Toggl vs Clockify: The Time Tracking Dilemma

Premium vs Free: What's The Trade-Off?

Toggl Track and Clockify are both excellent time tracking tools without the creepy surveillance features of Hubstaff or Time Doctor. No screenshots, no activity monitoring—just clean, honest time tracking.

Toggl Track (founded 2006) is the gold standard—beautiful design, powerful features, beloved by freelancers and agencies. It's not free (beyond 5 users), but it's worth every penny.

Clockify (founded 2017) is the free alternative—unlimited users forever. It's Toggl's feature set at $0. The catch? Less polished UX and some features behind paywalls.

Core Features Both Share

• Timer (one-click start/stop)
• Manual time entry
• Projects, tasks, and tags
• Team timesheets
• Basic reporting (time by project, person, date)
• Browser extension (Chrome, Firefox)
• Desktop apps (Mac, Windows, Linux)
• Mobile apps (iOS, Android)
• Integrations (Asana, Trello, Jira, etc.)
• CSV exports

For basic time tracking, both are excellent. Differences emerge in polish and advanced features.

When Toggl Track Wins

Best-in-Class Design

Toggl is gorgeous. Every interaction is smooth, intuitive, delightful. Starting a timer takes one click. Reports are visual and easy to understand. The UI doesn't get in your way.

Clockify works, but it feels more utilitarian—like software from 2015. Toggl feels modern.

Superior Reporting

Toggl's reports are more powerful:

• Summary reports: Time by project, client, team member
• Detailed reports: Every time entry with filters
• Weekly reports: Visual breakdown by day
• Saved reports: Bookmark common report views
• Scheduled reports: Auto-email reports weekly/monthly
• Rounding rules: Round time entries to 15-min increments (for billing)

Clockify has similar reports, but Toggl's are faster, prettier, and more flexible.

Project Forecasting & Budgets

Toggl excels at project management:

• Set time budgets (alert when hitting 80%)
• Project estimates vs actuals
• Profitability tracking (revenue vs cost)
• Forecasting based on historical data

You can see if projects are profitable before they finish. Clockify has budgets, but less sophisticated.

Better Invoicing

Toggl's invoicing is built-in and polished:

• Generate invoices from tracked time
• Customizable invoice templates
• Send invoices directly to clients
• Track invoice status (sent, viewed, paid)
• Multi-currency support

Clockify has invoicing too (paid plan), but Toggl's is more refined.

Team Scheduling (Toggl Plan)

Toggl offers Toggl Plan (separate product) for visual project planning:

• Drag-and-drop timelines
• Team capacity planning
• Task assignments
• Milestones and deadlines

It integrates seamlessly with Toggl Track. Clockify doesn't have a project planning tool.

Mobile App Excellence

Toggl's mobile apps are fast, beautiful, and fully-featured. You can do everything from your phone—start timers, edit entries, view reports, send invoices.

Clockify's mobile apps are functional but clunkier.

Automatic Tracking Suggestions

Toggl suggests time entries based on your calendar events and past behavior. It learns your patterns and prompts you to track time you might have forgotten.

When Clockify Wins

Free Forever for Unlimited Users

This is the big one: Clockify is 100% free for unlimited users.

• Unlimited projects
• Unlimited time entries
• Unlimited reports
• Basic integrations

A 20-person team pays $0. With Toggl, that same team costs $200/month. If budget is tight, Clockify is unbeatable.

Kiosk Mode

Clockify has a kiosk mode for shared devices:

• Employees clock in/out with PIN
• Great for retail, restaurants, warehouses
• Track time without giving everyone a laptop

Toggl doesn't have kiosk mode—it's designed for knowledge workers.

Time Clock Features

Clockify leans more toward hourly/shift workers:

• Clock in/out interface (vs timer)
• Timesheet approvals
• Overtime tracking
• Breaks and shift notes

Toggl is more project/task-oriented. Clockify works for both.

Templates & Automation

Clockify (paid plans) has time entry templates:

• Save recurring tasks as templates
• One-click time entries for common work
• Auto-tracker based on app usage (optional)

Pricing Deep Dive

Toggl Track Costs

• Free: Up to 5 users (basic features)
• Starter: $10/user/month (unlimited projects, billable rates, reporting)
• Premium: $20/user/month (adds forecasting, time audits, saved reports, priority support)
• Enterprise: Custom (SSO, advanced permissions, dedicated support)

10 users on Starter: $100/month = $1,200/year
50 users on Starter: $500/month = $6,000/year

Clockify Costs

• Free: Unlimited users forever (core features)
• Basic: $3.99/user/month (timesheets, extra reports, admin features)
• Standard: $5.49/user/month (adds invoicing, time off, custom fields)
• Pro: $7.99/user/month (adds scheduling, time audits, budgets, forecasting)
• Enterprise: $11.99/user/month (SSO, advanced permissions, priority support)

10 users on Standard: $54.90/month = $659/year
50 users on Standard: $274.50/month = $3,294/year

Cost Comparison

For comparable features:

• Toggl Starter ($10/user): Beautiful UX, excellent reporting, invoicing
• Clockify Standard ($5.49/user): Same features, less polish, half the cost

If you stay on Clockify's free plan, you save 100%. But Toggl's paid plans are worth it if you value UX and time savings.

Real Customer Feedback

Toggl Track

Pros: Beautiful design, dead simple, excellent reports, best mobile app, clients love it
Cons: Gets expensive at scale, free plan is limited, some features in separate products (Toggl Plan)

G2 Rating: 4.6/5 | Capterra: 4.7/5

Clockify

Pros: FREE (!!), unlimited users, all essential features, good value on paid plans
Cons: UI is meh, slower than Toggl, some bugs, reporting less intuitive

G2 Rating: 4.5/5 | Capterra: 4.7/5

Who Should Choose What?

Choose Toggl Track if you're:

• An agency, consultancy, or freelancer billing by the hour
• You value design and want software that's a joy to use
• Time tracking is mission-critical (client billing, project profitability)
• You have budget (~$10/user is reasonable)
• 5-100 employees

Choose Clockify if you're:

• A startup, non-profit, or bootstrapped company
• Budget is tight and free is unbeatable
• Basic time tracking is enough (no fancy forecasting needed)
• You have hourly/shift workers (kiosk mode is useful)
• Any team size (free scales infinitely)

Can You Switch Later?

Yes! Both have CSV imports/exports. Start with Clockify's free plan. If you outgrow it or get frustrated with the UX, migrate to Toggl. You're not locked in.

Many teams do: Clockify (startup phase) → Toggl (growth phase).

The Bottom Line

Our honest take: Toggl is objectively better—faster, prettier, more powerful. But Clockify's free plan is hard to beat. Try Clockify first. If you find yourself frustrated, upgrade to Toggl. For agencies and consultancies, Toggl is worth it day one.