Toggl is the most popular time tracker, but its $18/user Premium tier is overkill for solo freelancers. Worse, every timer app has the same flaw: you have to remember to start it. Here are 9 alternatives — most cheaper, one fundamentally different.
| Tool | Starting price | Free tier | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TimeChat | $7/mo | Yes (1 client, 30 entries) | Solo freelancers who forget timers |
| Clockify | $3.99/mo Basic | Generous | Free-forever users |
| Harvest | $11/user/mo | 30-day trial | Small teams + invoicing |
| MyHours | $9/user/mo | 5-day trial | Simple project tracking |
| Hubstaff | $7/user/mo | 14-day trial | Remote teams (with screenshots) |
| Everhour | $8.50/user/mo | 14-day trial | Asana/Trello integration |
| TopTracker | Free | Yes | Toptal freelancers |
| FreshBooks Time Tracking | $19/mo | 30-day trial | Full invoicing suite |
| RescueTime | $12/mo | 14-day trial | Auto-tracking productivity |
TimeChat is fundamentally different from every other tool on this list. There's no timer to remember to start. You log time AFTER the work, via a Telegram bot: type "1.5 acme bug fix" and you're done. End of month, it generates a PDF invoice per client and emails it.
Clockify is Toggl's biggest legitimate competitor. Free tier covers unlimited tracking. Paid tiers ($3.99 Basic → $5.49 Standard → $7.99 Pro) are aggressive pricing.
→ TimeChat vs Clockify deep comparison
Harvest is the OG choice for freelancers who want time tracking + invoicing in one tool. Built around projects/clients. Expensive per-seat but solid.
MyHours keeps things simple. Project-based. Stopwatch-style. No bells.
Hubstaff is the choice when your client wants "proof of work" — random screenshots, mouse activity tracking. Polarizing. Some clients require it.
Everhour is purpose-built to bolt onto project tools. If you live in Asana/Trello/ClickUp, this is the cleanest time-tracking add-on.
TopTracker is Toptal's free tool — works for non-Toptal freelancers too. Free forever (Toptal subsidizes it). Basic but reliable.
FreshBooks is full accounting software with time tracking as one feature. Heavy for solo use, but if you need books + invoicing + time, it's all in one.
RescueTime is different — it auto-tracks which apps you use and computes "productive hours" automatically. Not great for client billing but excellent for self-awareness.
If you want the cheapest free time tracker → Clockify. If you want all-in-one accounting → FreshBooks. If you keep forgetting to start the timer (most freelancers do) and want logging that doesn't require remembering → TimeChat.
Try TimeChat free →