For freelancers, time is literally money. A well-chosen time tracking tool can save you hours each month and bring more money to your pocket. There are many applications on the market – from robust solutions to minimalistic trackers. Today we'll look at three popular ones: SnapTime, Toggl, and Timely.
📊 Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | SnapTime 🏆 | Toggl | Timely |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (USD/month) | $0-12 | $0-18 | $10+ |
| Ease of Use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Time Tracking | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (auto) |
| Reports & Analytics | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Invoicing | ❌* | ❌ | ✅ |
| Speed & UX | 🚀🚀🚀 | 🚀🚀 | 🚀🚀 |
* SnapTime focuses purely on time tracking - you can easily add invoicing with FreshBooks, Wave, or Invoice Ninja
🏆 1. SnapTime – Clear Winner for Freelancers and Studios
Price: Free for solo users, $12/month per user for teams
🚀 Why SnapTime is the Best Choice:
- 💰 Most Affordable: Free for solo freelancers, only $12 for teams
- ⚡ Fastest: Extremely simple to use, clean design
- 🌍 International: Multi-language support, GDPR compliant
- 🔧 Everything You Need: Live tracking, projects, analytics, Excel export
- 🎯 No Bloat: Focused purely on time tracking
Features:
- Intuitive time entry + manual and live time tracking
- Project and organization management
- Analytics and reports
- Integrations and custom notification bars
- Excel and CSV exports
✅ Advantages:
Extremely simple to use, fast, clean design, all key features for time logging, lowest price
❌ Disadvantages:
Missing invoicing module (but this can be easily solved with an external tool)
Best for: All freelancers who want to quickly and simply track time without unnecessary features and high prices.
2. Toggl – Proven Classic
Price: From free (limited version) to $18/month per user
Features:
- Time tracking + manual time entry
- Basic reports and statistics
- Integration with dozens of tools (Asana, Trello, Slack...)
- CSV, PDF exports
✅ Advantages:
Large community, stable, many integrations
❌ Disadvantages:
Interface is sometimes outdated, some features are locked in higher tiers, more expensive than SnapTime
Best for: Freelancers who want a reliable tracker and don't mind a more complex environment and higher price.
3. Timely – Automation Above All
Price: From $10/month
Features:
- Automatic time tracking in background (AI activity analysis)
- Clear timeline, manual record editing
- Projects, budgets, calendar integrations
- Basic invoicing
✅ Advantages:
Minimal manual work, nice design
❌ Disadvantages:
Higher price, too automated for some (less control)
Best for: Freelancers who want to click as little as possible and like automation.
💡 Final Recommendation
SnapTime wins in most categories:
Choose SnapTime if you want:
- 💰 Best Value: Maximum features for minimum cost
- ⚡ Speed: Quick setup, immediate productivity
- 🎯 Simplicity: No unnecessary features that slow you down
- 🌍 Global Support: Built with international users in mind
When to choose a different tool:
- Timely - if you really need automatic tracking and integrated invoicing
- Toggl - if you have a complex workflow with dozens of integrations
But for 90% of freelancers, SnapTime is the perfect choice. Fast, affordable, simple, and contains everything you need.
📌 Tip:
You can easily add invoicing to SnapTime with tools like FreshBooks, Invoice Ninja, or Wave, which can be used in parallel.