What Timely does well
Timely, from Timely AS in Oslo, is the best-known automatic time tracker. Its desktop tracker, called Memory, records apps and sites in the background, and AutoSheet drafts your timesheet from it. It runs on Mac, Windows and the web, and the company states ISO 27001 certification. (The company itself was called Memory for a few years and went back to Timely in 2023; Memory is now only the tracker's name.)
People who leave tend to give one of three reasons: there's no free plan (a 14-day trial, then Starter at $9 a user a month billed yearly, up to five users), the AI sometimes files time under the wrong project, and the activity record lives in Timely's cloud. If none of those bothers you, Timely is a reasonable choice and you may not need to switch.
The table
Per person a month, billed yearly or monthly, as seen on each vendor's pricing page on 4 November 2026. Prices change; check before you decide.
| What | Records your day by itself | Where the activity is kept | Free plan | Lowest paid | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timely | Yes: the Memory tracker and AutoSheet | Timely's cloud | No; a 14-day trial | $9 yearly, $11 monthly (pricing) | Mac, Windows, web, phones |
| Timing | Yes: apps, documents, sites | On the Mac, unless you turn on sync | No; a 30-day trial | $10 monthly, Professional (pricing) | Mac |
| Rize | Yes, sorted into categories by AI | Rize's cloud (Google Cloud, US) | No; a 7-day trial | $9.99 yearly, $12.99 monthly (pricing) | Mac, Windows |
| Toggl Track | Timer first; an optional desktop Timeline | Toggl's cloud when Timeline sync is on | Yes, up to 3 users | $9 yearly, $12 monthly (pricing) | Web, desktop, phones |
| Clockify | Timer first; an optional desktop auto tracker | Auto tracker: on your computer, deleted after 45 days | Yes | $3.99 yearly, $4.99 monthly (pricing) | Web, desktop, phones |
| Harvest | No: timers and timesheets | — | 1 seat, 2 projects | $9 yearly, $11 monthly, plus usage fees (pricing) | Web, desktop, phones |
| Hourbrook | Yes: app, window title and page, every 2 s | On the Mac; never synced | Free during the beta | Later prices not final | Mac (Apple silicon, macOS 14+); web for logged time |
Timing's yearly price wasn't shown on its page that day, so only the monthly one is here.
Timing: the closest Mac alternative
Timing is a long-running native Mac app that records apps, documents and websites and keeps that record on your Mac unless you turn sync on. It's the most direct choice for someone who wants Timely's automatic tracking without the cloud.
- Suits: Mac users who want a mature, local, automatic tracker with detailed rules and reports.
- Better than Hourbrook at: maturity, rules and reporting depth, iPhone and iPad activity through Screen Time. AI summaries come on its Expert plan.
- Worth knowing: no free plan; its MCP server for AI assistants is on the Connect plan ($168 a year).
More in Hourbrook or Timing?
Rize: automatic tracking with focus insights
Rize tracks your day automatically, sorts it into categories with AI, and cares about focus and breaks as much as timesheets. Lately it's aimed at agencies and firms. It runs on Mac and Windows.
- Suits: people and teams who want insight into focus habits and an AI to ask about their day, on Mac or Windows.
- Better than Hourbrook at: Windows, focus coaching, profitability reports for agencies, an AI assistant built in.
- Worth knowing: activity is stored in Rize's cloud; AI features use metered credits; its MCP server is on Pro ($23.99 a month billed yearly). On a Mac it asks for Screen Recording permission, which its docs say is to read window titles and addresses.
More in Hourbrook or Rize?
Toggl Track: the safe all-rounder
Toggl is timer-first: you start and stop timers, with an optional desktop Timeline to help you remember. It's on every platform, phones included, with a free plan for up to three people.
- Suits: teams on mixed platforms, people who like timers, anyone who needs phone apps.
- Better than Hourbrook at: platforms, integrations, a free plan for small teams, a long track record. It has an MCP server too.
- Worth knowing: it isn't automatic in Timely's sense, and the per-user price adds up past the free plan.
More in Hourbrook or Toggl Track?
Clockify: the cheapest, with a local auto tracker
Clockify is a broad, inexpensive time tracker for teams. Its desktop app has an optional auto tracker that records programs, window titles and websites on your computer, which only you see, and deletes them after 45 days.
- Suits: budget-minded teams who want timers plus a private activity log, on any platform.
- Better than Hourbrook at: price, platforms, team features, a free plan, SOC 2 and ISO 27001.
- Worth knowing: the auto tracker keeps 45 days and doesn't draft entries for you; the Mac App Store version doesn't include it.
More in Hourbrook or Clockify?
Harvest: if invoicing matters more than tracking
Harvest isn't an automatic tracker. It's timers and timesheets with strong invoicing and expenses, and it's been around a long time.
- Suits: freelancers and agencies whose main need is turning hours into invoices and getting paid.
- Better than Hourbrook at: invoicing depth, expenses, payments, maturity, phone apps.
- Worth knowing: the free plan is one seat and two projects; usage fees apply above the base plan.
More in Hourbrook or Harvest?
Hourbrook: local automatic tracking, built for agent work
Hourbrook is ours. It records the app, window title and web page in front every two seconds, draws your day as a brook of app streams, and drafts entries from your own past entries with a small model on the Mac that shows its reasons.
- Suits: Mac freelancers and small studios who want Timely-style automatic tracking with the record kept on the Mac, and developers who work with Claude Code or Codex.
- Different: activity never syncs; waiting on an AI agent or a build counts as work; agent time can be shown per repository; a local MCP server lets Claude ask what you did, with every change undoable; no productivity score (why).
- Worse than the others at: it's a young beta. Mac only, Apple silicon only, no phone apps, no Windows yet. No certifications. Synced entries aren't end-to-end encrypted. The download isn't notarized yet, so macOS asks you to allow it once, and the beta asks you to sign in.
- No Timely import yet. It imports from Toggl Track, Harvest and Clockify (how). See Hourbrook or Timely?
Others you may hear about
- WakaTime counts coding time from editor plugins and reports AI coding usage. Great for editor stats; it doesn't track your whole day.
- Hubstaff tracks activity levels and can take screenshots. It's built for monitoring staff, which is a different job from filling in your own timesheet.
- Tyme is a polished timer app for Apple devices. It doesn't record your app activity.
- Early (formerly Timeular) was bought by TimeTac in 2025; its pages now lead to TimeTac, an HR and attendance product, and new sign-ups start there.
How to choose in three questions
- Do you need Windows or phone apps? Then Toggl Track, Clockify, Harvest, Rize or Timely. Timing and Hourbrook are Mac only.
- Where should the record of your day live? On your Mac: Timing, Hourbrook, or Clockify's auto tracker (45 days). The vendor's cloud is fine: Timely, Rize.
- Should it draft your timesheet, or just help you remember? Drafting: Timely, Timing, Rize, Hourbrook. Remembering, and you fill it in: Toggl's Timeline, Clockify's auto tracker. Neither: Harvest.