Sometimes it can be frustrating to try and track down a good guide on tracking tools for free. Especially since some of the guides are outdated. And that’s why I decided to write this review. I’ll go through each of the top tools, show what you can track with them, how they were designed (gives a glimpse into the minds behind the program), and whether or not I recommend them. After I’ve given my opinion, everyone will be able to decide if they want to use these tracking tools or if they want to look further at other tracking options (because there are tons).
Tracking tools for free are a dime a dozen these days. Every time I go online, I see another list on the top 10. I have already seen lots of lists in the past, and to be honest, most of them have been pretty boring. But recently, I’ve seen some great tracking tools that nearly pass as decent as well!
How to choose the right free time tracking software for project managers
The right time tracking tool for project managers will help them monitor individual project time, establish target time, and maintain smooth workflow. Here are some considerations to keep in mind before investing in a time tracking solution:
- Project and team size: A free time tracking tool is great as long as it can accommodate your project and team size. If the free tool only allows for five users, and you need to track time for eight, it’s not very useful. You’re better off paying the monthly fee to expand your tool or finding something else that gives your team the room to grow.
- Integration: Whether you are monitoring one project or more, you will most likely be using several other tools such as a separate reporting system or a data transfer tool. If the software you’ve chosen is compatible with all of the other solutions you’re utilising, the project workflow will go off without a hitch.
- Billable hours tracking: While the majority of timesheet tools are stand-alone, you should ideally opt for a solution that counts your billable hours and automatically correlates them with the appropriate project. With autosuggestions, such tools scan project data from papers and files, forecast the clients involved, and reduce manual data entry during invoice production.
- Cost of upgrade: Always consider the cost of upgrade and additional costs associated with significant or additional features such as reporting and documentation.
If you are a project manager with multiple tasks in your hand, you understand how difficult it is to capture accurate project time, reporting, and expense tracking. For you, keeping a balance between the estimated time for a project and the actual time spent is one of the most common issues. A good time tracking software is what you need to achieve superior time management skills.
With a time tracking tool, you can strategically plan and monitor the hours spent by you and your team on a project and increase productivity. This software captures employee time, hourly wages, and client billing rates and uses this information to automate invoicing and payroll management functions.
This article looks at eight best free time tracking software for project managers, sorted alphabetically. See the full list of time tracking software tools in Capterra’s software directory.
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1. ClickUp: Build unique time tracking reports
ClickUp is a cloud-based project management and collaboration tool that enables you to plan, track, and collaborate with your team on any project. It has a centralized dashboard where you can add important indicators and widgets for team members, time tracking, project status, tasks, and docs.
ClickUp has a global timer accessible from both desktop and mobile devices which you can track time automatically and link it to any project. This feature enables you to start and stop time, log in to any task, and create custom entries with manual time tracking.
This time tracking software helps you allocate time estimates on tasks and subtasks, compare actual time taken against your estimations, and improve time forecasting for the future. You can track and adjust your estimates according to your team’s daily capacity. ClickUp enables you to prepare comprehensive reports about the estimated time for a project, tasks completed in a day, who is behind schedule, and who is ahead of schedule to calculate overall team performance.
ClickUp offers call and email support. It is a web-based tool and also has a time tracking app for Android and iOS devices. ClickUp 4.7 (2453) Read reviewsVisit Website
Key Features:
- Project management
- Project planning
- Real-time editing
- Time and attendance
- Timesheet management
- Workflow management
Trial/Free Version: Free Trial Free Version Cost to upgrade:
$5 per monthDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Dashboard in ClickUp *Analysis accurate as of November 10, 2021
2. Clockify: Visualize tracked time for reporting
Clockify is an on-premise time tracking tool that helps businesses track productivity, attendance, and billable hours. Its time track enables you to start and stop the timer for any active project or enter hours manually. Clockify integrates with Trello, QuickBooks, Asana, and Jira, among other platforms to simplify business operations.
As a time tracking software for project managers, Clockify furnishes a timesheet wherein you can predefine projects and record the time spent on each task. Project managers can monitor weekly activities and project progress through graphical and visual representations of tracked time.
Projects can be filtered as per estimated time, hourly rates, and actual completion time to make customizable reports for productivity analysis. Fixed-fee and project expenses can be recorded by sum or unit to prepare invoices.
Clockify offers support via call, chat, and email. It is a web-based tool and also has a time tracking app for Android and iOS devices. Most affordable Clockify 4.7 (1606) Read reviewsView Profile
Key Features:
- Task management
- Timesheet management
- Offline time tracking
- Overtime calculation
- Mobile time tracking
- Multiple billing rates
Trial/Free Version: Free Trial Free Version Cost to upgrade:
FreeDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Dashboard in Clockify *Analysis accurate as of November 10, 2021
3. DeskTime: Collective time tracking
DeskTime provides project tracking, offline time tracking, automatic time tracking, and shift scheduling, among other features. DeskTime, as a project time tracking software, lets you monitor individual project time and manage your employees’ workflow.
This software enables a team to work on the same project at a given time. After that, it provides data about the collective time taken to complete the project. Project managers can use this data to classify individual contributions and monitor the time taken by each employee to finish the task. DeskTime helps allocate realistic deadlines to organize the workflow, project cost estimation, and eliminate manual project reporting.
This time tracking software comes with an automatic time tracking feature that oversees time spent on a project, activity, or task throughout the day and simplifies documentation. It eliminates the need for manual timers and manual tracked time reporting by automatically recording your performance in its database.
DeskTime offers support via chat, call, and email. This web-based tool has a time tracking app for both iOS and Android devices. DeskTime 4.5 (237) Read reviewsVisit Website
Key Features:
- Time tracking
- Productivity analysis
- Reporting/analytics
- Offline time tracking
- Mobile time tracking
- Screen activity recording
Trial/Free Version: Free Trial Free Version Cost to upgrade:
$6 per user per monthDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Projects dashboard in DeskTime *Analysis accurate as of November 10, 2021
4. Harvest: Turn timesheets data into visual reports
Harvest is a time tracking software that offers actionable insights to improve project performance. Using this software, project managers can track project time, employee productivity, create visual reports, keep project profits on track, manage their team’s bandwidth, and automate invoice management.
Harvest integrates with platforms including Trello, Asana, Slack, and Jira, among others to monitor productivity, and Stripe and PayPal for payments. The software offers one-click time entries for timesheets and automated reminders to keep you on track.
Harvest enables project managers to turn timesheet data into intuitive, visual graphs and compare expected time taken against the actual time taken to complete a project. It lets project managers monitor project costs, time tracked for each project, exhausted budgets, and billable hours. Tracked time is used to create invoices that are sent to clients via email for approval.
Harvest offers support via query form, email, and Twitter. This web-based tool has a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. Harvest 4.5 (459) Read reviewsVisit Website
Key Features:
- Time tracking
- Project tracking
- Time tracking by project
- Timesheet management
- Expense tracking
- Offline time tracking
Trial/Free Version: Free Trial Free Version Cost to upgrade:
$12 per user per monthDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Time tracking software in Harvest *Analysis accurate as of November 10, 2021
5. Hubstaff: Filterable timesheet reports
Hubstaff offers a complete suite of time trackers for managing field and remote teams. The tool helps in monitoring project hours, automating time tracking, and using time reports to get actionable insights. Hubstaff enables you to time-track specific tasks, projects, work orders, and clients with a single click. It creates time reports to streamline workflow, organize better estimates, and increase productivity.
The software furnishes employee timesheets consisting of a detailed report of employees’ hours by date, project, and client. You can make project budgets based on the number of working hours, bill rates, or pay rates. Set up alerts to notify you when you’re on the verge of going over budget.
Hubstaff lets project managers build detailed, actionable, and filterable time reports by week, team members, project, or client to find the exact answers. This helps PMs detect bottlenecks and mediate any workflow difficulties that may develop with the employee timesheets feature.
Hubstaff offers query form and email support. The tool is web-based and also has a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. Hubstaff 4.6 (1210) Read reviewsVisit Website
Key Features:
- Time tracking
- Timesheet management
- Screen activity recording
- Employee activity management
- Time tracking by project
- Vacation/leave tracking
Trial/Free Version: Free Trial Free Version Cost to upgrade:
$7 per monthDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Time and activities report in Hubstaff *Analysis accurate as of November 10, 2021
6. Timesheets.com: Control access to timesheets
Timesheets.com is a web-based time tracking software for project managers and other teams. The tool enables project managers to track projects for multiple clients, monitor time taken to complete a project, and prepare billing reports via timesheets. Project timesheets are different from hourly timesheets used by employees, thereby managers may grant employees access to only the elements they need on a per-employee basis.
The software enables you to create customized project time reports and monitor workload on each employee, estimated project hours, and status of project activity. With the help of Timesheets.com tool, employees can update project managers about their progress or delays. Managers can adjust the timetable or reassign essential duties to other employees who are available.
Timesheets.com also furnishes employee attendance tracking to track who is on the clock, who is running late, and active projects. Employers can keep track of employee attendance and handle the payroll process from anywhere.
Timesheets.com offers support via chat, call, email, and expert interaction. It is a web-based tool accessible on mobile devices, desktop, and tablets. Timesheets.com 4.7 (722) Read reviewsVisit Website
Key Features:
- Timesheet management
- Time tracking for project
- Time tracking
- Time and attendance
- Time and expense tracking
- Self service portal
Trial/Free Version: Free Trial Free Version Cost to upgrade:
$9 per monthDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Project time tracking for billing in Timesheets.com *Analysis accurate as of November 10, 2021
7. Toggl Track: Clean and minimal dashboard design
Toggl Track is a minimalistic time tracking software designed for freelancers, small teams, and larger teams. The software highlights automatic and manual, one-click time tracking, reporting, and project management features. It is a streamlined tracking tool that works seamlessly across multiple devices in real-time.
Toggl Track comes with a clean dashboard that gives you easy access to significant functions without looking cluttered. You can choose the degree of information you want to view, filter, and organize your data, then use CSV or PDF to produce easy client-ready graphics and reports.
Toggl Track time tracking software integrates with industry-leading platforms such as Asana, Trello, Slack, and Google Calendar, to eliminate non-profitable projects, inequitable distribution of work orders, and time-consuming manual administration.
Toggl Track offers query form and email support. It is a web-based tool and also has a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. Best Functionality Toggl Track 4.7 (1766) Read reviewsView Profile
Key Features:
- Productivity analysis
- Timesheet management
- Time tracking by client
- Time tracking by project
- Time tracking
- Salaried employee tracking
Trial/Free Version: Free Trial Free Version Cost to upgrade:
$9 per user per monthDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Visual time reports in Toggl Track *Analysis accurate as of November 10, 2021
8. Zoho Sprints: Identify bottlenecks and alter targets
Zoho Sprints is a time tracking and collaboration software designed for agile teams, which offers timers and timesheets, drag-and-drop planning tools, dashboards, reports, and scheduling features. Time tracker and timesheets let project managers monitor billable and non-billable hours using a global timer that starts from anywhere.
The software enables time tracking for each project and team member and offers one-click timesheets approval. Project managers can use Zoho Sprints’ dashboard to look at the weekly summary of projects, progress status, and overview of critical project data. The software helps generate comprehensive project time reports, including velocity charts and burnup and burndown charts, allowing managers to measure project progress, identify bottlenecks, and adjust targets.
Projects feature integrates with Zoho Books or Zoho Invoice to help you record your exhausted budget, create a new budget for your project, and convert your timesheets into invoices for client billing and payroll.
Zoho Sprints offer support via chat and email. It is a web-based tool and also has a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. Zoho Sprints 4.5 (175) Read reviewsView Profile
Key Features:
- Time tracking
- Timesheet management
- Project management
- Progress tracking
- Sprint planning
- Status tracking
Trial/Free Version: Free Trial Free Version Cost to upgrade:
$9.30 per monthDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Timesheets in Zoho Sprints *Analysis accurate as of November 10, 2021 Check out our time tracking software buyers guide if you want answers to basic questions about this software category.
How to choose the right free time tracking software for project managers
The right time tracking tool for project managers will help them monitor individual project time, establish target time, and maintain smooth workflow. Here are some considerations to keep in mind before investing in a time tracking solution:
- Project and team size: A free time tracking tool is great as long as it can accommodate your project and team size. If the free tool only allows for five users, and you need to track time for eight, it’s not very useful. You’re better off paying the monthly fee to expand your tool or finding something else that gives your team the room to grow.
- Integration: Whether you are monitoring one project or more, you will most likely be using several other tools such as a separate reporting system or a data transfer tool. If the software you’ve chosen is compatible with all of the other solutions you’re utilising, the project workflow will go off without a hitch.
- Billable hours tracking: While the majority of timesheet tools are stand-alone, you should ideally opt for a solution that counts your billable hours and automatically correlates them with the appropriate project. With autosuggestions, such tools scan project data from papers and files, forecast the clients involved, and reduce manual data entry during invoice production.
- Cost of upgrade: Always consider the cost of upgrade and additional costs associated with significant or additional features such as reporting and documentation.
Common questions to ask while selecting free time tracking software for project managers
Here are some questions to ask time tracking software providers before making a final purchase:
What are the limitations of this free software?
Does the free tool offer reporting and analytics?
What collaboration tools does it offer?
How did we choose these products? We didn’t—you did.
To find your ideal software match, you need information you can trust so you can save time, stay on budget, and focus more on growing your business. It’s why we vet and verify all our user reviews and recommend only the tools endorsed by people like you.
In other words, our product recommendations are never bought or sold, or based on the opinion of a single individual—they’re chosen by your peers, reflecting the views and experiences of our independent base of software reviewers.
At Capterra, we objectively select and rank products based on a methodology developed by our research team. Some vendors pay us when they receive web traffic, but this has no influence on our methodology.
To be considered for this list, products have to:
- Have at least 20 unique product reviews published on Capterra within the past two years, with an average rating of 3.0 or higher. We selected the 8 products with the highest ratings to feature in this article.
- Offer a free, stand-alone version of the software—not a trial version you have to purchase after a certain amount of time to get the full experience.
- Meet our definition of the time tracking software market: “Time tracking software tracks the total time spent by employees on tasks and projects. This software captures employee time, hourly wages, and client billing rates and using this information to automate invoicing and payroll management functions.”
Note: The content in this piece that provides opinions and points of view expressed by users does not represent the views of Capterra.
“Best functionality” tool is identified based on the highest user ratings a vendor receives for functionality based on publicly available reviews.
“Most affordable” tool is identified based on the lowest pricing a vendor offered on their website in terms of cost to upgrade as of November 10, 2021
CONCLUSION
I first discovered Google Analytics when I was 14 years old, and it changed how I thought about websites forever. After all, the more you know about your website the more it can grow. However, despite its amazing usefulness, I found Google Analytics difficult to use and confusing. It was ugly too. Fortunately, today there are a plethora of alternative tracking tools out there that are far easier to use and are just as useful and powerful.
Are you working with a small budget? There are many free tools available to help you track your running and keeping score. Some people think that only the expensive tools can make your life easier, but that’s not true! In this article, I’ll introduce some of top tools for tracking your runs without spending money.