Best Project Time Tracking Software in 2026

What Is Project Time Tracking?

Project time tracking is the practice of logging work hours against specific projects, clients, or tasks rather than just recording total time worked. It gives teams per-project visibility into labor costs, budget burn rates, and profitability margins — data that generic time tracking misses entirely.

The distinction matters because most teams don't bill for "hours worked." They bill per project, per retainer, or per milestone. Without project-level tracking, you can't answer basic questions: Which client is profitable? Which project is over budget? Where is your team spending time that nobody's paying for?

A capable project time tracking tool does three things. First, it maps hours to projects without adding admin overhead. Second, it applies cost rates so you can see what those hours actually cost. Third, it compares costs against budgets or revenue to show margins.

1. Rize — Best Automatic Project Time Tracking

Rize is an AI-powered time tracker that captures every work session automatically and categorizes time by project and client — no timers, no timesheets, no manual input. It runs in the background and uses app activity, window titles, and URLs to assign hours to the right project.

When a developer spends 40 minutes in VS Code on a client project and then switches to Slack for a different client, Rize logs both sessions separately. The automatic time tracking means your team gets accurate project data without changing how they work. Rize's team dashboards map tracked time against cost rates and revenue to show margins by project and client in real time.

Pros: Captures 100% of work time automatically. AI categorizes time by project. Privacy-first: no screenshots, no keylogging. Real-time utilization and profitability dashboards.

Cons: Desktop only — no mobile or GPS tracking. Not built for field teams. Requires initial setup to map activity patterns to projects.

Pricing: From $14.99/month (Pro annual). Team plans available.

Best for: Agencies, consultancies, and dev teams with 5-150+ people who switch between clients and projects throughout the day.

"Rize allows my team to get deep into work and go where their creativity leads them without really having to think about time tracking." — Ben Jackson, CEO of Momentum Studio

2. BigTime — Best for Professional Services P&L

BigTime is a professional services automation platform built around project-level financial reporting. It tracks time at the phase and task level, applies cost and bill rates, and produces per-project profit and loss statements.

The standout feature is its financial depth. BigTime calculates margins at the project, phase, and task level. It handles complex billing scenarios like fixed-fee with milestone invoicing, T&M with rate tiers, and retainer drawdowns.

Pros: Per-project P&L with phase-level margin tracking. Built-in invoicing and expense management. Complex billing models. Strong QuickBooks integrations.

Cons: Steep learning curve. Manual timesheets only. Higher price point. UI feels dated.

Pricing: From $20/user/month.

Best for: Professional services firms that need detailed project-level financial reports and integrated invoicing.

3. TMetric — Best Budget Option for Dev Teams

TMetric is a lightweight time tracker with project tagging, client grouping, and cost rate support at a fraction of the price of larger tools. Its browser extension starts timers directly from Jira, Asana, Trello, GitLab, and other dev tools.

Reports break down hours by project, client, and team member with cost summaries. It lacks BigTime's financial depth but covers the basics well for teams under 20 people.

Pros: Free tier with basic project tracking. 50+ integrations via browser extension. Cost rates and billable/non-billable tagging.

Cons: Manual timers only. Basic reporting. No built-in invoicing.

Pricing: Free (up to 5 users); Business at $7/user/month.

Best for: Dev teams and small agencies on a budget.

4. My Hours — Best Simple Project Tracker

My Hours focuses on the basics: log time against projects, set budgets, track billable vs non-billable hours, and generate client-ready reports. The dashboard shows budget burn rates in real time.

Pros: Clean interface. Project budgets with real-time burn tracking. Free plan for solo users.

Cons: Manual entry only. Limited integrations. No invoicing. Basic reporting.

Pricing: Free (1 user); Pro at $8/user/month.

Best for: Small teams (under 15) that want simple project time tracking.

5. Celoxis — Best for Enterprise Project Portfolios

Celoxis is a project portfolio management tool with built-in time tracking, resource planning, and Gantt-based scheduling. It targets PMOs and enterprise teams managing dozens of concurrent projects.

Time tracking happens through timesheets tied to project tasks. The data feeds into resource utilization reports, project burn-down charts, and portfolio dashboards.

Pros: Full portfolio management with Gantt charts. Resource planning and capacity forecasting. On-premise deployment option.

Cons: Time tracking is secondary. $25/user/month. Overkill for small teams.

Pricing: From $25/user/month (cloud).

Best for: PMOs managing 20+ concurrent projects that need portfolio-level planning.

6. Workyard — Best for Construction and Field Teams

Workyard is a GPS-based time tracking tool built for construction, field service, and trades teams. It uses geofenced job sites for automatic clock-in/out and tracks time by project and cost code.

Workyard assigns hours to jobs automatically based on crew location. Supervisors see real-time crew locations, job progress, and labor costs per project.

Pros: GPS tracking with geofenced clock-in/out. Job costing by project. Compliance-ready timesheets. Crew scheduling.

Cons: Not designed for desk-based work. Requires mobile app. GPS raises privacy concerns.

Pricing: From $6/user/month.

Best for: Construction companies and field service teams.

7. Traqq — Best for Remote Team Monitoring

Traqq is a background time tracker that monitors desktop activity and captures periodic screenshots. It assigns tracked time to projects and generates activity-level reports.

Traqq's approach sits between Rize's privacy-first automatic tracking and Hubstaff's compliance monitoring.

Pros: Automatic background tracking. Activity monitoring with screenshots. Free for up to 3 users.

Cons: Screenshots may reduce team trust. Limited integrations (API only). Basic project features.

Pricing: Free (up to 3 users); Premium at $6/user/month.

Best for: Remote teams that want background tracking with activity monitoring.

8. Harvest — Best for Invoicing from Tracked Time

Harvest connects time tracking directly to invoicing — you track hours against projects, then generate invoices from that data in a few clicks. Project tracking includes budgets, task breakdowns, billable rates, and expense tracking.

Pros: Built-in invoicing. Project budgets with real-time reports. Strong accounting integrations (QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe). Mature platform (18+ years).

Cons: Manual timers only. Data accuracy depends on team discipline. Expensive at scale ($10.80/seat).

Pricing: Free (1 seat, 2 projects); Pro at $10.80/seat/month.

Best for: Agencies that want to generate invoices directly from tracked project time.

9. Toggl Track — Best UI for Team Project Tracking

Toggl Track has a clean interface, fast onboarding, and solid project reporting. The simplicity drives high adoption rates. Project dashboards show time distribution, budget burn, and billable summaries. Integrates with 100+ tools.

Pros: Clean, intuitive interface. Project dashboards with budget tracking. 100+ integrations. Strong mobile apps.

Cons: Manual timers. No automatic capture. Limited financial reporting.

Pricing: Free (up to 5 users); Starter at $9/user/month.

Best for: Teams of 5-50 that value a polished interface.

10. Clockify — Best Free Project Time Tracker

Clockify offers unlimited free users with project tracking — a rarity in the category. The free plan covers project timers, basic reports, and team management. Paid tiers add budgets, auditing, scheduling, and advanced reporting.

Pros: Unlimited free users. Project budgets (paid tier). 80+ integrations. Kiosk mode.

Cons: Manual timers only. Free plan reporting is limited. UI is functional but not polished.

Pricing: Free (unlimited users); Plus at $3.99/user/month.

Best for: Startups scaling from 5 to 100+ users without upfront cost.

11. Monday.com — Best for Teams Already Using Monday

Monday.com includes a time tracking column that lets teams log hours directly inside their project boards. Dashboard widgets aggregate data into project-level and team-level views.

Pros: Native integration inside PM boards. Dashboard widgets. 200+ integrations.

Cons: Time tracking is a column feature, not a full product. No automatic capture. No invoicing. Requires Standard plan ($12/seat/month).

Pricing: Standard at $12/seat/month (minimum 3 seats).

Best for: Teams that already use Monday.com for project management.

12. ClickUp — Best All-in-One PM with Time Tracking

ClickUp includes native time tracking across tasks, projects, and goals. Time tracking data connects to goals, sprints, and workload views. The 1,000+ integrations cover almost any workflow.

Pros: Native time tracking in a full PM platform. Billable time tagging. 1,000+ integrations. Free plan includes tracking.

Cons: Time tracking is secondary to PM. No automatic capture. Feature overload can slow adoption.

Pricing: Free; Unlimited at $7/user/month.

Best for: Teams that want PM, time tracking, docs, and goals in one platform.

How to Choose Project Time Tracking Software

The right tool depends on three factors: how your team tracks time, what project data you need, and which tools you already use.

Start with tracking method. If your team forgets timers, automatic capture tools like Rize give dramatically better data. If your team is disciplined, Toggl Track or Harvest work well. For field crews, GPS-based tools like Workyard are the only realistic option.

Match project features to your billing model. Time-and-materials teams need invoicing (Harvest). Fixed-fee teams need budget tracking (Toggl, Clockify). Professional services firms need P&L reports (BigTime).

Check integration fit. The tool needs to connect to your PM platform and billing stack. Missing integrations mean manual data transfer.

Calculate total cost at your team size. At 20 users, the difference between Clockify ($80/month) and BigTime ($400/month) is significant. Use our agency profit calculator to see how better time capture affects your margins.