Independent research on 266 HR & workforce products. Facts checked against vendors’ official documentation.

We may earn a referral fee. We may earn a referral feeHow we make money

LeadChange Group

Project Time Tracking & Timesheets

Free Project Time Tracking & Timesheets Software

Free project time tracking & timesheets software: the products with verified evidence that they serve this segment, and how we evaluate them.

products that fit
2
By LeadChange Research TeamUpdated Based on 4 sources, facts checked

LeadChange may earn a fee when you request pricing through our site or follow a sponsored link. Rankings never depend on whether a vendor pays us.We may earn a fee.

Research in progress9 capabilities we evaluate

  • Timers and timesheets
  • Client, project and task codes
  • Billable and cost rates
  • Timesheet approvals
  • Budget tracking
  • Invoicing from time
  • Profitability and utilization reports
  • Accounting integration
  • Edit history

See ranked Project Time Tracking & Timesheets software

Research in progress

busybusy and Clockify have verified evidence that they serve this segment so far. We rank free project time tracking & timesheets software once at least 3 products have it; until then, this page sets out what matters and what we evaluate.

What we evaluate

  • Timers and timesheets

    Captures time through timers, daily or weekly timesheets, mobile and browser entry.

  • Client, project and task codes

    Organizes time by client, project, phase and task, with billable and non-billable categories.

  • Billable and cost rates

    Applies rates by person, role or project to value time for billing and costing.

  • Timesheet approvals

    Routes timesheets to managers or project leads and locks approved periods.

  • Budget tracking

    Tracks hours and fees against project budgets with alerts.

  • Invoicing from time

    Creates invoices from approved billable time and expenses.

  • Profitability and utilization reports

    Reports margin by project and client, and billable utilization by person and team.

  • Accounting integration

    Syncs clients, invoices and payments with accounting or ERP systems.

  • Edit history

    Records who entered, changed and approved each time entry.

How to choose project time tracking & timesheets software

6 criteria · Requirements by company size · 6 red flags

Project time tracking succeeds only if people actually log their time, so ease of entry matters as much as reporting. Choose on how quickly time gets captured, how rates and budgets are modeled, and how cleanly approved time flows to invoicing and accounting.

Bring a real project to the demo, with its rate card and budget, and ask the vendor to track a week of time, approve it and produce the invoice.

  1. Fast time entry

    Time logged days later is less accurate and often under-reported, which means unbilled work.

  2. Client, project and task structure

    Reports are only as useful as the structure time is logged against.

  3. Billable rates and cost rates

    Profitability needs both what you charge and what the time costs, by person, role or project.

  4. Timesheet approvals and locking

    Approving time before invoicing catches errors, and locking prevents edits after billing.

  5. Budget tracking and alerts

    Overruns found at month end are too late to fix.

  6. Invoicing and accounting integration

    Re-keying approved hours into invoices creates errors and delays cash.

Requirements by company size

  • Small businesses

    • Timers and weekly timesheets that take seconds
    • Billable rates and invoice creation from tracked time
    • Accounting integration

    Watch out for

    • Paying for resource planning you will not use
    • Per-user prices that jump when you add part-time staff
    • No timesheet reminders, so time goes unlogged

  • Mid-sized companies

    • Approval workflows by project or manager
    • Budgets with alerts and profitability reports
    • Role-based billable and cost rates

    Watch out for

    • Reports that cannot combine billable and cost rates
    • Approved time that can still be edited
    • Separate tools for time, expenses and invoices

  • Enterprises

    • Integration with ERP, project accounting and HR systems
    • Audit trail of edits and approvals
    • Multi-entity, multi-currency rate cards

    Watch out for

    • Time codes that drift out of sync with the ERP
    • Weak controls for contract or audit requirements you must meet
    • Long implementations for features a simpler tool already covers

Red flags

  • Time can be edited after approval or invoicing with no history
  • Rates can be set only per person, not per project or role
  • No reminders or reporting on missing timesheets
  • Invoices must be built manually from exported hours
  • The tool is pitched to hourly payroll without overtime, break or rounding rules
  • Activity capture is on by default with no clear employee notice

More free tools

Find your fit

By industry

For Accounting FirmsBest project time tracking software for constructionBest project time tracking software for law firmsBest project time tracking software for nonprofits

By company size

For EnterprisesBest project time tracking software for mid-sized companiesBest project time tracking software for small business

By price

Free

By integration

Best project time tracking software for QuickBooksBest project time tracking software for SageBest project time tracking software for Xero

Frequently asked questions

Is there free project time tracking software?

Several vendors offer free plans, usually limited by users, projects or features such as approvals, invoicing and reports. Free plans can work for freelancers and very small teams. Check what you lose, such as timesheet approvals or accounting integration, before rolling one out to a billing team.

Which project time tracking & timesheets platforms free offer a free trial?

busybusy and Clockify list a free trial, according to their vendors: 2 of the 2 products free.

Which project time tracking & timesheets platforms free integrate with Zapier?

2 of the 2 project time tracking & timesheets platforms free document an integration with Zapier: busybusy and Clockify.

How we research

A ranking of free project time tracking & timesheets reweights the LeadChange Score: capability coverage 25%, pricing transparency & value 40%, integrations & API 10%, security & compliance 10%, fit & support 5%, and data confidence 10%. Only products with a verified fact showing they serve this segment are listed.

Read the full methodology

How this page was made

  • What it is built from

    4 verified facts, each checked against the vendor's own pages or another primary source, most recently on Oct 24, 2026.

  • Method

    Scored and compared with the LeadChange methodology, version 1.5. Read the methodology

  • Independent review

    Our independent review of Oct 30, 2026 asked for changes. How we review

  • Hands-on testing

    We have not tested these products hands-on: this page uses public information only.

  • Who made it

    The LeadChange Research Team, following a written research process. No named expert has reviewed this page. About us

  • Independence and errors

    Who pays us never changes a score or a rank. If something here is wrong, tell us and we correct it publicly. Request a correction

Get your project time tracking & timesheets shortlist

Tell us about your team and get a shortlist from our full project time tracking & timesheets ranking, without regard to who pays us.

Get matched

Sources

The 4 pages this page's facts come from, with the day we last checked each one.

Quotes from the sources
  1. BusyBusy busybusy.com/busy-payroll“FREE $0 Free Forever Unlimited Users”
  2. Clockify clockify.me/pricing“US$ 0 For up to 5 users”
  3. BusyBusy busybusy.com/integrations“BusyBusy easily syncs employee, project, and cost code data with Procore.”
  4. Clockify clockify.me/integrations“Connect Clockify with other apps using our native integrations.”