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Here at Float, we believe time is too valuable to be planned poorly. The ultimate purpose of an effective agency time tracking software should be to help you understand where time is spent and how to optimize it.
In the spirit of using time thoughtfully, we chose only seven of the top time tracking tools for specific agency needs. We kept it short to avoid overwhelming you with too many options and to make choosing the right software easier.
What do we define as time tracking software for agencies?
Time tracking software is any tool or app that helps users log time worked into an organized, centralized space. These tools let you fill out and submit timesheets, as well as use timers to automate tracking. Like this:
Reliable time tracker software:
- Allows correct client invoicing based on how many hours are spent on each project
- Enables understanding of where teams spend their time to catch overruns and ensure accountability
- Gives a view of actual time spent so you can fine-tune estimates and provide realistic expectations to clients
Time tracking vs timesheet software: are they the same?
Yes, they are 😉 The terms time tracking software and timesheet software can be used interchangeably. We will probably do that throughout this guide!
7 best time tracking tools for agencies in 2024
To make this comparison easier, we created a spreadsheet where you can compare all tools and features side-by-side. We chose them based on where their focus is (e.g., resource planning, invoicing) and user reviews on intuitiveness and effectiveness.
1. Float: Best for growing agency teams of up to 1000 people
🏢 Founded in: 2011
🎯 Primary software category: Resource management
🏆 G2: 4.2 (1,200+ reviews); Capterra: 4.5 (1,580 reviews)
🧪 Free trial: Yes, 14 days.
Float (hi 👋) is a resource management software built with marketing and advertising agency teams in mind. And if you’re wondering, “Wasn’t I looking for time tracking? Why are they talking about resource management?!”—here’s the thing:
Float combines capacity management, project planning, and time tracking into one visual interface (which is also our advantage compared to other tools in this list).
Time tracking within Float works in two ways:
- The downloadable Desktop timer app helps your team members track time against tasks with precision—they can literally start, stop, and edit their tracked time against a scheduled task without having to export durations or add project details individually.
- The web app is part of the resource management suite of tools used for admins and managers. This solution enables you to track time while also monitoring real availability to assign work with confidence, understanding where your team’s time is spent, and making sure your invoices are always spot on.
How A—B increased time tracking adoption from 20% to almost 100% with Float
Design agency A—B implemented Float to consolidate data on capacity, budgets, timesheets, and timelines. Time logging in Float was so frictionless that, within months, nearly everyone on the A—B team was consistently tracking their time.
Read the full story →⭐ Float time tracking features
- Pre-filled timesheets. The timesheets in Float are created based on tasks you’ve allocated to team members. This means team members can log time for each task with a single click–easy-peasy! Even if the estimated time turns out to be different than the actual time, correcting the entry can be done quickly and smoothly.
- Built-in timer. Start the timer at the beginning of a task and pause or stop it when needed. The time will be immediately sent to the timesheets without team members needing to manually record it. Interesting fact: our timer was a strong reason why digital agency Storm+Shelter completely replaced Asana and Everhour with Float.
- Estimates vs actual report. How accurate are your estimates compared to the time team members actually spend on tasks? Knowing this can help you communicate expectations to clients and determine more accurate budgets.
Want to learn more about time tracking features in Float? Watch this video by one of our onboarding specialists to learn more 👇
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💰 Float pricing
1. Starter. $6 per person per month, billed annually. Every resource scheduling capability you need, with unlimited projects and powerful reporting. Best for teams of up to 30 people.
2. Pro. $10 per person per month, billed annually. Everything in Starter, plus built-in time tracking, single sign-on (SSO), and workflow features designed to scale. Best for growing teams of 30+ people.
3. Enterprise. A custom plan that includes everything in Pro and is designed for larger organizations with heavier compliance and support needs.
🔥 You can learn more about Float’s pricing plans here.
2. Toggl Track: Best tool for individuals and small agency teams
🏢 Founded in: 2006
🎯 Primary software category: Time tracking
🏆 G2: 4.6 (1,500+ reviews); Capterra: 4.7 (2,200+ reviews)
🧪 Free trial: Yes, 30 days.
Toggl Track is one of the most well-known time tracking tools out there and is often used for personal productivity and agency time tracking. It’s the core product of the company Toggl that also makes Toggl Plan and Toggl Hire—Toggl Plan can integrate with Toggl Track to create a full planning solution.
Toggl Track reviews often praise its intuitiveness and the quality of its mobile app. It’s an excellent tool to start understanding where your time is spent.
⭐ Toggl Track features
- Built-in timer
- Client billing based on tracked hours and billable rates
- Useful reporting, such as project profitability and cost projections
- Time estimates (including for recurring projects)
💰 Toggl Track pricing
A free version and three paid plans starting from $9 per user per month.
See full pricing in the comparison sheet.
3. Harvest: Best for agency invoicing
🏢 Founded in: 2006
🎯 Primary software category: Time tracking
🏆 G2: 4.3 (790+ reviews); Capterra: 4.6 (570+ reviews)
🧪 Free trial: Yes, 30 days.
Harvest has been a trusted agency time tracking tool since 2006—and a long-time favorite among freelancers, too. It can be integrated with the company’s other tool, Forecast, which is built for work planning.
Harvest stands out because of its invoicing features and expense tracking. It also has built-in notifications to alert you if you’ve left the timer running—a good solution to preventing inaccurate logs.
Though a reliable tool, some reviews refer to limitations with its reporting features and its lack of customization. Harvest is also one of the more expensive time tracking tools, and its cost increases if you want to integrate Forecast as well.
⭐ Harvest features
- Tracking both billable and non-billable hours
- Mobile app
- Expense tracking and invoicing
- Effective reminders and notifications
💰 Harvest pricing
Harvest has a free plan and one paid plan at $10.80 per person per month.
See full pricing in the comparison sheet.
4. Clockify: Best free time tracking tool for digital agencies
🏢 Founded in: 2009
🎯 Primary software category: Time tracking
🏆 G2: 4.5 (150+ reviews); Capterra: 4.7 (4,770+ reviews)
🧪 Free trial: Yes, 7 days, and a free version.
Clockify is a popular time tracking tool and is among the most highly rated on Capterra.
It stands out because of its excellent free time tracking version, which includes unlimited tracking, unlimited users, timers, and timesheets. Its paid plans expand the tool’s functionality to other solutions, like tracking time off and attendance, scheduling and forecasting, and budgets.
Though usually praised as a tool that does its job, some reviewers refer to usability and aesthetic issues in the app.
⭐ Clockify features
- Timer (including Pomodoro)
- Timesheets and calendars
- Reports on project status, billable rates, and team activity
- Additional invoicing and planning features with paid plans
💰 Clockify pricing
A free version, and can be upgraded to four paid plans, starting from $3.99 per user per month.
See full pricing in the comparison sheet.
5. Timely: Best for AI-assisted time tracking
🏢 Founded in: 2013
🎯 Primary software category: Time tracking
🏆 G2: 4.8 (380+ reviews); Capterra: 4.7 (200+ reviews)
🧪 Free trial: Yes, 14 days.
Timely is an AI-powered time tracking tool created by the Norwegian company Memory.
This tool is built to reduce manual inputs of time—its ’Memory Tracker’ works by itself in the background, recording how much time people spend in different work apps. If this sounds a bit like employee surveillance, it’s actually not—Timely has an anti-surveillance policy and states that all activity is private to each user, who can then choose what to share in timesheets.
However, it doesn’t track phone calls and a few users on G2 have reported that the memory app may sometimes fail to sync with Timely.
⭐ Timely features
- Automatic time tracking
- Billable rates
- Task planning (as paid add-on)
- Timeline estimates and project progress reporting
💰 Timely pricing
Three plans starting from $9 per user per month.
See full pricing in the comparison sheet.
6. Time Doctor: Best for team productivity and hybrid teams
🏢 Founded in: 2012
🎯 Primary software category: Time tracking and productivity
🏆 G2: 4.4 (370+ reviews); Capterra: 4.6 (520+ reviews)
🧪 Free trial: Yes, 14 days.
Time Doctor is a time tracking app that focuses on increasing productivity through analytics. The app is designed with powerful, real-time dashboards and reporting to give teams actionable insights.
An interesting feature they offer for agencies is custom email notifications based on performance triggers to see who needs help. They also have offerings for all types of dispersed teams: fully remote, hybrid, and in-office.
One thing we want to call out about Time Doctor is its screen monitoring capability. Unlike tools like Timely, which have a clear anti-surveillance policy, Time Doctor allows companies to monitor their employees. While some use cases mentioned on their site may make sense (e.g., freelancers who want to avoid payment disputes with their clients over how long a project took to complete), surveillance-as-standard can severely affect an agency’s culture and trusting relationship between workers.
Many recent reviews on Capterra (2023 and 2024) mention that Time Doctor is on the expensive side and quite resource-heavy while running in the computer’s background.
⭐ Time Doctor features
- Timesheets
- Payroll
- Time management
- Attendance to spot issues like work-life balance and absenteeism
💰 Time Doctor pricing
Three pricing plans starting from $5.9 per user per month.
See full pricing in the comparison sheet.
7. Asana: Best project management tool with time-tracking features
🏢 Founded in: 2008
🎯 Primary software category: Project management
🏆 G2: 4.3 (9,300+ reviews); Capterra: 4.5 (12,000+ reviews)
🧪 Free trial: Yes, 30 days.
Asana is a beloved project management tool whose primary function is to help teams organize work and collaborate on tasks. The tool can integrate with other time tracking apps, though it has a built-in ability to track time through specified time fields on tasks and a basic timer.
Because time tracking isn’t Asana’s primary offering, it doesn’t have robust reporting capabilities for time tracking apart from basic estimates vs actual reports. It can still work well, though, if you need an all-in-one project management tool and don’t want to add a different app to your tech stack.
⭐ Asana features
- Project management and task scheduling
- Workload tracking
- Built-in live timer
- Estimated time and actual time entries
💰 Asana pricing
A free version and four paid plans starting from $10.99.
See full pricing in the comparison sheet.
Time tracking = employee well-being
Agency time tracking tools will do the job you absolutely need: help you track the cost of work and do the billing correctly.
But there are more opportunities here. Understanding how your team spends time gives you powerful insights that help you optimize how work is assigned in the future. And no, this is absolutely not a synonym of close surveillance—rather, time tracking tools used well will respect your and your team’s time by reducing manual inputs and providing you with effective reporting options.
The right time tracking software will enable more sustainable workloads and better resourcing decisions—which is a great way to promote your team’s best work life.
Is your agency ready to give Float a try?
See how you can easily plan projects, schedule work, and get insights on estimates vs actuals. Get a view of real-time capacity at a glance to allocate any work coming your way with confidence.
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