Freelancing has become more popular than ever before, and you are now looking to join the growing group of people that are making their income online and on their own time! You’re in the right place. You may already be a freelancer, but are looking to maximize your time and fulfill more orders. This is the place for you, here are the top 6 timekeeping applications for freelancers in 2022.
Top 6 Timekeeping Software for Freelancers
- Bonsai – Best For Time Management
- TimeCamp – Highly Affordable
- Harvest – Fortune 500 Certified
- Toggl – Software Integration Galore
- Kimai – Free and Open-Source
- HelloBonsai– All-in-One Freelancing Suite
1. Bonsai– Best For Time Management
PRICING: Get a monthly subscription of $24 per month to enjoy the time tracker of Bonsai.
It can be hard to manage your time as a freelancer because of various projects. You may even forget to remember your working hours to charge clients accurately. The good news is that you can avoid this issue with Bonsai.
The software has a robust time tracker that will record your working hours. It will also generate electronic invoices using the hours to help you get paid easily. You can also see your billed and unbilled time to send reminders to customers that have not paid their dues yet.
Bonsai is also great for getting reports about your working hours to see how efficiently you have spent your time. You can use these documents to improve your working habits and manage your freelance projects better. This may even help you save time and finish tasks early.
REASONS TO USE
- It lets you set hourly rates for each hour to get paid faster
- You can manage deadlines better by creating to-do lists with due dates
- Allows you to automatically add late charges to invoices that have passed their due date
- The software comes with a free trial for ease of use
- You can get a discount of two months by paying annually
- Bonsai organizes your projects and invoices into different folders
- An intuitive dashboard will save you time when wanting to overview specific things
REASONS TO AVOID
- Some options have to be bought as an add-on
2. TimeCamp – Highly Affordable
PRICING: Plans ranging from Free-$9/mo.
TimeCamp is one of the most popular timekeeping services on the internet, and for good reason. It tracks your work automatically, meaning that all you have to do is turn the software on and let it run in the background while you do your work; it works with your computer’s existing programs to achieve this magic-like efficiency. It collects all of this information and places it into a graphical interface, which shows you the work you’ve completed and the time it’s taken. TimeCamp also boasts the ability to keep track of how much money you’re making and how financially viable your various projects are. While TimeCamp is used by many large corporations, it is an excellent piece of software for freelancers, as it will get you into the feeling of being a paid professional instead of just a hobbyist, and will make your room, office, or apartment into a proper work-space.
REASONS TO USE:
- Automatically tracks your work at the click of a button
- Incredibly inexpensive
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Demanding on your PC’s resources due to the automatic tracking functionality
3. Harvest – Fortune 500 Certified
PRICING: Free or $12/mo.
Harvest is used by some of the largest organizations in the world such as Volkswagen, the ACLU, Dell, and more. If it’s sufficient for Fortune 500 companies, it’s more than sufficient for you as a freelancer. Harvest comes with many of the same budgeting and timekeeping features as TimeCamp, but with even more flexibility, such as high-quality invoicing, cost-breakdowns, and the ability to export all of this sort of information into other programs such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to get a view of the bigger picture. As a freelancer, you are the CEO of your own little enterprise, so treat yourself like one and give Harvest a try. At $12/mo., it has an affordable asking price given all of its benefits.
REASONS TO USE:
- It is used by Fortune 500 companies and has a proven track record
- Affordable at $12/mo.
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Better optimized for large teams than for freelancers
4. Toggl – Software Integration Galore
PRICING: Plans ranging from Free-20/mo.
Calendar applications such as Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook are essential for anyone who wants to get things done online, and you, as a freelancer, are on of those people. Toggl provides a unique level of integration with these two calendar applications, keeping you on track during your work. Another ace-up-the-sleeve for Toggl is that since it is a web app, it works on Chromebooks, which makes it great for you if you are on a budget and lack the money for high-end hardware. It also comes in a range of packages that are all very affordable, at most you will be paying $20/mo. for the highest end service, however, the Starter package ($9/mo. ($108/yr.) if you pay annually or $10/mo. If you pay monthly) is more than sufficient for you as a freelancer. If you are on a tight budget, consider Toggl!
REASONS TO USE:
- Outlook and Google Calendar compatibility
- Since it has a web-app version it works on Chromebooks
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Has less features than some of the more premium time-keeping software
5. Kimai – Free and Open-Source
PRICING: Free with paid plugins available
Kimai is unique as a time-keeping software because it is free and open-source, meaning that it costs no money to download, no money to keep running, and is not controlled or monitored by any corporation. To sweeten the pot even further, it also boasts invoicing, expense tracking, invoicing, JSON API, detailed statistics, charts, and even more professional features. Kimai lacks none of the features that paid software has, and it comes in at a price of absolutely free. Not only is all of that the case, but it is even cross-platform and compatible with your mobile devices! There are, however, a couple of drawbacks to this otherwise perfect time-keeping solution. First, because it is an open-source piece of software, Kimai lacks any real customer service. Other than using forums to solve your problems, you are on your own. There is no Kimai phone number to call or email address to send to if your software becomes broken or experiences glitches. The other catch (although it’s not much of a catch) is that while the software itself is free and fully featured in its own right, there are other features that you have to purchase as plugins, such as the “Audit-Trail plugin” and “Enhanced invoicing plugin”, among others. Other than those concerns, if you have the technical ability and are passionate about FOSS software, give Kimai a try! It’s free!
REASONS TO USE:
- Free and open-source
- Cross platform and compatible with mobile
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Lacks any real customer service
6. HelloBonsai – All-in-One Freelancing Suite
PRICING: $16/mo.-$29/mo.
HelloBonsai is expensive, but don’t choke on the price-tag, HelloBonsai is more than just a timekeeping application, it is an all-in-one suite for freelancers. With that fact in mind, the price-tag is actually very low. Bonsai Workflow includes the time-keeping features available on other platforms, but it also includes Bonsai Tax and Bonsai Cash. Bonsai Tax not only estimates what your quarterly tax bill will be (which is an incredibly valuable resource for any freelancer, since you are the head of your own operation), but also identifies expenses that you can write-off to save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars annually. HelloBonsai more than pays for itself just based on these two tax features. Bonsai Cash provides you with a physical or digital credit card to pay for all of your business expenses with, which produces opportunities for you to use Bonsai Tax to find tax write-offs, since purchases made with your business card will be for business expenses. Bonsai Cash is also compatible with Apple Pay, so it’s perfect for you if you use iOS. Accounting is also more or less taken care of when you use Bonsai Cash, because the software keeps track of what you’ve spent and compiles receipts for you. If you are an up-and-coming freelancer and have some cash to spend, get HelloBonsai, you won’t regret it.
REASONS TO USE:
- Designed exclusively for freelancers
- Provides tax software and a business credit card along with time tracking software
- Compatible across devices, including iPhones.
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Expensive if all you want is time keeping software.
References and Links
- https://www.timecamp.com/
- https://www.getharvest.com/
- https://toggl.com/
- https://www.kimai.org/
- https://www.hellobonsai.com/