Best Free Time Management Software in 2025

Keeping tabs on the time and money spent on a project is critical. After all, they are detrimental to an undertaking’s success. Small businesses and startups usually rely on standard bookkeeping solutions and spreadsheets for those tasks. In some ways, it may be enough especially if the one handling them is a spreadsheet guru. However, they are not adequate when handling multiple projects simultaneously. A specialized application will be needed for the efficient tracking of time and costs. There are plenty out there, but this guide will help you make educated comparisons and provide you with a shortlist of the best free time management software.

Even if you are in the market only for a free time management software, signing up for free trials can still be beneficial. This is because they will help you explore the advanced features of solutions. In this way, you can assess which platform to start using for free and scale up when you are ready. You can start by checking the free time management tools that have garnered the highest rankings in the SmartScore and Customer Satisfaction Rating. These are Zoho Projects, Zoho Invoice, Harvest, Paymo, and Connecteam.

Time management software are applicable to all industries. But free time management solutions are only for some companies, as they can be limiting in their features. Thus, they will work best with the following:

• Small businesses. Businesses with a small operational scopes can take advantage of free time management platforms. They can help in tracking the time spent by employees working on projects or tasks. Employers or administrators can install the solutions on company-provided devices or ask employees to install them on their own laptops, computers, tablets, or smartphones.
• Freelance professionals. Freelancers who work by the hour can use free time management applications to track the time they spend on a client’s project. This will allow them to be transparent to propagate trust. This will save them time as well in tracking time manually. Plus, they can be free of errors, since it will be their loss if they underestimate their time.
• Solopreneurs. Solo professionals like consultants can make use of a free time tracking solution when working with clients. Similar to freelancers, the software will allow them to be accurate with their time tracking down to the second. It will be beneficial to them as well as their clients. Additionally, they can bill clients automatically and get paid quickly.

Paid time management solutions have plenty of bells and whistles that make them attractive. Oftentimes, these advanced features will end up being unused if your company has no need for them. This is why in some cases, free time management applications will be enough for your simple time tracking and cost monitoring needs. These are only a few examples of such solutions that you can implement in your business:

• Zoho Projects. This freemium solution gives you a timesheet for every project you are working on. This is where your team members can log their hours for tasks. You can set timers to log hours automatically. Additionally, the administrator has the prerogative to approve or reject timesheet entries when necessary.
• Zoho Invoice. With this solution, you do not need to find a separate invoicing tool or write invoices manually. You can set budgets for projects to ensure that you do not go over the limit. As well, you can start the clock on your PC, laptop computer, or mobile device with ease. This will allow you to track every billable minute and provide accurate invoices to clients.
• Harvest. This time tracking tool may be simple but it ticks all the right boxes. You can start tracking time within your browser or in the apps that you use. The latter is made possible by the software’s seamless integration with your favorite work tools. Moreover, you can set Harvest to remind you and your team to track your time consistently.
• Paymo. This solution combines project management, time tracking, and invoicing. An intuitive application, Paymo can adapt to your work behaviors. It does this by providing you with different ways to track time: stopwatch, Pomodoro, bulk, or interval. It also makes time tracking fun because you can choose different themes for the desktop widget.
• Connecteam. Though it is mainly an employee management solution, Connecteam also has a time-tracking capability. The Time Clock module is customizable. You can set it for simple time tracking, manage break times, use it for GPS tracking and geofencing, and more.

There is no shortage of free time management software to choose from. They range from simple time trackers to complex apps with geofencing. There are also solutions that are tied to expense tracking and invoicing. This is why it can be so difficult to find the right one for your business. Nevertheless, time management solutions can still be divided according to their deployment:

• Software-as-a-service (SaaS) free time management software. These are usually paid solutions that you have to shell out for every month. In most cases, vendors also offer annual payment plans. Plus, they may have freemium versions, too. The vendors host the software on their own servers and are responsible for updates and maintenance.
• Cloud-hosted free time management software. These are the ones that commonly have free basic plans. As well, they are the most affordable in terms of paid tiers because of their universal access. You as the client and user do not have to worry about software updates and maintenance either.

Time management systems can have features that are unique to them only. Nevertheless, there are still capabilities you can count on to be available in every free time management software you encounter.

• Punch Clock plus Manual Time Entry. This is a core functionality that you will find in basic and advanced time management platforms alike. Users can clock in and out electronically. And if there is a need for it, they can manually enter their work times.
• Expense Tracking. Your free time management app should be able to help you track expenses generally for a whole project or particularly for bite-sized tasks.
• Project-Based Accounting. In free time management software, you will find a feature that will allow you to check which projects or tasks your team members are working on. An advanced version of this will also help you track revenue and cost per project and client. Plus, it will let you export the information to your accounting system. However, the more advanced functionalities may only be available in paid tiers or products.
• Workload Management. Even basic time-tracking solutions can tell you what your team members are working on. They can also provide reports for projects that they have worked on and how much time they have spent on them. This feature can help you in streamlining assignments to ensure that you meet your deadlines. It is also a good practice for when your business grows when you will be managing more team members.
• Mobile Time Tracking. This feature is advantageous when you have team members who need to be on the road or on-site. You can also benefit from this if you need to travel for your clients.

It is easy to believe that spreadsheets and outdated time- and expense-tracking tools are all you need. But take a look at these benefits of free time management software so that you can decide whether to implement them or not:

• Accurate time tracking. With manual time-tracking, it is easy to lose information. Records may become blurred or even lost. This can only lead to inaccurate time reports and loss for you and your team. It may even lead to disagreements with clients. Free time management software can help you prevent this because it keeps time records, which you can access easily. You can generate accurate reports and send them to your clients.
• Faster invoicing. Since you no longer have to rely on spreadsheets and manual time records, you can create invoices faster. In fact, if your time management software has it, you can generate invoices just by choosing a specific period. This means you can get paid faster. As well, should your client wish so, you can provide a task breakdown.
• Increased accountability. Your team members can easily check how much time they have spent working on a task. This will allow them to stick to the set deadlines or make adjustments if necessary. Everyone will be more responsible for their productivity and, thus, reduce wasted time.
• Easier compliance with labor laws. Even with a free time management solution, you will find it easy to comply with local and national labor laws. This is because the time management platform keeps accurate records of hours worked. This also ensures that nobody in the team works beyond the legal limit. As such, you can prevent possible infractions.
• Work-life balance. This is challenging to achieve, as either can have an incursion on the other. With time management software, even a free one, you can find a healthy balance between the two. This lets you prevent burnout for you as well as your team members.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, work became different. Employers and employees had to adjust in leaps and bounds. Solopreneurs and freelancers had to change the way they work, too. These changes led to innovations in the realm of time management software.

Mobile Apps and location tracking. Mobile apps for time management have been around for a while. But now their usage is becoming commonplace, hence the higher demand for time management solutions with native mobile apps. Additionally, time management applications are being used increasingly to track the locations of team members. This is especially prevalent in industries where employees are often mobile.

Tracking of key performance metrics. Vendors would do well to add performance metrics tracking in their solutions. After all, regular time tracking is not applicable to all kinds of teams. For example, creatives definitely do not appreciate being time-pressured, as it prevents them from focusing well. For them, basic timers only measure the time spent on a task but not the quality of the output.

Trust building. Free time management platforms may be seen as an invasion of privacy because of features like silent tracking. Employers can move away from this and be transparent about time tracking and management instead. At the end of the day, this can help foster trust and provide insights into how team members work for better time management.

Reducing burnout. Many free time management applications now come with a feature that reminds users to take a break. This helps manage work-life balance and also serves to reduce burnout.

Despite their benefits, there are still issues in the implementation and use of free time management software.

Forgotten task. Although users can easily see tasks that they need to work on, it cannot be helped that they will forget to turn on the tracker. This is a case that usually happens when they have to switch between tasks. Consequently, the time tracking for a project can be skewed and the data will be inaccurate.

Integration blues. If your free time management solution is not integrated into your current system, you may not be getting the most out of it. Information from the software is useful in calculating payroll or in invoicing your clients.

Admin control. Time tracking tools have manual overrides for adding or correcting entries. Administrators need to set permissions or limitations to ensure that this is not abused.

Single or Suite?

Time management solutions can be standalone or a module in a suite. Although freeware or freemium software is more likely to be standalone, this is still an important consideration. If you need to scale up at a later time, you need to make sure you choose the right one from the get-go to ensure that you do not interrupt your workflow by switching apps.

Integration

This is closely tied to selecting a standalone or a module solution. You want your software to play well with other applications in your toolbox. If it turns out to be difficult to integrate, it may become a barrier to efficiency rather than boosting it.

Time Tracking Options

There are many ways to track time. You have the basic stopwatch and then you have advanced ones such as Pomodoro and geofencing. Check whether the solution you are eyeing has the method you need before implementing it.