We ranked these by whether time tracking is genuinely native (versus a bolt-on integration), whether tracked hours convert directly into invoice line items without manual re-entry, and real starting price — verified against each provider’s current pricing page as of August 2026. This is a software feature comparison only, not financial or tax advice.
Written by the AppGuideHQ Team — see how we test and review software.
Summary Table
| Tool | Native Timer? | Auto-Bill from Tracked Hours? | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| FreshBooks | Yes | Yes | $23/mo (5 clients) |
| Harvest | Yes | Yes | $9/seat/mo + usage fees |
| Plutio | Yes | Yes, one-click | $19/mo (9 clients) |
| Zoho Invoice | Yes | Yes | Free (5 clients) or $9/org/mo |
| Bonsai | Yes (Basic plan) | Requires higher tier for invoicing | $15/mo (time tracking only) |
1. Zoho Invoice — Best Free Option With Time Tracking
Zoho Invoice’s forever-free plan includes native time tracking alongside unlimited invoicing, recurring invoices, and expense tracking — genuinely the only tool on this list with real time tracking on a permanent free tier. The catches: a 5-client cap and an eligibility limit for businesses under $20,000 in annual revenue. Beyond that, Premium unlocks unlimited clients for $9/organization/month billed annually.
- Pros: genuinely free with time tracking included, cheap paid upgrade
- Cons: 5-client cap and revenue eligibility limit on free plan
2. FreshBooks — Best Balance of Polish and Price
FreshBooks bakes time tracking directly into its invoicing flow — log hours against a project, then bill them without switching tools or re-entering data. See our full Wave vs FreshBooks comparison for the deeper pricing breakdown.
- Pros: native time tracking, polished client experience
- Cons: no free plan, 5-client cap on cheapest tier
3. Harvest — Best for Combined Tracking-First Workflow
Harvest’s core identity is time tracking with invoicing attached, rather than the reverse — a natural fit if tracking comes first in your workflow and invoicing is the final step. See our time tracking software guide for the tracking-focused comparison if that’s your priority.
- Pros: tracking and invoicing feel like one workflow, not two
- Cons: free plan cut to 1 seat/2 projects; paid tiers add usage-based fees since 2025
4. Plutio — Best One-Click Time-to-Invoice Conversion
Plutio converts tracked time directly into invoice line items in a single click, with every plan including the full feature set (no features locked behind higher tiers, just client-count limits). At $19/month for up to 9 active clients, it’s positioned as an all-in-one freelancer workspace rather than invoicing-first software.
- Pros: smoothest one-click time-to-invoice flow, no feature gating between tiers
- Cons: no free plan, pricier entry point than Zoho Invoice or FreshBooks
5. Bonsai — Best If You Want Time Tracking Before Committing to Invoicing
Bonsai’s entry-level Basic plan ($15/month) includes time tracking, task management, and a CRM, but notably excludes invoicing, contracts, and a client portal — those require stepping up to a higher tier. It’s a reasonable pick if you want to start with tracking and project management and add invoicing later, but it’s not a genuine all-in-one solution at its cheapest price point.
- Pros: solid time tracking and project management at the entry tier
- Cons: invoicing isn’t included until a higher, pricier tier
How We Chose These Picks
We prioritized tools where tracked time genuinely converts into a billable invoice line item without manual re-entry or a third-party integration, and flagged cases (like Bonsai’s Basic plan) where time tracking and invoicing aren’t actually bundled at the advertised entry price.
If invoicing without any time-tracking requirement is your priority instead, see our broader free invoicing software roundup, or compare dedicated trackers in our Toggl vs Clockify vs Harvest guide.
FAQ
Which invoicing app has genuinely free time tracking?
Zoho Invoice, on its forever-free plan (5-client cap, revenue eligibility limit applies), is the only tool here with real time tracking at no cost.
Does Bonsai include invoicing on its cheapest plan?
No — Bonsai’s $15/month Basic plan includes time tracking and project management but not invoicing, contracts, or a client portal; those require a higher-priced tier.
Is it better to use one tool for both tracking and invoicing?
It reduces manual data entry and the chance of billing errors from re-keying hours, but it’s a preference, not a requirement — some freelancers prefer a dedicated tracker plus a separate invoicing tool for more control over each.
Solo Freelancer vs Small Team: Which Matters More
The right pick here splits along team size more than any single feature. A solo freelancer benefits most from Zoho Invoice’s free tier or Plutio’s one-click time-to-invoice flow — both are built around a single person’s workflow, with less overhead than tools designed for teams. A small team of 3-5 people tracking time against shared client projects gets more value from FreshBooks or Harvest, since both handle multiple team members’ tracked hours rolling up into one client invoice cleanly, which the solo-oriented tools handle less gracefully.
Bonsai is the outlier worth flagging again: its cheap entry tier is genuinely solo-friendly on price, but remember invoicing isn’t included until you step up a tier — factor that into the real cost before choosing it specifically for the time-tracking-to-invoice combination.
FAQ
Can multiple team members track time against the same client invoice?
Yes, on FreshBooks and Harvest — both are built to roll up tracked time from multiple team members into a single client invoice, which is harder to do cleanly in solo-oriented tools like Plutio.
Is Plutio’s one-click invoicing actually as simple as it sounds?
In our testing, yes for straightforward cases — selecting unbilled tracked time and converting it to a draft invoice took one click. More complex scenarios (mixed billable rates, partial billing) still require a manual review pass before sending.
Which of these is cheapest for a 3-person team?
Zoho Invoice’s $9/organization/month Premium plan is the cheapest option here that still includes time tracking, though check its per-user collaboration limits against your team’s actual needs before committing.
Do any of these tools support project budgets alongside time tracking?
Yes — Harvest and FreshBooks both support setting a project budget and tracking hours/spend against it, which flags when a fixed-price project is running over the tracked time you estimated.
Is there a tool here that works well for both hourly and fixed-price projects?
FreshBooks handles both cleanly — hourly work bills from tracked time, fixed-price work bills from a flat line item, both within the same invoicing flow.
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