Monday.com Time Tracking Review: What It Does and Where It Stops
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- Plan Required
- Standard ($12/seat/mo) for timer and manual entry; Pro ($19/seat/mo) for billable rates
- Timer Access
- Board column only (no global timer, no browser extension)
- Mobile Support
- Yes (timer in Monday.com mobile app)
- Billable Rates
- Yes (Pro plan only)
- Time Reporting
- Dashboard widget by person, item, or date range
- Invoice Export
- No native invoicing; requires export or integration
How Time Tracking Works in Monday.com
Monday.com’s time tracking is not a standalone tool or a global workspace feature. It is a column type called Time Tracking that is added to individual boards from the column type menu. Once added, every row in that board gets a small timer button in the Time Tracking column. Clicking the button starts the clock; clicking it again stops and logs the elapsed time. Multiple sessions accumulate: if a task takes three separate work sessions across two days, each session is logged and the column displays the combined total.
Manual entry is available through the column’s time entry panel, which opens when you click the total time figure in the column. Team members can add individual time entries with a date, duration, and optional note. This is useful for logging time after the fact or correcting entries that were not tracked in real time. Managers can view all entries for a task in the same panel, sorted by date and team member.
The critical design constraint to understand is that the timer is column bound, not globally accessible. To start tracking time on a task, a team member must navigate to the specific board, find the specific item, and click the timer in that column. There is no universal timer accessible from a browser extension, a global header, or a mobile notification. Teams that work across multiple boards simultaneously or that frequently switch tasks will find this navigation overhead adds friction compared to tools with a one click global timer.
Reporting on time tracking in Monday.com is available through the Time Tracking widget on dashboards. The widget shows time logged by person, by item, or by date range. Billable rate assignment requires the Pro plan at $19 per seat per month. On Pro, managers can assign an hourly rate per team member and generate a cost estimate for any project based on hours logged. This is useful for project profitability assessment but does not produce a client invoice, which requires an export or an integration with a billing tool.
The Time Tracking column is available on the Standard plan at $12 per seat per month. It is not included on the Free or Basic plans.
Monday.com vs ClickUp Time Tracking
| Criteria | Monday.com | ClickUp |
|---|---|---|
| Active Timer | Yes (column timer per task) | Yes (global one click timer from any task or screen) |
| Global Timer Access | No (must navigate to specific board and item) | Yes (accessible from any view in the workspace) |
| Manual Time Entry | Yes | Yes |
| Idle Detection | No | Yes (Business plan) |
| Billable Rates | Yes (Pro plan, $19/seat/mo) | Yes (Business plan, $12/seat/mo) |
| Time Report by Team Member | Yes (dashboard widget) | Yes (native time report) |
| Budget vs Actual | Pro plan only (cost vs budget) | Yes (Business plan) |
| Required Plan for Basic Timer | Standard ($12/seat/mo) | Free plan |