5 free time tracking tools

5 free time tracking tools

9th January 2018 31 By Rachael Stray

Wouldn’t we all love to know what we actually do with our time? There’s 24 hours in a day but how many times have you lost track of time completely? To tackle this issue many people use time-tracking software.

Time-tracking software allows its users to record time spent on tasks which is great for professionals who bill their customers by the hour such as fellow bloggers and freelancers.

It’s also a great way for managers to keep a track of hours spent on specific projects within a team when it comes to personal development reviews and objective settings.

Here’s a handy list of 5 free time tracking tools

Toggl

Toggl works on Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, and almost every browser. You can track your time directly in Toggl and then export your time with its many integrations (including, but certainly not limited to, Asana, Atlassian Jira, Basecamp, FreshBooks, Github, Google Docs, Open Project, Quickbooks, Salesforce, Slack, Teamwork, and Trello).

Users can also log their time offline and sync their data after it’s recorded.
It backs up every 24 hours to several different physical locations, and keeps all of its information on Rackspace, so it’s very secure.

Most users who upgrade do so for task management (projects don’t break down into tasks). The basic version doesn’t allow users to tweak billable rates or create a team greater than five users.

The basic plan is free but you can upgrade to a starter, premium or enterprise packages which offer additional features.

Trigger

Is an incredibly easy-to-use app that is rising as a powerful Trello and Asana alternative but unlike those two powerful project management software options, Trigger comes with time tracking.

And the best bit – it’s all free!

All time reports – even in the free version – can be allocated to specific tasks instead of a messy spreadsheet.

This is great news for businesses who can use Trigger to figure out which clients are best for their business, and which ones they’re over-servicing.

The app also provides templates and storage so project managers don’t need to start from scratch at the beginning of every project – very handy!

Trigger also offers timesheets, automated invoices, and online reports, and all that information syncs with Xero, Freshbooks, and Zapier.

It’s time tracking solution works with just the click of a button (or can be logged manually), and all that information gets filtered into invoices, timesheets, and reports. Brilliant.

The basic plan is free but you can upgrade to a standard or premium account which allow unlimited team members and projects as well as a host of other additional goodies.

Hubstaff

The free system is best for a single user who needs to provide transparency for multiple stakeholders.

Small teams can easily use this app’s full functionality for free.

Hubstaff opens users up to its 30+ free integrations.

In addition to its free integrations and unlimited use for one user, Hubstaff’s timesheet templates and task-specific reporting features are what set it apart from other free time tracking tools.

If you’re a small business or freelancer, Hubstaff will likely fit your needs.

The basic package is free but you can upgrade to a basic or premium package to unlock extra features.

Tick

If you’ve ever used a timer before, you can figure out how to use Tick.

A really useful feature of Tick is that it will automatically update users of budget changes with each time card. That means no more budget tracking in a spreadsheet of nightmares – woohoo!

One project is free and there’s price plan options billable per month up to an unlimited package.

AccountSight

Users can submit their timesheets in bulk via Excel, or simply track their time online.

Managers can approve or reject timesheets straight from the app.

If you forget to track your time AccountSight regularly sends you messages that nudge you to turn your clock on.

The basic plan is free for one user, two client, two projects, and unlimited invoicing and unlimited travel and expense. You can upgrade to a basic, small group or enterprise package and there’s discounts available for larger teams.

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Now you know how much time you’re spending on tasks this leaves you more time to do the creative stuff.

Other related posts:

If you’d like to create some infographics or images with text check out this blog post 5 free websites to create infographics

If your stock photo library is a little bare here’s 5 free sites for stock images

Looking to create more videos then check out these 5 video editing apps for mobile and if you’d like some expert training check out my thoughts on bringing videos back in house with comms2point0 training

Make sure your Twitter feed is ticking over with these 5 free Twitter scheduling tools

Keep track of your stories featured in the media with these 5 free media monitoring alerts

Do you have any other useful time tracking apps or software which you use? Let me know in the comments below.

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CategoryBlogging tips Communications content Recommendations Support and advice
Tagsapp communications external comms external communications free Internal comms Internal communications marketing PR public relations software time management time record time tracker

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