How to Choose a Time Tracker That Actually Gets You Paid

Toggl is the most recognized name in time tracking, and for good reason — the core tracking experience is polished and intuitive. The browser extension works flawlessly, and the mobile apps are among the best in the category.

However, Toggl was built as a tracking tool first. If you need to actually bill clients, you'll find the invoicing features limited. Multi-currency? Not available. Historical rate tracking? Paid plans only. For freelancers who already use separate invoicing software (like FreshBooks or Wave), Toggl is a solid choice. For those who want an all-in-one solution, it falls short.

Clockify built its reputation on one promise: unlimited free time tracking. And it delivers — you can track unlimited hours across unlimited projects without paying a cent. The interface is clean, the desktop apps work well, and the calendar view is helpful for visual planners.

The catch? Everything beyond basic tracking costs money. Want to send an invoice? $7.99/month. Multi-currency? $11.99/month. Historical rates? Same. Clockify essentially gives you free tracking to get you in the door, then charges for the features that actually help you get paid. If you're on a tight budget and already have invoicing covered, Clockify's free tier is hard to beat. Otherwise, the paid tiers add up quickly.

Harvest is one of the oldest names in time tracking and invoicing, and it shows — in both good and bad ways. The product is stable, well-documented, and integrates with practically everything. Multi-currency works out of the box, and the invoicing features are genuinely useful.

The downside for solo freelancers: Harvest is built for teams. You'll navigate through team-oriented features you don't need. Worse, when you change your hourly rate, Harvest updates all your historical data — past reports suddenly show new totals, which can cause billing confusion. At $11/month for a single user (after the very limited free tier), it's priced for agencies, not independent freelancers.

Bonsai isn't really a time tracker — it's a complete freelance business suite that happens to include time tracking. Contracts, proposals, client CRM, expense tracking, accounting, tax estimates — it's all there. If you want one app to run your entire freelance business, Bonsai is compelling.

The problem? Most freelancers don't use 80% of these features. The contract templates sit untouched. The CRM stays empty. The accounting duplicates what your accountant already handles. You're paying $9-49/month for features you'll never open. If your main need is "track time, send invoice," Bonsai is significant overkill.

TMetric is a capable time tracker with some features that competitors charge extra for — multi-currency, rate history, and automatic exchange rates are all available. The visual timeline is genuinely useful for seeing how you spent your day.

The challenge for solo freelancers: TMetric's interface constantly reminds you it's built for teams. You'll see team member lists, workspace permissions, and employee activity monitoring features. As someone who works alone, you're navigating around features designed for managers overseeing employees. The tool works, but you'll always feel like you're using a team product solo.

Kimai is the open-source option that developers love. It's genuinely free — not "free tier" free, but actually free. You get multi-currency, rate history, batch invoicing, and extensive customization through plugins. For technical freelancers who value data ownership, it's ideal.

The cost isn't money — it's time. You need a server (or VPS), a database, and the knowledge to set it all up. Then you're responsible for backups, security updates, and maintenance. If you enjoy that kind of work, Kimai is rewarding. If you just want to track time and bill clients without becoming your own IT department, the hidden costs of "free" add up quickly.