Clockify Review
Clockify is a time tracking tool that aims to be the product of choice for free and paid users. On top of its basic functionality, Clockify is packed with budgeting and billing features, and can also serve as an employee attendance software. We’ll share all you need to know in this Clockify review.
Want to know how much time you actually spend doing your work? Maybe you’re in need of some hard data, so you can accurately bill your clients. The good news is that we have access to plenty of time tracking software in the digital world. In this Clockify review, we look at Clockify, a popular option, especially for those looking to track time for free.
Key Takeaways:
- Clockify is a fantastic time and attendance system and most users will need little more than the free plan.
- In addition to tracking employee hours, Clockify also lets you do some project planning, and offers tools for invoicing and budget management.
- Compared to the competition, the pain plans are on the cheaper end of the pricing scale, but Clockify offers comparable features to other products available.
If you’re unfamiliar with Clockify, it’s a basic time tracking software that’s popular because it offers a useful free version of the product. However, describing it simply as a tool to track time doesn’t quite do it justice. There are more advanced features that can help you analyze data and improve productivity, which we’ll cover in more detail below.
Yes. Clockify has SOC 2 Type 2 accreditation, meaning its security measures have been audited by an independent body and deemed to be compliant with security standards.
While Clockify markets itself as a free time tracking solution, it does have paid plans. However, Clockify offers a free plan (with fewer features), which is free forever.
Yes. Although there’s a free plan, Clockify isn’t a completely free time tracking solution. Those looking for more features and reporting capabilities will need to move to a paid plan.
Clockify does track the websites you visit and the software you use 10 seconds after you begin tracking your time. You can opt out of this in your user settings.
Clockify Alternatives
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- 2
- 3
- 4$9.80 / month (All Plans)
- 5
Clockify Review: Strengths & Weaknesses
Pros:
- Free time tracker
- Useful browser extensions
- Integrated time management techniques
- Unlimited users on all plans
Cons:
- Lacks advanced project management features
- Need to opt out of website tracking
- No embedded guides
Features
Clockify staggers its features across its five plans. Naturally, the basic features are on the lower-cost plans, while the advanced features are reserved for those willing to pay more. We’ll go through it plan by plan, making it easier for you to make a selection.
Clockify Free Plan Features
The core feature of Clockify is the time tracker. It’s a simple feature; all you need to do is hit “play” when you start a task and press “stop” when the task is complete. If you’re working on multiple tasks across multiple projects, you can link tasks to specific projects, making it easier to monitor your data. There’s no time limit on how long you can track, either.
Users are also able to create daily time sheets and keep weekly records of the work they have completed. It’s also possible to track other teammates’ time, but that’s only applicable for project managers who need to track billable hours for all of their team members.
Extra free features include a calendar, a Pomodoro timer (an extension for web browsers) and a kiosk that allows you to clock in and out of work.
The Pomodoro timer is integrated into the Chrome browser extension. Once activated in settings, you simply start tracking your time. After 25 minutes, you’ll get a notification advising you to take a five-minute break before continuing your work.
Clockify Basic Plan Feature
The Basic plan offers everything on the free plan, but with some added features. On this plan, users can import timesheets created with external software by uploading a CSV file, and add time tracking data for other users who may not be able to access their computer. To add a bit more depth to the time tracking app, team members can also track their break time.
User permissions are also available on the Basic plan, allowing project managers to specify who can access certain time sheets, projects and reports. For further security, team members can log in to the Clockify kiosk with a unique PIN — something that isn’t possible on the free plan.
Other added features offer an improvement in workflow. For example, you can bulk-edit your time spent on tasks without having to go through them individually. You also gain the ability to create project templates, so you can copy a previous structure to a new project without the hassle of starting from scratch.
Clockify Standard Plan Features
The Standard plan feeds you a few extra features that may appeal to the serious user. In terms of time tracking features, there’s not much more on offer, though you can also track annual leave and sickness-related absences.
In addition to being able to track team activity and input hourly rates to see how much you earn, you can also set Clockify to automatically round your times to the nearest minute, providing a cleaner look to your timesheet once it’s submitted.
Clockify Pro Plan Features
Clockify’s Pro plan introduces seven new features. For more accurate budget management, Clockify makes it easy to track labor costs and profits, giving you a detailed view of what your company pays its team members compared to what you’re billing a client for a specific project.
Alongside that, you can log budget estimates and how long you think a project will take to complete. When you’re nearing your budget limit, Clockify will send you email alerts to warn you that you’re close to full capacity.
Those on the Pro plan also gain access to tools that assist with project management and managing the workload among team members.
Through the scheduling feature, you can plan projects right down to the date and time to see which members of the team have free time to work on upcoming tasks. For example, you can label members as active or inactive, mark their schedule as full or log blocks of time for which they’re available to take on more work, like “4h open,” as an example.
GPS Tracking
One standout feature that’s exclusive to the Pro and Enterprise plans is GPS tracking. This is useful for companies that send team members to remote locations to complete work and need to keep a record. GPS tracking is also optional — if you’re on either of the two top-tier plans, you can opt out of GPS tracking if you wish.
Clockify Enterprise Plan Features
We’re now entering the top-tier offering from Clockify, also known as the Enterprise plan. As far as time tracking tools, there’s nothing available on the Enterprise plan that you can’t get on the Pro plan. Remember that all plans allow for unlimited users, so there’s no advantage there either.
The extra perks of going with the Enterprise pertain to security and customization. Your company can opt to eliminate passwords and make accessing your account simple by implementing single sign-on (SSO), and account administrators can access user accounts and make edits where necessary — with the authorization of the user, of course.
If you’re a fan of personalization, you’ll be pleased to know that you can create a custom domain for your Clockify account. You’re also able to create audit logs and keep track of any data changes made inside your account.
As a time tracking solution, Clockify has all the features you could want. Its simple yet effective features certainly eliminate the need to guess how long your team has worked, allowing you to accurately pay for and invoice billable hours.
It’s far from being a competitive project management tool, so if you’re looking for that in addition to tools to track work hours, you should consider some of our best project management services.
Clockify Features Overview
 | |
|---|---|
| Management Views | |
| Kanban board | |
| List | |
| Calendar | |
| Timeline | |
| Spreadsheet view | |
| Gantt charts | |
| Workload planning | |
| Long-term planning | |
| Management Features | |
| Multiple project management | |
| Dependency management | |
| Native scrum management | |
| Set user permissions | |
| File storage | |
| Time-tracking | |
| Built-in integrations | |
| Reporting features | |
| General Features | |
| Free plan | |
| Free Trial | 7 days |
| Web app | |
| Windows | |
| MacOS | |
| Android | |
| iOS | |
| Support | |
| Ticket-based support | |
| Tutorials | |
| Knowledgebase | |
| Forum | |
| Live chat | |
| Phone support |
Pricing
Clockify’s pricing model is a little bit cheaper than some of the other time and attendance software such as TeamCamp and Toggl Track — two other popular time management tools. All in all, we like the pricing structure.
As is normal with software, you can choose to pay for your plan on a monthly or yearly basis. Naturally, month-to-month plans cost a little more, so it’s best to go long term if you want the best value. You get a free seven-day trial of the Pro plan, so you can really get to know the product before you commit.
Clockify Basic costs $3.99 per month on the annual plan, or $4.99 paid monthly. Honestly, if the Basic features are all you need, it’s likely that the free plan will be good enough, especially for personal use.
We imagine small businesses will need to consider at least the Pro plan, but even that offers good value. Clockify is one of the few software providers that is transparent about its Enterprise plan cost, without you needing to contact the sales team.
Is Clockify Completely Free?
Clockify users are attracted to the product because the company heavily markets itself as a free time tracking tool. Is it completely free? That depends on what Clockify features you’re looking for.
The time tracker is free, as is the ability to create a kiosk to track employee hours. However, the other Clockify features outlined above are limited to paid plans, meaning Clockify isn’t completely free.
User-Friendliness
Clockify is available for use on both a computer or mobile device, and offers apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, Android and iOS. We tested the software on the Apple platform and used the Pro plan. Below we’ll cover how Clockify’s features performed, how easy they were to navigate and what resources were available to help us familiarize ourselves with the software.
Signing up for Clockify is simple enough. We opted to sign up via a Google account; however, it’s also possible to sign up directly with your email address. When you first log in, you get access to the free version of Clockify. To activate your free trial on the Pro plan, you simply need to click “upgrade” and follow the simple steps.
The design of the user interface is basic, and there are not many options for customizing the look and feel of the software. You can shift to dark mode if you prefer that aesthetic. Really, the design is neither good nor bad; it’s just simple and most new users will appreciate that, as it makes using the product nice and easy.
How to Create Projects and Track Time With Clockify
Before you can start tracking time spent on your tasks, you’ll need to create projects. You can do this two ways, either by navigating to the project in the left-hand menu or adding a project when you select “start” on the time tracker. All of these actions are a walk in the park and take little thought or effort, which we like.
The time tracker in Clockify is similar to those in other time tracking apps. You simply input the name of the task you’re working on and hit “start” when you begin, and “stop” when the task is complete. You can navigate to other windows or programs and the clock will run automatically in the background.
After completing your task, your work hours automatically save to your timesheet for that day, plus you can find your information in the dashboard, the project tab and reports. If you work on multiple projects throughout the day, Clockify divides each of them into specific tasks, so you can see exactly what you worked on.
Clockify’s Other Features
If you want to use Clockify for more than just as a free time tracking software, all of the other features can be found on the left-hand side of the user interface. We enjoyed using the calendar feature, although there’s no “+” to add a new entry; instead, you double-click on a date to bring up a new entry.
Unlike some time management tools, Clockify doesn’t embed step-by-step guides in the platform. There’s no directions or suggestions on how to use the software, and you’re kind of left on your own. We say “kind of” because there are some guides tucked away in different section of the website, which we’ll get into later.
That said, Clockify couldn’t be any more straightforward in terms of usability. We never ran into situations where we struggled to find something or figure out what its function was. In all fairness, a step-by-step guide probably isn’t necessary for 99.9% of users.
Desktop App and Mobile App
As we mentioned, Clockify is also available on a computer or mobile device. The experience, however, isn’t the same when compared to the web app.
The mobile app on iOS lets you visually track your time, plus you can access your calendar (although it’s not very well designed) and your timesheets. Other than that, there’s not much else you can do, and features like the kiosk and expense tracker are reserved for the web app.
Compared to the web and mobile apps, the desktop app is even more limited. On macOS, it’s merely a simple tool to track your time. Anything outside that is either not available or will redirect you to the web app. If you’re looking for more than a time tracker and need a time and attendance solution, the web app is where you will do most of your work.
Security & Privacy
After taking a look at Clockify’s privacy policy, there were a couple of things we wanted to highlight. The first pertains to website tracking. As Clockify offers an extension for web browsers, it states that it will track any websites you visit for more than 10 seconds. The same is true with software used on your computer — the desktop app also tracks after 10 seconds.
Clockify will be quick to point out that you can disable this in system settings, which is true. However, we’re certain many users won’t understand this, which means Clockify will be able to track where they’re going and what they’re doing.
Your data is shared with third-party vendors too, which include Google and Microsoft. There’s no opting out of this unless you delete your account. This may not bother you; however, neither Google nor Microsoft have a strong track record when it comes to safeguarding user data.
On a security front, Clockify’s data centers are in the EU, USA and the U.K. You can manually choose which of the data centers your data is stored in. We recommend the EU, as it’s subject to GDPR regulations. This offers you much more control over how your data is managed.
An independent auditor has dug into Clockify’s security practices, and from that the company has received SOC 2 Type 2 accreditation, proving that it’s doing all it can to keep your information safe and secure.
Customer Support
We must say, we thoroughly enjoyed using Clockify’s customer support. There are three contact options available: phone, email and live chat.
We tested the live chat and were promptly greeted by a member of the support team. Our query was handled within five minutes and the team member provided clear and effective details to facilitate our understanding.
If you’re not much of a people person, fear not. You have further options in terms of getting support. There’s a knowledgebase full of useful articles, most of which include video tutorials to give you a visual understanding of the software. We have no complaints in this department.
The Verdict
Clockify has listened to the demand for a basic time and attendance solution and has delivered a no-nonsense product that does everything a user would want it to do.
Whether you want to track hours automatically or enter times manually, Clockify functions well and gets the job done. Sure, it’s not as trendy as other time management tools, but for most that won’t matter. As a time tracker, it’s the best time tracking software for free on the market, and the paid plans are more than affordable. Clockify will make a lot of customers happy.
Did you find this Clockify review useful? What desktop and mobile apps do you use to track your time? Is there another time management tool you would like us to review? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading.
