The 7 Best Time Tracking Apps for Solo Lawyers on a Mac in 2026

For most solo lawyers on a Mac, Timing is the pick: it records time automatically, keeps it on your Mac by default, rounds reports and offers Clio sync on some plans, from $9 a month billed annually. Memtime suits local-data purists who bill through other tools. Harvest wins if you want invoices from a timer. Dayflow is a free memory aid, not a billing tool.

This ranking is for attorneys who practice alone, or nearly alone, on a Mac and bill by the hour. Your tracker has two jobs. It has to turn a day of drafting, email, calls and research into entries you can bill in tenths of an hour, including the work you never started a timer for. It also has to do that without putting client matter details somewhere you can’t account for. If you want the general ranking of Mac time trackers outside legal work, see our list of the best time tracker for Mac options.

Dayflow is our product, so read its placement with that in mind. It ranks third: it’s the strongest free way to reconstruct a day, and its analysis can stay on your Mac. It loses on the two criteria a lawyer weighs most. On billing fit, it has no six-minute increments, rounding, matter codes or invoices. On confidentiality, Timing and Memtime keep their raw record local with no setup, while Dayflow needs a local model for analysis to stay on-device. We have side-by-side pages for both: Timing vs Dayflow and Memtime vs Dayflow.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price
Timing	Billing from a Mac with Clio in the loop	Automatic, per app, document, URL and Mail thread	From $9/month billed annually
Memtime	Local-only activity data	Automatic timeline you convert into entries	From $14/user/month billed annually
Dayflow	A free record of the day to bill from	Screen frame every 10 seconds, AI-written timeline	$0, optional Pro $20/month
Harvest	Sending your own invoices	Timers, timesheets, calendar	Free (1 seat, 2 projects), Teams from $9/seat/month billed annually

Quick picks by use case

Best overall: Timing. Automatic capture, local storage by default, report rounding and Clio sync depending on plan. Professional is $9 a month billed annually or $11 billed monthly.

Best for keeping activity data on the device: Memtime. The vendor states recorded activity never leaves your machine. Basic is $14 per user a month billed annually.

Best free: Dayflow, at $0. It’s a memory aid, not a billing tool, so pair it with whatever you invoice from.

Best for invoicing: Harvest. The Free plan ($0, 1 seat, 2 projects) includes invoicing, and Teams is $9 a seat a month billed annually.

Cheapest paid invoicing with a choice of hosting region: Clockify Standard at $5.49 per seat a month billed annually. More in our Clockify for Mac comparison.

Best if you might hire an associate: Toggl (formerly Toggl Track). Starter is $9 per user a month billed annually. See Toggl for Mac vs Dayflow.

Best AI-drafted timesheets: Timely. Starter is $9 per user a month billed yearly. Our Timely alternative page covers the differences.

How we compared them

These weights are set for a solo lawyer on a Mac, not for an agency or a large firm.

• Reconstructing billable time (25%). High: an automatic record detailed enough to show which document, thread or call you were on. Low: a timer that only knows what you told it.
• Billing fit (25%). High: rounding, billing status, invoicing or sync to a practice-management or billing tool. Low: raw time with no path to an invoice.
• Where data lives (20%). High: activity stays on your Mac by default. Low: everything goes to a vendor’s cloud with no region choice.
• Mac fit (10%). High: a native Mac app built around how macOS works. Low: platform support that isn’t confirmed for Mac.
• Cost for one person (10%). High: free or under $10 a month for what you need. Low: the features you need sit on a higher tier.
• Help turning the record into entries (10%). High: AI or suggestions that draft entries you approve. Low: you allocate every block by hand.

We compared these tools from each vendor’s own pricing and product pages on October 4, 2026. No benchmark was run, and the scores behind the ranking are judgments.

The 7 best time tracking apps for solo lawyers on a Mac, ranked

1. Timing

Timing is a Mac-only automatic tracker that the vendor positions for, among others, legal professionals who need billable-hour records. It records time across apps, websites and documents on your Mac, down to specific URLs and Mail threads. You can also add manual entries, import iOS activity and track calls. That detail matters when a morning on one lease shows up as the actual document, the email thread with opposing counsel and the research tabs, not as “Word, 2 hours.”

On the billing side, Timing lists billing status tracking, customizable reports with report rounding, two-way Clio sync and a GrandTotal invoicing integration. The last two depend on plan. AI activity summaries and AI suggestions for time entries come on all plans. The vendor states tracked times stay on your Mac unless you opt into sync.

Price: Professional is $9 a month billed annually or $11 billed monthly. Expert is $11 annually or $14 monthly. There’s a 30-day trial with no credit card.

The limit: there’s no free tier and it’s Mac only. Professional covers one Mac and has limited web app access, so confirm which plan includes Clio sync before you buy.

Pick it if you bill from a Mac and want one tool that goes from raw activity to rounded, billable entries.

2. Memtime

Memtime is an automatic tracker for Mac, Windows and Linux. The vendor aims it at people who bill time and names legal first. It records time in every program, document, email, call, meeting and browser tab and shows it as a timeline. You then turn those blocks into time entries.

Its strongest point for a lawyer is confidentiality. The vendor states automatically recorded activity data is stored only on your device and isn’t uploaded to a server. Entries can sync to more than 100 project and billing tools on Connect and above. Premium adds call system integrations for phone calls. No AI features are listed, so you allocate every block yourself.

Price: Basic is $14 per user a month billed annually, $18 billed quarterly or $12 billed every two years. Connect is $21 annually, $26 quarterly or $18 every two years. There’s no monthly option. The 14-day trial needs no payment details and doesn’t convert into a subscription.

The limit: there’s no free tier and no mobile app. Integrations start at Connect, so a solo lawyer who wants entries pushed into billing software pays $21 a month on annual billing.

Pick it if keeping activity data on your device is your first requirement, or if you also work on Windows.

3. Dayflow

Dayflow is our free, open-source Mac app. It records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a readable timeline. It isn’t a billing tool. Where it helps a lawyer is reconstruction. At 6 p.m. you can read what you actually did, in order, including the client email you never timed, and then enter it where you bill. Our guide to a Mac timesheet without manual entry shows that routine.

Recordings and the timeline stay on your Mac. Analysis also stays on-device if you run a local model through Ollama or LM Studio. With your own cloud provider or Dayflow Pro, selected screenshots leave the Mac. Under our privacy policy, Pro deletes screenshots after processing but may retain Activity Data for sync. You can export a date range as Markdown.

Price: $0, MIT licensed. Pro is optional at $20 a month.

The limit: there are no six-minute increments, rounding, matter codes, invoices or practice-management sync. AI summaries can miss or misread work, so check them before you bill. It needs macOS 14 or later.

Pick it if you want a free record of your day to bill from, alongside a separate billing tool.

4. Harvest

Harvest is a timer and timesheet tracker with built-in invoicing. Its site footer names Bending Spoons, so it’s now part of that company. You start one-click timers, fill in daily or weekly timesheets, or track from a connected calendar. No automatic activity capture is listed.

What a solo lawyer gets is the billing half. Harvest builds invoices from tracked time, takes online payments, tracks expenses and integrates with accounting tools such as QuickBooks and Xero. It runs on web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and browser extensions, so you can log a call from the courthouse hallway on your phone. Data lives in Harvest’s cloud. No AI features are listed.

Price: Free is $0 for 1 seat and 2 projects and includes invoicing. Teams is $9 a seat a month billed annually ($108 per seat) or $11 billed monthly. There’s a 30-day trial with no credit card.

The limit: if you forget the timer, Harvest has nothing to reconstruct from. Two projects on the Free plan is tight if you track each matter as a project.

Pick it if you send your own invoices and you’re disciplined about starting timers.

5. Clockify

Clockify is a cloud timekeeper from CAKE.com with a generous free plan and an auto tracker in its desktop app. You enter time by timer, timesheet, calendar or kiosk, and the desktop auto tracker keeps a record of what you used.

Two extras are relevant to a lawyer. Invoicing and approval workflows start on the Standard plan. You can also choose where your data is hosted: the EU (Germany), the UK, the USA or Australia. That helps if a client or your own policy specifies a region. Apps cover web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and browser extensions. No AI features are listed.

Price: Free is $0 for up to 5 users. Basic is $3.99 per seat a month billed annually or $4.99 monthly. Standard, the first tier with invoicing, is $5.49 annually or $6.99 monthly. There’s a 7-day trial of Pro features with no credit card.

The limit: it’s mainly timer and timesheet based. Your data is in the cloud even after you pick the region.

Pick it if you want the cheapest paid path to invoices and control over the hosting region.

6. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)

Toggl is a cloud time tracker, now presented as one product that combines tracking with planning. You track with manual or real-time timers, timesheets and calendar integrations. The vendor also lists automated background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app, and states that Toggl doesn’t take screenshots or record keystrokes.

Toggl names law and accounting firms among its targets. Billable rates and team reports come with paid plans, and Premium adds profitability reports and timesheet approvals. Toggl AI answers natural-language questions about your workspace data, and there’s an MCP server. Apps cover web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and browser extensions.

Price: Free is $0 for up to 3 users. Starter, where billable rates begin, is $9 per user a month billed annually or $12 monthly. Premium is $16 annually or $24 monthly. Paid plans have a 30-day trial.

The limit: it relies mainly on timers and manual entry rather than a full automatic record. Your data lives in the cloud, and you can’t set billable rates on the free plan.

Pick it if you want polished timers on every device and might add an associate or paralegal later.

7. Timely

Timely is a cloud-based automatic tracker. Its Memory tracker records work in the background across web and desktop apps into a private timeline. AI then drafts timesheet entries for you to approve, and AI categorization sorts your time. A manual timer is also included. That’s the closest thing on this list to a tool that writes your timesheet for you.

The vendor states timelines are private and only entries you approve are shared, but the service runs in the cloud. Timely targets consultancies, agencies and professional services teams, and prices per user. Platforms are web, a desktop app, iOS and Android. The pages we read didn’t confirm which desktop operating systems are supported, so check Mac support before you commit.

Price: Starter is $9 per user a month billed yearly or $11 monthly, limited to 5 users and 20 projects. Premium is $16 yearly or $20 monthly. There’s a 14-day trial.

The limit: there’s no free tier. Twenty projects on Starter is tight if each matter is a project. The team and budget features you’d pay for on Premium don’t do much for a solo practice.

Pick it if you want AI-drafted timesheets and you’re comfortable with a cloud timeline.

Full comparison table

Tool	Price	Automatic capture	AI summaries	Where data lives	Open source	Platforms
Timing	From $9/month billed annually	Yes, apps, documents, URLs, Mail threads	AI activity summaries, entry suggestions	Local, optional sync	No	Mac
Memtime	From $14/user/month billed annually	Yes, programs, documents, email, calls, tabs	None listed	Local (activity data)	No	Mac, Windows, Linux
Dayflow	$0, Pro $20/month	Yes, screen frame every 10 seconds	AI-written timeline	Local recordings; analysis local or cloud, your choice	Yes, MIT	macOS 14+
Harvest	Free, Teams from $9/seat/month billed annually	No, timers and timesheets	None listed	Cloud	No	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Clockify	Free, Standard from $5.49/seat/month billed annually	Auto tracker in desktop app	None listed	Cloud, EU, UK, USA or Australia	No	Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Toggl	Free, Starter from $9/user/month billed annually	Background tracking listed in desktop app	Toggl AI answers questions on workspace data	Cloud	No	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Timely	From $9/user/month billed yearly	Yes, Memory tracker	AI timesheets and categorization	Cloud, private timeline	No	Web, desktop app, iOS, Android

Can these apps bill in six-minute increments?

A tenth of an hour is six minutes. Rounding can happen in one of two places: when you create the entry, or when you run the report or invoice. Your engagement terms set the rule. The app only applies it.

Automatic trackers record raw minutes. You assign those minutes to a matter, then round. Of the tools here, Timing is the one whose pages list report rounding, along with billing status tracking. For Harvest, Clockify, Toggl, Memtime and Timely, the pages we read didn’t spell out tenth-of-an-hour rounding. Test it during the trial with a real day’s entries before you rely on it. Dayflow has no rounding at all. You read the timeline and round when you enter time in your billing tool.

Automatic capture shows its value on short tasks. Say your terms bill a four-minute client email as 0.1. A timer only catches that email if you started it, while an automatic record has the email whether you remembered or not. Over a week, those small entries add up to the difference between what you worked and what you billed. If you want to see what that gap does to your effective rate, the real hourly rate calculator shows how unbilled time changes it.

Is it safe to track client work in a cloud time tracker?

An automatic tracker sees what’s on your screen: client names, document titles, email subjects and sometimes contents. For a lawyer, ask three questions about any of these tools. Where does the raw record live? What leaves the machine for processing? Who at the vendor could read it?

On the first question, the tools split cleanly. Memtime states recorded activity stays on your device. Timing keeps tracked times local unless you opt into sync. Dayflow stores full recordings and the timeline on your Mac. Harvest, Toggl, Timely and Clockify are cloud services, though Clockify lets you choose the hosting region and Timely states timelines stay private until you approve entries.

Processing is where Dayflow needs care. With a local model through Ollama or LM Studio, screenshot analysis stays on your Mac. With your own cloud provider or Dayflow Pro, selected screenshots go off-device. And if you ask a cloud AI assistant about your Dayflow data, that conversation isn’t local just because the storage is. Our page on local and cloud processing covers each mode. If you’d rather not record the screen at all, read time tracking without surveillance.

None of this replaces your jurisdiction’s guidance on cloud services and client confidences, or your clients’ own terms. Whichever tool you pick, turn on FileVault. A local record is only as private as the disk it sits on.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

• You want the tracker to produce billable entries. Dayflow has no six-minute increments, rounding, matter codes or billing status. Timing wins here, with report rounding and Clio sync depending on plan.
• You send your own invoices. Dayflow has no invoicing. Harvest invoices from tracked time, even on its Free plan. Clockify adds invoicing from Standard.
• You need entries pushed into billing software. Memtime syncs to more than 100 project and billing tools from Connect. Dayflow has no billing integrations and only exports Markdown.
• You work on Windows or need a phone app. Dayflow is Mac only, macOS 14 or later. Memtime covers Windows and Linux. Harvest, Toggl and Clockify have iOS and Android apps.
• You’ll hire staff and need team reports or approvals. Dayflow has no team reports, payroll approvals or website blocking. Toggl Premium adds timesheet approvals, and Clockify adds approvals from Standard.
• Screen recordings of privileged documents can’t exist on your machine. Toggl states it doesn’t take screenshots. Timing and Memtime track activity rather than recording the screen.

How much do they cost?

Tool	Plan	Price
Timing	Professional	$9/month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly
Timing	Expert	$11/month billed annually, or $14 billed monthly
Timing	Connect	$16/user/month billed annually, or $20 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
Dayflow	Free	$0, MIT licensed
Dayflow	Pro	$20/month
Harvest	Free	$0 (1 seat, 2 projects)
Harvest	Teams	$9/seat/month billed annually ($108 per seat), or $11 billed monthly
Harvest	Enterprise	$14/seat/month billed annually ($168 per seat), or $17.50 billed monthly
Clockify	Free	$0, up to 5 users
Clockify	Basic	$3.99/seat/month billed annually, or $4.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Standard	$5.49/seat/month billed annually, or $6.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Pro	$7.99/seat/month billed annually, or $9.99 billed monthly
Toggl	Free	$0, up to 3 users
Toggl	Starter	$9/user/month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly
Toggl	Premium	$16/user/month billed annually, or $24 billed monthly
Timely	Starter	$9/user/month billed yearly, or $11 billed monthly
Timely	Premium	$16/user/month billed yearly, or $20 billed monthly
Timely	Unlimited	$22/user/month billed yearly, or $28 billed monthly

The cheapest sensible setup for a solo lawyer is Timing Professional at $9 a month billed annually, since it covers capture and rounding in one Mac app. If you also need invoices without a separate tool, pair free Dayflow with Clockify Standard at $5.49 a month billed annually, and check our pricing page if you’re weighing Dayflow Pro.

The bottom line

If you bill from a Mac and use Clio, start the Timing trial. If keeping activity data on the device matters more than anything else, or you also use Windows, pick Memtime. If you’re disciplined with timers and want invoices for little or nothing, use Harvest. If you just need to know what you did today before you enter it somewhere else, Dayflow is free.

Frequently asked questions

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

Timing is the strongest fit for most solo lawyers on a Mac. It records time automatically across apps, documents, URLs and Mail threads, stores it locally unless you turn on sync, and lists billing status tracking, report rounding and two-way Clio sync depending on plan. Professional costs $9 a month billed annually or $11 billed monthly, with a 30-day trial that needs no credit card.

Can Dayflow bill in six-minute increments?

No. Dayflow has no billing increments, rounding, matter codes or invoices. It gives you a readable timeline of your day that you then enter into a billing tool yourself. If you want rounding and billing built into the tracker, Timing beats Dayflow: it lists report rounding, billing status tracking and Clio sync on some plans. Harvest also beats it if you need to send invoices.

Which time tracker keeps client data on my Mac?

Memtime states that automatically recorded activity data is stored only on your device and is not uploaded to a server. Timing states tracked times stay on your Mac unless you opt into sync. Dayflow stores recordings and the timeline on your Mac, and analysis stays on-device if you run a local model through Ollama or LM Studio. Harvest, Toggl, Timely and Clockify are cloud services.

Is there a free time tracker for lawyers on a Mac?

Yes, a few. Dayflow is $0 and MIT licensed but does not bill. Harvest's Free plan is $0 for 1 seat and 2 projects and includes invoicing, which is tight if each matter is a project. Clockify's Free plan covers up to 5 users with timers, timesheets and an auto tracker, but invoicing starts on the paid Standard plan.

Does Timing work with Clio?

Timing lists two-way Clio sync among its features, along with ClickUp and Linear sync and a GrandTotal invoicing integration. The vendor notes these are plan dependent, so check which tier includes Clio on Timing's pricing page before you subscribe. The 30-day trial, which needs no credit card, is a reasonable way to confirm the sync matches how you set up matters.

Do I need automatic time tracking if I already use timers?

Timers are accurate when you remember them. Automatic trackers matter for the time you forget: a quick reply to a client, a call that ran long, research you did between meetings. Tools like Timing, Memtime, Timely and Dayflow keep a record you can reconstruct from at the end of the day. If you never forget a timer, Harvest or Clockify may be all you need.

Is Memtime available for Mac?

Yes. Memtime runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, which helps if you split work between a Mac at home and a Windows machine elsewhere. It has no mobile or Chromebook app. Pricing starts at $14 per user a month billed annually on Basic, with quarterly and two-year options but no monthly billing. The 14-day trial needs no payment details.

Which of these time trackers can send invoices?

Harvest invoices from tracked time and accepts online payments, including on its Free plan. Clockify adds invoicing from the Standard plan at $5.49 per seat a month billed annually. Timing connects to GrandTotal for invoicing, depending on plan. Memtime syncs entries to billing tools from its Connect plan. Dayflow does not create invoices.

Can I use Dayflow alongside a billing app?

Yes, and that is the realistic way a lawyer would use it. Dayflow records one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day as a timeline. You read that timeline, decide which blocks belong to which matter, and enter the time in your billing tool. You can also export a date range as Markdown. Check the summaries before billing, since AI can miss or misread work.

Does Toggl take screenshots of my screen?

Toggl states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. It tracks through manual and real-time timers, timesheets and calendar integrations, and the vendor also lists automated background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app. Data syncs through Toggl's cloud across web, desktop and mobile. Billable rates require a paid plan, starting with Starter at $9 per user a month billed annually.