Top 12 Best Time Tracker Software for Freelancers and Teams in 2027

Finding the best time tracker software depends on how you work, what you need to measure, and how much visibility your business requires. Freelancers may prioritise simple timers, billable hours, client management, and reporting, while growing teams often need approvals, project tracking, workforce insights, and multiple ways to record time.

This guide compares 12 time tracking software options for freelancers and teams in 2027. We reviewed usability, tracking methods, reporting, project and task management, freelancer features, team management, privacy controls, integrations, pricing, and scalability.

Best Time Tracking Software Comparison

Time tracking platforms differ significantly in how they record work and support teams.

Some focus on simple timers for freelancers, while others provide automatic tracking, project management, employee monitoring, invoicing, attendance, or workforce analytics.

Software	Best For	Free Option	Tracking Method	Standout Feature
AYYES	Freelancers, small teams and mixed workforces	Yes, up to 2 team members	Web, desktop and kiosk	Time tracking with projects, tasks and work management
Clockify	Freelancers and small teams	Yes, up to 5 users	Timer, timesheet, apps	Strong free time tracking features
Toggl Track	Freelancers and creative teams	Yes, limited users	Web, desktop, mobile and automatic	Fast and flexible tracking
Harvest	Agencies and consultants	Free/trial options available	Web, desktop and mobile	Time-to-invoice workflow
Everhour	Project-focused teams	Free/trial options available	Timer and PM integrations	Deep project management integrations
Apploye	Contractors and distributed teams	Plan dependent	Desktop and manual tracking	Tracking with optional screenshots
Hubstaff	Remote and field teams	Trial available	Desktop, mobile and GPS	Remote workforce tracking
Time Doctor	Remote and hybrid teams	Trial available	Automatic and manual	Productivity analytics
DeskTime	Teams wanting automatic tracking	Trial/free options vary	Automatic desktop tracking	Automatic app and website tracking
My Hours	Consultants and service businesses	Free option available	Timer and timesheet	Project budgets and billing
RescueTime	Personal productivity	Trial/free options vary	Automatic tracking	Focus and distraction analysis
wAnywhere	Workforce analytics	Trial available	Workforce activity tracking	Productivity and workforce insights

The strongest choice depends on your workflow. Freelancers may prioritise simplicity and billable-hour reporting, while teams often need permissions, approvals, project visibility, reporting, and scalable administration.

How We Evaluated the Best Time Tracking Apps

We compared these platforms using criteria that matter to both individuals and organisations.

Ease of use: How quickly can users start or stop a timer, add time manually, correct an entry, or submit a timesheet?

Core time tracking: We considered manual timers, automatic tracking, desktop tracking, web-based tracking, mobile access, kiosk functionality, idle detection, and offline support where available.

Freelancer features: Client organisation, project tracking, billable and non-billable hours, reports, budgets, exports, and invoicing support are particularly important when freelancers use time records to charge clients.

Team management: Growing organisations may need permissions, attendance, timesheet approvals, employee schedules, team reporting, and manager visibility.

Reporting: Useful time tracking software should turn recorded hours into understandable reports for payroll, billing, project management, resource planning, and profitability.

Privacy: Screenshots, application monitoring, idle detection, and other activity features should be configurable and used transparently.

Pricing and scalability: We also considered whether a platform has a free plan or trial and whether the product can continue supporting a business as its team grows.

No single ranking can guarantee the right product for every business. The ideal platform depends on team size, tracking requirements, client billing, reporting needs, budget, and workplace privacy expectations.

12 Best Time Tracking Software for Freelancers and Teams in 2027

1. AYYES — Best Overall Time Tracking Software for Teams and Freelancers

AYYES combines time tracking with projects, tasks, timesheets, team management, employee activity information, and work-management features.

Users can track their time through web-based tracking, desktop software, or kiosk-based clock-ins. This flexibility is useful for companies where freelancers, remote workers, office employees, and location-based teams may need different ways to record their working hours.

Tracked time can be connected directly to projects and tasks, allowing managers to review timesheets, billable hours, labour costs, employee activity, and reports without moving information between multiple disconnected platforms.

For teams requiring additional work visibility, AYYES desktop tracking can also provide activity levels, application and website usage, idle detection, and configurable screenshots.

The current AYYES Free plan supports up to two team members with unlimited time tracking, projects, and tasks.

Best for: Freelancers, micro-businesses, agencies, remote teams, and businesses managing different workforce types.

Key strengths: Web, desktop and kiosk tracking; unlimited projects and tasks; timesheets; reports; project management; employee activity tracking; and a permanent free option for up to two members.

Potential limitation: Businesses using activity or screenshot features should introduce clear employee monitoring policies and use these tools only where necessary.

For freelancers looking for a free time tracking app that can later grow into a broader team-management platform, AYYES provides a strong combination of simplicity and workforce visibility.

2. Clockify — Best Free Time Tracking App for Small Teams

Clockify is a popular time tracking platform for freelancers and small teams that want straightforward time recording without immediately moving to a paid plan.

Users can start and stop a timer, add hours manually, complete timesheets, organise work by project, identify billable hours, and generate reports.

Clockify’s current Free plan provides unlimited tracking for up to five users, along with timer, timesheet, calendar, desktop and mobile applications, reports, idle detection, and other core features.

Best for: Freelancers, startups and small teams prioritising free time tracking.

Key strengths: Simple timers, manual entry, project organisation, timesheets, billable hours, reports, desktop and mobile apps.

Potential limitation: Larger teams or companies requiring more advanced administration, scheduling, approvals, budgeting, or controls may need a paid plan.

3. Toggl Track — Best Time Tracking App for Freelancers

Toggl Track focuses on quick and flexible time capture.

Freelancers can start timers with minimal setup, organise their tracked hours by clients and projects, add time manually, and use calendar, desktop and mobile tracking options.

Its reporting tools make it useful for freelancers who want to understand where their time is being spent without adopting a complex employee-management platform.

Toggl also supports offline time tracking and automatic desktop activity recording, with users retaining control over which activities become time entries.

Best for: Freelancers, consultants, creative professionals, and small knowledge-work teams.

Key strengths: Easy timer, desktop and mobile access, reporting, offline tracking, integrations, and automatic activity capture.

Potential limitation: Businesses requiring extensive workforce monitoring, kiosk clock-ins, or more complex administration may need a different platform.

4. Harvest — Best Time Tracking Software for Client Invoicing

Harvest is particularly useful for agencies, consultants, designers, and professional-service businesses that connect tracked working hours directly with client billing.

Users can track time from browsers, desktop software, and mobile applications. Harvest also supports timesheet approvals, project budgets, reports, invoices, expenses, and online payment workflows.

Tracked time and expenses can be converted into client invoices, reducing duplicate administration between a time tracker and separate billing software.

Best for: Agencies, consultants, and professional-service businesses.

Key strengths: Billable-hour tracking, timesheets, budgets, reporting, invoices, expenses, and client payments.

Potential limitation: Companies needing detailed employee activity monitoring, kiosk clock-ins, or extensive workforce controls may require another solution.

5. Everhour — Best Time Tracker for Project Management Integrations

Everhour is designed for teams that already manage their work in platforms such as Asana, ClickUp, Jira, Trello, Monday, Notion, and other project-management tools.

Time tracking controls can be integrated into existing workflows, reducing the need for employees to switch constantly between a project-management platform and a separate timer.

Everhour also supports project budgets, billable and non-billable hours, detailed reporting, invoicing, timesheets, and team activity information.

Best for: Agencies, development teams, and organisations already using project-management software.

Key strengths: Strong integrations, project budgets, billing, estimates, reports, and time tracking within existing workflows.

Potential limitation: Its value is greatest when your organisation already uses the platforms with which Everhour integrates closely.

6. Apploye — Best Time Tracking App for Independent Contractors

Apploye combines time tracking with project information, billable hours, productivity features, and optional employee activity monitoring.

Its screenshot functionality can provide additional proof of work where contractors or distributed teams require visual verification. The platform also provides controls over screenshot frequency and privacy-related settings.

For contractors working with clients, accurate time records can make invoicing easier and provide clearer evidence of how billable hours were used.

Best for: Independent contractors, outsourcing teams, remote businesses, and service providers.

Key strengths: Time tracking, billable hours, projects, activity information, optional screenshots, and workforce controls.

Potential limitation: Screenshot and activity monitoring may be unnecessary for freelancers or businesses that only require straightforward time tracking.

7. Hubstaff — Best Employee Time Tracking Software for Remote and Field Teams

Hubstaff combines employee time tracking with features designed for remote and mobile workforces.

Depending on the setup, businesses can use project and task tracking, activity information, screenshots, mobile applications, and location-based tracking.

Its screenshot feature can provide additional context around recorded working hours, while mobile GPS functionality is useful for organisations managing workers across different locations.

Best for: Remote teams, field-service businesses, distributed organisations, and mobile employees.

Key strengths: Employee time tracking, projects, activity information, optional screenshots, GPS functionality, and workforce visibility.

Potential limitation: The monitoring and location features may be more than freelancers or trust-based creative teams require.

8. Time Doctor — Best Productivity Time Tracker for Remote Teams

Time Doctor combines time and attendance tracking with employee visibility and workforce analytics.

It provides automatic and manual tracking, offline tracking, attendance information, app and website usage, idle-time information, optional screenshots, scheduling, time approvals, and reporting.

The platform is particularly relevant to remote and hybrid organisations that want to understand how work hours are distributed across employees, applications, projects, and tasks.

Best for: Remote, hybrid, outsourcing, and distributed teams requiring deeper productivity information.

Key strengths: Automated tracking, app and website insights, productivity analytics, reports, attendance, optional screenshots, and workforce planning.

Potential limitation: Companies looking only for a lightweight freelancer timer may find its workforce analytics more extensive than necessary.

9. DeskTime — Best Automatic Time Tracking Software

DeskTime is designed around automatic time tracking.

Instead of relying entirely on employees remembering to start and stop a timer, DeskTime can record work activity in the background and analyse applications and websites used during the working day.

The platform also includes project time tracking, productivity calculations, reports, screenshots, attendance features, and integrations.

Best for: Hybrid teams and professionals who frequently forget manual timers.

Key strengths: Automatic time capture, URL and app tracking, project tracking, reports, productivity analysis, and attendance functionality.

Potential limitation: Automatic activity monitoring requires clear expectations and may not be appropriate for every workplace culture.

10. My Hours — Best Time Tracking App for Consultants

My Hours focuses on project-based time tracking, budgets, billing, approvals, and reporting.

Consultants and service businesses can organise work into clients, projects, and tasks while tracking the time and costs associated with delivery.

Project budgets can be based on hours, billable values, or costs, while approval workflows can help organisations improve timesheet accuracy before using the data for billing or internal reporting.

Best for: Consultants, professional-service businesses, and project-based teams.

Key strengths: Project tracking, billable rates, budgets, timesheet approvals, reports, expenses, and invoices.

Potential limitation: Organisations requiring advanced activity monitoring, GPS, or detailed app and website tracking should compare other platforms.

11. RescueTime — Best Time Tracking App for Personal Use

RescueTime takes a different approach from traditional timesheet software.

It focuses heavily on automatic activity tracking and personal productivity. Users can understand which applications and websites consume their attention, set goals, create alerts, and use focus sessions to reduce distractions.

RescueTime also offers timesheet functionality for tracking work by client, project, or task.

Best for: Freelancers, writers, students, consultants, and knowledge workers focused on improving personal productivity.

Key strengths: Automatic activity tracking, focus sessions, goals, alerts, distraction management, and personal productivity insights.

Potential limitation: Businesses primarily requiring payroll timesheets, attendance management, or field tracking may need a more workforce-focused product.

12. wAnywhere — Best Time Tracking Software for Workforce Analytics

wAnywhere combines employee time tracking with attendance, productivity information, workforce analytics, and compliance-focused capabilities.

Businesses can review active time, breaks, application usage, location information, and other workforce data to better understand how teams work across remote, hybrid, and office environments.

Best for: Organisations prioritising workforce analytics and administrative visibility.

Key strengths: Time tracking, attendance, productivity insights, workforce reporting, and employee activity information.

Potential limitation: Its broader workforce-management functionality may be unnecessary for freelancers who simply need a lightweight timer.

How to Choose the Best Time Tracking Software

The right time tracking software depends on how your organisation works and what you plan to do with the information after it has been collected.

Avoid choosing a platform only because it has the largest number of features. Instead, identify your primary business requirements first.

Time Tracking Software for Small and Growing Teams

Small teams should look beyond a basic stopwatch.

As a business grows, it may need permissions, consistent project structures, team timesheets, approvals, reports, billing data, and different methods of tracking work.

Consider whether your chosen platform can support additional employees without forcing the business to migrate to another system.

AYYES can be particularly useful for growing teams that want web, desktop, and kiosk tracking alongside projects, tasks, timesheets, and work-management features.

Time Tracking Software for Remote Teams

Remote teams often need more than manual timesheets.

Consider desktop tracking, offline support, idle handling, project visibility, activity information, timesheet reporting, and privacy controls.

If screenshots or app and website monitoring will be used, explain clearly what will be tracked, why it is required, and who can access the information.

Employee monitoring should support a legitimate business need rather than become unnecessary surveillance.

Compare Time Tracking Methods

Different roles require different tracking methods.

A freelancer working on a laptop may prefer a simple timer, while an office employee might use desktop tracking. Location-based employees may find kiosk or mobile clock-ins more practical.

Useful tracking methods can include:

• Web-based timers
• Desktop applications
• Automatic tracking
• Manual time entry
• Weekly timesheets
• Mobile tracking
• Kiosk clock-ins
• Offline tracking

Choose software that matches how employees actually work rather than forcing every person into the same tracking method.

Check Reports and Integrations

Tracking hours is only useful when the information supports business decisions.

Check whether reports can show:

• Hours by employee
• Hours by project
• Billable and non-billable time
• Project costs
• Labour costs
• Client work
• Productivity patterns
• Attendance
• Timesheet status

Also review integrations with your existing project-management, accounting, payroll, invoicing, or collaboration tools.

Compare Pricing as Your Team Grows

A free time tracking app can be an excellent starting point, especially for freelancers and micro-businesses.

However, check what happens when your business adds more employees.

Compare:

• Free-plan user limits
• Monthly per-user costs
• Annual pricing
• Feature restrictions
• Storage limits
• Reporting availability
• Advanced administration
• Integrations
• Support

For example, AYYES currently provides its Free plan for up to two team members, while Clockify’s current Free plan supports up to five users.

Common Mistakes When Choosing Time Tracker Software

Choosing only by price: A free time tracking app provides little value if employees find it difficult to use. Compare usability, essential features, support, and future upgrade costs.

Ignoring privacy: Screenshots, app usage, activity levels, and location information can affect employee trust. Define what will be collected, why it is necessary, who can view it, and how the information will be protected.

Skipping a pilot: Test the software with a real project or small team before rolling it out across the entire organisation.

Collecting data without using it: Time reports should support clear business decisions such as improving project estimates, payroll accuracy, workload planning, profitability, or client billing.

Forgetting mobile or offline work: Remote employees, field workers, and contractors may need mobile or offline tracking when they cannot remain connected to a desktop application.

Not checking exports: Confirm that time records can be transferred into the accounting, payroll, invoicing, or reporting workflow your organisation already uses.

Choosing too many monitoring features: More tracking does not automatically create better management. Activate only the features that support a genuine business requirement.

Key Features to Look for in Time Tracking Software

Good time tracking software should make recording hours easier while giving individuals and managers useful information about projects, clients, tasks, and workloads.

Automatic and Manual Time Tracking

Employees should have enough flexibility to record time accurately.

Manual timers work well when users clearly switch between projects or clients, while automatic tracking can reduce forgotten time entries.

The best setup may combine automatic tracking with the ability to correct or manually add legitimate working hours.

Project and Task Tracking

Connecting recorded hours with projects and tasks gives businesses more useful data than simply recording when an employee started and finished work.

Project-based tracking can help answer questions such as:

• Which projects consume the most working hours?
• Which tasks are regularly underestimated?
• How much labour has been used?
• Which clients require the most work?
• Where are project bottlenecks appearing?

This information can improve future estimates and resource allocation.

Billable Hours and Invoicing

For freelancers, consultants, agencies, and professional-service businesses, billable-hour tracking is particularly important.

The software should make it easy to distinguish billable from non-billable work and associate time with the correct client or project.

Accurate billable records can reduce invoicing disputes and make it easier to explain how client budgets are being used.

Timesheets and Approvals

Growing teams may require a structured process for checking recorded hours.

Timesheet approvals allow managers to review time before it is used for payroll, invoicing, or project-cost calculations.

Look for controls that make it easy to correct genuine errors without creating unnecessary administrative work.

Reporting and Analytics

Time tracking software should turn raw hours into understandable information.

Useful reporting can include:

• Individual timesheets
• Team hours
• Project time
• Task-level time
• Billable hours
• Labour costs
• Attendance
• Productivity information
• Project budgets
• Client reports

Choose reports based on the decisions your organisation actually needs to make.

Desktop, Mobile and Offline Tracking

Employees do not always work from the same device or location.

Desktop tracking is useful for computer-based employees, while mobile applications can support travelling employees and field workers.

Offline tracking can also be valuable when employees work without a reliable internet connection.

If your workforce combines office, remote, freelance, and location-based employees, choosing software with multiple tracking methods can avoid the need for several separate systems.

Why Choose AYYES for Time Tracking?

AYYES brings time tracking, project management, task management, team visibility, timesheets, reporting, and optional employee activity tracking into one connected platform.

Rather than functioning only as a stopwatch, it allows recorded hours to become part of a broader work-management workflow.

Time Tracking for Freelancers and Teams

AYYES can support both individual users and organisations.

Freelancers can track projects, tasks, billable work, and working hours, while managers can review team timesheets, projects, activity information, and reports.

Its Free plan currently supports up to two members with unlimited tracking, projects, and tasks.

Web, Desktop and Kiosk Time Tracking

Different teams work in different ways.

AYYES provides multiple methods for recording time so businesses can choose an approach that fits each role.

Web tracking can suit straightforward project work, desktop tracking supports computer-based employees, and kiosk functionality can help businesses where multiple workers clock in from a shared location.

This flexibility can be especially useful for organisations combining freelancers, remote employees, office teams, and on-site workers.

Projects, Tasks and Billable Hours

Recorded working time becomes more valuable when it is connected with actual work.

AYYES allows teams to organise work by projects and tasks so managers can understand where hours are being spent.

This can support:

• Client billing
• Project budgeting
• Workload planning
• Labour-cost analysis
• Project progress
• Timesheet accuracy

Freelancers can also use project-level time records to create clearer evidence of billable work.

Timesheets and Productivity Reports

AYYES connects recorded time with timesheets and reporting.

Instead of simply seeing the total number of hours worked, managers can use reports to understand how time is distributed across employees, projects, tasks, and activities.

This creates better visibility for payroll preparation, client reporting, project management, and productivity decisions.

Privacy-Focused Activity Tracking

Some organisations need more context than working hours alone provide.

AYYES can provide application and website information, activity levels, idle detection, and optional screenshots when desktop tracking is enabled.

These features should be introduced transparently.

Privacy controls such as configurable screenshot monitoring can help businesses balance proof of work with the need to protect sensitive information.

Start Tracking Your Time With AYYES

Time tracking should make work easier to understand, not create another layer of administration.

AYYES combines time tracking, projects, tasks, timesheets, employee activity information, reporting, and different tracking methods in one platform.

Whether you are a freelancer tracking billable projects, a small team managing timesheets, or a growing organisation looking for better visibility into working hours, AYYES provides tools designed to scale with your workflow.

Start tracking time with AYYES and manage your hours, projects, tasks, and team from one connected workspace.

FAQs About the Best Time Tracker Software

What Is the Best Free Time Tracking App for Freelancers?

AYYES is a strong option for freelancers because its Free plan supports up to two users with unlimited time tracking, projects, and tasks. Clockify and Toggl Track are also useful alternatives depending on team size and reporting requirements.

Can One Time Tracking App Work for Freelancers and Employees?

Yes. Flexible time tracking software can allow freelancers to record projects and billable hours while giving employers timesheets, reporting, permissions, approvals, and team-management features within the same platform.

Should Employers Use Screenshots and Activity Monitoring?

Only when these features serve a clear business purpose. Employers should explain what is being collected, why it is necessary, who can access it, and how it is protected. Privacy and employment requirements should also be reviewed.

What Should I Test During a Free Trial?

Test the software with real work. Start and stop timers, switch projects, correct an entry, submit a timesheet, test mobile or offline tracking if required, and generate the reports your business needs for payroll, billing, or project management.

What Is the Best Time Tracking Software for Freelancers?

The best time tracking software for freelancers should provide easy timers, project and client organisation, billable hours, useful reports, and affordable pricing. AYYES, Toggl Track, Harvest, Clockify, and My Hours serve different freelancer workflows.

What Is the Best Time Tracking Software for Teams?

The best time tracking software for teams should support multiple users, projects, timesheets, reporting, permissions, approvals, and different tracking methods. AYYES is useful for teams needing web, desktop, and kiosk tracking in one platform.

What Is the Difference Between a Time Tracker and Timesheet Software?

A time tracker records working time as it happens through a timer or automatic tracking. Timesheet software organises recorded hours into daily or weekly records that can be reviewed, approved, reported, or used for billing and payroll.

How Much Does Time Tracking Software Cost?

Costs vary by team size and features. Some platforms provide free plans, while paid tools typically charge per user or seat. Compare free-user limits, reporting, monitoring, integrations, administration, and upgrade costs before choosing a platform.