Time is like money: If you want to save it, the first step is understanding where it goes. And just as budget tracking helps to determine how to use funds more efficiently, a time-tracking software will help you—you guessed it—use time more efficiently. ?
If you’ve ever hit 5 p.m. thinking, “Where did the time go?” you need to use a time-tracking app.
Several automatic time-tracking software tools, like RescueTime, help you log hours, submit billable reports to clients, and gauge how long projects really take. But despite these key features, these tools still share many differences—RescueTime included.
Instead of settling for the easy option when it comes to time tracking software, look for the best time management tool for your unique situation. There’s a lot to pick from, but luckily, we’ve already combed through the market to bring you the 10 best RescueTime alternatives for any business or team.
10 Best RescueTime Alternatives for Time Tracking in 2024
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Should You Look for in a RescueTime Alternative?
Your requirements for a RescueTime alternative will vary depending on your specific needs or practices business practices. That said, the best time-tracking software comes complete with these key features:
- Reporting: The right time management tools allow you to export reports on how you spend your time. These reports could be sent to clients for a record of billable hours or to upper management for employee monitoring or time card submission
- Note taking: The best time management software helps you improve project management in the future. How? The platform should allow you to add notes, helping to explain why certain tasks took shorter/longer than the allotted time
- Group by client: The right tool should allow you to assign time entries to clients, thereby making it easier to track billable work. If you price by the project—not by the hour—time tracking helps you create better estimates in the future (and alerts you if you’re undercharging for projects)
- Compatible with any device: The right time-tracking solution will be compatible with desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, allowing team members to track their time on the go
Summarize this article for me please10 Best RescueTime Alternatives
Looking for a time-tracking tool that helps your organization track expenses and run more efficiently? Below, we dive into the top 10 best alternatives to RescueTime to get more time back in your workday. ?
1. ClickUp
ClickUp is the all-in-one productivity platform that helps 800,000+ teams run more efficiently. This all-in-one project management software includes native time-tracking to easily document time spent on various tasks, add notes, and view time reports for a complete picture of your productivity. ?
With ClickUp’s free Chrome extension, the global timer can start or stop from any device. Teams can add labels, edit and filter time entries, or even view time by the task or subtask level. In addition to using ClickUp for your time sheets, you can also mark your billable hours for easy invoicing.
Plus, with the ClickUp Time Management Schedule template, you can make a plan to reach important deadlines. Prioritize your tasks and schedule your day to keep your workload balanced and your goals on track.
Lastly, users can leverage ClickUp Goals to set time estimates and measurable targets for future projects. ?
ClickUp best features
- Syncs seamlessly with other time-tracking apps like Toggl, Clockify, Harvest, Timely, Time Doctor, and Timecamp, so you can view all your tracked time in one place
- Create detailed time sheets by the day, week, month, or custom range
- Calculate the total amount of time spent for a single task or an entire project for your whole organization through cumulative time tracking
- Easily compare time spent versus time goals for each project
- Create invoices faster using the billable time feature
ClickUp limitations
- The vast amounts of customizations might be overwhelming to new users
- Not all views are available on the mobile app yet
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- ClickUp AI is available on all paid plans for $5/month per user
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (8,900+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (3,800+ reviews)
2. Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a workforce management platform that helps organizations automate their workday. With the built-in employee time-tracking app, executive teams can keep tabs on payroll hours for remote, hybrid, or in-office workers. Plus, logged hours are added directly to invoices, cutting down on the time spent on employee payroll or client invoicing.
With their built-in app, employees can log time on the go through their Apple or Android devices.
Hubstaff best features
- Easily create reports displaying how colleagues spend their time
- Approve time-off requests and breaks
- Generate time sheets automatically, including a breakdown of hours by date, client, or project
- Integrate your time tracking tool with PayPal, Payoneer, Wise, and Bitwage to automatically run payroll based on time logs
Hubstaff limitations
- The internal dashboard can be difficult to navigate for new users
- It doesn’t integrate with all payroll platforms
Hubstaff pricing
- Starter: $4.99/month per user
- Grow: $7.50/month per user
- Team: $10/month per user
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Hubstaff ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (400+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (1,400+ reviews)
3. DeskTime
DeskTime is an all-in-one time tracker and workforce management platform. The web-based solution allows you to automate team management—organizing shifts, absences, and time-off requests, making it an ideal RescueTime alternative.
The automatic time tracker starts running the moment employees open their computers, helping to reduce human error. Plus, built-in reports help estimate project costs and assign internal resources.
DeskTime best features
- Assign shifts and oversee absences for hybrid or remote teams
- Oversee work progress with URL and document title tracking
- Leverage automatic time tracking (that starts running the second employees open their computer) or manual time tracking (to be sure offline hours still get logged)
- Spot top performers in your team through the performance evaluation and productivity tools
DeskTime limitations
- The platform doesn’t have as many integrations as other time trackers in the space
- Some employees might feel the productivity tools blur the lines between time tracking and micromanaging
DeskTime pricing
- Pro: $7/month per user
- Premium: $10/month per user
- Enterprise: $20/month per user
DeskTime ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (200+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (500+ reviews)
4. TimeCamp
TimeCamp is the time tracker that allows managers to create time sheets and reports in seconds. The functionality easily tracks employee attendance, analyzes project profitability, and logs billable hours. Plus, you can analyze your team’s daily habits in real time to fix productivity slumps.
TimeCamp best features
- Track time on-the-go with the geofencing tool
- Use the kiosk feature to clock-in and clock-out of the workday
- Leverage tags to each time log to better understand how employees spend their time
- Spend less time on payroll with the time sheet approvals feature
TimeCamp limitations
- Employees might be concerned about the platform’s ability to monitor browsing and search habits
- It can be difficult for new users to manually adjust time logs
TimeCamp pricing
- Free version: $0/month per user
- Starter: $2.99/month per user
- Basic: $5.99/month per user
- Pro: $7.99/month per user
TimeCamp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (190+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7 (500+ reviews)
5. ManicTime
ManicTime is a cloud-based service that allows users to automatically track their work hours. As a downloadable platform, it records all data on your computer—allowing you to track time even when you’re not online. From there, you can easily generate time reports and export to Excel or another platform.
ManicTime best features
- Automatically track your time even when you’re offline
- Automatically create workplace activities based on your data (for example, you can automatically log Instagram, Facebook, or other social media scrolling as “browsing”)
- Integrate your data with other platforms like Jira or GitHub
- Use the ManicTime Server feature to generate company-wide reports
ManicTime limitations
- You cannot use the search feature over multiple days
- It can be difficult to sync tags automatically across devices
ManicTime pricing
- License: Starts at $67/month
- Cloud Subscription Standard Plan: Starts at $7/month
- Cloud Subscription Ultimate Plan: Starts at $9/month
ManicTime ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.2/5 (10+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (15+ reviews)
6. Kimai
Kimai is a customizable, open-source platform built to log and analyze employee hours. This RescueTime alternative platform comes complete with a free SSL certificate, custom fields, task planning, and expense management. Plus, it helps streamline task management by analyzing time logs, customers, and time spent on each project or task.
Kimai best features
- Save time on invoicing through templates in PDF, DOCX, HTML, XLSX, and ODS formats
- Integrate with your favorite time tracker with the extensive JSON API
- Customize the platform to fit your unique needs with plugins
- Translate the platform to 30+ languages to suit global teams
Kimai limitations
- You will need a developer to get the system up and running
- The interface can be a bit difficult to understand for new users
Kimai pricing
- KImai is a free, donation-based platform
Kimai ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (5 reviews)
- Capterra: 3.6/5 (7 reviews)
7. Tick
Tick is a user-friendly time-tracking software and RescueTime alternative that helps teams run more profitable projects. The intuitive platform works seamlessly across platforms—with time tracking for Mac, iOS and Android, Apple Watch, and Chrome—allowing employees to log time at their desk or on-the-go.
Team members can log time with the click of a button, then submit time entries, bill clients, and review slumps in productivity.
Tick best features
- Leverage automatic task tracking inside Basecamp
- Add notes to dive deeper into each time log
- Toggle between multiple timers if you’re multitasking throughout the workday
- Display projects and task budgets to get instant feedback on whether or not you’re dedicating the appropriate amount of time to each assignment
Tick limitations
- It doesn’t offer as many integrations as other time-tracking platforms
- The number of customization features can be overwhelming to new users
Tick pricing
- One project: Free for unlimited users
- 10 projects: $19/month for unlimited users
- 30 projects: $49/month for unlimited users
- 60 projects: $79/month for unlimited users
- Unlimited projects: $149/month for unlimited users
Tick ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (30+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (1,400+ reviews)
8. Harvest
Harvest is an easy-to-use time-tracking platform to create invoices, generate reports, monitor budgets, and track costs. The app integrates seamlessly with accounting and project management tools like Asana, Trello, Basecamp, Quickbooks, Slack, Xero, and Stripe.
Plus, Harvest helps streamline large, corporate teams with customizable permissions, insights into team capacity and forecasting, and visual reporting across all projects.
Harvest best features
- Generate automatic notifications to remind your team to track hours regularly
- Choose from a selection of built-in visual reports to keep projects running smoothly
- Visualize your team capacity to understand who’s overworked (preventing burnout before it happens)
- Set filters to dive deeper into where employee time goes
Harvest limitations
- The search feature can be tedious
- The platform offers a day view, but would benefit from a week or month calendar view
Harvest pricing
- Free: $0/month for one seat and two projects
- Pro: $10.80/month per user for unlimited seats and unlimited projects
Harvest ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (700+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (500+ reviews)
9. ActivTrak
ActivTrak helps small businesses and global enterprises boost employee productivity. As a RescueTime alternative, ActivTrak’s key features include an app and website usage tracker, productivity dashboards, a daily breakdown of productive vs. unproductive activities, and calendar integration to automatically log offline data.
The end goal? To streamline workforce management while preventing employee burnout.
ActivTrak best features
- Leverage benchmarks and goals to understand what the top quartile of your team can typically achieve
- Identify workplace distractions and bottlenecks with the overview dashboard
- Develop optimized hybrid work policies using the locations insights tool
- Understand organization change (like experimenting with a four-day workweek) with the impact analysis feature
ActivTrak limitations
- Some tracking features (like classifications) must be manually logged
- The time and project tracking interface can be overwhelming to new users
ActivTrak pricing
- Free: $0/month per user
- Essentials: $10/month per user
- Professional: $17/month per user
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
ActivTrak ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (200+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (500+ reviews)
10. Time Doctor
Time Doctor is the easy-to-use time-tracking and productivity platform that comes complete with a 14-day trial. Managers can analyze how employees spend their time, understand hardware or connectivity issues, and ensure a better work-life balance—making it a good choice as a RescueTime alternative.
You can analyze breaks, employee work schedules, and time-off requests. Plus, the desktop app works seamlessly with Windows and Mac devices to log offline work.
Time Doctor best features
- Get a breakdown of daily workflows through the timeline report
- Understand how much time is spent on each project with task management tools
- Create your own custom reports to fit your unique needs
- Understand employee productivity with productive, non-productive, manual, and mobile filters
Time Doctor limitations
- The mobile app lacks some features offered on the desktop app
- Some notifications can be disruptive to employee productivity
Time Doctor pricing
- Basic: $5.90/month per user
- Standard: $8.40/month per user
- Premium: $16.70/month per user
Time Doctor ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (300+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (500+ reviews)
Summarize this article for me pleaseChoose the Best RescueTime Alternative Solution for Your Business
The best way to help teams run more efficiently is through time tracking. Time-tracking software can help identify workplace bottlenecks, create accurate time estimates, prevent employee burnout, and run more profitable projects. ?
ClickUp’s time-tracking feature helps teams save precious hours in the workweek. Plus, ClickUp integrates with your favorite tools, creates detailed time sheets, and automatically compares time spent versus time goals. To see how ClickUp can help streamline your team, sign up today.
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