Best Time Tracking Software for Architects

Website: https://www.getharvest.com/

Best for: Invoicing billable hours by project phase

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Strong invoicing tied to tracked time; Budget alerts by project and task

Cons: Free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects; Flex usage fees can add to the per-seat price

Harvest turns tracked hours into client invoices with less rework than most tools in this list. You set a budget per project or task, track time against it, and the invoice pulls the same numbers. That matters for architects, because one project often runs through concept, schematic design, design development and construction documents. Harvest lets you watch each slice separately instead of learning at the end that one phase ate the fee for the next.

The Teams plan costs $9 per user per month billed annually, and Enterprise costs $14 with timesheet approvals and profitability reporting. A free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects. Note that Harvest now adds Flex usage fees for active projects, clients, tasks and invoicing on top of the seat price, so ask for the full renewal figure before you commit.

Website: https://toggl.com/

Best for: Simple timers architects will actually start

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: One-click timer on web, desktop and mobile; No screenshots or keystroke monitoring

Cons: Billable rates need the Starter tier; Free plan covers up to 3 users

Toggl Track is the timer people start without thinking about it, and that is its main strength for an architecture studio. Architects move between CAD, email, site visits and client calls all day, and a tracker that needs five clicks per entry will be ignored by Friday. Toggl keeps the timer to one click and adds calendar integrations so meetings can become entries. The company states plainly that it takes no screenshots and records no keystrokes, which helps when staff are wary of monitoring.

The free plan covers up to 3 users with timers, tasks and personal reports. Starter costs $9 per user per month billed annually and adds billable rates, team reports and project estimates, which is the tier most billing firms need. Premium costs $16 and adds labour costs, profitability reports and timesheet approvals.

Website: https://clockify.me/

Best for: Low-cost tracking for small studios

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan covers up to 5 users; Kiosk mode for shared clock-in

Cons: Invoicing starts on Standard at $5.49; Free plan reports cover 1 month only

Clockify is the cheapest route to organised time tracking for a small architecture firm. The free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited time entries, projects, timers and timesheets. That alone handles the needs of a five-person practice at no cost. Basic costs $3.99 per user per month billed annually and adds billable rates, bulk editing and a time audit, while Standard at $5.49 adds invoicing, timesheet approvals and time off management.

The trade-off is depth. Clockify is a general tracker, so it has no phase-based fee view like Monograph and no built-in practice accounting like BQE CORE. Reports on the free plan cover only one month of history, and the free user cap changed in April 2026 from unlimited to 5 users, so a growing studio should budget for Basic once the sixth person joins.

Website: https://monograph.com/

Best for: Architecture firms that want fees and phases in one place

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: Free trial (10 days)

Pros: Built for architecture and engineering firms; MoneyGantt links time to phase budgets

Cons: No published per-user price, quote by firm size; Pipeline CRM costs extra as an add-on

Monograph is the only tool in this list built from the ground up for architecture and engineering firms, and it shows in the way it handles fees. Projects are organised by phase, each with its own budget, and the MoneyGantt view shows budget against actual time so a principal can see which phase is drifting before the fee runs out. Time tracking, project planning, staffing, invoicing and reporting sit in one system.

Pricing is the weak point for comparison shopping. Monograph does not publish a per-user price. Its pricing page shows a calculator that returns a monthly range based on firm size, and the Pipeline CRM is a separate add-on rather than part of the core plan. A 10-day trial is available, and the platform is aimed at firms with 5 or more people.

Website: https://www.bqe.com/

Best for: Firms that want time, billing and accounting together

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Time, billing, accounting and project management in one system; Phase-based budgets and fee schedules

Cons: No published price, custom quote only; Implementation fees can run into thousands of dollars

BQE CORE is a full practice management system for architecture and engineering firms, not just a timer. Its Foundations module covers time and expense tracking, billing and invoicing, project management and reporting. Extra modules add accounting, CRM, HR and payroll, so a firm can run most of its back office in one place instead of stitching together four separate tools.

The cost is hard to pin down from public sources. BQE does not publish a price list. Its pricing page describes per-user pricing and custom quotes based on firm size, and third-party estimates put the Foundations plan near $7 to $9 per user per month, but those are estimates, not vendor prices. Implementation fees are commonly reported between $2,000 and $10,000, so ask for the full first-year figure in writing before judging it against a $9 per seat tracker.

Website: https://www.paymoapp.com/

Best for: Small firms that want projects, time and invoices in one app

Starting price: $5.90 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Projects, time, invoicing and proofing in one app; Automatic desktop tracking with Paymo Track

Cons: Solo plan covers 1 user only; Introductory $5.90 rate rises after 3 months

Paymo combines project management, time tracking, invoicing and file proofing in one app. The proofing feature lets a team share a drawing, collect comments on it and track versions, while the same project carries its tasks, tracked hours and invoices. Paymo Track, its desktop app, can record time spent in desktop applications automatically, which helps when architects forget to start a timer while working in CAD.

The free plan covers 1 user with unlimited time tracking and invoicing, limited to 1 client and 2 projects. Solo lists $5.90 per month, with the vendor noting the rate rises to $9.90 after three months, so confirm the current offer at signup. Plus costs $10.90 per user per month billed annually and adds timesheet reports and profitability views, while Pro at $16.90 adds Gantt charts, scheduling and leave management.

Website: https://timely.com/

Best for: Automatic capture for staff who forget timers

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

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Memory tracker records work in the background; AI drafts timesheets for approval

Cons: Starter caps at 5 users and 20 projects; No free plan, trial only

Timely solves the most common failure in time tracking, which is that nobody remembers to start the timer. Its Memory tracker runs in the background, records which apps, documents and websites each person works in, and builds a private timeline. AI then drafts timesheet entries from that timeline, and each person approves them before anything is shared with the team.

Starter costs $9 per user per month billed annually and covers automatic tracking, AI timesheets, billable rates and basic reporting, but it caps at 5 users and 20 projects, which is tight for a firm with many small jobs. Most growing studios land on Premium at $16, which adds budgets, team management and accounting integrations. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial.

Website: https://www.timedoctor.com/

Best for: Automatic tracking with screenshots and activity reports

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

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Automatic tracking with screenshots and activity timelines; Payroll and attendance on Standard

Cons: No free plan, trial only; Screenshots may feel intrusive to design staff

Time Doctor is the monitoring-heavy option in this list, and it fits firms that manage remote or hybrid staff and want proof of how hours were spent. Basic costs $6.67 per user per month billed annually and includes automatic time tracking, screenshots, offline tracking and an activity timeline. 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, AI benchmarks and single sign-on. Every new account gets a 14-day trial of Premium with no card required.

The catch is cultural rather than technical. Screenshots and activity scores can feel intrusive to architects and designers. There is no free plan, so a firm that wants a lighter touch should compare Toggl Track or Clockify first. Time Doctor makes sense when a principal needs attendance records and payroll data alongside time, and the team accepts that level of visibility.

Website: https://everhour.com/

Best for: Budget tracking inside Asana, Jira and ClickUp

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan covers up to 5 seats; Native integrations with Asana, Jira, ClickUp and Monday

Cons: Team plan has a 5-seat minimum charge; Free plan leaves out integrations

Everhour is a good fit for architecture firms that already run projects in Asana, Jira, ClickUp or Monday and do not want a second project system. It layers time tracking, budgets, billing and invoicing onto the tool the team already uses. Budgets can be set per project or task, with alerts when spending passes a threshold, which helps a project architect keep a fee on track.

Pricing is simple. The free plan covers up to 5 seats with time tracking, projects, tasks and reports, but no integrations, which limits it for firms that want the Asana or Jira link. The Team plan costs $8.50 per seat per month billed annually and includes every feature, with no feature gating between tiers. Note the 5-seat minimum charge on the Team plan, so a two-person studio still pays for five seats.

Website: https://www.workflowmax.com/

Best for: Quotes, jobs, timesheets and invoicing in one flow

Starting price: $7.50 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Quotes, jobs, timesheets and invoicing in one flow; Native Xero sync for invoices and bills

Cons: Essentials needs 3 to 25 users; Timesheet approvals need the Advanced tier

WorkflowMax is a job management system rebuilt in 2024 after Xero retired the original product, and it covers the full arc of an architecture job, from lead and quote through job phases, timesheets and invoicing. Time can be recorded against jobs and tasks in eight ways, and approved timesheets flow into invoices or Xero payroll without re-entry. The native Xero sync keeps invoices, bills and payments aligned.

Essentials costs $7.50 per user per month billed annually for 3 to 25 users, Pro costs $13.50 from 5 users, and Advanced costs $22.50 from 10 users, with annual billing saving 10 percent against monthly rates. The limits to check are that Essentials leaves out Kanban boards, custom fields and online quote acceptance, while timesheet approvals, capacity planning and scheduled reports need Advanced.