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by Jarno Koopman on October 31, 2023
Manual timesheets for most teams today are nothing more than a weird artifact. But the truth is, countless companies are still using them, even in more modern, tech-savvy businesses you wouldn’t suspect, believe it or not.
It’s true that the timesheet itself lives on in the digital world and can be used to keep track of billable hours.
The modern timesheet will often appear in the form of an Excel spreadsheet or something similar provided by software.
However, the best versions are not independent like a traditional paper timesheet. These digital timesheets are interconnected with your other relevant data and can help save your business from costly inaccuracies.
You can leverage timesheet tracking to help your business become more productive and more billable organization-wide.
Because when you have a comprehensive understanding of where time is going, you can optimize it.
For any business big or small who wants to implement a time tracking solution, we recommend our curated list of the top 10 timesheet tracking apps to keep your timesheets where they belong: in a secure, digital format.
What is timesheet tracking?
A timesheet is simply a table of data used to keep track of an employee’s time over a designated period. Timesheets are used to account for hours spent on specific tasks, projects, and clients.
Historically, timesheets were created in paper format, but then most businesses moved to spreadsheets in programs like Excel.
Today, digital timesheets are provided by various apps and solutions that not only keep track of your time data, but connect it with other relevant information from your financial backend, your project management software, and more.
Timesheet tracking means that timesheets can now be managed digitally and tied to the resources and other details they belong to, without human oversight.
For example, various timesheet tracking software can connect to both your accounting suite and your invoicing. In this scenario, when a team member tracks time, an invoice can be automatically generated, approved, and paid with just a couple of clicks.
How we made this list
There are a lot of timesheet tracking applications out there. To narrow down our search, we specifically looked at the following criteria:
- Value (bang for your buck)
- Who it’s best for
- Key features
- Availability across various platforms
2023 Best Software for Timesheet Tracking
1. Time Doctor
Time Doctor helps teams of all sizes easily track work hours, attendance, and productivity. Its ease of use and the fact that it can be used by any type of organization earn it the #1 spot on our list.
Free timesheet templates make it easy to track time for service businesses, freelancers, attorneys, and everyone in between. Managers and owners love the employee monitoring features that give insight into daily productivity and can help maximize billable hours.
Pros:
- Free timesheet templates
- Activity tracking
- Payroll
- Automated time tracking
Best for: Remote teams
Apps: Desktop, mobile, browser extensions
Starts at: $5.90 pu/pm
2. Buddy Punch
Buddy Punch comes in at #2 for the best timesheet tracking apps because like Time Doctor, pretty much any business of any size can use it. We recommend Buddy Punch most for medium-sized businesses with 10 to 50 employees.
Buddy Punch offers next-level features to keep team members productive and accountable. This includes facial recognition, custom reporting, and more.
Retail and food-and-beverage companies, in particular, love Buddy Punch for its easy-breezy scheduling software.
Pros:
- Automated payroll management
- Easy to use
- Scheduling included
- Facial recognition
Best for: Mid-market businesses
Apps: Laptop, desktop, mobile, smartphone
Starts at: $2.99 pu/pm + $19 base fee per month
3. PSOhub
PSOhub’s timesheet tracking is interconnected with all aspects of your project management. One of their most highly rated features is self-driving time tracking, where you can essentially go straight from your Google or Outlook calendar to automated invoicing.
PSOhub was designed specifically for service businesses, so it’s ideal for marketing firms, consultants, etc. Its intuitive environment looks and feels like HubSpot, so it’s especially recommended for these users. In fact, HubSpot agencies can track their time directly in the HubSpot Service Hub with just a click.
Pros:
- Self-driving time tracking
- All-in-one project management
- Automated invoicing
- Great for HubSpot users
Best for: Service businesses
Apps: Browser, mobile, HubSpot Service Hub
Starts at: $12.50 pu/pm
4. ClickTime
ClickTime provides more functionality than basic timesheet tracking at an affordable price. Small businesses with less than 20 employees usually rate ClickTime highest, since it provides easy time tracking along with super-useful reports.
To get resource management, workload management, and more advanced capabilities, you’ll need to go to the higher pricing tiers. This will bring the solution closer to an all-out project management suite.
Luckily, ClickTime integrates with Slack and most major CRMs, including Salesforce and HubSpot.
Pros:
- Project tracking
- Intelligent dashboards
- Expense tracking
- Resource management
Best for: Small businesses
Apps: iPhone, Android, desktop
Starts at: $10 pu/pm
5. Timesheet for Google
If you want a free timesheet tracker, this app for Google Sheets is the way to go. It currently has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars by verified users and has been downloaded over 460K times.
Though not as seamless as some of the other solutions on our list, Timesheet is an excellent option for freelancers and small businesses on a budget.
Timesheet lets you track time to the right project or client using tags a la social media. This can help you stay organized and accurately account for billable hours.
Pros:
- FREE
- Works with Google Sheets
- Track time with your Google Calendar
- Intuitive
Best for: Freelancers
Apps: Browser, mobile
Starts at: Free forever
6. Toggl Track
We recommend Toggl Track for startups since you can leverage the free version for up to five users. This free version is surprisingly robust, with unlimited projects, a Pomodoro timer, and activity tracking all included.
At the higher pricing tiers, Toggl Track converts into an invoicing solution that can make getting paid on time a breeze. Enjoy the wealth of timesheet templates and the huge library of integrations with the world’s most popular software tools.
Pros:
- Increase billable hours
- Billing & invoicing
- Templates
- 100+ integrations
Best for: Free timesheet tracking
Apps: Web, mobile, desktop
Starts at: Free version for up to 5 users
7. Wrike
Like PSOhub, Wrike offers a truly all-in-one software environment for all project management needs, including timesheet tracking. With Wrike, businesses can keep all their project data in one place and streamline everything related to time management.
Wrike provides extensive automation to help relieve admin effort. This can help businesses of all sizes focus more on billability and the quality of their services. However, it’s more recommended for larger-sized organizations that actually need the additional functionality Wrike provides.
Pros:
- All-in-one project management
- Custom timesheet templates
- Automations
- Flexible
Best for: Enterprise
Apps: Mobile, desktop, web
Starts at: Free version
8. Paymo
Paymo is an affordable, well-rated timesheet tracker that lets you add in more project management features as you go. Creative agencies in particular are big fans, as are freelancers who can enjoy the free version.
Paymo will connect your timesheets to your task management, enabling you to identify productivity levels clearly. The solution also provides both Kanban boards and Gantt charts to make project planning and project tracking more streamlined than ever.
Pros:
- Very affordable
- Great reviews
- Team scheduler
- Timesheet reports
Best for: Creative agencies
Apps: Desktop, browser, smartphone, tablet
Starts at: Free version for 1 user
9. ClickUp
ClickUp provides an excellent timesheet tracking experience for content creators and other small businesses. With ClickUp, you can maximize your time by dialing in your task management. No matter where across the world your team is scattered, ClickUp easily brings all the pieces together with their collaboration and workflow management tools.
Get started tracking time in ClickUp with one of many free timesheet templates. If you’re in content creation, be sure to check out the new AI add-on that can help you by way of brainstorming, summarizing research, and more.
Pros:
- Free timesheet templates
- AI add-on
- High-level task management
- Great for remote teams
Best for: Content creation
Apps: Desktop, mobile, web
Starts at: Free version
10. TimeCamp
TimeCamp is an uber-affordable timesheet tracker that’s perfect for hybrid businesses like construction. Their clock-in/clock-out kiosk keeps everyone accountable, regardless if they’re in the office or on-site.
TimeCamp starts at a free-forever version with basic time tracking capabilities. As you grow and scale, you can add highly rated capabilities like project tracking and task management.
Teams frequently report that TimeCamp helps them increase productivity and even profitability. Quickly generate in-depth reports to see where you stand with billable utilization with just a couple of clicks.
Pros:
- Simple & easy to use
- Project tracking
- Increase productivity
- Clock-in/clock-out kiosk
Best for: Hybrid teams
Apps: Web, desktop, mobile
Starts at: Free version
Ditch manual timesheets forever!
Make sure the solution you choose aligns with your overall needs as an organization as well as your current tech stack. For example, it will be easier if your timesheet tracking app integrates with your project management suite.
In sum, the above software options mean you can ditch manual timesheets forever! Tracking time manually has become an inefficiency of the past, and remember that people are happy to track their time– They just want it to be easy.
