Toggl alternatives: free time trackers for freelancers (and the truth about "free")

Daniel Gavalec · Updated October 13, 2026

The best free Toggl alternative for most freelancers is Clockify (unlimited tracking and projects free for up to 5 users), followed by Harvest (free for 1 seat and 2 projects, with invoicing), Timing (automatic tracking, Mac only, paid) and CORTEX (free timers and reports combined with a day plan, habits and game-style rewards, but no client billing). Toggl Track itself is free for small teams – here is exactly what each free plan includes as of October 2026.

Toggl alternatives at a glance

All facts from official pricing pages as of October 2026 (USD; annual billing unless noted).

Is Toggl free?

Yes, for small teams. Toggl Track's pricing FAQ says the Free plan is for up to 3 users (many older reviews still say 5). It includes manual and real-time timers, calendar integrations, tasks, boards, task estimates and personal-level reports.

What the free plan does not include: billable rates, tags, timeline views, milestones and team-level reports. For a freelancer billing by the hour, the missing billable rates are the big one.

Billable rates can be set per workspace, member and project from Starter; Toggl Track can also create a PDF invoice from your reports on any plan (on Free, the PDF carries the Toggl logo).

Is Clockify really free?

Mostly yes – with clearer limits than it used to have. Clockify's free plan gives you unlimited time tracking, unlimited projects, a timer and timesheet, a calendar, an auto tracker, a Pomodoro timer, idle detection, reminders and mobile and desktop apps – free, without a time limit.

The catches, from Clockify's own pricing page (October 2026):

• Users: up to 5 users – the FAQ phrases it as inviting up to 4 people besides you. Older reviews often say "unlimited users"; that is no longer what the pricing page shows.
• Reports: the data range is limited to one month, and export/sharing is PDF only.
• Money features are paid: billable rates start on Basic; invoicing, time off and approvals on Standard; budgets, expenses and labor cost on Pro.
• Every user is a paid seat once you upgrade – owners, admins and members alike.

So: a solo freelancer can track time in Clockify for free indefinitely. If you want Clockify to calculate what to bill, budget for at least Basic; to send invoices from it, Standard.

The best alternatives to Toggl and Clockify

Harvest – best free option if you invoice from your hours

Harvest's free plan is small – 1 seat and 2 projects – but it includes what Toggl and Clockify charge for: invoicing and expense tracking. If you have one or two clients, that can be the whole job done for free. Beyond that, Teams costs $9 per seat a month billed annually ($11 monthly) and Enterprise $14 ($17.50 monthly). Paid plans come with a 30-day free trial.

Timing – best for automatic tracking on a Mac

Timing records which apps, documents and websites you use and helps you turn that into time entries, so you don't have to remember to start timers. It is macOS only, sold outside the Mac App Store, with a 30-day trial and no credit card needed. Professional costs $10 a month on monthly billing; annual plans are discounted and higher tiers (Expert, Connect) add more.

CORTEX – best if time tracking is part of how you plan your day

CORTEX (our app) treats time tracking as one piece of a daily system rather than a billing tool:

• Named, reusable work timers on the Today screen – Start/Stop, and several can run at once.
• Reports: total time, time per goal/project and category, finished tasks, productivity %, XP trend, presets (this/last month, 30 days, year), manual edits, CSV and PDF export.
• Plan My Day turns your task list into a time-blocked schedule, and a 15/25/50-minute focus timer with ambient sounds helps you work through it (or use our free online Pomodoro timer).
• Finished work earns XP and credits you spend on your own real-life rewards.

app.getcortex.online/reports

What CORTEX doesn't do: no clients, no hourly rates, no billable/non-billable flag and no invoices generated from tracked time. (There is an invoicing module, but it is for Czech freelancers only – Czech PDF invoices in CZK.) No team timesheets, no idle detection or automatic app tracking, no native desktop apps and no calendar sync. Work out what to charge with our hourly rate calculator, then bill in a dedicated tool if you need to.

app.getcortex.online/today

Best time tracker for freelancers (free): how to choose

1. Do you bill clients by the hour? Yes, and you have 1–2 clients → Harvest Free. More clients and a tight budget → Clockify (Basic for rates, Standard for invoices) or Toggl Starter.
2. Do you forget to start timers? On a Mac → Timing. Elsewhere → Clockify's auto tracker or Toggl's calendar integrations.
3. Do you mainly want to see where your days go – deep work vs. admin, which project eats your week – and stay motivated? → CORTEX, which links time to goals and categories and pairs it with time blocking.
4. Are you a small team? Toggl Free (3 users) or Clockify Free (5 users), then upgrade.

For the full freelancer setup, see CORTEX for freelancers, the time tracking app page and our deep work guide.

When Toggl or Clockify is the better choice

Pick Toggl Track or Clockify over CORTEX when you need:

• Client billing: billable rates, billable vs. non-billable time and amounts per client.
• Invoicing from time (Clockify Standard, Toggl's invoice export, or Harvest).
• Teams: timesheets, approvals, team reports, time off, scheduling.
• Native desktop and mobile apps, browser extensions, idle detection and dozens of integrations.

Pick CORTEX when your goal is personal: knowing where your hours go, planning realistic days and actually finishing what you planned – free.

Toggl and Toggl Track are trademarks of Toggl OÜ. Clockify is a trademark of CAKE.com Inc. Harvest and Timing are trademarks of their respective owners. CORTEX is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them. Prices and plan limits were checked on official pricing pages as of October 2026 and may change; prices can vary by region.