Best Timely Alternatives in 2026

Best alternative for time tracking with built-in invoicing.

Harvest is a great alternative for those who want to track time across projects and clients without getting bogged down by detailed calendar views or overwhelming data. If you care more about logging categorized chunks of work and need clear reporting on budgets, profitability, and client activity, Harvest keeps things straightforward and easy to manage.

It's especially well-suited for teams or agencies who bill clients based on tracked hours, since invoicing and budget tracking are built right in. You can quickly add time from your calendar, see project budgets at a glance, and handle recurring work without obsessing over exact timestamps.

If you're looking for a tool that tracks exactly when tasks happen during the day or provides a detailed timeline, Harvest's simpler approach may not fit those needs.

Best alternative for tracking what you did each day.

Toggl is an alternative for those who care most about logging what tasks were completed throughout the day, rather than tracking time against specific clients or projects. If your workflow is centered around capturing a detailed timeline of your activities, Toggl's start/stop approach puts the focus on what was done, letting you build a record of your day.

If you or your team need to quickly record billable or non-billable hours against clients or projects with minimal steps, Toggl introduces extra friction and can make daily tracking feel like a chore.

Toggl does not offer any billing or invoicing capabilities, so if you need to generate invoices from tracked time, you will need to handle that entirely outside the app.

Best alternative for small businesses wanting a modern payroll experience.

Gusto is a great alternative for those who want payroll and HR that feels current and easy to use, especially if you've struggled with older or clunky systems in the past. If your team is already using QuickBooks Online for accounting, Gusto stands out because it connects smoothly, making bookkeeping and payroll less of a hassle.

If you need advanced time tracking or project-based hour logging, Gusto's built-in tools are pretty basic and may not be enough.

Not for client or team time tracking.

Rize is an alternative for those who want to track their own productivity with minimal effort, especially if you work mostly on your desktop and value automated time categorization. If you're focused on understanding your habits as an individual and want simple, attractive reports sent to you by email, it fits well. The browser extension helps break down your online activity beyond just "browsing," so you get a better sense of where your time goes.

If you need to track time for clients, manage projects, or handle team-level reporting, Rize falls short. It lacks strong tools for client billing, project breakdowns, or team collaboration, and there's no web app. If these are critical for your workflow, Rize won't be the right fit.