The Best Time Tracking Apps for Freelancers in 2026
We picked 5 real tools, with pricing and features verified in September 2026 — not a generic list. If you also need to invoice your clients on top of tracking hours, pay close attention to what's actually left on each one's free side.
1. ProHours — the best option if you need to invoice from the free plan
Free plan: $0, 30 time entries a month, all features included (invoicing, rates, PDF/CSV export, unlimited projects and clients).
Paid plans: starting at $7.99/month (300 entries).
ProHours logs a time entry in ~3 seconds, no forms, and unlike most of its competitors it includes invoicing on the free plan instead of reserving it for paid tiers. It also adds real-time client/project budgets (buckets) and automatic recurrences for repeat work (retainers, weekly meetings).
Best for: freelancers and consultants who want to track time *and* invoice from the same app, without paying for a second tool.
2. Toggl Track — the most polished timer on the market
Free plan: $0, up to 5 users, unlimited tracking and projects, 100+ integrations.
Paid plans: starting at $10/user/month.
Toggl Track probably offers the best experience for simply logging hours — a one-click timer, autotracker, idle detection. But its free plan doesn't include billable rates or invoice generation — that's only available starting on the Starter plan.
Best for: anyone who just needs a reliable timer and already has invoicing sorted out elsewhere.
3. Clockify — the biggest free tier, but increasingly limited
Free plan: $0, up to 5 users (since April 2026 — it used to be unlimited), basic tracking and reports.
Paid plans: starting at $4.99/user/month.
Clockify is still free for small teams, but since April 2026 it moved several features — including billable rates, invoicing, and Excel/CSV export — to paid plans. If your goal is just to track time as a team without invoicing, it's still a solid option.
Best for: teams of up to 5 people who need collaborative tracking without built-in invoicing.
4. Harvest — classic invoicing, but with an almost symbolic free tier
Free plan: $0, limited to 1 user and 2 projects.
Paid plans: starting at $9/user/month (annual), + additional usage charges once included limits are exceeded (new 2026 pricing model).
Harvest has years of track record connecting tracked time to real invoices, with mature accounting integrations (Xero, QuickBooks). The problem is its free plan: a 2-project limit that any freelancer with more than one active client hits immediately.
Best for: established teams with accounting integrations already built around Harvest.
5. Timely — for anyone who forgets to log time manually
Timely uses AI to build your time sheet automatically from your activity (apps, calendar, documents), and you just confirm it instead of entering everything by hand.
Best for: freelancers who consistently under-log their hours because manual entry slips their mind.
Comparison table
| ProHours | Toggl Track | Clockify | Harvest | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan price | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Free plan limit | 30 entries/month | 5 users | 5 users | 1 user, 2 projects |
| Invoicing on the free plan | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ (very limited) |
| Paid plan from | $7.99/month | $10/user/month | $4.99/user/month | $9/user/month + usage |
Prices and limits verified against each tool's official pages in September 2026.
How to choose
If your only goal is logging hours with the best possible experience and you already invoice elsewhere, Toggl Track or Clockify will get you there for free. If you need tracked time to turn into a real invoice without paying upfront for that, ProHours is the only one of the four that includes it on its free plan.