Top Clockify Alternatives for Easy & Effortless Time Tracking

Time tracking sounds like something Musk’s robot would enjoy. It’s precise and passionless. Clockify makes time tracking a bit playful, but sometimes you just want a tool that doesn’t require a Start/Stop timer or expect you to remember what you were doing 3 meetings and 2 coffee refills ago.

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Luckily for you, there are time trackers that make tracking your hours feel less like a chore and more like a walk in the park. I’m talking about Clockify alternatives.

If you’re allergic to clicking Start/Stop, tired of spreadsheets that judge you silently, or just ready to automate things (cough, Memtime), we have the best Clockify alternatives lined up. 

They’re easy, almost effortless, and they might even be fun.

Ready to find something smoother? Let’s see what the options are.

But first, what is Clockify?

Clockify is a popular time tracking tool.

It’s used by freelancers, teams, and larger businesses to monitor work hours. Launched in 2017, Clockify has grown significantly, mostly because it appeals to solo users and organizations looking for a cost-effective (read: free) time tracking solution.

The tool is known for its free forever pricing model and clean interface. Clockify offers a fairly robust set of features to help you track time across tasks, projects, and team members.

It’s cloud-based, available across web, desktop, and mobile, and integrates with dozens of tools including Trello, Asana, Jira, and Slack.

Clockify pros & cons

Clockify is often praised as a simple, cost-effective time tracking solution for teams and individuals. And it’s understandable; its simplicity and price tag make it appealing, but the tool has its quirks.

Just like any app, it shines in some areas and stumbles in others (especially regarding automation and long-term scalability).

Here’s a breakdown of the strengths and limitations of Clockify, so you can make an informed decision based on how much effort you want to spend on tracking time.

Pros of using Clockify

• It’s free for unlimited users. Clockify’s free forever plan is one of the most generous in the time tracking space. You can bring your entire team onboard at no cost, making it ideal for startups, agencies, and small businesses that need time tracking without going over budget.
• There’s a user-friendly interface. Clockify’s dashboard is clean, logical, and easy to navigate. You don’t need to be tech-savvy to set up projects, clients, and tasks.

• It provides manual tracking options. You can use the Start/Stop timer if you want real-time tracking, or manually enter time after. If you forget to hit “Start” or jump between tasks often, manually entering time can be quite useful.
• There’s an optional Auto Tracker feature. Clockify’s Auto Tracker is an optional feature available for Windows and Linux users. When enabled, it monitors which applications and websites you use, recording any activity lasting more than 10 seconds. The Auto Tracker stores data locally on your computer, ensuring privacy. You can then convert these activity logs into time entries within Clockify, individually or by selecting multiple entries to add or merge.
• It’s also a tool for team and project management. Beyond basic time tracking, Clockify allows you to assign tasks, monitor what each team member is working on, and track project budgets. You can set hourly rates per user or project to simplify client billing.
• You get detailed reports. You can filter reports by user, project, task, tag, or date, and export them in multiple formats. These reports are great for client invoicing or simply understanding how your team spends time.
• Clockify is available on the web, desktop (Mac, Windows, Linux), mobile (iOS, Android), and as a browser extension. This means your time tracking can go with you, and it’s pretty useful for hybrid teams or on-the-go solopreneurs.

Cons of using Clockify

• You have to *remember* to track time. If you forget to start or stop the timer, or don’t log your hours consistently, the data becomes unreliable. (This is where passive time tracking tools like Memtime, which auto-track your activity, come in handy.)
• If you do a lot of app switching, the Auto Tracker will probably not capture all your activity. Some users have reported that rapid transitions between applications can lead to incomplete entries. Adjusting the minimum tracking threshold can help here.
• There’s limited automation. Clockify offers some automations, like reminders and recurring time entries, but they’re basic. There’s no intelligent tracking of your apps, browser activity, or documents; it’s up to you to remember what you were doing and enter it yourself.
• If you are leading a growing team, you’ll eventually need to upgrade your plan. Some Clockify features are tucked into various paid tiers. For growing teams, this means you’ll need to switch to a paid plan.
• The app can be overwhelming if you just want time tracking. Ironically, Clockify can feel like overkill if you don’t need team management, budgeting, or extensive reports. You can find the interface cluttered or distracting.
• There’s a lack of context. Clockify tells you how much time you’ve worked, but not necessarily what you were working on. There’s no breakdown of which files or websites you interacted with, no timeline view of your day, and no contextual data.

So, should you look into Clockify alternatives?

Clockify is a solid time tracking solution that can deliver value, especially for teams on a budget. 

It works best for people who are disciplined about tracking time and want a dashboard to manage tasks, projects, and hours worked.

However, if you tend to forget to hit “Start”, need more detailed context around your workday, or just want to track time without thinking about it, Clockify’s methods probably shouldn’t be your first choice. In that case, you might consider passive time trackers like Memtime, which fill in the blanks without requiring your input.

After all, you're not just looking for a time tracker; you're looking for a tool that helps you reclaim lost time and truly understand where it goes.

Top 9 Clockify alternatives

If Clockify isn’t ticking all your boxes, here’s our list of the top 9 alternatives that do more than just count your hours. These tools bring smarter features, polished interfaces, and in some cases, they track your time so silently you’ll forget they’re even there.

#1 Memtime

Need a silent time tracking buddy that observes your workday and doesn’t interrupt you to ask anything?

That’s Memtime.

It quietly watches your digital activity in the background—I’m talking apps, meetings, documents, and websites—and helps you reconstruct your day. No pop-ups, no pressure, no panic. Just pure, effortless tracking.

After all, Memtime’s mascot is a sloth for a reason. We believe that, when it comes to time tracking, slow, steady, and stress-free definitely wins the race. 🦥

And Memtime doesn’t just stop with time tracking.

Once our app has tracked the app, doc, or tool you were using, you can export those tracked activities as time entries to your project management software of choice (more than one).

Here are Memtime’s features you need to know about:

• The app automatically tracks all your desktop activity (programs, files, meetings, emails) and even phone call duration via popular VoIP services or your iPhone.
• Memtime runs silently in the background and displays your entire workday in chunks (1-60 minute intervals), so you can see how your day went.

• You can turn any captured activity into a time entry quickly.
• You can export time entries & sync with 100+ tools, including Asana, Jira, and more via a 2-way sync: you can import projects (and tasks) into Memtime and then export time entries back to those projects and software.
• Memtime works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• All your data stays local, meaning it’s stored offline on your computer (never uploaded to a cloud server). Plus, no raw activity data (like URLs or file names) is ever shared with another user, unless you explicitly choose to share or log a time entry in a project management app.

See? Told ya.

If you want to get accurate insights into how you spend your time, Memtime should be your first choice.

Try the tool for free for 2 weeks—no credit card required. Just click the button below.

#2 Toggl Track

Toggl Track is a time tracking tool designed for freelancers and teams.

It provides manual timers, background tracking, reports, and integrations, with a pretty clean interface and flexibility.

The background tracking is done through its Timeline feature that passively monitors computer activity (specifically, any application or website you use for more than 10 seconds), and you can later convert that activity into time entries. This data is visualized in 15-minute increments.

Here are the app’s key features:

• Toggl provides manual tracking (a Start/Stop timer) and background tracking, where it detects desktop activity (optional).
• Toggl sends you alerts when you’ve been away and offers to discard or keep idle time.
• There’s a Pomodoro timer.
• There are 100+ connections with other tools like Google Calendar, Jira, Asana, Trello, Slack, GitHub, and more.
• Reports and tracked time can be broken down by project, client, team, or tag. Reports can also separate billable vs non-billable hours.
• You can organize tasks by client or project, set estimated time, and track progress.
• Data is stored in the cloud.

#3 Hubstaff

Hubstaff is a time tracking and productivity management tool built for remote and hybrid teams.

It provides manual time tracking, team monitoring, project budgeting, and even GPS tracking for field teams.

Hubstaff also provides automatic time tracking that monitors work hours:

• You can set up automatic start/stop times based on predefined schedules or shifts. This means that time tracking begins and ends without your manual intervention. 
• Hubstaff’s system detects periods of inactivity (when there’s no keyboard or mouse movement) and asks you to confirm whether to keep or discard the idle time. Activity levels are calculated based on the percentage of active seconds (keyboard or mouse usage) within a 10-minute interval. For example, if you are active for 300 out of 600 seconds, your activity level is 50%.

Here are Hubstaff’s key features:

• You get manual and automatic time tracking that provides idle detection and reminders.
• Activity monitoring is based on keyboard/mouse movement, and there are optional screenshots at intervals.
• GPS tracking for field employees and route history visualization.
• You can create invoices and do budget management by project or client.
• You can connect the app to 30+ tools, including Trello, Asana, GitHub, Jira, QuickBooks, Slack, and Salesforce.
• You can get automatic payments based on tracked hours.
• The tool provides reports and analytics on time usage, team productivity, and project costs.
• All data is stored in the cloud.

#4 Timely

Timely is an AI-powered time tracking app that promises to reduce manual effort and provide productivity insights.

Its Memory app automatically logs your time and syncs data to the cloud. The app doesn’t have its own interface; you’ll need to use the web version to view and manage your time data.

Here are the tool’s key features:

• You get automatic time tracking that logs all activity (apps, documents, browser activity, meetings) without you needing to hit Start/Stop.
• AI groups tasks by project, client, or team automatically.
• You get a private timeline view; your activities are tracked and stored privately. The data is not visible to managers, teammates, or admins unless you explicitly choose to share it.
• You get dashboards for project tracking and performance insights.
• Reporting tools can break down hours by client, task, or team.
• You can get billable vs. non-billable tracking, including project budgeting and capacity planning
• All data is stored in the cloud.

#5 Harvest

Harvest is a well-rounded time tracking tool with built-in invoicing and reporting. If you only deal with client work and want to be conscious of your budget and time, this might be the tool for you.

Here are the app’s key features:

• You enter time manually or use a Start/Stop timer for tracking across tasks and projects.
• You can do expense tracking with receipt uploads and billable/non-billable tagging.
• You can convert time and expenses into invoices directly within the app.
• You get client management tools for tracking budgets, retainers, and project costs.
• Reports allow you to view time by team member, task, project, or client.
• You get automatic reminders to log time daily or weekly.
• You can monitor your team’s workload, billable hours, and capacity.
• You get approval workflows for timesheets and expenses.
• All data is stored in the cloud.

#6 Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a time tracking and employee monitoring solution built to increase productivity. It’s marketed as an app for managing remote or hybrid workforces.

Here are the Time Doctor’s key features:

• You get manual or automatic time tracking (keyboard and mouse activity tracking) with Start/Stop buttons and optional silent background mode.
• Time Doctor considers the user idle if no keyboard or mouse activity is detected for a predefined period. You can be prompted with a pop-up alert, or the tool can automatically pause the timer, ensuring that only active work time is recorded.
• The software monitors which websites and applications are used during work hours, and categorizes them as productive, unproductive, or neutral based on predefined settings.
• You can get distraction alerts when you visit non-work-related sites.
• You can track projects and tasks within the app, or through integrations.
• You can create invoices based on tracked time, with customizable rates per user/project.
• Detailed reporting on time use, productivity trends, and team performance.
• The app offers optional webcam shots, video recordings, and screen recording (in high-tier plans).
• All data is stored in the cloud.

#7 Beebole

Beebole is a time tracking and business analytics tool for teams. This might be the app for you if you need detailed time reporting, approvals, and strong compliance features.

Here are Beebole’s notable features:

• Time is tracked manually in Beebole, via a timer or by entering hours into timesheets.
• You get custom approval workflows for timesheets and leave tracking.
• Real-time dashboards and reports, customizable with filters (client, project, team, task, etc.)
• You can see audit trails and compliance tools for legal and HR requirements.
• You can do project budgeting, cost tracking, and profitability analysis, and manage PTOs, sick leave, and holidays.
• Users get permissions based on roles (administrators, managers, and employees).
• All data is stored in the cloud.

#8 TimeCamp

TimeCamp is a tracking tool that combines manual and automatic tracking, project budgeting, invoicing, and productivity insights.

Manual time tracking is done using a Start/Stop timer or by typing a direct time entry (entering the start and end times or specifying the duration directly into the timesheet).

TimeCamp’s automatic tracking is available on desktop and is done through:

• Keyword-based tracking, where users can assign specific keywords to tasks or projects. The application monitors active window titles, URLs, and application names, automatically logging time when these keywords are detected.
• Activity monitoring, when the software tracks computer activities and provides insights into productivity patterns.

Here are TimeCamp’s most notable features:

• You get timesheets with daily, weekly, and graphical views for quick editing.
• You can create invoices based on billable hours, with customizable rates per project or client.
• Productivity tracking categorizes websites/apps into productive or distracting.
• You can track attendance to monitor team check-ins, leaves, and work hours.
• You get reports for time, team performance, budget tracking, and profitability.
• You can set idle detection and reminders for incomplete time entries.
• All data is stored in the cloud.

#9 DeskTime

DeskTime is an automatic time tracking and productivity monitoring tool. It is marketed as an app that optimizes workflows, reduces idle time, and improves team efficiency.

Here are the app’s key features:

• You get fully automatic time tracking; the app starts tracking as soon as you turn on your computer.
• Software does app and URL tracking, with productivity categorization (productive, neutral, unproductive).
• You can turn on screenshots taken at custom intervals for activity proof.
• You get idle time tracking, or you can manually mark offline time.
• You get project and task tracking, including cost calculation and budgeting.
• There’s a built-in Pomodoro timer, break reminders, and a private time option.
• You can schedule shifts and absence calendars to manage PTOs.
• You get reports on productivity, time usage, attendance, and efficiency.
• All data is stored in the cloud.

Wrapping up

If Clockify feels like too much work, reminding you to "press Start" to track time, it might be time (pun intended) to upgrade to something a little more... chill.

My suggestion?

Memtime, obviously.

Time tracking is supposed to be automatic, silent and zen-like. If you’re tired of managing time like a strict accountant and want something less chaotic, Memtime is your tool.

Or, if you are just here for the screenshots, performance graphs, or the thrill of never forgetting what you did between 2:17 and 2:38 pm, you’ve got options. Lots of them.

Now, go ahead. Let your new favorite tool do all the work, while you focus on yours.