Best Time Tracking Software for Developers: 8 Tools

Website: https://toggl.com/track/

Best for: Simple timers, billable rates and team reports

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan for up to 5 users; clean timer with calendar and idle detection

Cons: Timesheet approvals need Premium; no native invoicing on any plan

Toggl Track is the simplest timer on this list, and that is why many dev teams keep it. A developer starts the timer from the browser extension, the desktop app or the calendar view, and the entry links to a project and a client. Billable rates sit on the Starter plan, so a team that bills clients by the hour can see the value of each entry as it is logged. The free plan covers up to 5 users, which is enough for a small squad to test the workflow before spending anything. The limits show up when a team grows. Timesheet approvals and project dashboards sit on Premium at $16 per user per month on annual billing, so a lead who needs to sign off hours before invoicing has to step up a tier. Toggl Track also has no native invoicing, so finance still needs a separate tool to turn approved hours into invoices. Integrations cover GitHub, Jira, Asana and more than 100 other tools, and the API lets a team push time data into its own dashboards.

Website: https://clockify.me/

Best for: Low cost team tracking with a generous free plan

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan for up to 5 users with unlimited tracking; lowest entry price here

Cons: Free plan lacks invoicing and approvals; reporting depth needs higher tiers

Clockify is the budget pick for development teams that need reliable hours without a large subscription. The free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited time tracking, projects and reports, and the Basic plan at $3.99 per user per month on annual billing adds billable rates, invoicing and time off. A team can run the whole billing cycle, from timer to invoice, on the cheapest tier. The browser extension adds a timer button inside Jira, GitHub and Trello, so developers log time from the ticket they are already reading. The trade off is depth. Approvals, project templates and advanced reporting sit on the Pro plan at $7.99 per user per month on annual billing, and the free plan has no invoicing at all. Teams that need granular permission controls or audit trails will feel the ceiling sooner. For a small agency or an internal team that mainly needs accurate hours and simple client billing, Clockify covers the job at a fraction of the cost of the other tools here.

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

Best for: Billable hours, expenses and client invoicing

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

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Clean invoicing from tracked time; strong project budget alerts

Cons: No free plan after the trial; reporting is thinner than dedicated tools

Harvest has been a default choice for agencies and consultancies that bill by the hour, and it still fits dev shops well. A developer starts a timer against a project and a task, and Harvest turns those hours into an invoice with one click, with expenses attached to the same project. Budget alerts warn the team when a project passes a set share of its hours or fees, which matters when a fixed fee engagement starts to drift. The Teams plan costs $9 per seat per month on annual billing, and Enterprise is $14. The main drawback is that there is no free plan once the 30 day trial ends, so even a solo developer pays from day one. Harvest also keeps reporting simpler than tools built for analytics, so a team that wants deep utilization or capacity views will need to export data or add another tool. Integrations include GitHub, Jira, Asana and Slack, and the Flex usage fees on Enterprise cover active projects, clients, tasks and invoicing beyond the seat price.

Website: https://everhour.com/

Best for: Time tracking inside Jira, Asana, GitHub and Trello

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Timer lives inside your project tool; budgets, invoicing and expenses included

Cons: Team plan needs a 5 seat minimum; no automatic background tracking

Everhour is built for teams that already live in a project tool. Instead of opening a separate tracker, the developer sees a timer inside each Jira issue, GitHub issue, Trello card or Asana task, and the time lands on that task automatically. Budgets, billable rates, invoicing, expenses and time off all sit in the one Team plan at $8.50 per user per month on annual billing, with no tier juggling to reach features. The free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited tracking, projects and reports. The catch is the 5 seat minimum on the Team plan, so a team of two or three pays for five seats, which is $42.50 a month on annual billing at minimum. Everhour also relies on manual timers and entries, with no automatic background capture, so a developer who forgets to start the timer still loses time. For a team of five or more that works inside Jira or GitHub every day, the embedded timer removes more friction than any other tool on this list.

Website: https://hubstaff.com/

Best for: Remote dev teams that need screenshots and activity

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Lowest subscription price here; screenshots and app tracking included

Cons: Two seat minimum on every subscription plan; monitoring can feel intrusive

Hubstaff is a time tracker with monitoring built in, which suits distributed teams and outsourced developers where a manager needs visibility into the working day. The Starter plan at $4.99 per seat per month on annual billing includes time tracking, limited screenshots, app and URL tracking and basic reports. Higher tiers add project budgets, scheduling, payroll and unlimited screenshots. The free plan covers a single user with basic tracking. The two seat minimum applies to every subscription plan, so a solo developer pays for two seats. The monitoring features are also a real consideration: screenshots and activity levels can damage trust if a team rolls them out without a clear conversation about what is captured and why. Hubstaff integrates with Jira, GitHub, Asana and Trello, and its payroll features turn approved hours into payments for contractors, which helps teams that pay developers per hour across borders.

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

Best for: Accountability, screenshots and contractor payroll

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

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Screenshots and activity levels on every plan; payroll for contractors

Cons: No free plan, trial only; add ons push the real cost higher

Time Doctor is built for managers who need proof of work from remote developers. The Basic plan at $6.67 per user per month on annual billing includes time tracking, screenshots, offline tracking and 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. Every plan comes with a 14 day trial and no credit card is required. There is no permanent free plan, so every user costs money from the start. Add ons for software cost insights, benchmarks and unusual activity reporting cost $2 to $3 per user per month each, so the real bill can climb past the headline price. Time Doctor does not record keystroke content or read messages, but the screenshot habit still needs a team agreement. For a team that pays contractors by the hour and needs an audit trail, the payroll and approval flow is the reason to choose it.

Website: https://www.timely.com/

Best for: Automatic capture for developers who forget timers

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

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: AI drafts timesheets from background activity; no screenshots or keystroke logging

Cons: Starter caps at 5 users and 20 projects; task level timers cost extra

Timely takes a different approach from every other tool here: instead of asking a developer to start a timer, its Memory tracker records apps, documents, websites and meetings in the background, then drafts the timesheet for review. The developer edits the draft and confirms it, so the hours are captured without interrupting flow. The Starter plan costs $9 per user per month on annual billing, Premium is $16 and Unlimited is $22, and there is no free tier, only a 14 day trial. The Starter limits are tight: a maximum of 5 users and 20 projects, so most growing teams land on Premium quickly. Task level timers cost an extra $5 per user per month as an add on, which matters for teams that track at the task level inside Jira. Timely takes no screenshots and records no keystrokes, which makes it easier to adopt than monitoring tools. For a team that loses hours because nobody remembers the timer, automatic capture recovers more billable time than a cheaper manual tool.

Website: https://www.rescuetime.com/

Best for: Focus reports and distraction blocking for developers

Starting price: $7 per month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Automatic background tracking with no input; focus sessions block distractions

Cons: Timesheets need the Solo+ plan; team reporting costs more per member

RescueTime runs in the background and sorts app and website use into productive and distracting time, which fits developers who want to understand where the day actually went. The Focus plan costs $7 per month on annual billing for one person, with focus sessions, distraction blocking, daily goals and alerts. Solo+ at $12 per month adds timesheets with clients and billable rates, and Team Focus is $10 per member per month on annual billing. A free Lite plan covers basic tracking. The limits matter for billing. A developer who needs timesheets by project and client must step up to Solo+, and a team that wants aggregated reporting pays the Team rate per member. RescueTime is not a project management tool, so it will not replace Jira or GitHub, and its reports describe attention rather than delivery. For a developer who wants to protect deep work time and cut context switching, the focus reports and blocking are more useful than another timer.

Monthly cost by team size

Timely jumps at 10 users because Starter caps at 5 users, so a 10 person team pays the Premium rate of $16 per user. Everhour also bills a 5 seat minimum, so a team smaller than 5 still pays $42.50 a month. Prices use annual billing and exclude taxes and add ons.