.42 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Fully automatic tracking from the moment a computer starts; private time option for staff

Cons: No free plan; screenshots and shift scheduling need Premium at $9.17 per user

DeskTime records apps, websites, and documents automatically from the moment a computer switches on, then sorts that activity into productive and unproductive categories. Nobody has to remember to start a timer, which removes the most common source of missing hours in an agency. Pro at $6.42 per user per month on annual billing includes automatic tracking, productivity calculations, project tracking, and an absence calendar, while Premium at $9.17 adds screenshots, integrations and API access, and shift scheduling. Staff can switch on private time to pause tracking and review their own data, which softens the monitoring side of the tool. There is no permanent free plan, only a 14-day trial, and there is no built-in invoicing, so billing still needs a second step. Prices exclude VAT, which matters for buyers in the European Union. DeskTime fits agencies that want passive, always-on time data across a hybrid team.

9

Teamwork

Best for Client projects with time tracking and invoicing

Website: https://www.teamwork.com

Best for: Client projects with time tracking and invoicing

Starting price: $9.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Time tracking, milestones, and invoicing built in; client-facing project views

Cons: No permanent free plan; the interface is less visual than monday.com or Asana

Teamwork is built for teams that deliver client work, and agency delivery is exactly that kind of work. Basics at $9.99 per user per month on annual billing covers unlimited projects, milestones, task lists, and time tracking, with client users able to view their own projects. Accelerate at $24.99 adds portfolios, workload, project templates, and profitability reports, which helps an agency lead see which clients consume the most hours. Time tracking sits inside the project, so a team can see how much effort each campaign or retainer actually takes, and invoicing follows from the same data. There is no permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial, which is a real difference from most tools here. Teamwork suits agencies that bill for delivery and want hours tied to clients, with a calm interface that clients can follow without training.

10

Productive

Best for Agency profitability, budgets, and capacity

Website: https://productive.io

Best for: Agency profitability, budgets, and capacity

Starting price: $10 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Budgets, profitability, and capacity planning built for agencies; strong reporting

Cons: No permanent free plan; a 3-seat minimum applies on priced plans

Productive is built for agencies, and it shows in the way it connects time to money. Essential at $10 per user per month on annual billing covers time tracking, project budgets, invoicing, and reporting, with a 3-seat minimum. Professional at $25 adds capacity planning, profitability reports, custom fields, and advanced permissions, which is where a growing agency sees which clients actually make money. There is a 14-day trial and no permanent free plan. The point of Productive is the margin view: hours, rates, and costs roll into profitability by client, project, and person, so a manager can see a retainer slipping before the month ends. It also covers sales pipelines and resource scheduling, which makes it a fuller agency system than a simple timer. Productive suits agencies of 10 to 100 people that want one place for budgets, capacity, and billing, and it is more than a small team needs.

What to check before you buy

Check how the tool handles retainers, because an agency that bills a monthly retainer needs burn tracking and overage billing, and only some tools in this list do that well. Ask where profitability reporting sits, since Toggl Track and Clockify keep it on a higher tier while Productive builds it in from the start. Confirm the invoicing flow: some tools export hours for a separate invoicing step, while others generate the invoice themselves. Read the monitoring settings before rollout, since screenshots and distraction alerts need a written policy and staff consent in many workplaces.

Test the timer on the devices your team actually uses, and check that billable rates, project budgets, and client reports all match how you quote work. Confirm the export format matches your accounting tool, and confirm how the vendor counts a billable seat, since guests, clients, and deactivated users are treated differently across vendors.

FAQ

What is the best time tracking software for an agency?

Toggl Track is the strongest fit for most agencies, because Starter at $9 per user per month adds billable rates, team reports, and project estimates. Productive suits agencies that want profitability and capacity planning, while Clockify suits a small agency on a tight budget. The right choice depends on whether you bill by the hour, by retainer, or by project.

How do agencies track billable hours?

They log hours against a client and a project, apply a billable rate, and compare the total against the quote or the retainer. Toggl Track, Clockify, and Everhour all support billable rates, while Productive and Teamwork add budgets and profitability views. Timesheet approvals on a higher tier keep the numbers clean before an invoice goes out.

What is the cheapest time tracking software for agencies?

Clockify is the cheapest priced entry point, at $3.99 per user per month on annual billing, and its free plan covers up to 5 users. Hubstaff starts at $4.99 per seat per month, while Toggl Track and Harvest start at $9. Everhour free covers up to 5 seats, but the project management integrations wait for the Team plan.

Does time tracking software handle retainers?

Some of it does, and some of it does not. Productive tracks budgets that work like a retainer, with burn and profitability views by client. Toggl Track, Clockify, and Everhour handle retainers through fixed-fee projects and budgets, which needs more manual setup. Check the retainer workflow before you buy, and ask how overage hours are billed.

Can time tracking software replace an agency management tool?

No, a simple tracker cannot replace an agency management tool. Timers record hours and rates, while a system such as Productive or Teamwork adds capacity planning, sales pipelines, and profitability reporting. A small agency can run on Toggl Track plus an invoicing tool, but a growing agency usually needs the fuller system.

Sources we checked

  • https://toggl.com/pricing/
  • https://clockify.me/pricing
  • https://www.getharvest.com/pricing
  • https://everhour.com/pricing
  • https://hubstaff.com/pricing
  • https://www.timedoctor.com/pricing
  • https://desktime.com/pricing
  • https://www.teamwork.com/pricing
  • https://productive.io/pricing
How we score

Need the method behind these picks?

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The best time tracking software for agencies#1 PICK