Table of Contents
Our Verdict
If you appreciate a time tracking tool that is straightforward yet powerful, Toggl is the best fit for you. Its intuitive interface makes time tracking easy, whether you’re a freelancer managing your own hours or part of a small to medium-sized team.
Toggl’s free plan is notably generous, allowing up to five users at no cost, which is perfect for those just starting out or running a tight budget. Its paid plans, starting at just $9 per user per month, offer advanced features like detailed reporting, billable rates, and extensive integrations with other tools, all at a highly competitive price. This affordability, combined with robust functionality, makes Toggl an excellent value for your money.
Timely excel with its AI-driven automatic time tracking and emphasis on privacy and detailed analytics. Its higher pricing reflects its advanced features, which are particularly beneficial for larger teams and organizations.
While Timely offers advanced automation and analytics, it comes at a higher cost. Toggl’s balance of features, ease of use, and affordability makes it a compelling choice for a wide range of users. If you’re looking for a versatile and budget-friendly time tracking solution that scales with your needs, Toggl is the superior option.
Why Choose Toggl
Who Toggl is best for
Toggl is ideal for you if you:
- Are a freelancer or part of a small team
- Prefer having multiple methods of time tracking, such as manual entries, timers, or automated tracking
- Are part of a team that uses various tools and applications
- Appreciate a straightforward, user-friendly tool that’s easy to set up and use without a steep learning curve
- Rely on various tools and applications for project management, communication, or CRM to streamline your work flow
MORE >>>Â Timing Time Tracking Software Review
Who Toggl isn’t right for
Seek an alternative if:
- You require comprehensive project management capabilities beyond time tracking
- You are looking for a completely hands-off approach to time tracking with minimal manual intervention
- Your time tracking needs require extensive customization beyond what Toggl offers
Why Choose Timely
Who Timely is best for
Timely is a good fit for:
- You prefer a time tracking solution that minimizes manual effort
- You if data privacy and security are top priorities
- Project managers and consultants who need to track time across various projects and clients
Who Timely isn’t right for
Timely might not be a good choice for:
- Budget-conscious users
- Users requiring extensive offline functionality
- Individuals preferring manual control
- Users needing high customization
Main Differences
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Standout Features
Toggl
Time Tracking
Toggl’s time tracking features are at the core of its functionality. It allows you to log hours spent on various tasks, ensuring that every minute of work is accounted for. Whether you’re working online or offline, Toggl tracks your time seamlessly across all devices. The mobile and desktop apps make it convenient to track time on the go, while the web app provides an accessible interface for managing your time entries. With features like offline tracking, you can be sure that no time is lost, even in areas with poor connectivity.
Project Management
Toggl’s project management features help you keep your projects on track. You can set project estimates to monitor progress against your goals and receive alerts when you’re nearing your limits. The platform also supports recurring projects, which is ideal for ongoing tasks, and fixed fee projects, allowing you to manage projects with a predetermined budget. Historical billable rates provide insights into past projects, helping you make informed decisions for future work.
Team & Data Management
Managing a team with Toggl is straightforward, thanks to features designed to streamline collaboration and data security. Team reminders ensure that everyone is tracking their time consistently, while access level management allows you to control who can see and edit specific information. Single Sign-on (SSO) enhances security by simplifying the login process, and required fields ensure that all necessary information is captured. Toggl also supports locked time entries and timesheet approvals, adding an extra layer of oversight and accuracy to your time tracking.
Online Work Timer
The online work timer is a simple yet powerful tool that lets you track your work in real-time. Whether you’re working on a single task or switching between multiple projects, the timer is easy to use and accessible from any device. This feature is crucial for maintaining a detailed record of your workday and ensuring that your time tracking is accurate.
Invoicing
Toggl’s invoicing capabilities are tightly integrated with its time tracking features. You can generate invoices directly from the time you’ve tracked, ensuring that your billing is accurate and reflective of the work you’ve done. This feature is particularly valuable for freelancers, consultants, and agencies who need to invoice clients based on billable hours.
Time Reporting and Analytics
Toggl’s time reporting and analytics tools give you deep insights into your productivity. You can generate detailed reports that analyze how time is distributed across tasks, projects, and clients. These insights help you identify areas for improvement, optimize your workflow, and make data-driven decisions that enhance efficiency. The analytics tools are especially useful for tracking progress over time and setting goals for future productivity.
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Timely
AI Timesheets
Timely’s AI Timesheets feature uses artificial intelligence to automatically track and categorize your work activities. The AI learns from your work patterns and integrates with your applications to provide accurate, real-time timesheets. This eliminates the need for manual time entry and reduces the risk of errors, ensuring that every minute of your workday is accounted for without disrupting your workflow.
Memory Tracker
The Memory Tracker feature helps you keep a record of your activities and work sessions. It captures details about what you were working on, which applications you used, and how long you spent on each task. This feature is particularly useful for reviewing your productivity and understanding how your time is allocated across different projects or activities. It also aids in generating detailed and accurate reports.
Project Details
Timely allows you to input and manage detailed project information. You can set up project descriptions, goals, deadlines, and other relevant details. This feature helps you keep track of project milestones and ensure that all team members are aware of the project’s objectives and requirements. Managing project details effectively is crucial for staying organized and meeting deadlines.
Cost Rates
The Cost Rates feature enables you to set and manage the costs associated with different projects or tasks. You can define how much each task or project costs based on various factors, such as time spent, resources used, or overheads. This feature helps in budgeting and financial planning by providing a clear view of project costs and expenses.
Billable Rates
Timely’s Billable Rates feature allows you to assign specific rates to different projects, clients, or tasks. This is especially useful for freelancers, consultants, or agencies who need to track billable hours and generate invoices based on the work performed. You can set different rates for different types of work or clients, ensuring accurate billing and client management.
Tags
Tags in Timely help you categorize and organize your time entries. You can create custom tags to label different projects, tasks, or activities, making it easier to filter and report on specific types of work. Tags enhance the granularity of your time tracking, allowing for more detailed reporting and analysis.
Invoices
Timely’s invoicing feature integrates with its time tracking and project management tools to allow for seamless invoice creation. You can generate invoices based on the time tracked for different projects or clients, ensuring that your billing is accurate and aligned with the work done. This feature simplifies the invoicing process and helps in managing client payments more effectively.
People Dashboard
The People Dashboard provides a comprehensive view of team members’ time tracking and project involvement. It allows you to see how each person is spending their time, track their progress on projects, and manage their workloads. This feature is useful for team management, helping you allocate resources effectively and ensure that everyone is on track with their tasks.
Automatic Time Tracking
Timely’s Automatic Time Tracking feature uses AI to track time without manual input. It automatically records the time you spend on various applications and tasks, providing a complete and accurate record of your workday. This feature helps you stay focused on your work without worrying about starting and stopping timers, and it ensures that all time is captured
Pros and Cons
Toggl
Pros
- Is known for its intuitive and straightforward interface, which makes it easy for you to get started with minimal training
- Offers flexibility in how you track your time, whether through manual entry, online timers, or automated tracking
- Help analyze productivity, manage budgets, and prepare accurate invoices, giving you a clear view of your time management
- Offers a free plan with essential time tracking features
Cons
- Pricing for Toggl’s paid plans can become expensive, particularly if you have a large team or need advanced features
- You may still need to manually adjust or enter time data, which can lead to inconsistencies if not managed carefully
Timely
Pros
- Integrates well with various other tools and applications, such as project management and communication platforms
- User interface is designed to be visually appealing and easy to navigate
- Provides valuable tools for managing team performance and ensuring that projects stay on track
Cons
- AI-driven automation and reporting features might have a learning curve
- Pricing can be relatively high, especially if you need access to advanced features or have a large team
Customer Reviews
Toggl and Timely are both effective time tracking tools, but each serves distinct needs and preferences. Toggl shines with its simplicity, flexibility, and impressive user ratings. With a rating of 4.7 from 2,332 reviews on both GetApp and Capterra, and 4.6 from 1,566 reviews on G2, Toggl is celebrated for its ease of use and robust reporting and integration capabilities. Users appreciate how straightforward it is to track time and generate reports, although some suggest that enhanced automation features would be a valuable addition.
Timely, with a 4.0 rating from 161 reviews on Trustpilot and 4.7 from 701 votes on GetApp, is noted for its strong automation and privacy features. It excels in providing a high level of data security and automated time tracking, which is particularly appealing for teams with complex time management needs. However, its higher cost can be a barrier for small teams or freelancers.
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Competitors
Harvest
Harvest is a leading tool in the time tracking and invoicing space, perfect for freelancers and teams that need to keep a close eye on billable hours, manage expenses, and handle project budgets. It’s especially useful in industries like consulting, design, and software development where accurate time tracking and seamless invoicing are vital.
With Harvest, you can easily track the time spent on various projects through an intuitive interface. Its invoicing feature is particularly useful, allowing you to generate and send invoices directly based on the hours and expenses you’ve tracked. Harvest also integrates with a variety of popular tools like Asana, Trello, QuickBooks, and Slack, making it a versatile option if you rely on multiple software solutions.
Clockify
Clockify is a free time tracking tool that’s ideal if you’re part of a small team or business on a budget. Despite being free, Clockify offers essential features that you won’t want to miss. You can track time manually or automatically across different devices, whether on the web, desktop, or mobile, ensuring that you can log your hours from anywhere. Clockify also enables you to generate detailed reports, giving you insights into how your time is being spent across different projects and tasks, which is key to optimizing productivity. Even with its budget-friendly nature, Clockify still offers integrations with other tools, enhancing its utility in various workflows.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a comprehensive time tracking tool that offers more than just basic tracking; it incorporates employee monitoring, GPS tracking, and project management capabilities. If you manage remote teams and need to keep a close eye on productivity, Hubstaff is an excellent choice. You can track time in detail, and the platform’s employee monitoring tools, such as screenshots, activity levels, and idle time tracking, allow you to ensure that your team stays productive even when working remotely.
Beyond tracking, Hubstaff offers project management tools that help you organize tasks, set budgets, and monitor progress, making it a versatile tool for managing both time and projects. It integrates with a wide range of tools like Trello, Asana, and QuickBooks, making it a powerful solution if you require detailed insights into productivity and project management.
Pro Tips
- Define what you want to achieve with your time tracking
- Make a habit of regularly reviewing your time tracking data and reports
- Encourage team members or colleagues to use the tool regularly and log their hours diligently to maintain reliable records
- Use built-in notifications and reminders to keep track of deadlines, project milestones, or time entry deadlines
- Personalize your reports and dashboards to focus on metrics that are most relevant to you
- Ensure everyone understands how to log their time, use features, and interpret the data to maximize the tool’s benefits
Recap
Toggl and Timely are both effective time tracking tools but cater to different needs. Toggl is ideal for you if you seek a simple, flexible solution with robust reporting and integration capabilities, making it suitable for freelancers and small teams. Its ease of use and versatile tracking methods stand out.
Timely, on the other hand, excels with its AI-driven automation and detailed analytics, making it a strong choice for teams and organizations that require advanced time management and privacy features. Timely’s automation reduces manual effort, while Toggl offers more manual flexibility. Choose based on your need for automation versus versatility.
