7 Freelance Time Trackers to Up Your Productivity

Using a freelance time tracker is a great way to keep a record of your billable hours. Whether you charge with an hourly rate as some ghostwriters do, or you just want to improve your productivity, having a report of how much time you’ve spent on what is very helpful. 

With that in mind, we’ve got a list of seven freelance time trackers to help you become a more successful freelancer. These were chosen primarily to suit solo freelancers, though the last couple are also useful for those working on teams. For the most part, however, these time trackers assist with personal time management and productivity, rather than larger project management for teams. There are time tracking apps both for offline businesses and remote teams. We also considered the prices of these time trackers (and some are free!), so there’s something to suit every budget.

1. RescueTime 

💲 Fee: free for lite version, $12/month for premium (14-day trial) 

RescueTime has been around since 2007, and the company has had plenty of time to hone their app into a practical and easy-to-use tool. All you do is download this program as a desktop app, and it will start tracking your usage in the background. In other words, RescueTime will record what websites and apps you’re using, and the time you spend on them, while you’re doing it.

On top of that, to keep you accountable, this app also does some AI wizardry and identifies sites that they deem productive or not (we’re sorry to say it, but Twitter would probably belong to the latter group). That said, if you use social media for work and Twitter happens to be a productive platform, you can customize and change which sites are on your “naughty” and “nice” lists. Based on this data, RescueTime also offers a tool to block distracting apps and sites, keeping temptation at bay.

You’ll get all relevant information summarized in daily reports, and even weekly/monthly/annually reports if you pay for the premium rate. Basically, if you want something automatic that can accurately trace your steps throughout the day and remove the lure of sites that are more trouble than they're worth, RescueTime is your new best (efficient) friend.

💡 Pro-tip: Consider paying annually if you plan to use a tracker in the long term — you can save anywhere from 10% to 40% for most apps!

2. TopTracker 

💲 Fee: it’s free, forever! 

Built by the engineers behind the freelance platform Toptal, TopTracker is probably the best free time tracking software you can find. Available both as an onsite platform and a desktop app, TopTracker provides space to input your project and start tracking your activity. The program also has a feature to detect idleness, should you forget to stop tracking for a coffee break, so you don’t have to worry about excessive timestamps. You can also allow the software to take screenshots of your laptop or computer as you go, keeping a visual record of what you’ve been up to.

TopTracker then puts together reports on your time usage (shown above), as well as a tool for payment. The reports are helpful for tracking your billable hours — which, even if you don’t charge by the hour, could still help you determine per project rates. These hours reflect effort you put in, which is a fair way of quantifying your projects.

As for the payment tool, TopTracker partners with a third-party transaction service — like how Reedsy handles transactions for freelancers — so that you can better focus your time on more productive tasks. 

3. TogglTrack 

💲 Fee: free for light version, $10/month for Starter, $20/month for Premium (30-day trial)

TogglTrack is well-known as a freelance time tracker because of its many functionalities. While the company hasn't developed anything for distraction blocking yet,  Toggl offers everything else that a productive freelancer might need — from automatic time-tracking and idleness detection to a Pomodoro timer and customized reports. There’s even space for collaboration and project management for a whole team, if your work calls for it. 

You can use this app online or offline, and the interface is super user friendly. Toggl color-codes all your different projects, each of which can be split into various tasks, so you can get the full picture of all your gigs simultaneously. This is also a good way to keep tabs on your non-billable hours (when you do complete paperwork and housekeeping tasks), so that you can factor these extra tasks into your overall pricing. 

The free version only provides standard reports with no insights into the applications or websites you spent your time on. You’ll also miss out on reminders from your browser extension in case you forget to start tracking, which come with the paid option. That said, if you’re just looking for a way to keep yourself accountable, or to have something to show your client when you send your freelance invoice, then the free package should do. 

4. HourStack 

💲 Fee: $7/month for a personal plan, $15/month for professional (14-day trial) 

For those who love to plan, HourStack might be the software for you. Unlike the other time trackers on this list, this app was designed first and foremost to be a timetable. You’ll have the full view of your week, where you can set out expected work periods. Once you get to work, the app will track you, send reminders when the time limit approaches, and record overtime so that you can reconsider your strategy. On the professional plan, you’ll get custom reports sent to you regularly breaking down all of this. 

These insights can be great help in improving your time management and your overall welfare. You might emerge realizing that you’re in the habit of hopping among several things, even when you planned to focus on just one. Or you may find that you tend to go overtime, just a little everyday — though the aggregated amount often leaves you fatigued by the end of the week.

Ultimately, paying attention to (and possibly reassessing) your work patterns when you have to juggle several projects at once requires objective self-awareness, which a time tracking system like HourStack can help you gain.

5. Harvest 

💲Fee: free for two projects, beyond which it’s $12/month (30-day trial)

Harvest is another great productivity tool for freelancers. Its time tracking feature is available on- and offline, so it’s perfect for editors, ghostwriters, and illustrators who don’t always do their work online. On the other hand, Harvest doesn’t have background tracking like some of the other apps on the market. If you’re interested in the breakdown of your web usage, this might not be the best option. 

Still, it’s got enough functionality for solo freelancers, and those working in teams may also find this useful as a collaborative platform. Harvest can be integrated with Trello, Basecamp, and other useful project-management apps, so you can be flexible when new collaborations come along. There are also tools for sending and keeping a record of your invoices, which could be a lifesaver when the time comes for you to do your taxes.

6. Time Doctor

💲Fee: $7/user for Basic Plan

Time Doctor is an easy-to-use time tracker for both individuals and teams. It may be particularly helpful for freelancers looking to improve their productivity or managers who work with freelancers billing by the hour. With Time Doctor’s “work schedules” feature, managers can provide accurate timetables for employees, adding the minimum hours required for each shift and customizing schedules to suit your business requirements.

Though it might look intimidating for freelancers, Time Doctor is designed for more above-board, productive collaborations that benefit everyone. Users can save time by automating schedule updates, and managers can adjust schedules more easily across their teams — not to mention it makes payroll management more accurate, as no manual tracking is involved.

7. Indy 

💲 Fee: free trial, $5.99/month for Pro Bundle

Indy provides a simple-to-use time tracker that can be ran from a desktop browser or on the mobile app (you'll need internet connection for it).

What makes it special is that it fits into an entire toolbox of useful functions by linking your time tracker to an invoice generator, project list, and payment gateway. With Indy, you can create a project, track your time, and then add all your unbilled hours to a new invoice with ease. 

The free version has limited number of tracking sessions, invoices, and contracts, though if you really enjoy the administrative functions during the trial, the low price point of the Pro Bundle can be quite appealing. 

And with that, we cap off our list of the best seven freelance time tracking apps for those who want to kick inefficiency to the curb! Though being a freelancer means you are your own boss, it also means that you’re taking on the extra responsibilities of deciding your pay, giving yourself a break, and reviewing your productivity. These web and desktop time trackers are all great tools, and we hope you’ve your perfect fit somewhere on this list.