Best Time Tracking Software for Freelancers

Website: https://toggl.com

Best for: Simple timers and client billing

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: One-click timer on web, desktop and mobile; per-client rates and project estimates

Cons: Billable rates need the Starter plan; profitability reports sit on the Premium plan

Toggl Track keeps the timer simple, which matters when you switch between clients several times a day. One click starts the timer, one click stops it, and entries sync across the browser, desktop and mobile apps. You can set up a separate project for each client, add tags for tasks, and see where the week went in a summary report. Idle detection prompts you when the timer runs with no computer activity, so forgotten timers do not quietly inflate a client bill.

The Starter plan at $9 per user per month billed annually adds billable rates, project estimates and team reports. That is the plan most freelancers need, because the free plan does not include billable rates. Set a different hourly rate for each client project, round entries to the nearest interval, and export a report per client at the end of the month. Premium at $16 per user per month billed annually adds profitability reports, timesheet approvals and fixed-fee projects. The free plan covers a limited number of users with unlimited projects and time entries, which is enough for a solo freelancer who bills by the hour and wants clean records.

Website: https://www.getharvest.com

Best for: Time tracking plus invoicing

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Invoices built from tracked time; free plan for one seat and two projects

Cons: Usage fees apply beyond base allowances; profitability reports need Enterprise

Harvest pairs a one-click timer with invoicing, so the hours you track for each client flow straight into that client invoice. You create a project per client, choose time and materials or a fixed fee, set billable and cost rates, and log hours on daily or weekly timesheets. Expense tracking sits alongside time, so travel and software costs for a client land on the same invoice. Integrations with QuickBooks, Xero and Stripe keep the books in step with the hours.

The free plan covers one seat and two projects, which suits a freelancer with one or two regular clients. Teams starts at $9 per seat per month billed annually and adds unlimited seats, team reporting and accounting integrations. Read the pricing page with care before you commit, because Harvest adds usage fees for invoices, projects, clients and tasks once you pass a base allowance, so the per-seat price is the floor rather than the full bill. Enterprise at $14 per seat per month billed annually adds profitability reporting, timesheet approvals and single sign-on.

Website: https://clockify.me

Best for: Low cost tracking for small setups

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Cheapest starting price in this list; free plan covers up to 5 users

Cons: Invoicing needs the Standard plan; free plan report range is limited to one month

Clockify is the lowest cost option here, and its free plan is generous enough for a solo freelancer to use for months without spending anything. The free plan includes unlimited tracking, a timer, a timesheet, a calendar view, desktop and mobile apps, and unlimited projects, with a cap of 5 users. You can set up one project per client, add tasks under each project, and group reports by client to see billable hours at a glance. The interface stays plain, which keeps the learning curve short.

Basic starts at $3.99 per seat per month billed annually and adds billable rates, CSV and Excel exports, shared reports and private projects. Freelancers who invoice clients should look at Standard at $5.49 per seat per month billed annually, because that is where invoicing, recurring invoices and timesheet approval appear. Pro at $7.99 adds expenses, budgets, labour cost and scheduling. Every active or invited user on the team page occupies a seat, so a solo account stays cheap while adding collaborators raises the bill one seat at a time.

Website: https://www.paymoapp.com

Best for: Projects, time and invoices in one place

Starting price: $5.90 per month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Solo plan built for one freelancer; flat-rate and retainer projects included

Cons: Solo plan caps at 3 clients and 5 projects; Gantt charts need the Pro plan

Paymo combines project management, time tracking and invoicing in one account, which suits freelancers who want one place for client work instead of three separate tools. You can track time with a stopwatch, manual entries or bulk timesheet entries, then turn the tracked hours into an invoice without exporting data elsewhere. The Solo plan supports flat-rate and retainer projects, Kanban and calendar task views, and guest access so a client can check progress without a full seat.

Solo costs $5.90 per month billed annually, with the rate rising to $9.90 per month after the first three months on monthly terms, so check the current terms on the pricing page. It covers one user, three clients and five projects, which fits a freelancer with a small client list. Plus at $10.90 per user per month billed annually removes the caps and adds timesheet reports, estimates, expenses and integrations. Pro at $16.90 adds Gantt charts, scheduling, timesheet approvals and leave management. The free plan covers one user, one client and two projects.

Website: https://everhour.com

Best for: Tracking inside Asana, Trello and Jira

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Timer lives inside your project tools; one plan includes budgets, invoicing and expenses

Cons: Team plan bills a minimum of 5 seats; free plan has no integrations

Everhour puts its timer inside the project tools freelancers already open each day, including Asana, ClickUp, Trello, Jira, Notion, Monday and Linear. Time gets logged against real tasks in those tools, with billable rates, budget alerts and native invoicing in the same account. That setup suits freelancers whose clients run their work in one of those tools, because hours stay attached to the task the client can see, and there is no second app to keep in step.

The Team plan costs $8.50 per seat per month billed annually, or $10 billed monthly, and includes every feature with no tier juggling. The catch for a solo freelancer is the five-seat minimum, so the smallest Team account costs $42.50 per month on annual billing even if only one person tracks time. The free plan covers up to 5 seats with basic tracking, projects and reports, but it has no integrations, billing or invoicing. Everhour works best for freelancers who already have five or more seats to fill, or who stay on the free plan until their client list grows.

Website: https://www.timely.com

Best for: Automatic time capture with no timers

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

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: AI drafts timesheets from your actual work; no screenshots and a privacy-first design

Cons: No free plan, only a 14-day trial; Starter caps at 5 users and 20 projects

Timely solves the most common freelance problem, which is forgetting to start the timer. Its Memory tracker records apps, documents and websites in the background, then drafts a timesheet you review and approve. You assign the drafted entries to client projects, set billable rates, and see project health on a dashboard. There are no screenshots, and the design keeps your activity private until you choose to log it, which matters when client work involves sensitive material.

Starter costs $9 per user per month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly, and covers automatic tracking, AI timesheets, billable rates and basic reporting for up to 5 users and 20 projects. That cap is the main limit for a freelancer with many small clients, because 20 projects fill up fast. Premium at $16 per user per month billed annually adds unlimited projects, budgets, cost rates and accounting integrations. Timely has no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and task-level timers cost an extra $5 per user per month as an add-on.

Website: https://www.avaza.com

Best for: All-in-one projects, time and invoicing

Starting price: $9.96 per month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Flat monthly price rather than per-user billing; all features on every plan

Cons: Startup caps at 20 active projects; emailing invoices needs an upgrade from free

Avaza bundles project management, time tracking, expenses, quotes and invoicing in one subscription, and it charges a flat monthly price instead of a per-user rate. That pricing suits a freelancer who works alone but juggles many clients, because the bill does not grow with each collaborator you add. Project collaborators are unlimited on every plan, and you only count the users who need timesheet, admin or scheduling access. Timesheets carry approvals, and quotes turn into projects, then into invoices clients can pay online.

Startup costs $9.96 per month billed annually, or $11.95 billed monthly, and includes two timesheet users, 20 active projects and 50 invoices a month. Basic at $19.96 per month billed annually raises that to five timesheet users and 50 active projects, while Business at $39.96 removes the project and invoice caps. Extra timesheet or admin users cost $7 per user per month. The free plan includes one timesheet user, five active projects and five invoices a month, with emailing invoices switched on only after an upgrade.

Website: https://www.hellobonsai.com

Best for: Freelance business admin in one account

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

Free plan: Free trial (7 days)

Pros: Proposals, contracts and invoices in one chain; unlimited clients and projects

Cons: Basic cannot send invoices; no free plan, only a 7-day trial

Bonsai is a freelance business suite rather than a pure time tracker, and it fits freelancers who want proposals, contracts, time tracking and invoicing in one account. A client engagement can start with a proposal, move to a signed contract, then to tracked time and an invoice, all attached to the same client record. Time tracking includes billable and non-billable splits, timesheets and reminders, and the CRM holds unlimited clients and projects on every plan.

Basic costs $9 per user per month billed annually, or $15 billed monthly, and covers time tracking, tasks, a CRM and unlimited projects and clients. The detail to catch is that Basic cannot send an invoice, so a freelancer who bills through Bonsai needs Essentials at $19 per user per month billed annually, or $25 monthly, which adds invoices, payments, proposals, contracts, forms and a client portal. Premium at $29 adds Gantt views, reporting and QuickBooks and Xero sync. Bonsai has no free plan, only a 7-day trial, and card details are entered when choosing a plan.