Clockify

Clockify is a time tracking and timesheet tool that records how many hours go into each project, client and task. You start a timer or fill in a weekly timesheet, tag the entry with a project and whether it is billable, and Clockify turns that into reports you can use for invoicing, payroll or simply working out where the week went. It runs in the browser with desktop and mobile apps, and it has grown from a plain stopwatch into a wider suite covering attendance, scheduling and expenses.

What you can actually do with it

The core is deliberately simple, and the more involved features sit on top of the same time entries.

• Track time three ways. Run a live timer, type entries into a weekly timesheet, or block time on a calendar view, whichever suits how people actually work.
• Organise by client, project and task. Every entry can be tagged so you can answer “how much time did this client cost us” without a spreadsheet.
• Mark work billable and apply rates. Hourly rates per person, project or task turn tracked hours into an amount owed.
• Report and export. Summary and detailed reports break time down by person, project or tag, and export to PDF, CSV or Excel for clients and accountants.
• Cover attendance and time off. Shift scheduling, a shared kiosk for clocking in, and time-off requests bring it closer to a workforce tool than a personal timer.
• Bill from tracked hours. Invoicing turns approved time and expenses into a client invoice inside the same system.
• Plug into the tools you already use. Browser extensions and integrations let people start timers from project management, help desk and calendar apps.

Who it fits best

Clockify suits agencies, consultancies, law and accounting practices, and any small team that bills by the hour or needs to justify time to a client. It also works well for internal teams who want visibility on where engineering or support effort is going, and for freelancers who just want a free, unfussy timer with decent reports.

It is a reasonable fit for growing teams too, since attendance, scheduling and approvals mean you can keep one system as headcount rises. It fits less well if you want a full project management tool: Clockify measures time against work, it does not really plan or manage that work for you.

Things worth knowing before you commit

• The free tier is no longer as generous as its reputation. Clockify built its name on free unlimited users, and that has changed. Check the current user cap and which features are included before you plan around it.
• Useful features are spread across several paid tiers. Billing rates, invoicing, approvals, time off, scheduling, expenses and GPS sit on different plans, so the tier you need is decided by one or two must-have features rather than overall size.
• Tracking is only as good as the habit. Like every timer, its data is worthless if people fill in the week from memory on Friday. Reminders and approvals help, but adoption is the real project.
• Monitoring features change the tone. Screenshots, GPS and activity tracking exist on higher tiers. Turning them on is a management decision with staff-trust consequences, not just a settings change.
• It is not an accounting system. Invoicing is basic compared with proper accounting software, so most teams still export to QuickBooks, Xero or similar.

Alternatives to compare it against

Compare it with other dedicated time trackers such as Toggl Track, which is generally seen as the smoothest to use day to day, or Harvest, which pairs time with invoicing more tightly. If you want time tracking built into where the work already lives, the native timers in project tools like ClickUp, Asana or Jira may be good enough and save a subscription. If your real need is payroll-grade attendance and rostering rather than client billing, look at workforce management and scheduling systems instead.

Plan contents, user limits and pricing change regularly, and Clockify’s free tier in particular has moved. Check the vendor’s own pricing page before deciding.

Further reading

• Best Project Time Management Software for Small Businesses — the trackers you would shortlist alongside Clockify for billable project hours.
• Time Tracking Software for Accounting Firms: A Comparison Guide — a close look at one of the professions Clockify is aimed at.
• How Automated Scheduling Links to Payroll Systems — relevant if you are using the attendance and kiosk features to feed payroll rather than client billing.
• For Business Owners: Choosing the Right Accounting Software — the system Clockify’s basic invoicing usually ends up exporting to.

Have you used Clockify?

One sentence is enough. Would you pick it again, and why or why not? We publish the critical reviews too — that is the point.