Business

8 Excellent Time Tracking Utilities for Mac

Ruben Santiago on July 30th 2009

Time management is a constant battle for most people in their day-to-day lives. It is a vital part of any workflow, even more so those in which billing is dependent on time worked. Several applications make it easy to log, calculate, and even create invoices based on the information collected.

Most of the applications can also manage tasks associated with a project and can even assign project to individual clients that have specific needs. A delicate task, time tracking is crucial, after all, this is how you earn your money.

Billings

A very nice application with many counterparts, Billings provides very professional looking invoices, and makes time tracking super easy. Billings also keeps track of tasks related to the project and allow you to create that professional looking invoice in one click. To complement the app is a Menubar timer (for quick access), and a soon-to-be-released iPhone app.

Price: $39.99
Developer: Marketcircle
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later, however Mac OS X 10.5 or later is strongly recommended.

Harvest

Being fast, easy, and streamlined definitely has its perks, especially when time is of the essence. Harvest is a web-based time logger that can also invoice clients within the web-app. It’s intuitive nature means little learning time and more productivity.

Price: Starting at $12 per month (Plan based variable pricing)
Developer: Iridesco
Requires: Modern internet browser

Billable

Billable, soon to be ProfitTrain, is a fairly simple application that quickly creates and manages invoices of payable services. PDF invoices can be sent to the client in one click, making it a little easier to bill them.

Price: $34.95
Developer: Clickable Bliss
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later

On The Job

Also an easy to use solution, On the Job has nice features for power users, but keeps everything simple enough to do it’s job effectively and efficiently. On the Job has support for multiple currencies for individual clients, custom hourly rates, and a menu bar icon for quick and easy access.

Price: $39.95
Developer: Stunt Software
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5 or later

iBiz

iBiz is a great application that integrates well with Mac OS X, allowing you to sync projects, events, and more to iCal. iBiz also has the ability to remind you of upcoming invoices and is also capable of displaying statistics about your work graphically, with dynamic charts.

iBiz also has a companion Dashboard widget.

Price: $39.99
Developer: IGG Software
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later

timeEdition

Simple, and out of the way, timeEdition can be as detailed as you like, without being intrusive on your day to day work. A large display features the time clock and the customer’s name, excellent for quick glances.

Price: Free
Developer: Time Edition
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later

Office Time

OfficeTime

Provides support for multiple employee environments, straight-forward interface provides for no learning curve, saving your precious time for your client work.

Price: $47
Developer: OfficeTime
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later

Freshbooks Widget

A simple widget on your dashboard provides a desktop client to the Freshbooks web billing platform. The widget simply records time spent on tasks, and reports the information collected to the full service Freshbooks website.

Price: Free
Developer: Freshbooks
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later

Conclusion

Although I have covered what I believe to be the top 8 time tracking utilities for the Mac, I’m sure your list would be different. Feel free to tell us how your top list would look like!

It’s also worth noting that there are many excellent web-based time tracking systems available (such as Harvest, mentioned above). These are also worth looking into, and the flexibility can be useful when working on other computers.

Paul

What about Timeous (http://timeous.en.softonic.com/mac)?
http://www.ademaweb.nl jeroen

One mistake. Billings doesn’t have a iPhone app yet. http://www.billingsapp.com/
- http://davidappleyard.net David Appleyard
  
  Good call – I’ve updated the post. Thanks!
- http://www.ademaweb.nl jeroen
  
  hopefully it will be soon-released, they said early 2009 and changed it in early 2009 to summer 2009…
- edaddy
  
  Old Post: but,
  Billings now has an iPhone App
Klaus95

You have to check out Paymo too (www.paymo.biz)
http://www.mbookspan.com Matthew Bookspan

You’re missing TimeLog (http://www.grandtotal.biz/TimeLog4/). They have an iPhone App that will sync (v1.1) with the desktop App soon. The companion app, GrandTotal (http://www.grandtotal.biz/) also has an iPhone App
- twiphone.com
  
  YES, I love this combinatino as well – FAR BETTEr than most of the Apps here in this comparison. (I am a registered user of both Apps)
- http://www.rossgardt.de Benedikt R.
  
  Thank you! TimeLog seems to be the app, I am searching for. Will try this.
- anna
  
  Another nice time tracking tool available for iPhone is Timetrack – http://www.timetrack.eu. I use it at work and I can really recommend this one.
http://jasonlarose.com Jason LaRose

There’s also TimeTracker http://code.google.com/p/time-tracker-mac/. Its free and easy, also adds a paude/play button to your menu bar when open.
- Jay Weeks
  
  this is exactly what i’ve been looking for, very minimal
- http://gerardable.com Gerard
  
  Exactly what I was after. Thanks
- http://miiweb.net Dwain Maralack
  
  Thanks so much, just what I needed, the other software still expensive for my simple application
Jeff

I use iBiz. The best feature is it’s networking capabilities. If you work with a team of people you can all log your time under the same project weather you are working locally or remotely.
http://laberso.ru laberso

https://www.rescuetime.com/signup/solo ? Free (for personal use), easy and cool app and more…
- http://monixweb.com Bruno Moniz
  
  I also use RescueTime Solo and it’s very interesting and easy to use.
http://www.endlessdigital.com ArsenalArmada

The freshbooks widget is fantastic – I tried looking for an app that I could use in multiple locations and reconcile various hours into one database and couldn’t find one that worked. 5 days of location to location testing with iBiz failed to yield any success and all the other options were too cumbersome and involved. Then someone at the Apple Store referred me to Freshbooks and I was saved. The site is so good that I transferred a large number of my day to day business tasks to it and abandoned the software I was using. The best part is that it’s free for anyone that is just starting out. You can have 3 clients and an unlimited # of projects for those clients for free and when your business expands and grows, then you can upgrade to a pay account and start adding more.
http://www.perezfox.com Scott Perez-Fox

Billings is a great application, but I can’t see any features that allow for multiple users. Also, since it runs from the desktop, I wonder how the databases are managed. Perhaps it’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Does anyone else still have weird issues in paying for a monthly subscription to a web application? For 30 years we’ve been buying software in a box (for a one-time fee), so maybe it’s just old habits.
http://www.missiondata.com ToddB

Toggl has been my app of choice for some time now with great reporting features, a web and desktop based application that are synced, teams and more. I have donated but not actually upgraded to the paid application as I get by everyday with the free version.

http://www.toggl.com/
http://www.everydaydevos.com Neil Johnston

I wish I had this list a month or two ago when I was researching this! I settled on Time Master by On-Core (http://www.on-core.com/timemaster/index.php) which works only on the iPhone, but backs up to the Mac. There are times when I’m not at the Mac but I’m still tracking time… and I always have my phone with me. :)

I’m going to take a look at these just to make sure I’ve got the best tool for my work style. Thanks!
http://www.netzjournal.eu Olli

Nice collection. I have one left. iClockr is also agreat time tracker app!
- http://jashsayani.com Jash Sayani
  
  Yeah, its a great app. I have been using it a lot lately…
- Digital Monkey
  
  I concur. For those looking for practical, simple and good looking app. And it’s free. http://www.kedisoft.com/iclockr/faq.php
http://davidappleyard.net David Appleyard

Thanks for all your extra suggestions – There are some awesome apps we didn’t catch this time!
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ffff00

Slife is where it’s at.
http://www.slifelabs.com/
Mike

TimeNet is the best by far. Can’t believe you guys haven’t reviewed it yet!
http://www.elementalmedia.info Stan

TimePost http://www.timepost2.com/

Also a great tracking app that submits the the tracked time to all major online services.
http://log.chrisbowler.com Chris

You mention a dashboard widget for Billings. I use Billings and have never seen this widget. Are you referring to the menubar timer?
- http://www.rubensantiago.me Ruben Santiago
  
  You’re right! I don’t know why I called it a widget. I’ll make sure the correction is made.
  
  Thanks.
- http://www.bernardkowalski.com Bernard
  
  There actually is a widget for Billings which shows you how much you have worked… it might not work with Billings 3.x though.
  
  http://blog.iconara.net/2007/05/10/workload-widget-for-billings/
http:/www.sachagreif.com Sacha

One of the great features of Billings is that it knows when you’re idle and gives you the option of remove idle time from your timer in case you forgot to turn it off (happens to me all the time).
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http://www.coleran.com Mark Coleran

There is also Gridiron Flow.

http://www.gridironsoftware.com/products/flow/flow_features.html
- http://www.synapticmishap.co.uk John Gallagher
  
  Flow is incredible. When I first saw the demo, like most people, I did a double take. Unfortunately, it’s really expensive (although totally worth the money). It also takes a pretty powerful computer to eliminate slow down.
  
  Still an amazing app that pushes the boundaries of what’s considered possible though.
http://www.timeXchange.net Joe Piekarz

For collaborative time reporting and approval, you should check out http://www.timeXchange.net. Form teams by invitation to a project and track hours, costs and approvals.
Jane

Hi Ruben,

There is a neat little desktop tool called Fanurio http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com . I love it! You can try it for free too. You can just click to start, pause it, etc and you can do nifty reports. I use it to track the time I spend on client projects.

Even though I only bill hourly for consulting projects, it helps me to see how much time I’m spending to make sure my rates are in line. With Fanurio you can customize invoice templates using your own layouts and export them to HTML or PDF.
Hannah

I’ve been using klok
http://klok.mcgraphix.com/klok/index.htm
http://www.myintervals.com John

Another great web-based option for time tracking on the mac would be Intervals. It works great in Safari and Firefox on the Mac.
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http:tracking-time.com Time tracking software

Don´t forget tracking time (http://trackng-time.com) great app for desktop great reports for you analize your performance.
http://logmytask.com Martin

Great app for time tracking & collaboration, LogMyTask: http://logmytask.com

I don’t think any app is as simple, intuitive & effective as this one.
http://www.synapticmishap.co.uk John Gallagher

A fantastic round up, with all the major players.

Personally, you’d have to remove Harvest “from my cold, dead hands” before I gave it up. It’s an amazing app, really nicely designed and thought out.

Billings is also a personal favourite of mine.
http://www.chadritchie.net Chad Ritchie

Check out DesignSoft StopWatch +
http://www.designsoft.com/
Karl Salt

Been trying quite a few of these apps over that past week and settled on Ronin App
http://www.roninapp.com/

Out of all the ones i’ve tried it is by far the best looking and easiest to use. Plus the monthly fee is pretty reasonable too!!
http://twitter.com/kaypearl Kay

I love TimeEdition.

But it’s not for invoicing, though.
Steve

Does anyone have any suggestions on a good piece of software for billing on a flat rate basis? I work on a full or half day rate, and don’t do projects. any thoughts?
Erick

It’s crazy how many apps are available and how many different ones people are recommending. I’m seriously consider Billings 3, TimeNet, Fanurio and/or iBiz. Of the current versions, does one stand out from the rest? These seem to be the ones most are gravitating towards, unless I’ve miss a big one.

Also, are you thinking of doing another review with other apps you’ve missed?
http://www.hourdoc.com/ Ronald

HourDoc is tool for Time Tracking. http://www.HourDoc.com Time Tracking Software is right treatment for time and labor management processes has to be an easy-to-administer and affordable solution for Freelancers, supervisors, employees and HR and payroll managers. They offer free application to companies less than 50 employees.
http://www.bj2design.com Bjarni Wark

I have been checking out a few of the above apps: mainly Billings and On The Job: (http://stuntsoftware.com/onthejob/).

Both look good, Billings seems to have more features but On The Job is simplified and does the basics very nicely.

I do have Billings 3 but I think I will try out OTJ as it might just be a better fit for what I am needing.
http://www.m65jacket.com m65

wow great post. i have been looking for something like for a while now. i think billable is simply amazing. thanks for the share
http://www.yummygum.nl Vince

Thanks for this collection and the comments. I have to try one of these apps soon!
Carla

If you like things minimalist I can suggest Minco by Celmaro. It”s not overloaded with invoicing functionality. http://www.celmaro.com/minco
JP

TimeLog is another app that has some nice features and a good report generator, unlike Billings (last time I checked anyway).
BerliBoy

A great web-based app with menubar-feature and export to GrandTotatl is Berlin based Mite! Check http://mite.yo.lk/en/
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Drake

This also is very easy and FREE Project Time Tracker http://www.e-tim.org
Max Jevsky

Very good collection of time trackers! I can suggest good tahometer time tracking tool http://tahometer.com/download It supports both authomatic and manual mode. This product was advertised by smashmagazine some month ago. I like tomezoom service also.
karl

Impressive catalog! Goodtime is another web based online time tracking solution on http://www.goodtimerecording.com.
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http://nimbleworks.co.uk/tracktime John

TrackTime (http://nimbleworks.co.uk/tracktime) monitors how you use your time, can also time and export reports on projects and Tasks.
http://www.timedoctor.com/1 kissy

A really good program for tracking your time is http://www.timedoctor.com/1 as it tracks all time use for yourself easily.
http://bit.ly/bJwmma quicksilver

To keep track of your hours worked and at the same time manage a remote team for recording hours worked http://bit.ly/bJwmma is a easy to use software as it will give you an update on your teams daily accomplishments and what each of your team members will be targeting next to accomplish.
http://www.yanomo.com Joost Schouten

Another online option is http://www.yanomo.com We just released it and are curious to hear what people think. It’s simple calendar based time and project tracking software.

Hope to hear your thoughts,
Joost
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http://MrTickTock.com Jack

http://MrTickTock.com simple web based time tracker with very natural interface.
April

You should definitely try Freckle Time Tracking!
Shane

Freckle is the best for me. I have been using it for two years now and there is no reason to complain. It has great features and a cool web interface.
Martinsp

There`s another simple/minimalistic time tracking application: http://www.timekeeperapp.com
TOS

Take a look at Finch (http://touchstudios.net/finch) as well. I am in the beta, It looks at the apps you have open and automatically records it. You can tag apps as a certain project/client and see a bar chart of your time at the end of the day. I’ve been using it along with Freshbooks and have found it to be much better than the traditional stopwatch apps.
http://www.ghg.com/about-us/company-overview/ Jennifer Banks

Thank you for the post. I recently bought a Employee time tracking software for my new company. I could not be happier with my choice.
Edgars

DeskTime is also a good one. It’s automatic and free for individual use. http://desktime.com
http://www.totalapps.net/ John (Totalapps)

I like DeskTime as well.
Also please look through list of time planning apps for mac: http://www.totalapps.net/general/apps/to-do-applications-for-mac-os-x/
some of them are really useful.
http://www.orologic.com/ Jack

Thanks for this list and the nice suggestions in the comments. I have to try one of these applications soon!
http://www.giovannimanzo.info manzog

Exactly what I was looking for! Great catalog!
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http://www.timetrackerproapp.com Jeremy

Checkout Time Tracker Pro @ http://www.timetrackerproapp.com

It’s a Mac app that automatically monitors your app and document usage and tracks your projects without the hassle of manual data entry.
Nicholas Natteau

Chrometa is the best time tracking app I’ve ever found. I personally looked at over 100 timetracking apps and found Chrometa to be the best of the best (after narrowing it down to the 10 best I could find). You guys should definitely review this!
Nick

Definitely check out Chrometa:

http://www.chrometa.com/

Simple yet very powerful and versatile.
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http://www.Pharmanick.net Percy Bernand

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http://www.replicon.com/time-clock Time Clock

I believe you have missed out Replicon Inc – One of the leading Time tracking software and employee time clock.
http://webcontentdenver.com Kelly

Would love to toss out another web-based option. I use Hours Tracking (http://hourstracking.com). At $1/month it’s one of the most affordable options out there, and nothing to install. I like that I can move seamlessly between my Mac and PC without interrupting my timers.
FFWD

Here’s another one. Simple menu bar time tracking app. http://hrmacapp.com

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8 Excellent Time Tracking Utilities for Mac

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