10 Desktime Alternatives for Effortless Time Tracking and Optimal Productivity

When they say time is money, it implies you have to save, manage, and use it to your best advantage. Nothing could represent the maxim better than a business manager who keeps their projects on track through effective time management.

A manager like you must probably already know the critical role time tracking can play in improving your management skills. You are almost there if you have the right tools to automate such time-consuming and repetitive tasks that do not require critical thinking but are crucial for business growth. Among such tools is Desktime. 

What is Desktime?

DeskTime is a time-tracking and employee-monitoring app that claims to boost productivity by detailed tracking of employee activities. It has an easy-to-use interface that allows you to stay updated on your team’s online and offline status. 

With its real-time URL tracking and screenshots features, however, it can easily lead to micromanaging and invasion of privacy, which is a major cause of employee turnover.

Suppose you are a remote manager who believes in productivity management through employee satisfaction and motivation. In that case, you must look for some Desktime alternatives to find a different combination of time-tracking features.

Best Desktime Alternatives in 2023 

Keeping in view the Desktime reviews, here are some free Desktime alternatives you can explore to find the best time-tracking solution that suits your requirements:

1. timegram  

timegram is a non-invasive, smart time tracking and productivity management tool that provides insights into individual, team, and project performances. 

It offers a range of features that allow you to manage your projects and team members effortlessly.

Highlights app

The star feature of timegram is the Highlights App, which intelligently groups the time spent on all desktop and online applications into Highlights, giving employees the freedom to log only the productive activities while keeping everything else private. It ensures that work is tracked accurately without invading employee privacy.

Visual dashboards

Its holistic visual dashboard allows you to assign tasks to team members and track progress, ensuring effective resource allocation and on-time completions. The intuitive interface allows for easy project creation and task assignment while providing a clean bird's eye view of planned projects and your team's capacity.

Estimated vs. actual time

timegram also allows you to instantly see estimated vs. actual time spent on completing tasks, enabling you to build more accurate and realistic timelines for future projects. Additionally, the deep insights into projects, tasks, clients, costs, and employee productivity that timegram provides, help you to see your team's performance through quick exportable reports.

Reports & Insights

Performance evaluation becomes easy with pre-built reports for daily, weekly, or monthly timesheets and productivity insights. timegram allows you to see individual and team performance on the task and project level with just a few clicks. 

Automated Invoices

timegram enables you to easily convert billable time into detailed invoices and set schedules for recurring payments with just a few clicks, making billing and payments a breeze.

Non-surveillance policy

With its privacy-first approach, timegram follows a zero-surveillance policy, prohibiting invasive employee monitoring tactics like screenshots, keystroke tracking, webcam captures, and microphone monitoring. This ensures that employees have the privacy they deserve while still allowing for smart time-tracking capabilities.

It is an ideal Desktime alternative for businesses that aim to increase their productivity by focusing on quality results rather than hours worked on projects. timegram enables you to track work progress on your projects without affecting the morale of your employees.

Pros

• Easy to Navigate
• Automated time tracking
• Supports third-party integrations with popular apps
• Converts billable time into detailed invoices
• Zero-surveillance approach
• Provides accurate insights into work progress

Cons

• It might not be suitable for businesses that prefer screenshot monitoring

2. Monday.com                

Monday.com is a cloud-based project management and team collaboration software platform that is recently gaining popularity. 

You'll have everything you need in one convenient platform, including a time-tracking module that allows you to monitor exact time frames from anywhere.

It provides you with detailed insights into who is working on what. With this information, you'll be able to identify what's holding your team back and take action to address any issues. You can easily break down time by clients, projects, and tasks to better understand how it is spent.

You can integrate it with your favorite tools to streamline your workflow and increase efficiency. Its notifications feature lets you set reminders and get notified immediately, so you never miss a deadline.

While it offers a range of customizable templates for various use cases, such as project management, CRM, HR, marketing, and more, it also has its drawbacks. Some users find it “nice to look at, but not easy to use.”

Pros

• Customizable workflows
• Integration with third-party apps
• Reliable customer support 

Cons

• It can be quite expensive for small businesses
• It has a steep learning curve
• Some users have reported issues with integrations not working smoothly
• It may not be suitable for more complex workflows or projects. 

3. Insightful        

Insightful is a workforce time-tracking and productivity software that enables you to make informed decisions with the help of actionable data insights. 

It offers a comprehensive employee monitoring and workforce management solution in three modules: Employee Monitoring, Time Tracking, and Automatic Time Mapping.

It claims to increase clock-in efficiency by 15% and daily active work time by 10%. Plus, it offers a range of key features, including productivity labeling and tracking, manual time entries for offline work, time and cost budgets for resource management, and detailed reporting features that provide raw data per second.

Pros

• Easy to set up
• User-friendly interface
• Reliable customer support

Cons

• Screenshot monitoring
• Employees cannot see what is labeled as productive/unproductive
• It can be used in “stealth mode,” which can be objectionable
• Manual addition of working hours

4. ActivTrack

ActivTrak is a cloud-based employee monitoring software that enables employers to track and analyze employee productivity, behavior, and internet usage. 

ActivTrak is designed to give you insights that can empower your employees by helping them maximize their productivity.

ActivTrak has various features to help you monitor your team's activity, including an activity dashboard, applications report, website report, and automated classification of websites and app activity. You can also set activity alarms and email notifications to stay on top of your team's productivity.

Whether your team is working in the office or remotely, ActivTrak provides direct transparency and insights into how they work.

ActivTrak emphasizes data privacy and security, offering end-to-end encryption and secure data storage features. It allows customized settings to suit your monitoring needs.

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Easy to navigate
• Comprehensive monitoring on multiple devices

Cons

• Pricing is on the higher end.
• Employees may have privacy concerns with user tracking
• Lacks classification of data
• Employee monitoring with screenshots
• You cannot add or reduce licenses in the annual subscription

5. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is a cloud-based time tracking and project cost management software for tracking stationary, hybrid, and remote teams.

It can be a good solution for improving employee management, time tracking, and payroll processes. You don’t have to worry about lost or inaccurate data because it ensures accuracy by combining reporting features with ratios on the screen.

It allows you to keep track of your workforce to ensure maximum engagement and productivity. Its key features include automatic tracking, project-based time tracking, timesheet, apps and URL tracking, screenshots, GPS tracker, automatic and manual payroll, invoicing, and integrations with other collaboration tools.

Pros

• Detailed reports and data on employee productivity
• You can set budgets and track expenses
• Integrations with other popular tools such as Asana and Trello

Cons

• Pricing is on the higher end
• Automatic screenshots can be intrusive
• Complex interface
• It doesn’t allow different hourly rates
• Customer support is delayed

6. Buddy Punch

BuddyPunch is an online time-tracking and scheduling software that offers employee scheduling, management, and monitoring.  With an easy-to-use interface, your employees can effortlessly punch in and out, and you can quickly view and export their time data. 

It has a built-in calendar for scheduling employee time off and offers various login options, such as facial recognition and unique QR codes. Its automatic break feature is customizable and can be assigned to any number of employees.

It offers a cloud-based time clock solution that simplifies payroll reporting by pre-populating reports. It supports clock-ins through Google, iOS, and Android apps for real-time workforce monitoring. Additionally, the software features GPS tracking, job code tracking, and project time tracking. You can view your teams' activity and GPS location and even limit where they can punch. 

Pros

• Employees can edit clock-ins
• User-friendly and easy to navigate
• Automatic breaks

Cons

• Limited mobile functionality
• Limited customization options
• Screenshot monitoring
• Setting up new users requires effort
• Managers can edit hours without any notification to employees

7. Toggl

Toggl is a reliable employee monitoring tool that simplifies project management by helping you allocate responsibilities and create timelines and budgets. It is useful for keeping track of overdue and over-budget projects. 

It is a cross-platform time tracking app with features like automation of timesheet management and an easy-to-use timer that syncs tracking across multiple devices in real time. A tiered data structure keeps your team's time tracking organized and your reports client-ready. You can get detailed reports exported in PDF, XLS, and CSV format.

If you're searching for a simple time-tracking software perfect for agencies, small businesses, teams, and individuals, Toggl is a great Desktime alternative. Its key features include idle time tracking, integrations with 100+ apps, billable time, and budgeting.

Time can be recorded manually or automatically, and you can schedule reports to get them directly on your email.

Pros

• Intuitive and simple interface
• Easy-to-use navigation
• Reports can be exported in different formats

Cons

• Some users report syncing issues
• May occasionally lose data
• Employees may have issues with starting and stopping timer
• The free trial lasts only a month

8. ClickTime         

ClickTime is an online timesheet application that offers a range of features that make it easy to track, plan, and manage employee time from anywhere.

With ClickTime, you can reduce costs and increase project visibility with easy-to-use timesheets that are accessible on both your phone and laptop. You can approve employee hours quickly, and with its dashboards and reports, you can also manage budgets and plan employee time.

The key feature of ClickTime is its real-time data and insights. Whether you're estimating project costs or reviewing past performance, it gives you instant answers to your most pressing business questions. With nearly 100 out-of-the-box reports and customizable options, you can get powerful insights into your projects.

ClickTime also offers a range of management tools that make it easy to understand employee availability, costs, and productivity. You'll always know which projects are over or under budget. 

It has unique time-tracking solutions tailored to your needs based on the kind of business you have. It also has a mobile app that allows you to take pictures of receipts and track time on the go.

Pros

• Allows time tracking on the phone or laptop
• You can take pictures of receipts using ClickTime Mobile App
• Mobile Timesheet.

Cons

• It has little in-app customization
• Reports might not be detailed enough for some businesses
• Requires multiple-step login
• Some users find its UI too minimalistic

9. TimeCamp

TimeCamp is a popular web-based employee productivity tool that helps you track billable project hours. Automatic time-tracking is one of its key features that allows you to monitor device activities and categorizes them into productive and non-productive ones. It also offers attendance tracking, time reporting, budgeting, and flexible billing rates, making it an all-in-one tool for optimizing work efficiency.

Its Time Clock Kiosk feature can be useful if your company requires a simple clock-in/clock-out service. You can easily track attendance and absenteeism to improve your team's productivity.

TimeCamp can be a workable Desktime Alternative for monitoring and optimizing work efficiency. It can accommodate both hybrid and remote teams, and with its custom report and team productivity tracking feature, you can easily track the progress of your team's projects. 

Pros

• Visual and automatic time tracking.
• Tracks web and app usage
• Supports several popular integrations

Cons

• Delayed loading
• It can lead to micromanaging
• Lacks sorting option for reports
• Some users find integration features unreliable

10. Rescue Time              

RescueTime is a web-based time-tracking and analytics tool that gives you a clear depiction of your daily productivity. It provides features like alarms and goals and helps you improve time management by providing detailed reports. 

It allows you to record online and offline activities, such as call logs and meetings, making it a valuable tool for businesses and individuals who want to track their time effectively. Its productivity evaluation and scoring system enables you to analyze your productivity and eliminate distractions hindering your work.

It runs securely in the background on your computer while keeping track of time spent on applications and websites. You can customize categories, set goals, and set alarms to keep you on track. You can also project and document time tracking, which is perfect for businesses that focus on keeping track of their employees' time.

Pros

• You can set alarms and goals
• It provides detailed reports
• Project and document time tracking

Cons

• Lacks integration with communication tools
• It doesn’t provide regular updates
• Does not categorize productive/unproductive sites accurately

Conclusion 

It can't be denied that you are supposed to know your team’s productivity patterns as a manager. But is employee surveillance and micromanaging the only way to go about it?

Certainly not.

Considering the pros and cons of free Desktime alternatives reviewed above, timegram stands out as the only non-invasive time-tracker. 

Your employees certainly don’t wish to be spied on even when they are not working!

timegram not only wins your employees' trust and confidence in time tracking, but it also provides you with a precisely accurate insight into their productivity levels.

You can find out more about our key features here.

Can’t wait to try out timegram? Sign up for timegram today and discover the best way to manage your projects and team members!

FAQs

What is offline time tracking?

Offline time tracking is a time tracking feature that keeps track of the time spent on tasks or activities without an internet connection. This can be done through software or applications that can be downloaded and installed on a computer, mobile device, or other devices.

It is used to track the time at work, productive time, and idle time when the employee is working without an internet connection.

How often does Desktime take screenshots?

DeskTime can take screenshots of the user's computer screen at random intervals of 5,10, or 15 minutes to track employee activity. By default, DeskTime takes screenshots once every 10 minutes. It also has a ‘hide screenshot’ option that allows managers to keep the screenshots secret from employees.

Is there a free app for working hours?

Yes, there are several free time tracking apps available for iOS and Android devices, as well as for desktop computers. timegram, Insightful, and Hubstaff are some great options. You can also track billable hours and employee productivity through the time-tracking software discussed in this blog.