The 6 Best Time Tracking Apps for Architects on a Mac in 2026

For most architects billing from a Mac, Timing is the best pick. It records work automatically and tracks billing status, from $9 a month billed annually. Choose Harvest if you need invoices built from tracked hours, Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) for studio capacity planning, and Clockify for a cheap team setup. Choose Dayflow ($0) if you want a free, local record of what you actually worked on.

This ranking is for architects who do their work on a Mac. That covers sole practitioners, small studios and project architects inside larger firms. The tool’s job is narrow but unforgiving: record hours against the right project and phase, so you can bill hourly work and see whether a fixed fee survived. Phases here mean schematic design, design development, construction documents and construction administration. An afternoon of redlines that never reaches a timesheet is lost revenue. If you are still deciding what kind of time tracker for Mac you want, the trade-off below is mostly timers versus automatic capture.

Dayflow is our product, so read its placement with that in mind. It ranks fourth. It is free, it records your workday without timers, and the recordings stay on your Mac. Those count for a lot when you lose hours to forgotten timers. It loses on the two criteria that matter most for billing. It has no invoicing and is not built around billable rates, and it has no team reports or approvals for a studio.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price
Timing	Solo architects who want billable records without timers	Automatic, records apps, websites and documents on the Mac	From $9/month billed annually ($11 billed monthly), no free tier
Harvest	Sending invoices built from tracked hours	One-click timers, timesheets, connected calendar	Free (1 seat, 2 projects); Teams $9/seat/month billed annually
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Studios planning capacity across several jobs	Timers, timesheets, calendar; background tracking listed in the desktop app	Free for up to 3 users; Starter $9/user/month billed annually
Dayflow	A free, private record of what you actually did	Screen recording turned into an AI-written timeline	$0; optional Pro $20/month

Quick picks by use case

Best overall for a solo Mac architect: Timing. It records your work automatically and tracks billing status. Professional costs $9 a month billed annually or $11 billed monthly. Our Timing comparison covers how it differs from Dayflow.

Best for billing clients: Harvest. Harvest turns tracked time into invoices with online payments. Teams costs $9 per seat per month billed annually or $11 billed monthly. A Free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects.

Best for studios planning workload: Toggl (formerly Toggl Track). Starter costs $9 per user per month billed annually. Premium adds timesheet approvals and profitability reports for $16 billed annually. See Toggl on a Mac for the trade-offs.

Best free: Dayflow. Dayflow costs $0, is MIT licensed and needs macOS 14 or later. An optional Pro plan is $20 a month. It is a record of your day, not a billing system.

Best budget for a small team: Clockify. The Free plan covers up to 5 users. Standard adds invoicing and approvals for $5.49 per seat per month billed annually. More in Clockify for Mac.

Best automatic tracker for a mixed Mac and Windows studio: Memtime. Basic costs $14 per user per month billed annually, and there is no monthly option. See the Memtime comparison.

How we compared them

The weights reflect what an architect billing by project and phase needs, not what a general productivity user wants.

• Project and phase structure (25%). High scores let you run many projects, split each job by phase and report on them. Low scores cap projects or leave you to rebuild phase totals by hand.
• Path to billing (25%). High scores support billable rates, billing status or invoices from tracked hours. Low scores mean retyping hours into another tool before anyone gets paid.
• Capture without timers (20%). High scores record work automatically, so a forgotten timer does not erase two hours of detailing. Low scores depend entirely on you starting and stopping a clock.
• Privacy of client work (10%). High scores keep activity data on the Mac by default, which matters under client NDAs. Low scores store everything in a vendor cloud.
• Mac fit (10%). High scores come from a native Mac app with Mac-specific capture. Low scores come from a web-first tool with a thin desktop wrapper.
• Cost for a small practice (10%). High scores mean a usable free tier or a low per-seat price. Low scores mean expensive seats or long billing commitments.

The tools were compared from each vendor’s own pricing and product pages on October 4, 2026. Dayflow facts were reviewed against Dayflow 2.2.0 on September 6, 2026. No benchmark was run, and the scores and the ranking are judgments.

The 6 best time tracking apps for architects on a Mac, ranked

1. Timing

Timing is a Mac-only automatic time tracker that records the apps, websites and documents you use. You then turn that record into time entries.

Capture runs in the background and goes down to specific URLs and Mail threads. You can add manual entries for anything that happened away from the desk, and the vendor also lists iOS activity import and call tracking. For an architect, the hours spent in a drawing file or on an RFI email are on record even if you never started a timer.

Billing status tracking, customizable reports and report rounding are built in. The vendor lists AI activity summaries and AI-powered suggestions for time entries on all plans. A GrandTotal invoicing integration is available depending on plan. Tracked times stay on your Mac unless you opt into sync.

Pricing:

• Professional: $9 a month billed annually or $11 billed monthly
• Expert: $11 billed annually or $14 monthly
• Connect (shared team projects): $16 per user per month billed annually or $20 monthly

The trial runs 30 days with no credit card. The limits: there is no free tier, it only runs on Macs, and Professional covers one Mac with limited web app access.

Pick it if you work alone or in an all-Mac studio and want billable records without minding a timer all day.

2. Harvest

Harvest is a timer-based tracker built around invoicing. You track time, then bill it.

Capture is manual. You use one-click timers, daily and weekly timesheets, or entries pulled from a connected calendar. No automatic activity capture is listed. Harvest’s strength is what happens after the hours exist. It creates invoices from tracked time with online payments, tracks expenses and connects to accounting tools such as QuickBooks and Xero. For an architect, reimbursables like printing and site travel can sit next to the hours on the same bill. Enterprise adds profitability reporting and timesheet approvals, which helps a principal see whether a phase stayed inside its fee.

Pricing:

• Free: $0 forever, 1 seat and 2 projects
• Teams: $9 per seat per month billed annually ($108 per seat per year), or $11 billed monthly
• Enterprise: $14 per seat per month billed annually or $17.50 billed monthly
• Enterprise Plus: custom pricing

The trial runs 30 days with no credit card. The limits: everything depends on you remembering to track, no AI features are listed, and two projects on the Free plan run out quickly once each job is split by phase.

Pick it if sending accurate invoices is the main job and you are disciplined about timers.

3. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)

Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) is a cloud time tracker that now combines tracking with project planning.

Capture is mainly manual and real-time timers, timesheets and calendar integrations. The vendor also lists automated background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app. It states that Toggl does not take screenshots or record keystrokes, which matters if staff are uneasy about monitoring.

For a studio, the planning side is the draw. Timelines, tasks and capacity management let you see who is loaded with construction documents next month. The plans add features in steps:

• Billable rates and team reports require a paid plan.
• Premium adds timesheet approvals, profitability reports, and Jira and Asana integrations.
• Toggl AI answers natural-language questions about workspace data. The vendor also lists an MCP server and an AI Task Creator.

Pricing:

• Free: up to 3 users, described as free forever
• Starter: $9 per user per month billed annually or $12 billed monthly
• Premium: $16 billed annually or $24 monthly
• Enterprise: contact the vendor

Paid plans come with a 30-day trial. The limits: it is not a full automatic record of your day, and billable rates are not on the Free plan.

Pick it if you run a small team and want hours, rates and capacity planning in one cloud workspace.

4. Dayflow

Dayflow is a free, open-source Mac app that records your screen and has AI write your day into a readable timeline.

Recordings and the timeline are stored on your Mac. You choose where the analysis happens:

• Local AI: a model runs on your Mac through Ollama or LM Studio, so screenshot analysis stays on-device.
• Your own provider: selected screenshots go to the cloud AI provider you configure.
• Dayflow Pro: Dayflow manages the cloud analysis and deletes screenshots after processing.

For an architect, Dayflow answers a specific question: what did I actually do on Tuesday? That covers the hour in the model, the consultant call and the stretch of markup review you would otherwise reconstruct from memory at month end. You can export a date range as Markdown from Settings and use it to fill a timesheet in your billing tool.

It costs $0 under the MIT license, and Pro is $20 a month. It needs macOS 14 or later.

The limits are real for this audience. There are no invoices, no payroll approvals and no team reports. The AI summaries can miss or misread work, so check them before any hours reach a client bill.

Pick it if you want a free, private record of your working day and already have somewhere else to bill.

5. Clockify

Clockify is a timer and timesheet tracker with a generous free plan and low per-seat prices.

Capture comes from timers, timesheets, calendar entries and kiosk clock-in, plus an auto tracker in the desktop app. Activity monitoring is on the Pro plan. It runs on Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. That helps in a studio where the Revit workstation is a Windows PC and everyone else is on a Mac.

What each paid plan adds:

• Standard and above: invoicing, time off and approval workflows
• Pro: scheduling, forecasting, expenses and GPS tracking
• Enterprise: SSO and audit logs

Data is hosted in the cloud, and you can choose the EU (Germany), UK, USA or Australia.

Pricing:

• Free: up to 5 users
• Basic: $3.99 per seat per month billed annually or $4.99 monthly
• Standard: $5.49 or $6.99
• Pro: $7.99 or $9.99
• Enterprise: $11.99 or $14.99
• CAKE.com Bundle: $12.99 or $15.99

The trial gives you 7 days of Pro features with no card. The limits: it is primarily timer based, no AI features are listed, and invoicing needs a paid plan.

Pick it if you need team timesheets and invoicing on a tight budget across mixed platforms.

6. Memtime

Memtime is an automatic tracker that records your activity as a timeline, which you then convert into time entries.

It captures every program, document, email, call, meeting and browser tab. The vendor states that recorded activity data stays only on your device and is not uploaded to a server. The vendor names design and consulting firms among its targets, and it includes built-in project management and custom reports.

What the higher plans add:

• Connect and above: syncing time entries to more than 100 project and billing tools
• Premium: call system integrations, plus SSO, SAML and SCIM

Pricing:

• Basic: $14 per user per month billed annually, $18 billed quarterly or $12 billed every two years
• Connect: $21 annually, $26 quarterly or $18 two-yearly
• Premium: $29 annually, $35 quarterly or $23 two-yearly
• Enterprise: custom pricing for 50 or more seats

There is no monthly billing option. The 14-day trial needs no payment details and does not convert to a subscription. The limits: there is no free tier, no mobile app and no AI features listed, and integrations start at Connect.

Pick it if your studio mixes Mac, Windows and Linux machines and wants automatic capture on all of them.

Full comparison table

Tool	Price	Automatic capture	AI summaries	Where data lives	Open source	Platforms
Timing	From $9/month billed annually; no free tier	Yes, apps, websites, documents	Yes, AI activity summaries	Local, optional sync	No	Mac
Harvest	Free (1 seat, 2 projects); Teams from $9/seat/month billed annually	No, timers and timesheets	None listed	Cloud	No	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Free up to 3 users; Starter from $9/user/month billed annually	Background tracking listed in desktop app	Toggl AI for questions about workspace data	Cloud	No	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Dayflow	$0; Pro $20/month	Yes, screen recording	Yes, AI-written timeline	On your Mac; selected screenshots go off-device with your own provider or Pro	Yes, MIT	macOS 14+
Clockify	Free up to 5 users; Basic from $3.99/seat/month billed annually	Auto tracker in desktop app	None listed	Cloud, EU, UK, USA or Australia hosting	No	Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Memtime	From $14/user/month billed annually; no free tier	Yes, programs, documents, email, calls, tabs	None listed	Local	No	Mac, Windows, Linux

How should architects track hours by project phase?

Architects bill in two shapes. Hourly work, such as additional services or construction administration on some contracts, needs a clean hour count. Fixed fees per phase need something harder: knowing when design development has eaten its budget before construction documents start. A tracker helps with both only if each hour lands on the right job and phase.

The simplest structure that works in every tool on this list is one project per phase. You name them in a consistent pattern, for example “Hayes House - SD” and “Hayes House - CD”. Toggl also has tasks if you prefer one project per job with phases underneath. Whatever you choose, keep phase names identical across jobs so reports line up.

Watch the project caps. Harvest’s Free plan allows 2 projects, which is one job split into two phases. A real practice outgrows that within a week.

Construction administration is the phase most likely to leak hours. That work happens on site visits, in contractor calls and in submittal reviews squeezed between other tasks. Phone access matters here. Harvest, Toggl and Clockify all have iOS and Android apps. Timing lists iOS activity import and call tracking. Memtime has no mobile app. Dayflow only sees what happens on your Mac, so a site walk will not appear unless you add it yourself.

If you want to know what an hour of your time is actually worth before setting phase fees, the real hourly rate calculator is a quick sanity check.

Do you need a timer to bill by the hour?

No, but you need a trustworthy record, and a timer is only one way to get one.

Timers are precise when you remember them. The common failures are a timer left running over lunch, or one never started because a “quick” email turned into an hour of coordination with the structural engineer. Automatic trackers flip the problem. Everything is captured, and the work moves to assigning captured time to the right project at the end of the day or week.

Many architects end up with a hybrid. An automatic record answers “what did I do?” A billing tool holds the hours the client actually sees. That can mean Dayflow or Memtime next to Harvest or Clockify. Timing combines both roles on one Mac. The guide to a Mac timesheet without manual entry walks through that routine. A plain timesheet template works if you would rather not adopt a billing tool yet.

One caution applies to any AI-assisted record. Treat it as a draft. Dayflow’s summaries can miss or misinterpret work, so read them before hours go on an invoice.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

• You need to send invoices. Dayflow has no invoicing. Harvest does, with online payments and QuickBooks and Xero connections, and its Free plan covers a single person on 2 projects.
• You run a studio and need approvals or team reports. Dayflow has neither. Clockify Standard adds approvals at $5.49 per seat per month billed annually. Toggl Premium adds approvals and profitability reports at $16 per user per month billed annually.
• You want automatic capture with billing status in one Mac app. Timing covers both, with billing status and report rounding. Dayflow would still need a separate billing tool.
• Part of your team works on Windows or Linux. Dayflow is Mac only and needs macOS 14 or later. Memtime captures automatically on Mac, Windows and Linux. Clockify covers those platforms plus mobile.
• Your hours happen away from the desk. If most billable time is on site, a mobile timer from Harvest, Toggl or Clockify will capture more than a screen recorder can.

For a broader look at billing-first options, see the roundup of Harvest alternatives for Mac.

How much do they cost?

Tool	Plan	Price
Dayflow	Free	$0, MIT licensed
Dayflow	Pro	$20/month
Timing	Professional	$9/month billed annually, $11 billed monthly
Timing	Expert	$11/month billed annually, $14 billed monthly
Timing	Connect	$16/user/month billed annually, $20 billed monthly
Harvest	Free	$0 forever (1 seat, 2 projects)
Harvest	Teams	$9/seat/month billed annually ($108/seat/year), $11 billed monthly
Harvest	Enterprise	$14/seat/month billed annually, $17.50 billed monthly
Harvest	Enterprise Plus	Custom pricing
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Free	$0, up to 3 users
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Starter	$9/user/month billed annually, $12 billed monthly
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Premium	$16/user/month billed annually, $24 billed monthly
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Enterprise	Contact vendor
Clockify	Free	$0, up to 5 users
Clockify	Basic	$3.99/seat/month billed annually, $4.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Standard	$5.49/seat/month billed annually, $6.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Pro	$7.99/seat/month billed annually, $9.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Enterprise	$11.99/seat/month billed annually, $14.99 billed monthly
Clockify	CAKE.com Bundle	$12.99/seat/month billed annually, $15.99 billed monthly
Memtime	Basic	$14/user/month billed annually, $18 quarterly, $12 two-yearly
Memtime	Connect	$21/user/month billed annually, $26 quarterly, $18 two-yearly
Memtime	Premium	$29/user/month billed annually, $35 quarterly, $23 two-yearly
Memtime	Enterprise	Custom, 50+ seats

For a sole practitioner, the cheapest sensible setup is $0: Dayflow as the automatic record plus Clockify’s Free plan for timesheets. Upgrade to Clockify Standard at $5.49 per seat per month billed annually once you want invoices. If you would rather pay for one Mac app that does both jobs, Timing Professional at $9 a month billed annually is the next step up.

The bottom line

If you are a solo architect on a Mac, Timing is the best balance of automatic capture and billing records. If invoicing clients is the main job, use Harvest. If you run a small team that needs approvals and capacity planning, choose Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) or the cheaper Clockify. If your studio mixes operating systems, choose Memtime. If you want a free, private record of where your working hours really went next to whatever bills your clients, use Dayflow.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best time tracking app for architects on a Mac?

For a solo architect or a small all-Mac studio, Timing is the strongest fit. It records apps, websites and documents automatically, tracks billing status, and keeps tracked times on the Mac unless you opt into sync. Plans start at $9 a month billed annually. If you mainly need to send invoices, Harvest is the better choice. If you want a free record of your day, Dayflow costs $0.

Can Dayflow create invoices for architecture clients?

No. Dayflow does not create invoices, run payroll approvals or produce team reports. Harvest is the better tool here. It builds invoices from tracked time, accepts online payments and connects to QuickBooks and Xero. Its Free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects, and Teams costs $9 per seat per month billed annually. Dayflow can sit alongside Harvest as the record you check hours against.

Is there a free time tracker that works for architects?

Yes, a few. Dayflow is $0 and MIT licensed, and it records your workday automatically on macOS 14 or later. Clockify's Free plan covers up to 5 users with timers, timesheets, an auto tracker and reports. Harvest's Free plan includes invoicing but caps you at 1 seat and 2 projects, which runs out quickly once each job is split into phases.

Which time trackers record work automatically on a Mac?

Timing, Memtime and Dayflow are built around automatic capture. Timing records apps, websites and documents. Memtime records programs, documents, emails, calls, meetings and browser tabs as a timeline. Dayflow records the screen and has AI write a readable timeline. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) lists background tracking in its desktop app and Clockify lists an auto tracker, but both are mainly timer-based.

Do automatic time trackers upload my client drawings to the cloud?

It depends on the tool. Memtime states that recorded activity data stays on your device. Timing stores tracked times locally unless you opt into sync. Dayflow keeps recordings and the timeline on your Mac. Its Local AI mode keeps screenshot analysis on-device, while your own AI provider or Dayflow Pro processes selected screenshots off-device. Pro deletes screenshots after processing.

Does Toggl track time automatically on a Mac?

Partly. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) is mainly a timer and timesheet tool, but the vendor lists automated background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app. It also states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. The Free plan covers up to 3 users, and billable rates require a paid plan. Starter costs $9 per user per month billed annually.

Does Timing have a free plan?

No. Timing has no free tier and is subscription only. It offers a 30-day trial with no credit card required. After that, Professional costs $9 a month billed annually or $11 billed monthly. Expert costs $11 billed annually or $14 monthly. Connect costs $16 per user per month billed annually or $20 monthly, and it adds shared team projects.

What should a small architecture studio use for team timesheets?

Clockify is the low-cost option. Its Standard plan adds invoicing and approval workflows for $5.49 per seat per month billed annually. Toggl Premium adds timesheet approvals and profitability reports for $16 per user per month billed annually. Harvest Enterprise includes approvals and profitability reporting for $14 per seat per month billed annually. Dayflow has no team reports.

Is Memtime worth it over Timing for an architect?

Memtime makes sense if your studio mixes Mac, Windows and Linux machines, because Timing runs only on Macs. Memtime costs more: Basic is $14 per user per month billed annually, and it has no monthly billing option. Syncing entries to project and billing tools starts at Connect, $21 billed annually. On an all-Mac team, Timing is cheaper and adds AI summaries.

Can I use Dayflow together with Harvest or Clockify?

Yes. That is a sensible split for an architect. Dayflow keeps an automatic record of what you worked on, and you can export a date range as Markdown from Settings. Harvest or Clockify holds the billable entries and the invoices. Check Dayflow's AI summaries before copying hours into a client bill, because they can miss or misread work.