The Best Time Tracking Apps For Designers
Whether you’re a freelance creative artist, a design team member, or an agency professional, efficient time management is critical to your success and client satisfaction. Time tracking is an essential habit to help designers estimate the length of their tasks and bill clients correctly. Let’s dive deep into the best time tracking apps for designers!
Discover Timeular, the most effortless and intutitive time tracking solution for designers
The best time tracking solution to boost a designer’s productivity, and ensure accurate billing and time estimations.
What are the best time tracking apps for designers?
1. Timeular
Timeular stands out as the best time tracking tool for designers because it’s effortless to use, intuitive, and automates most of the cumbersome time-keeping tasks that team members should do manually otherwise. You can use it for Mac time tracking and Windows time tracking.
In particular, designers appreciate the following features of Timeular:
- Multiple time tracking options
- Automated reports
- Intuitive and flexible billable tracking
- Budgets
- Leave tracking
Timeular time tracking software has saved us so much time. It’s already paid for itself because we are saving at least two hours every month by no longer transferring details written down on paper into our old system
Ingólfur Magnússon, Flight Procedure Designer at Isavia ANS
Timeular makes time tracking simple and fun
In Timeular, you can track time with multiple methods, finding the one that suits you best:
- Flipping the physical time tracker cube – and hardware that you can flip to start tracking up to 1,000 activities
- Enabling automated time tracking – do your task, and Timeular will record your work in the background. It also may suggest time entries based on your calendar and past entries because it is an AI-powered time tracking app.
- Using keyboard shortcuts
Timeular is widely known for its physical Tracker that connects to the app via Bluetooth. As you can easily customize it through colorful stickers and pens, the 8-sided die serves as a physical reminder that sits on your desk.
Please note: You don’t need the Tracker to use Timeular software.
How does it work? Assign your activities to each side of the Tracker and flip the dice to start a new time entry. If needed, edit the entry in the app afterward by adding tags and notes. It’s as simple as that!
- Fun fact: Did you know Timeular is one of the best AI tools for designers?
Track time with the physical Tracker!
Build a habit using muscle memory and a powerful physical reminder. All new users get 2 months free subscription when connecting a new Tracker.
Smooth user experience and easy time tracking methods make Timeular the number 1 choice for designers who want to track their time accurately in less than 1 minute per day.
Automated reports
Timeular automates tracking billable hours and creating clear and transparent time reports for your clients. The app provides a precise breakdown of your activities to ensure that each little task is tracked and added to your invoice. You can export your reports to PDF, XLSX, or CSV.
Track work time, overtime, and all types of leaves
Leverage Timeular for work hours tracking, leave tracking, and overtime tracking, enabling you to take charge of your work schedule. It offers a seamless approach to adding and overseeing all leave requests across your team, enhancing flexibility and transparency in leave tracking and reporting.
It keeps budgets under control
In Timeular, you can closely monitor project budgets to effectively monitor their progress and profitability. You can swiftly identify projects at risk of surpassing budgets and reallocate your design team’s time to where it is most needed.
Pricing starts at 6.30€ per month.
With Timeular, designers will:
- Build time tracking habit: Designers can track their time effortlessly using shortcuts or the time tracking device, which helps reinforce the time tracking habit. Timeular is also an automatic time tracking software, helping teams to collect even more accurate data.
- Increase transparency and collaboration: You track time and customize the time entries with notes and tags, which can be shared with a team. Designers can track time together using shared folders and create individual and team reports for better time management and resource allocation.
- Increase billable hours: Timeular is the most accurate software to track billable hours because billable hours can be tracked simply by switching a toggle.
- Improve time estimates and client satisfaction: Because Timeular is so simple to use, time tracking data will be more accurate. For designers, it will be easier to make accurate time estimations and meet stakeholders’ and clients’ expectations.
- Track time with the entire team: Thanks to advanced team time tracking features, tracking time with colleagues is simple and effortless.
Ratings
Top features
- Physical Tracker
- Quicktrack, which allows to start new time entries with keyboard shortcuts
- Easy time tracking everywhere you go thanks to a mobile app
- Automated time tracking
- Automated data visualization and insights
- Accurate billing with custom reports & data export
- Adding notes and tags to time entries
- Leave tracking
- Shared folders to track time with your team
- Automated, accurate, and great-looking reports for clients
- Project hours tracker
- Over 3,000 apps integrated through Zapier
Effortlessly track your creative time with Timeular.
The most accurate and effortless time tracker for designers.
2. Toggl Track
Toggl is a popular timesheet tool offering a wide range of features; time tracking can be done either automatically or manually. Toggl is a reasonable choice for the ones looking for a free tool with a streamlined timesheet experience, offline tracking, and project estimates. Unfortunately, Toggl has a pay-per-seat subscription that makes it more expensive than other time tracking solutions.
Pros of Toggl
- It’s a cheaper option
- It offers a freemium version
- Detail reporting
- Automated time tracking
Cons of Toggl
- The free version has minimal functionalities.
- There’s a steep learning curve
- No leave tracking
- Has no AI-integrated solutions
Read also: Timeular vs. Toggl
3. Harvest
Harvest helps designers to keep their time under control and allows teams to generate invoices easily. Nevertheless, ti still relies a lot on manual time tracking, which can be cumbersome and a waste of time.
Pros of Harvest
- Cheaper than Timely
- Generate invoices
- Streamlines payments
- Offer time off scheduling
Cons of Harvest
- Manual time tracking
- No leave tracking
- The free plan is heavily limited
- There’s no automatic time tracking
- The learning curve is pretty steep
Read also: What is a leave of absence?
4. Clockify
Clockify is a team management tool for time tracking, billing, and scheduling. Clockify allows automatic time tracking.
Despite the tools giving it best when used in teams, Clockify has faced criticism for its disregard of employee privacy rights. The software’s handling of user data has raised concerns among users and privacy advocates, making it a subject of controversy.
Pros of Clockify
- Allows time off tracking
- Has automatic tracking
- Timesheets approval
Cons of Clockify
- Intrude employees privacy
- Has limited integrations
- Clunky mobile app
- Limited reporting functionalities
Related also:
5. Time Doctor
Time Doctor has gained popularity as a time tracker and proof of work application, but it may not suit every team. When using Time Doctor, users are concerned about their privacy and lament outdated features, limited functionality, and unresponsive customer support.
Pros of Time Doctor
- Accurate time tracking
- Productivity insights
- Integration and compatibility
Cons of Time Doctor
- Privacy concerns
- Learning curve
- No leave tracking
- Limited mobile features
- Cost
- Employee monitoring
TIP: Get to know the list of the best alternatives to Time Doctor
6. Tick
A reliable time tracking software for small businesses. It offers a simplified platform for time management and project tracking, characterized by simplicity. It tracks time without disrupting the creative workflow.
Although Tick is considered a solid tool, its outdated and underdeveloped interface has contributed to its low ratings of 2 stars on the Google Play Store.
The budgeting feature allows designers to monitor project costs and ensure they remain within budget constraints. Tick has a free plan that only contemplates one project.
Pros of Tick
- Simple and intuitive interface
- Customizable projects and tasks
- Budget tracking
- Integration options
Cons of Tick
- Limited features
- No automatic time tracking
- Limited mobile functionality
- Pricing structure
7. Hubstaff
We know that Hubstaff is recognized as a significant player in the productivity and time tracking software game, but one of its downsides is that people lament that it is used for micromanaging and intruding on employees’ privacy.
Hubstaff offers time tracking capabilities that allow employees to log their hours for various tasks and projects. It also includes GPS tracking and activity monitoring, as well as employee scheduling, project management, and payroll integrations.
The monitoring capabilities offered by Hubstaff awaken different feelings in users: some hate it, and others tolerate it. A lot of users state that the software’s learning curve might be too complex and time-consuming, especially for those who primarily require basic time-tracking features.
Pros of Hubstaff
- accurate time tracking
- productivity insights
- integration capabilities
- payroll and invoicing
Cons of Hubstaff
- privacy concerns
- learning curve
- resource intensive
- cost
Read also: Alternatives to Hubstaff
8. Timely
Timely is a fully automatic time tracking solution. This software aims to streamline time management for individuals and teams. It leverages artificial intelligence to automatically capture and categorize users’ time spent on various tasks and projects.
Online reviewers praise Timely’s AI time-tracking capabilities, which save them time and effort. However, some reviewers have also expressed a desire for additional integrations with a wider range of productivity tools to enhance Timely’s functionality.
Pricing is another aspect that occasionally generates mixed feelings, with some users suggesting more flexible plans or competitive pricing options.
Pros of Timely
- intuitive interface
- automatic time tracking
- detailed reports and insights
- project and task management integration
Cons of Timely
- limited offline functionality
- learning curve for advanced features
- potentially high cost
- may not suit all industries or use cases
Read also: Timely alternatives
9. RescueTime
RescueTime is a fully developed automated time tracking solution and competes well with Timely. Nevertheless, RescueTime is primarily focused on personal productivity and not project tracking.
Pros of RescueTime
- Helps users improve focus and productivity
- Has smart coaching alerts
- Automated tracking
- Offline tracking
Cons of RescueTime
- It’s not suited for teams or projects
- It does not support billable hours tracking
- Buggy app
TIP: Read our post if you’re looking for an alternative to RescueTime
The benefits of time tracking software for designers
Using a time tracking app for designers offers numerous benefits, such as improving time estimates, saving time, and reinforcing clients’ trust. Here are the main advantages or benefits:
- Accurate billing – time tracking apps allow designers to track the time spent on each project or task accurately. This ensures that clients are billed correctly, reducing disputes over invoices and increasing overall revenue. Time tracking software often integrates with invoicing tools, making it easy to generate accurate invoices. This streamlines the billing process and ensures designers are compensated promptly.
- Improved productivity – when designers track their time, they become more aware of how they spend their work hours. This awareness can lead to better time management, increased focus, and more productivity.
- More effective project management – time tracking software often includes project management features. Designers can use these tools to create and organize tasks, set priorities, and allocate time to different projects, ensuring deadlines are met.
- Improved billing transparency – sharing time tracking data with clients can build trust and transparency.
- Legal protection – time tracking records can serve as legal protection in case of disputes or disagreements with clients. It provides evidence of work completed and time spent.
- Access to data-driven insights – time tracking generates valuable data that designers can use to analyze their work patterns. By identifying which tasks take up the most time, designers can make informed decisions on how to optimize their workflow.
Time tracking also helps designers maintain a healthier work-life balance. It allows them to see how much time they dedicate to work and personal activities, making it easier to set boundaries and prioritize self-care.
How to choose the best designer time tracker app?
Here are some key steps to help you select the perfect time-tracking tool:
1. Define your needs
Start by clearly outlining your specific needs as a designer. Consider factors such as the type of projects you work on, the size of your team (if applicable), and whether you need additional features like project management, reporting, or invoicing.
2. Choose a user-friendly tool
Opt for a time-tracking tool that has an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Designers often need a tool that allows them to focus on their creative work rather than spending excessive time learning how to use the software.
3. Go for cross-platform compatibility
Ensure the agency time tracking software works seamlessly across various platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile. This is especially important if you work in an agency. The flexibility that compatibility brings allows you to track your time, whether you’re in the office, on the go, or working remotely.
4. Choose a software that allows customization
Consider a time tracker that offers customization options.
This includes the ability to create custom tags, labels, or categories to accurately reflect the type of design or project work you’re doing. This helps in organizing your work and in making sure that reporting is accurate.
5. Look for a tool that supports collaboration
As a designer, you’ll likely be working on multiple projects simultaneously, and the ability to categorize and track time for each project is crucial.
If you collaborate with others on design projects, consider a time tracker that supports collaboration features, such as team member access, task assignment, and team communication.
6. Go for a tool that provides customer support
A responsive support team and ample training materials can be crucial if you encounter issues or have questions about the software. Also, take advantage of free trials if they’re available so you can test the tool before committing.
7. Think about your reporting needs
Good reporting and analytics features are valuable for designers, especially if they are automatic. They provide insights into how you’re spending your time, which can help you optimize your workflow and identify areas for improvement.
Conclusion
Selecting the right time-tracking app is pivotal for designers seeking to optimize their workflow and ensure accurate billing.
Timeular stands out as the best time-tracking app for designers due to its user-friendly interface, automatic reports, visual breakdowns, accurate billing, and team collaboration features.
By understanding your specific requirements, you can make an informed choice that aligns with your creative process. With the greatest designer time tracking app, you’ll not only gain control over your time but also unlock a world of creative potential, ultimately enhancing the value of your work.
Time is the currency of creativity, and investing it wisely is key to your success as a designer.
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