With tons of time tracking tools available today, choosing the right Mac time tracking app for your needs can seem challenging. Some tools offer advanced security features, while others support features like GPS tracking to help employees record time anywhere.
But ultimately, finding the right tool can help you significantly increase both employee productivity and accountability at your workplace.
To help you out, we’ve put together a list of the top 10 Mac time tracking apps with their features, pricing, and user reviews. We’ll also explore three things you need to know before purchasing any Mac time tracking app.
This article includes:
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Let’s begin.
What’s the best Mac time tracking app?
Any time tracking tool worth its salt will offer the following functionalities:
- Real-time time tracking: Your software should track employee work hours, ideally in real-time. However, it should provide the capability for employees to manually enter and edit their time entries.
- Project tracking: This feature can help you understand how much time your team takes to complete a project.
- Data analysis: Accurate analysis helps you understand how your employees work to bill clients and take on new projects.
- Billing and invoicing: A tool that integrates with your existing payment software or offers these capabilities will help automate your payroll process.
- Mobile app: A time tracking tool that offers a mobile app version helps employees log in all their work time no matter where they are.
Let’s look at 10 apps that offer all the features mentioned above and more:
1. Time Doctor
Searching for an all-in-one Mac time tracking app?
Then Time Doctor is the tool for you!
Trusted by large as well as small businesses alike, Time Doctor is a robust tool that can help optimize your workforce — on-site or remote.
It allows employees to track their working hours automatically or manually.
In the manual time tracking setting, a simple start/stop button can control when the app tracks time. On the other hand, the automatic time tracker starts as soon as the employee turns on the computer.
Time Doctor also provides multiple productivity reports, including how much time an employee spent on a specific task and an accurate summary of their work time down to the second.
You can also keep an eye on their work activity by enabling automatic screenshots of their work screen. You can then view each screenshot at your convenience.
Its Mac OS app runs with OS 10.11 and newer versions. Time Doctor also offers Windows and Linux desktop apps and an Android mobile app.
Your employees can also use the Chrome extension to track their work time across multiple tools with ease.
Other key features
- Helps employees easily track time on multiple projects through an intuitive dashboard.
- Shows a pop-up after an employee has been inactive for a while.
- Provides detailed attendance information for each employee and marks them present, late, partially absent, or absent.
- Syncs with over 65 apps for a smoother workflow.
- Offers integrated payroll capabilities so you can easily pay your employees.
- Secures all data, including screenshots, by SSL encryption.
Check out more Time Doctor features here.
Pricing
Time Doctor offers a 14-day free trial period with no credit card details required. Its paid plans start at $7/user per month.
User reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (250+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (380+ reviews)
2. Monday.com
A popular remote workforce management app, monday.com is geared towards making employee monitoring easy for everyone involved.
Available for macOS 10.11 and newer versions, monday.com allows employees to track their work time easily. Managers can then view the data to gain insights into employee performance.
Key features
- Provides ready-made workflow templates to get you started.
- Allows you to share files and communicate with team members through the iOS or Android mobile app.
- Eliminates human error by automating routine tasks such as creating items, updating statuses, etc.
- Integrates with over 40 tools to develop a centralized knowledge database.
Pricing
The paid plan for this productivity app starts at $8/seat per month.
User reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (3000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (2400+ reviews)
3. Harvest
Harvest combines project management and time tracking features to provide enhanced visibility into a collaborative workforce.
Its Mac desktop app is available for OS 10.15 or newer. It also offers iOS and Android apps as well as a Windows desktop app.
Key features
- Allows employees to track work in real-time or fill in their timesheets at the end of the day.
- Reviews past project data to help you plan for future projects.
- Generates client invoices automatically using tracked time data.
- Integrates with third-party apps such as Asana, PayPal, GitHub, Basecamp, and Slack.
Pricing
For unlimited projects and users, this task management solution offers a 30-day free trial followed by a paid plan starting at $12/user per month.
User reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (700+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (300+ reviews)
4. QuickBooks Time
QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) is a cloud-based time tracking software system.
It works on Mac OS 10.12 and provides a productivity tracking app on iOS and Android for tracking time on the go.
This mobile app tracks time even if there’s no WiFi or cellular data available.
Key features
- Offers an online timesheet tracker with GPS and geofencing functionalities.
- Automates notifications for supervisors and managers if an employee doesn’t clock in or out as scheduled.
- Integrates with your existing accounting software to automate the payroll process, ensuring freelancers get paid per their hourly rate.
- Helps you easily create, edit, and publish employee schedules with your team.
Pricing
QuickBooks offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card details required. Its paid plan starts with a $20 base fee and $8/user – both paid per month.
User reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (1380+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (5510+ reviews)
5. FreshBooks
Designed with the Mac user in mind, Freshbooks offers robust invoicing, time tracking, and expense management features.
The app helps employees easily track their work time and collates it into an accurate time log. This time log lets managers see how much time their team spends on a client project and records every billable hour.
Also available as a Chrome extension and on mobile devices as an iOS and Android app, Freshbooks can be suitable for small businesses.
Key features
- Provides daily breakdowns of employee recorded hours.
- Tracks time for specific projects and clients for easy billing.
- Helps you set due dates and deadlines for projects, so everything stays on schedule.
- Integrates with third-party software like Asana, Trello, Basecamp, etc., to track all work time.
Pricing
FreshBooks offers a 30-day free trial while its paid plan starts at $6/month.
User reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (620+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (3530+ reviews)
6. Clockify
Clockify is a time tracking app that supports unlimited projects and users for free.
Available on Mac OS 10.12 or newer, the Mac desktop app automatically tracks work time without employees manually selecting a project.
The Mac app can also recognize when employees have been idle and give them the option to record that time, discard it, or add it as a new entry.
It also offers a desktop app for Windows and Linux, a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers, and a mobile app version for iOS and Android.
Read our detailed Clockify review here.
Key features
- Tracks employee attendance, productivity, and billable hours with a simple timesheet.
- Offers customized reports in Excel, CSV, and PDF formats filtered by activity, user, and day.
- Allows employees to work using the Pomodoro technique to increase productivity.
- Provides employees the ability to start or stop the timer using a keyboard shortcut.
Pricing
Clockify offers the basic version of their app free.
For extra features, you can upgrade to a paid plan starting at $4.99/user per month.
User reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (90+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (1500+ reviews)
7. Toggl Track
Suitable for small businesses, Toggl Track offers time management capabilities for teams in any industry.
Its Mac app works on macOS 10.11 or newer while also providing a desktop app for Windows and Linux. It also offers an app for iOS and Android devices.
From a convenient menu bar display to allowing employees to use the timer in dark mode, Toggl Track can adapt to your employee’s existing workflow.
Key features
- Lets employees set up the Pomodoro timer for increased productivity.
- Sends notifications if the software detects too much idle time.
- Provides weekly reports – detailed and summary – in CSV and PDF formats.
- Uses previous user time tracking habits to suggest new time entries.
Pricing
Toggl Track has a free plan for up to five users. Its paid plan starts at $9/user per month.
User reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (1460+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (1750+ reviews)
8. Tyme
A simple time tracking app, Tyme offers a minimalistic interface made with the Apple user in mind.
It allows you to sync data across iOS and Mac OS devices so you can keep track of your employees’ workloads.
Tyme offers its app on Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch.
Key features
- Lets users set up keyboard shortcuts to operate the timer.
- Offers geofencing capabilities where the app starts recording time when the employee leaves or enters a specific area.
- Allows you to export all recorded timesheet data in CSV, PDF, and JSON formats.
- Sends employees notifications to start the timer or take a break.
Pricing
Tyme offers a free 14-day trial version, after which it costs $3.99/user per month.
User reviews
- G2: NA
- Capterra: NA
9. RescueTime
RescueTime is a web-based time management app that can help employees stay focused on their tasks.
It does this by sorting mentally demanding and time-consuming tasks as Focus Work. Employees can then decide on the time period to focus on without any distractions.
RescueTime is available on macOS 10.12 onwards and Windows 10.
Employees can also use it on their Chromebook by downloading the Android app and Chrome browser extension.
Key features
- Gives employees the flexibility to choose when they would like to do Focus Work.
- Provides daily work summaries and productivity reports.
- Alerts employees about potential Focus Work time based on free time in their calendar.
- Works on the following browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Brave, and Internet Explorer.
Pricing
RescueTime offers a two-week free trial period. Its paid plan starts at $6.50/month.
User reviews
- G2: 4.2/5 (70+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (120+ reviews)
10. Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a Mac time tracking app for in-office, field, and remote teams.
It allows employees to view their own data and even set geofence boundaries so their device can automatically start recording time when they enter their job site. However, this GPS capability is only available on iOS and Android mobile apps.
Its Mac desktop app runs on Mac OS X Mavericks and newer versions.
The web app lets you easily set up multiple employee schedules in one go and receive alerts if employees are absent or late.
You can read our detailed review of Hubstaff here.
Key features
- Captures proof of work through screenshots. You can turn off this feature on a per-user basis.
- Offers pop-up idle time alerts after a period of inactivity.
- Provides over 18 detailed reports on employee productivity, budget use, etc.
- Offers other versions on Windows, Linux, Chrome extension, Chromebook app, and web timer.
Pricing
Hubstaff offers a free 14-day trial period. Their paid plans start at $7/user per month.
User reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (370+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (1190+ reviews)
Let’s now look at some things you need to consider while deciding on a time tracking tool.
3 key things to consider when choosing time tracking software
If your chosen time tracking software is hard to use or incompatible with your employees’ jobs, they simply won’t use it.
To ensure you pick the right tool, keep the following three things in mind.
1. Where you work
If your employees are typically on the road, away from laptops, then just a Mac desktop app is useless.
In this case, you’d benefit by choosing an app that offers time tracking capabilities on various devices, not just computers.
2. How you work
Does your team use third-party software for work, like Asana for project management, Slack for communication, etc.?
If yes, then your chosen software needs to integrate with these tools to record your employees’ time on these tools as productive work time.
3. What are your needs
The app you select should quickly set up and track different employee schedules, especially if you have shift workers. All this data can be helpful during employee performance reviews.
Wrapping up
While there are many Mac time tracking apps available in the market, you need to look at their offerings carefully before deciding which one is suitable for your company.
Most of the tools listed above apply to companies across different industries. They also offer apps for other operating systems and mobile versions so employees can track time on the go.
But if you’re looking for the best, Time Doctor wins by offering multiple employee productivity and time management features at an affordable price point.
Start your free trial with Time Doctor today!
