As Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Remember that time is money.” Tracking time towards tasks and projects is crucial for effective work management and planning. By consistently monitoring your progress, you can better manage your time and plan your activities accordingly.
This practice allows you to accurately gauge the time you or your team spend on individual tasks and overall projects, which is essential for improving efficiency and productivity.
Time tracking should be an ongoing process whenever someone is working on tasks or projects, particularly for work that will be billed. This ensures accurate billing, effective project management, and a clear understanding of how time is allocated across various activities.
What is a Time Tracking App?
A time-tracking app is an essential tool that records the time you spend on work-related tasks and projects throughout the day, week, month, or even year. These apps provide valuable insights into your productivity, helping you understand how you utilize your time. They are also indispensable for accurately calculating payroll or billable hours.
By revealing where your time goes and the true cost of that time, both employees and companies can make informed decisions to streamline processes and boost profitability. For hourly employees and contractors, time tracking software is crucial for monitoring shifts, lunch breaks, PTO, sick time, and more. Additionally, many teams rely on these tools to meet state, union, or project-specific requirements.
Beyond basic tracking, time tracking software offers a plethora of features designed to enhance efficiency and compliance. The question is—what features do you really need? Understanding your specific requirements will help you choose the right tool that maximizes productivity and meets your organizational needs.
Essential Features you Should Look for in Time Tracking Software
When selecting a time tracking software, it’s crucial to look for these key features to ensure it meets your needs:
Timer: The core feature, a timer allows you to capture work hours in real-time, down to the second, providing precise tracking of your work activities.
Multiple Time Entry Methods: Flexibility in entering time is essential. You should be able to manually input your hours or automatically track them. This allows each user to choose the method that suits their workflow best.
Project Management Integration: The best time tracking tools integrate seamlessly with your project management platform. This integration enables you to create project-specific task lists, set due dates for milestones, and monitor your team’s time as you collaborate on various projects.
Reporting: Detailed reporting features are vital. They allow you to generate comprehensive reports that break down time spent by tasks and projects, providing insights into productivity and areas for improvement.
Customization: The ability to customize your timer entries with categories, tags, and fields is important. This feature helps you understand exactly where your time is going, making it easier to manage and allocate resources effectively.
Reminders and Notifications: In-app reminders and notifications are useful for ensuring you remember to start the timer. These features help prevent missed tracking sessions and ensure accurate time logs.
KiteSuite’s work management platform includes a built-in time tracking option. Our visual time management software is designed to help you efficiently manage your work, enabling you to get more done while saving time and money
Benefits of Time Tracking Tool
- Boosts Productivity: Awareness of how time is spent can greatly enhance productivity. For example, knowing that users spend an average of 144 minutes per day on social media can help individuals and teams identify and address productivity leaks. Time tracking apps highlight areas where time is wasted, enabling users to take corrective actions.
- Promotes Transparency: Time tracking software fosters transparency without the need for micromanagement. Employees can log their working hours automatically, allowing project managers to monitor progress seamlessly. This method ensures that managers can see how tasks are progressing without needing to hover over employees.
- Better Resource Management: A time tracker provides an accurate overview of your team’s capacity, helping to manage resources more effectively. It can also identify potential bottlenecks or training needs. For instance, if one employee spends significantly more time on a task than another, it may indicate a need for additional training or support.
- Enhances Time Estimates: By providing detailed breakdowns of time spent on various tasks and projects, time tracking software allows for more accurate time estimates and budgeting for future projects. This leads to better project planning and management.
- Generates Accurate Reports: For service providers, accurate client invoicing is crucial. Time tracking software enables you to view and export timesheets that detail work hours comprehensively. This feature ensures that invoices are precise and reflective of actual work done.
10 Best Time Tracking Softwares:
We’ve thoroughly researched the top time tracking software platforms available this year. Here are the 10 best options to use in 2024.
KiteSuite
KiteSuite is the ultimate all-in-one productivity software, uniquely designed to consolidate your work across various apps into a single, streamlined platform. This includes tracking the time you spend across different tabs, apps, and tasks. It’s the perfect time tracking app for individuals and managers aiming to enhance their productivity.
KiteSuite Top Features
Exact Time Frames: Easily toggle the timer on and off or manually input time spent, ensuring accurate tracking of work hours.
On-the-Go Tracking: Seamlessly track time from anywhere using our mobile app, enabling convenient time management on the move.
Automations: Streamline project management and time tracking within a single tool, enhancing efficiency and reducing administrative overhead.
Flexible Reports: Gain insights into time allocation by projects, clients, and tasks with customizable reports, aiding in decision-making and performance analysis.
KiteSuite limitation
Free Plan: Some features are not available in the free version of the application.
Mobile App Views: Currently few older versions of mobile apps might not support time tracking.
KiteSuite combines robust time tracking with comprehensive project management capabilities, making it an invaluable tool for enhancing productivity and efficiency across your team.
KiteSuite Pricing
Toggl Track
Known for its user-friendly interface and robust features, Toggl Track offers detailed reporting, project tracking, and integrations with numerous project management tools. It’s ideal for teams and freelancers alike.
This flexible tracking software can be tailored to suit the unique workflows of different teams. Users can assign billable rates to workspaces, team members, projects, or project members, providing insights into revenue-generating activities.
Moreover, Toggl Track seamlessly integrates with a wide range of tools, including GitLab, Notion, Adobe XD, and many more. This interoperability enables users to leverage Toggl Track alongside existing tools and platforms, enhancing workflow efficiency and collaboration.
Toggl Top Features
Extensive Integrations: Over 100 integrations with Chrome and Firefox browser extensions, facilitating seamless integration with popular tools and platforms.
Payroll Calculations: Streamline payroll processes for both contractors and employees with accurate time tracking and automated payroll calculations.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Utilize Toggl Track across web, mobile, and desktop applications, ensuring accessibility and flexibility for users.
Real-Time or Offline Tracking: Track time in real-time or offline, allowing users to capture work hours regardless of their internet connectivity status.
Toggl Track Limitations
Task Management: While excellent for time tracking, Toggl Track may not be suitable as a standalone task management tool, requiring integration with complementary task management platforms.
Plan Limitations: Members on the free plan cannot pin the most frequently used time entries for easy access, limiting convenience for some users.
Toggl Pricing
Clockify
Clockify provides unlimited tracking for an unlimited number of users. It includes features such as detailed timesheets, reporting, and project tracking, making it perfect for small to large teams. To begin using Clockify, individuals simply need to create an account and log in to the platform’s dashboard to initiate time tracking.
One of Clockify’s standout features is its ability to adjust the start time of the running timer. This functionality proves invaluable, allowing users to manually set the timer’s start time if it was not initiated at the beginning of the workday. This feature ensures accurate time tracking, preventing overcharging clients or working beyond scheduled hours.
Clockify Top Features
Quick Time Blocking: Seamlessly schedule time blocks on your calendar for enhanced organization and productivity.
Time Activity Charts: Visualize time-related activities through informative charts on the dashboard, facilitating better insights into productivity patterns.
Idle App Detection: Automatically detect idle periods to provide accurate time tracking and eliminate discrepancies.
Clockify Limitations
Interface Complexity: Some users may find the interface less intuitive compared to other time tracking tools, requiring additional time to navigate and utilize effectively.
Learning Curve for Teams: Teams may require training to fully grasp all the features and functionalities offered by Clockify.
Clockify Pricing
RescueTime
RescueTime is a fully-automated time tracking solution designed to operate seamlessly in the background on computers and mobile devices. It tracks platforms and websites usage and generates detailed reports on time spent on various activities. One of its primary advantages is its ability to provide users with insights into their time usage, helping them identify distractions and time-wasters that hinder productivity.
A standout feature of RescueTime is the Focus Work Goal, which evaluates your work habits and meeting schedule to establish a daily focus goal. Users can set productivity targets and receive alerts when spending excessive time on non-productive activities like social media or entertainment websites.
Rescue Time Top Features
Calendar Integrations: Seamlessly integrate with calendar software such as Google Calendar and Outlook, enabling efficient time management and scheduling.
Smart Coaching: Receive proactive coaching throughout the day to stay on track with tasks and goals, ensuring optimal productivity and focus.
Focus Sessions: Block unproductive and distracting websites during focused work sessions, enhancing concentration and reducing distractions.
Desktop Apps: Access Windows and Mac applications to track desktop activity effectively, providing comprehensive insights into work habits and patterns.
Rescue Time Limitations
Project and Task Management: RescueTime lacks robust project and task management features, making it less suitable for comprehensive project tracking and collaboration.
Collaboration Features: The absence of collaboration tools limits RescueTime’s suitability for team-based work environments that require collaboration and communication features.
Rescue Time Pricing
Time Doctor
Ideal for remote teams and freelancers, Time Doctor provides time tracking, productivity analysis, and detailed reporting. It also features website and application monitoring to help reduce distractions.
Time Doctor is a comprehensive time tracking software designed to help businesses and individuals gain insights into their time usage. It operates seamlessly in the background on both computers and mobile devices, tracking applications and websites usage and providing detailed reports on various activities.
One of Time Doctor’s standout features is its ability to provide insights into distractions and time-wasting activities, empowering users to address these issues and enhance productivity. Additionally, the software offers a range of employee monitoring features to help users stay focused and on track.
Time Doctor Top Features
Automatic Attendance Verification: Ensure accurate employee attendance and timesheets with automated verification processes.
Work-Life Balance Widget: Monitor employee workloads and promote a healthy work-life balance with customizable widgets.
Custom User Roles and Permissions: Tailor user roles and permission settings to match your organization’s structure and security requirements.
Time Doctor Limitations
Screen Monitoring Concerns: Screen monitoring may inadvertently capture personal information when taking random screenshots, raising privacy concerns for some users.
Lack of Native Project Management Software: While robust in time tracking and employee monitoring, Time Doctor lacks native project management features, requiring integration with other tools for comprehensive project management.
Time Doctor Pricing
Justworks
Justworks’ integrated HR and time tracking platform empowers HR teams to manage time-related tasks efficiently and seamlessly within a comprehensive HR management system. With its intuitive mobile app, seamless integrations, and automated alerts, Justworks simplifies time tracking and enhances accountability for employees, ultimately contributing to improved productivity and efficiency across the organization.
Justworks Top Features
Mobile App: Simplify time tracking for employees with a user-friendly mobile app, enabling them to log time conveniently from anywhere.
Integrations with Accounting Software: Streamline time tracking and payments by integrating with accounting software, consolidating all relevant data and processes in one centralized platform.
Automated Alerts: Enhance employee accountability with automated alerts, ensuring timely reminders and notifications for time-related tasks and deadlines.
Justworks Limitations
Limited Customization: Justworks may have limited customization options compared to standalone time tracking software, which may not fully meet the unique needs of every organization.
Justworks Pricing
Insightful
Insightful offers flexible pricing plans tailored to different organizational requirements, providing advanced time tracking solutions with comprehensive analytics capabilities.
Insightful advanced time tracking platform empowers organizations with detailed data analytics to optimize productivity and performance effectively. With features such as in-depth productivity insights, location tracking, and workflow optimization, Insightful enables organizations to make data-driven decisions and achieve greater efficiency across their teams.
Insightful Top Features
In-depth Productivity Insights: Gain comprehensive insights into your team’s productivity patterns throughout the day, enabling informed decision-making and performance optimization.
Location Insights: Track the impact of remote and hybrid work by monitoring employee locations, facilitating better resource allocation and management.
Workflow Optimization: Identify bottlenecks and streamline workflows with advanced analytics, enhancing efficiency and productivity across the organization.
Insightful Limitations
Complexity for Small Teams
The extensive analytics and features offered by Insightful may be overwhelming for small teams with simpler time tracking needs, potentially leading to underutilization of its capabilities.
Insightful Pricing
HourStack
HourStack is a comprehensive project and time management tool designed to enhance organization, productivity, and goal achievement. Users can efficiently organize tasks into time blocks, prioritize activities, and manage their daily schedules from a centralized view.
With HourStack’s modern and intuitive interface, users can visualize progress over time using progress bars, swiftly capture important data points with notes and tags, and seamlessly switch tasks between different days and weeks. This time tracking app empowers users to stay on track with projects through features like task reminders, advanced filtering options, and collaborative workspace support.
HourStack Top Features
Individual and Team Calendar Views: Optimize schedules with individual and team calendar views, ensuring efficient time allocation and resource management.
Customizable Reports: Generate customizable reports with flexible filters, grouping, and sorting options, enabling in-depth analysis of time usage and project progress.
Excel, Google Sheets, and CSV Exports: Export data to Excel, Google Sheets, or CSV files for further analysis or sharing with stakeholders.
One-Click Calendar Timers: Start timers directly from the calendar interface with just one click, simplifying time tracking and task management.
HourStack Limitations
Time Accuracy Dependence: The accuracy of time tracking in HourStack relies on consistent user check-in and maintenance, which may require diligent effort to ensure precise tracking.
Short Traill Period: The trial period offered by HourStack may be too brief for users to experience any significant impact on productivity, potentially limiting the ability to fully assess the tool’s effectiveness.
HourStack Pricing
Wrike
Wrike offers flexible pricing options tailored to the needs of larger teams, providing an integrated project management solution with basic time tracking capabilities. While the platform excels in project management, users should be aware of the limitations regarding time tracking availability in certain pricing tiers.
Wrike Top Features
All-in-One Platform: Track time and manage projects seamlessly within a unified platform, enhancing collaboration and efficiency.
Automatic Detailed Reports: Generate automatic, detailed reports to simplify the invoicing process, streamlining billing and accounting tasks.
Timesheet Locking: Maintain full control over timesheets for accounting purposes with timesheet locking functionality, ensuring data integrity and accuracy.
Wrike Limitations
Limited Time Tracking in Lower Pricing Tiers: The time tracking feature is not included in Wrike’s Free, Professional, or Team pricing tiers, restricting access to basic time tracking functionality for users on these plans.
Wrike Pricing
Paymo
Paymo’s time tracking tool empowers businesses to monitor and manage employees’ time effectively, facilitating improved billing and invoicing processes with accurate and detailed time tracking data, a key advantage of the platform.
By leveraging this data, users can generate precise and transparent invoices, fostering stronger client relationships. In addition to tracking billable and non-billable time, Paymo’s time tracking tool provides insights into costs, enabling businesses to refine pricing models for greater profitability.
Project managers can utilize the tool to establish project timelines and deadlines, setting milestones for team members and tracking their progress through regular check-ins, ensuring projects stay on track and objectives are met.
Paymo Top Features
Different Timesheet Views: Gain insights into time usage with flexible timesheet views, allowing users to track hours on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Timesheet Personalization Settings: Customize timesheets to meet specific business needs and preferences, enhancing usability and efficiency.
Reports: Visualize time tracking data with intuitive pie and bar chart reports, facilitating data analysis and decision-making.
Paymo Limitations
Features Restrictions in Free Plan: The free plan may lack advanced task management features, limiting functionality for users with more complex project management needs.
Integrations: Integrations with other tools and platforms are exclusive to paid plans, potentially restricting integration options for users on the free plan.
Paymo Pricing
Why choose KiteSuite to go on track in 2024
Selecting the right time tracking software is paramount for any business. Here’s why teams opting for KiteSuite’s time tracking capabilities are witnessing a surge in productivity:
User-Friendly Interface: Effective time tracking hinges on software usability. KiteSuite offers an intuitive and visually appealing interface, ensuring seamless adoption by both users and teams. Adding tasks to the project board and toggling the timer on and off is a breeze. Additionally, users can effortlessly edit time entries, providing flexibility and accuracy. (Edited entries are flagged in red for easy identification.)
Mobile Accessibility: With the increasing prevalence of remote work, KiteSuite’s mobile app empowers your team to track time from anywhere, whether on iOS or Android devices. This flexibility ensures that time tracking remains convenient and accessible, even on the go.
Robust Reporting: Comprehensive reporting capabilities are indispensable for effective time management. KiteSuite delivers detailed insights into your team’s time allocation, allowing you to track time by tasks, projects, and individuals. These detailed summaries enable informed decision-making and optimization of resource allocation.
If you’re in search of a robust time tracking solution that enhances time management and offers real-time project insights, KiteSuite is the ideal choice.
