Toggl vs Timely: Time Tracking Tools Compared 2026
Quick Comparison
| Toggl Track | Timely | |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Freelancers, small agencies, and teams up to 5 people who want reliable manual time tracking without paying anything. | Teams that consistently forget to start timers and want time tracked automatically without manual timers. |
| Pricing | Free tier available (up to 5 users) / Starter $9/user/mo / Premium $18/user/mo | 14-day free trial, no credit card required (no permanent free plan) / Starter $9/mo/user (annual; $11 monthly) |
| Winner | Our Pick |
Tool Breakdown
Toggl Track
Toggl Track's free plan is genuinely permanent for teams up to 5 users, with no card required and no trial clock running out — Timely has no free plan at all, only a 14-day trial. For freelancers, small teams, and anyone who wants to try time tracking without a spending commitment, Toggl is the safer default. Timely earns its price specifically for teams that want tracking to happen automatically in the background rather than via manual timers.
- Free plan is permanent for up to 5 users — no credit card, no trial expiration, full basic reporting included
- 145+ integrations (Jira, Salesforce, Asana, and more) work even on the free tier
- Simple one-click timer and manual-entry workflow with fast, exportable reporting (PDF/CSV/XLS)
- Tracking is manual — nothing gets logged unless someone starts a timer or enters time after the fact
- Billable rates, project estimates, and profitability reporting require the paid Starter or Premium tiers
Timely
Timely is an AI-powered automatic time tracker whose 'Memory' app passively captures work activity in the background and an AI assistant turns that activity into suggested timesheet entries, aimed at consultancies, agencies, and SaaS teams that bill by the hour.
- Memory app passively records work activity in the background — no manual timer required — and explicitly avoids screenshots or mouse tracking per Timely's own site
- AI Timesheet Assistant learns individual logging patterns and suggests entries, reducing end-of-week timesheet cleanup
- Budget and capacity management tools on Premium and above, plus 15 native integrations and Zapier support
- No permanent free plan — only a 14-day trial, and a paid plan is required to keep using it afterward
- Starter tier caps out at 5 users and 20 projects, the same ceiling as Toggl's free plan but at a paid price
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Timely have a free plan like Toggl? +
No. Timely offers only a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, and there's no permanent free tier — you need a paid Starter, Premium, or Unlimited plan to keep using it after the trial. Toggl Track's free plan, by contrast, is permanent for up to 5 users.
What's the real difference between Toggl and Timely's tracking approach? +
Toggl requires someone to start and stop a timer (or enter time manually after the fact). Timely's 'Memory' app runs in the background and automatically captures work activity throughout the day, then an AI assistant suggests timesheet entries based on that captured activity — you review and confirm rather than starting a timer.
Is Toggl or Timely better for a 5-person team? +
At 5 users, Toggl's free plan and Timely's Starter plan ($9/mo/user annual) both support that team size, but Toggl's version is free while Timely's is paid. If automatic background tracking is worth paying for on day one, pick Timely; if you want to stay free while your team is small, pick Toggl.