Verdict: Toggl Track has the smoothest, fastest timer of the three, Clockify offers the most generous free plan for a small team, and Harvest is the only one with invoicing genuinely built into the core product — though budget carefully, since its free plan is now the most restrictive and its paid pricing includes usage-based fees since its 2025 acquisition by Bending Spoons.
Last updated: August 2026, based on hands-on tracking of real work sessions in all three tools, with pricing verified against each provider’s official pricing page.
Written by the AppGuideHQ Team — see how we test and review software.
At-a-Glance Comparison
| Toggl Track | Clockify | Harvest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan users | 5 | Unlimited | 1 |
| Free plan projects | Unlimited | Unlimited | 2 |
| Billable rates on free plan | No | No | Yes |
| Invoicing built in? | No (needs integration) | No (paid add-on) | Yes, native |
| Cheapest paid plan | $9/user/mo | $3.99/user/mo | $9/seat/mo + usage fees |
| Timesheet locking | Paid plans only | Paid plans only | Paid plans only |
Toggl Track: Best Timer UX
Toggl’s timer is genuinely the fastest of the three to start — one click from the browser extension, desktop app, or menu bar, with the interface staying out of your way once tracking begins. That matters more than it sounds: the biggest reason freelancers undertrack time isn’t laziness, it’s friction, and Toggl has the least of it. The free plan supports 5 users and unlimited projects, but withholds billable rates, custom reports, and time rounding — you can track for free, but turning that into a client-ready rate calculation requires the $9/user/month Starter plan.
- Pros: fastest, smoothest timer experience, generous 5-user free plan
- Cons: no billable rates or custom reports on free plan, no native invoicing at any tier
Clockify: Best Free Plan
Clockify’s free plan is the most generous on paper — unlimited users, projects, and reports at no cost — which makes it a genuine option for a small team to run indefinitely without paying anything. The real gap is that free-tier timesheets aren’t locked, meaning any user can retroactively edit an entry from months ago, a liability if you need a defensible audit trail for client billing. Billable rates and invoicing also require the $3.99/user/month Basic plan, still the cheapest paid tier of the three.
- Pros: most generous free plan, cheapest paid tier of the three
- Cons: no timesheet locking on free plan, no billable rates without upgrading
Harvest: Best for Tracking Plus Invoicing
Harvest’s genuine advantage is generating a client invoice directly from tracked time, without exporting to a separate tool — a real time-saver if you invoice by the hour regularly. Since its 2025 acquisition by Bending Spoons, the free plan has been cut sharply (1 seat, 2 projects), and paid plans now layer usage-based fees on top of the $9/seat/month base rate, tied to invoice volume and other account activity. It remains worth considering specifically for the invoicing integration, but confirm real total cost with Harvest directly rather than budgeting off the advertised per-seat price alone.
- Pros: native invoicing from tracked time, solid reporting
- Cons: most restrictive free plan of the three, usage-based fees on top of per-seat pricing
Which One Should You Pick?
- Solo freelancer, timer speed matters most → Toggl Track
- Small team, want to stay free as long as possible → Clockify
- Want invoicing bundled with tracking → Harvest, budgeting for usage fees
- Need a strict, tamper-proof audit trail → a paid tier on any of the three, since none lock timesheets for free
- Agency billing multiple clients at different rates → Harvest or a paid Toggl/Clockify plan, since billable rates aren’t free anywhere
If none of these three quite fit your budget, see our broader free time tracking apps roundup, including the open-source, self-hostable Kimai.
FAQ
Which is best for a small agency billing multiple clients?
Harvest, if invoicing directly from tracked time matters, or a paid Toggl/Clockify plan if you’d rather keep tracking and invoicing as separate tools with more control over each.
Can I use Toggl or Clockify’s free plan long-term?
Yes, both are genuinely usable indefinitely for a solo user or small team that doesn’t need billable rates or locked timesheets — there’s no forced trial expiration on either free plan.
Why did Harvest’s free plan get so much smaller?
Following its 2025 acquisition by Bending Spoons, Harvest restructured pricing across the board, including cutting the free plan to 1 seat and 2 projects and adding usage-based fees to paid tiers.
Do any of these integrate with project management tools?
Yes — all three offer integrations (native or via Zapier/Make) with tools like Asana and Trello, letting tracked time link back to specific tasks. See our project management software guide for the PM side of that pairing.
Mobile App Experience, Compared
For anyone tracking time away from a desk — client meetings, on-site work, travel — the mobile app matters as much as the desktop experience. Toggl’s mobile app mirrors its desktop simplicity closely, with the same one-tap timer start that makes it fast to use standing up between appointments. Clockify’s mobile app covers the same core functionality but feels a step behind Toggl’s polish, occasionally requiring an extra tap to reach the right project. Harvest’s mobile app is solid for reviewing and approving time but is less commonly used as the primary way people start timers, since most Harvest users track from their desktop where they’re already working.
If most of your billable work happens away from a computer — consulting, on-site services, travel-heavy freelancing — Toggl’s mobile-first feel is the more dependable daily-driver of the three.
FAQ
Do any of these three sync time entries in real time across devices?
Yes, all three sync near-instantly across desktop, browser extension, and mobile app on their free plans — starting a timer on your phone and checking it from your laptop a minute later works reliably on all three.
Can I track time offline with any of these tools?
Toggl’s desktop app supports offline tracking that syncs once you’re back online; Clockify and Harvest are more reliant on an active connection for real-time syncing, though brief connectivity gaps are generally handled gracefully.
Which tool has the best keyboard shortcuts for power users?
Toggl’s desktop app has the most developed shortcut set for starting, stopping, and switching between timers without touching the mouse, which matters if you’re tracking many short tasks throughout the day.
Disclosure: AppGuideHQ may earn a commission if you sign up through some links on this page, at no extra cost to you. See our Terms of Use.