9 Best Time Tracking Software for Creative Studios

Website: https://getharvest.com/

Best for: Client billing and invoicing for studios

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Clean invoicing from tracked time; clear project and client reports

Cons: Profitability reports need the Enterprise plan; usage fees can add to the seat price

Harvest fits creative studios that bill clients by the hour and need invoices that match the work. The timer is simple, the weekly timesheet is easy to read, and time can be grouped by client, project and task. Billable and cost rates sit at team level, so a studio can see what each person bills and what each person costs.

The free plan covers one seat and two projects, which suits a solo designer testing the tool, while a studio needs the Teams plan at $9 per seat per month on annual billing, or $11 billed monthly. Enterprise starts at $14 per seat per month on annual billing and adds profitability reporting, timesheet approvals, an activity log and single sign on. Harvest also charges usage fees for invoices, projects, clients and tasks above the included amounts, and those rates are not published per unit.

Website: https://toggl.com/

Best for: Simple timers and billable rates

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Fast one click timer with calendar views; billable rates and team reports on Starter

Cons: Timesheet approvals and profitability reports need Premium; no built in invoicing

Toggl Track is the simple timer many creative teams adopt first, and it stays useful as a studio grows. A designer starts the timer in one click, adds a project and task, and the calendar view shows the day at a glance. Billable rates, project estimates, tags and milestones arrive on Starter, which costs $9 per user per month on annual billing, or $12 billed monthly. Team reports show revenue by person and project, which helps a studio lead spot retainers that run over estimate.

Premium costs $16 per user per month on annual billing, or $24 billed monthly, and adds labor costs, profitability reports, fixed fee projects, project dashboards, timesheet approvals and single sign on. The free plan covers a limited number of users and includes manual and real time timers, tasks, boards and personal reports. Toggl Track has no invoicing, so a studio that bills from hours will export time to an accounting tool.

Website: https://clockify.me/

Best for: Low cost tracking for small teams

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Very low entry price; free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited tracking

Cons: Invoicing and approvals need the Standard plan; scheduling and budgets need Pro

Clockify gives a creative studio a low cost start, with a free plan for up to 5 users and unlimited tracking across unlimited projects. The Basic plan costs $3.99 per seat per month on annual billing, or $4.99 billed monthly, and adds admin controls, bulk edit, time audit, project templates and billable rates. Standard costs $5.49 per seat per month on annual billing and adds time off, invoicing, timesheet approval and attendance. Pro costs $7.99 per seat per month on annual billing and adds scheduling, forecasting, expenses and labor cost reports.

A studio can track time by timer, timesheet or calendar, and the kiosk mode suits a shared studio space. The low price makes Clockify easy to roll out to every designer, producer and account manager, and the reports export to CSV and Excel for client billing. The trade off is depth: creative project planning, proofing and client portals are not part of Clockify, so a studio that wants those features will need a second tool.

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

Best for: Projects, time and invoicing in one place

Starting price: $10.90 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Kanban, Gantt and proofing in the same tool; retainer and flat rate projects included

Cons: Free and Solo plans cover one user only; leave management needs the Pro plan

Paymo suits a creative studio that wants project management, time tracking and invoicing in one account. Tasks can be viewed as a list, Kanban board, calendar or Gantt chart, and time can be logged with a timer, manual entries or bulk timesheet entries. Retainer and flat rate projects are supported, and estimates, expenses and invoices sit next to the time that produced them. Proofing and versioning help a design team collect client feedback on files without leaving the project.

The free plan covers one user, and Solo costs $5.90 per month for one user, so a team starts on Plus at $10.90 per user per month on annual billing, or $15.90 billed monthly for the first three months at the lower rate. Plus adds project templates, timesheet reports, project profitability and integrations. Pro costs $16.90 per user per month on annual billing and adds employee scheduling, timesheet approvals and leave management.

Website: https://everhour.com/

Best for: Time inside Asana, ClickUp, Jira or Trello

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: One plan with every feature; native integrations with major project tools

Cons: Team plan has a 5 seat minimum; free plan has no integrations

Everhour lives inside the project tool a creative studio already uses, which cuts down on switching between apps. Time is logged against real Asana, ClickUp, Trello, Jira, Monday or Notion tasks, with billable rates, budget alerts and native invoicing.

The catch is the 5 seat minimum on the Team plan, so a team of three pays for five seats, or $42.50 per month on annual billing. The free plan covers up to 5 seats but has no integrations, billing or invoicing, which removes the main reason to choose Everhour. A studio that already plans work in Asana or ClickUp will get the most from Everhour.

Website: https://timely.com/

Best for: Automatic capture for forgetful teams

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 review

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

Timely solves the oldest problem in studio time tracking, which is that nobody remembers to start the timer. Its Memory Tracker records apps, documents and websites in the background and builds a private timeline, then drafts timesheet entries that each person reviews and approves. The manual timer is still there for people who prefer it, and the project dashboard shows budget health in real time.

Starter costs $9 per user per month on annual billing, or $11 billed monthly, but it caps at 5 users and 20 projects, so most studios land on Premium at $16 per user per month on annual billing, or $20 billed monthly. Premium adds team management, budgets and cost rates, project management and accounting integrations, and work planning. There is no free plan, only a 14 day trial, and task level timers cost extra at $5 per user per month.

Website: https://hubstaff.com/

Best for: Remote teams and contractor oversight

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Low entry price with activity levels; scheduling, payroll and payments on Team

Cons: Screenshots and app tracking are capped on lower plans; monitoring can feel intrusive

Hubstaff suits a creative studio with remote designers, contractors or a distributed production team. The timer, timesheets and activity levels give a studio lead a clear view of who worked on what, and client invoices can be built from tracked time. Starter costs $4.99 per seat per month on annual billing, or $7 billed monthly, and includes 500 screenshots and 500 app and URL records per seat per month. Grow costs $7.50 per seat per month on annual billing and adds project budgets, expenses and idle detection.

All three plans have a 2 seat minimum, so a solo user pays for two seats. The monitoring features are the main trade off: screenshots and activity tracking suit contractor oversight, but they can feel intrusive for in house creative staff who value trust and privacy. A studio should agree the policy with the team before turning monitoring on, and use the reports for billing and capacity.

Website: https://www.avaza.com/

Best for: All in one projects, scheduling and billing

Starting price: $9.96 per month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Flat account price, not per user; scheduling, expenses and invoicing included

Cons: Extra timesheet users cost $7 each per month; scheduling users are limited per plan

Avaza is priced per account, not per user, which changes the math for a creative studio. Startup costs $9.96 per month on annual billing, or $11.95 billed monthly, and includes 2 timesheet users, 1 admin user, 1 scheduling user, 20 active projects and 50 invoices per month. Basic costs $19.96 per month on annual billing and includes 5 timesheet users and 50 active projects. Business costs $39.96 per month on annual billing and includes 10 timesheet users and unlimited projects and invoices.

The tool covers tasks, Kanban boards, timesheets, expenses, quotes, invoices, resource scheduling and more than 30 reports in one subscription, and project collaborators are unlimited and free. That breadth suits a small studio that wants one system for the whole job, from brief to invoice. The limit to watch is the user count per role: a studio with eight people logging time needs enough timesheet seats, and each extra seat adds $7 per month.

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

Best for: Activity records for distributed teams

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

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Automatic tracking with screenshots and timelines; payroll and 60 plus integrations on Standard

Cons: No free plan; Basic has no integrations, payroll or web and app reports

Time Doctor records work automatically and builds a timeline of apps, websites and activity for each person, which suits a studio with remote staff across time zones. Basic costs $6.67 per user per month on annual billing, or $8 billed monthly, and includes automatic tracking, screenshots, projects, tasks and offline tracking. Standard costs $11.67 per user per month on annual billing, or $14 billed monthly, and adds web and app usage reports, attendance, leave tracking, payroll and schedules.

There is no free plan, only a 14 day trial with full access. Basic is a fair entry point for simple time logs, but most studios will need Standard for integrations and payroll, which is a 75 percent jump per user. The monitoring features, including screenshots and activity reports, need a clear team policy, and a studio that values a trust based culture may prefer a timer only tool such as Toggl Track or Harvest.