Previously, we had covered the best time-tracking Android apps for freelancing. But the problem with a smartphone app is that you should have the device alongside — which can be a distraction. That is why we need a desktop time tracking app, with features like automated tracking.
In this article, we will be talking about the best time-tracking apps for Mac. Some of these are dedicated Mac apps while others are fully-fledged services. Anyway, regardless of who you are — a freelancer or a project manager —, you will find a suitable app on the list. Shall we start?
Also Read: Best Timer Apps for Mac For Every Need
Best Time Tracking Apps for Mac
1. Toggl — Best Mac Time Tracker for Freelancers
Toggl was also present when we covered the best Android apps for time-tracking, remember? Well, Toggl is a cross-platform app available as a Mobile app (iOS, Android), Desktop app (Win, Mac, Linux) and even as Browser Extensions for Chrome and Firefox. So, if you are looking for time tracker that works everywhere, Toggl is a good place to start.
Toggl works like most time tracker apps, you open the app, create a new entry for the project you are working on, and start the timer. Toggl will start counting seconds and minutes. Once you are done, press the stop button, and the total amount of time is saved to your Toggl account. There are a few advanced features too if you’re interested.
The UI has been kept as clean as it can be. It displays a list of the activities you’ve done and are doing right now. At the same time, if you are looking for a detailed report, Toggle has a fully-fledged web interface — a quite feature-rich one.
Coming to Team Integration, most features in Toggl are available in the Enterprise version. Thanks to Team Dashboard, however, you can easily manage team members, their projects and insider activities.
In the free version you get, core time-tracking tools, idle detection, and you can manage up to five teams. The paid plans start at $9 per month. You can find the pricing details here.
Pros: Impressive & Simple UI, Integrates well with macOS, Pomodoro timer,
Cons: None worth noting
Who is it for: While Toggl is made for both teams and individuals, we think freelancers would find the tool more appropriate. Compared to other time-trackers for Mac, Toggl has a cleaner interface and offers an easy way to manage time-slots.
Check Out Toggl (Free; Paid Plans start at $9/Month)
2. Harvest — Best Mac Time Tracker for Teams
Harvest is undoubtedly one of the fully-fledged time tracking software for macOS. It has primarily been built for Teams, but individual use is also fine. Just so you know, Harvest for macOS is a part of the overall Harvest package. You can access and modify your data from multiple devices, including Windows, Android, and iOS. As far as the macOS app is concerned, it doesn’t have a proper window by default.
You can access the Harvest app from the menu-bar of macOS. In a single click, you can provide all the details and start a certain project. Harvest would be showing the elapsed time on the menu-bar as long as the task is running.
In order to access features like Invoicing and Expense Management, you will have to visit the web interface of Harvest. There, you can get comprehensive reports as well, subject to the plan you’re running. The best part about Harvest is that it keeps all the necessary features behind an intuitive UI. Like, a user can decide not to use the features if they want something simple.
Pros: An intuitive UI, Better invoicing and Timesheet support, Menu-bar integration
Cons: Not-so suitable for individuals
Who is it for: Unlike Toggle, Harvest is the better choice for teams out there. It ticks all the necessary boxes when it comes to enterprise-level features and still offers a simple UI for managing everything. So, if you have a team and you want them to have the best time-tracking experience, go for Harvest.
Check Out Harvest (Free; Team plans start at $12/Person/Month)
3. Timing — Best Automated Time Tracker for macOS
Timing is one of the best apps I’ve personally loved using on my Mac. It really helps in automating the time-tracking process. You don’t have to worry about starting or stopping the timers. Everything you do on Mac would be tracked and analyzed. At the end of the day, you’d know where you spent your time. Timing also automates the labeling process.
There isn’t anything fancy about the UI of Timing. Once you have opened the app, you can see an icon with a timer on the menu-bar. It works as a quick menu for starting and stopping certain tasks. It’s completely up to you to create the task beforehand; Timing works otherwise too.
Probably the best part about Timing is that it provides an overview of your time. You’d know where every second of yours was spent. At the end of the day, you can drag and drop time-slots to individual projects or tasks. You can even add tasks that you did outside the Mac, you know. Last but not the least, Timing offers some superb reporting features as well.
Pros: Fully automated; deeper, app-level tracking, native macOS app
Cons: None worth noting
Who is it for: Timing is the perfect time-tracking app for freelancers. I, for one, have been using it for a long time, probably due to the automation feature. Despite the deep tracking features, Timing is quite flexible as well.
Check Out Timing (Freemium; Basic version starts at $39)
4. Clockify — Best Free Time Tracker for Teams
It’s tough to find a completely free time-tracking app for teams. Clockify is indeed an exception here. You’d be able to use the service and the apps for tracking hourly time, as much time as you want. Unlike some of the other free plans, Clockify does not have limits on the number of users. While it’s predominantly a SaaS, the macOS app is pretty good too.
You can easily add the task and start working on it. You can minimize the window and have a look at overall spent time via the menu-bar itself. It should be noted that the whole UI is pretty minimal. Most of the work take place under the hood.
Clockify Desktop as a simple client for time-tracking. You and your team can visit the web-based interface to do reporting and analysis. From the visual breakdown of time consumption to time-sheet data export, a lot of features are available in this package. It’s also one of the most used team time-tracking solutions out there in the market.
Pros: Completely free, simple UI, Sufficient features
Cons: The Desktop client is too basic.
Who is it for: We’d recommend Clockify to everyone who needs a completely free macOS time-tracker for teams. If you have an office with a few iMacs for work, you should consider getting Clockify — it comes with no limits.
Check Out Clockify (Free)
5. Timely — Best Time Tracking App with Scheduling
There are times when you want to not just track time but schedule how you spend it. Timely is the best way to do both. It packs enough features for planning your tasks ahead and tracking where you spend your daily time. It should be noted that Timely works automatically — from suggesting you the project names to adding the entries, everything is as per schedule.
The UI of Timely does not have anything fancy to offer. Everything has been kept as minimal as possible. The UI even resembles that of Timing, another automatic time-tracking app we listed above. You can go through the different tabs to explore different sections of tracking.
We think it’s like having Timing for a team. In Timely, everything is synced with the server and your team. It can really help when it comes to team-based project management. Even if you’re a solo performer, there is a lot of options for scheduling. Thanks to the power of AI, Timely can track even the slightest activities that you are doing inside each app.
Pros: Completely automated, scheduling options, AI-powered
Cons: Learning curve is steep
Who is it for: If you want to improve the accuracy of time-tracking, enable scheduling and make things better altogether, Timely is a great option for you. It’s not the most affordable tracker out there, though. However, you are getting a fully-fledged macOS client.
Check Out Timely (Plans start at $7/month for an individual)
Which is the best time tracking apps for Mac?
Depending on what exactly you are looking for, you can pick one from the above options. If you happen to be a busy freelancer, the choice is pretty easy, since you can go for Toggl. On the other hand, if you want an automated system, we’d recommend Timing or Timely — based on whether you’re a team or a one-player army. All these apps can offer standard time tracking features on macOS. Nevertheless, we recommend picking one that suits your requirements.
