The 7 Best Time Tracking Apps for Video Editors on a Mac in 2026

For most video editors on a Mac who bill per project, Timing is the strongest pick. It records app and document time automatically and tracks billing status, from $9 a month billed annually. Timemator suits editors who want rule-based project tracking for a $39 one-time payment. Harvest wins if you need invoices. Dayflow is the free, open-source option for a full record of the day.

This ranking is for editors who cut on a Mac and bill clients per project or per hour. The workday looks different from most desk jobs: one editing app stays open for an entire afternoon, two or three client projects get touched inside it, and an export runs while you answer email. The job you are hiring a tracker to do is narrow. It has to see through that single long app session and tell you which client the time belongs to when the invoice goes out. For general use beyond editing, our guide to Mac time trackers covers the wider field.

Dayflow is our product, so read its placement with that in mind. It ranks third. It is free and keeps the fullest record of what was actually on screen, which is why it places in the top three. It does not win the two criteria that matter most for per-project billing: it has no invoicing, and it writes a timeline of your day rather than filing hours under client projects for you. Timing and Timemator beat it on attribution, and Harvest beats everything here on invoicing. If Timing is already on your shortlist, our Timing comparison goes into more detail.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price
Timing	Automatic capture plus billing records	Automatic across apps, websites and documents	From $9/month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly
Timemator	Rule-based tracking per client project	Rules start and stop timers by app, file or project	$39 one-time (Mac, 2 devices)
Dayflow	A free, full record of the day	One screen frame every 10 seconds, AI-written timeline	$0 (MIT), optional Pro at $20 a month
Harvest	Invoicing straight from tracked time	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 down to the document level, with billing status and report rounding. Professional is $9 per month billed annually or $11 billed monthly.

Best one-time purchase: Timemator. Set a rule per client project and the timer follows what you have open. $39 once for the Mac app, covering 2 devices.

Best free: Dayflow. $0, MIT licensed, with screenshot analysis that can stay on your Mac. Pro is optional at $20 a month.

Best for invoicing: Harvest. Invoices, online payments and expenses from tracked time. The free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects, and Teams is $9 per seat per month billed annually.

Best for a small post house: Toggl (formerly Toggl Track). Billable rates, team reports and capacity planning across Mac and Windows. Starter is $9 per user per month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly. See our Toggl for Mac comparison.

Cheapest subscription: Tyme. Timers on Mac, iPhone and Apple Watch, with geofenced clock-in. $4.99 per month per user on the annual plan ($59.99 a year), or $6.99 billed monthly.

Best AI focus insights: Rize. Automatic tracking with AI categorization on Mac and Windows. Basic is $9.99 per month billed annually or $12.99 billed monthly. See our Rize comparison.

How we compared them

The weights reflect what an editor billing per project needs, not what a general productivity user needs.

• Capture during long single-app sessions (25%). High scores record activity automatically and can see more than the app name. Low scores rely on you remembering to start a timer.
• Per-project attribution (20%). High scores assign time to a client project by document, file or rule. Low scores leave you to sort a day of “editing app” by hand.
• Billing path (20%). High scores offer billable rates, billing status or invoicing. Low scores stop at a report.
• Cost for a solo editor (15%). High scores are free or cheap to own for years. Low scores are per-seat subscriptions with features a solo editor will not use.
• Data location (10%). High scores keep activity on the Mac, which matters under client NDAs. Low scores hold everything in a vendor cloud.
• Recall and review (10%). High scores give you a readable timeline or summary when a client asks what took so long. Low scores give totals only.

The tools were compared from each vendor’s own pricing and product pages as they stood on 2026-10-04. No benchmark was run, and the scores are judgments.

The 7 best time tracking apps for video editors on a Mac, ranked

1. Timing

Timing is a Mac-only tracker that records your activity automatically, with no timer to start. It logs time across apps, websites and documents, down to specific URLs and Mail threads, and it accepts manual entries for time away from the desk.

For an editor, the document level is what matters. A plain app tracker can only tell you that your editing app was open all afternoon. Timing’s record includes the documents you worked in, which gives you something concrete to file under each client. AI-powered suggestions for time entries and AI activity summaries come with every plan. On the billing side, it tracks billing status, offers report rounding, and connects to GrandTotal for invoicing depending on plan.

Professional costs $9 per month billed annually or $11 billed monthly. Expert is $11 or $14, and Connect, which adds shared team projects, is $16 or $20 per user per month. The trial runs 30 days with no credit card. Tracked times stay on your Mac unless you opt into sync.

The limits are no free tier and Mac only. Professional also covers just one Mac with limited web app access, which matters if you cut on both a desktop and a laptop.

Pick it if you want automatic capture and billing records in one paid app.

2. Timemator

Timemator is an Apple-platform tracker for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, built around auto-tracking rules. A rule starts and stops a timer based on the app, file or project you have open on the Mac. There is also a traditional manual timer and an activity timeline on the Mac.

This model maps neatly onto editing work. Tie a rule to each client’s project file, and switching projects in your editor can switch the timer with it. The vendor names filmmakers among its target users. Billable hours carry hourly rates and revenue, and CSV export gets the hours into whatever you invoice with.

The Mac app is a $39 one-time payment covering 2 devices. The iOS app is a separate $7.99 one-time payment. There is a 30-day trial. Data stays on your device, with iCloud sync and automatic backups.

The catches: you set up rules per task, so a new client means a new rule. No AI features are listed, so there are no written summaries of the day. It also runs only on Apple platforms.

Pick it if you want per-project tracking that runs itself once configured, and you would rather pay once than subscribe.

3. Dayflow

Dayflow is a free, MIT-licensed Mac app for macOS 14 or later. It records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a readable timeline.

For editors, the point is that a five-hour session in one app gets described by what was on screen, not just the app’s name. That helps when you are reconstructing which project ate Tuesday. You choose where analysis happens. Local AI runs through Ollama or LM Studio and keeps screenshot analysis on-device, which is the setting to use under a strict NDA. Your own cloud provider or Dayflow Pro processes selected screenshots off-device. Full recordings and the timeline stay on your Mac either way. To build a timesheet, export a date range as Markdown from Settings → Export. Our walkthrough on processing locally or in the cloud covers the trade-offs.

The price is $0. Pro, at $20 a month, adds managed cloud analysis.

The limits: no invoices, no team reports, no payroll approvals and no website blocking. AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work, so check them before any hours go on an invoice.

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

4. Harvest

Harvest is a time tracking and invoicing service, now owned by Bending Spoons, with web, Mac, Windows and mobile apps. It captures time through one-click timers, daily and weekly timesheets, or a connected calendar. No automatic activity capture is listed, so you start the timer when you open a project.

What an editor gets is the shortest path from hours to payment. You can invoice directly from tracked time with online payments, and log expenses such as stock footage or music licenses against a project. It also connects to QuickBooks and Xero. Profitability reporting and timesheet approvals are on Enterprise.

The free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects and still includes time tracking, invoicing and expenses. Teams is $9 per seat per month billed annually ($108 per seat) or $11 billed monthly. Enterprise is $14 per seat per month billed annually ($168) or $17.50 billed monthly. Enterprise Plus is custom. The trial is 30 days with no credit card. Data lives in Harvest’s cloud, and no AI features are listed.

The limit is the timer itself. Forget to start it during a long session and the record has a hole. Two projects on the free plan also runs out fast with several clients. Our Harvest alternatives roundup covers other options.

Pick it if sending the invoice is the part you most want handled.

5. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)

Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) now combines time tracking with project planning in one product. It runs on web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and browser extensions. It is mainly a timer and timesheet tool with calendar integrations. The vendor also lists automated background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app, and states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes.

For a small post house or an editor working inside an agency, Toggl brings billable rates, team reports, and planning with timelines, tasks and capacity management. Premium adds timesheet approvals, profitability reports, and Jira and Asana integrations. Toggl AI answers natural-language questions about workspace data, and there is an MCP server and an AI Task Creator.

The free plan covers up to 3 users with timers, focus mode, calendar integrations, tasks and boards. Starter is $9 per user per month billed annually or $12 billed monthly. Premium is $16 or $24. Enterprise is quoted by the vendor. Paid plans have a 30-day trial. Data lives in Toggl’s cloud.

The limit for a solo editor: billable rates need a paid plan, and the record is only as complete as your timers.

Pick it if you run a team, some of whom are on Windows, and need planning and profitability alongside hours.

6. Tyme

Tyme is a timer app for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with a web login in beta. You start and stop timers from the app, from shortcuts or from your watch. It can also clock you in and out by location using geofences and record breaks automatically.

The geofence feature fits a specific kind of editor: one who works some days on-site in a client’s suite and wants that time logged on arrival. Expense and mileage tracking covers travel to shoots. Invoicing runs through plugins such as GrandTotal, Lexware and sevdesk. Team mode adds admin and member roles. A Tyme MCP Server connects AI assistants, but no built-in AI features are described.

The annual plan is $4.99 per month per user, a $59.99 annual payment. The monthly plan is $6.99 per month per user. The trial is 14 days. Data syncs across your devices, but the sync backend is not described on the vendor’s pages.

The limits: no automatic app or window capture is listed, there is no free tier, and it runs only on Apple platforms.

Pick it if you are disciplined about timers and want the cheapest subscription here.

7. Rize

Rize is an automatic tracker for Mac and Windows that records app and website use and applies AI categorization and tagging. Connect Google Calendar and it captures meeting time too.

Editors get AI chat and AI productivity and focus insights, which help if the question is “why do my edits take longer than I quote?” Client and scheduled reports in PDF and CSV, plus an API, webhooks and Zapier, are on Pro and above. Plans are metered in monthly AI credits.

Basic is $9.99 per month billed annually or $12.99 billed monthly, with 500 AI credits. Pro is $23.99 per month billed annually, with 1,000 credits. Max is $39.99 per month billed annually, with 3,000 credits. For Pro and Max monthly billing, see the vendor’s pricing page. Team is $29.99 per seat per month billed annually or $39.99 billed monthly. The trial is 7 days with full features and no credit card. Data is hosted on Amazon Web Services with encryption at rest and in transit.

For editors billing per project, the limits are that client reports start at Pro, there is no free tier, and cloud hosting may not sit well with an NDA. Our Timing vs Rize breakdown compares the two automatic options directly.

Pick it if you care more about focus patterns than invoices, or you also work on Windows.

Full comparison table

Tool	Price	Automatic capture	AI summaries	Where data lives	Open source	Platforms
Timing	From $9/month billed annually, $11 monthly	Yes, apps, websites, documents	Yes, AI activity summaries	Local, optional sync	No	Mac
Timemator	$39 one-time (Mac), $7.99 one-time (iOS)	Rule-based by app, file or project	None listed	Local, optional iCloud sync	No	Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Dayflow	$0, optional Pro $20 a month	Yes, one screen frame every 10 seconds	Yes, AI-written timeline	Your Mac; selected screenshots off-device only with your provider or Pro	Yes, MIT	Mac (macOS 14+)
Harvest	Free (1 seat, 2 projects), Teams $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 $9/user/month billed annually	Mainly timers; background tracking listed in desktop app	Toggl AI answers questions about workspace data	Cloud	No	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Tyme	$4.99/month per user annually ($59.99), $6.99 monthly	No, timers and geofences	No built-in AI; MCP server	Cloud sync, backend not described	No	Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Web (beta)
Rize	From $9.99/month billed annually, $12.99 monthly	Yes, apps and websites	Yes, AI insights and chat	Cloud (AWS)	No	Mac, Windows

Can a tracker tell which client project you were editing?

This is the question that separates the tools for editors. An app-level tracker sees your editing app open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and stops there. If two clients shared that afternoon, you are back to guessing.

The tools here solve it in four different ways:

• Documents. Timing records time across documents, so the file you had open becomes the handle for the client.
• Rules. Timemator starts and stops timers based on the app, file or project open, so the sorting happens as you work.
• Screen content. Dayflow’s AI reads what was on screen and writes it into the timeline, so a visible project name can make it into the description. AI can still misread, so treat it as a draft.
• You. Harvest, Toggl and Tyme rely on you starting the right timer.

One habit helps every approach: put the client name in the project file name. Window titles and document names then carry the client with them, so there is more for a tracker to latch onto. How much of that your particular editing app exposes to a tracker varies, so check it during the trial with a real project before you commit. If you would rather skip typing hours altogether, see how to build a Mac timesheet without manual entry.

Should render and export time be billable?

There is no universal answer, but there should be one in your contract. Some editors bill renders, exports and uploads as machine time at a lower rate. Some fold them into a flat project fee. Others bill them at the full rate because the machine is tied up and so are they.

Whatever you charge, track the time. Renders, revision rounds and client calls are where flat-fee projects quietly lose money. Run a finished project’s real hours through the real hourly rate calculator and you will see whether the fee held up.

How a tracker handles a render you walk away from depends on the tool. Automatic trackers record what happens on the Mac, and timers record whatever you leave running. During the trial, start a long export, step away, and check what the record shows before you trust it on an invoice.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

Dayflow is the wrong choice more often than its ranking suggests, depending on the job:

• You need to send invoices. Dayflow has no invoicing. Harvest invoices from tracked time, takes online payments, and its free plan includes invoicing for 1 seat and 2 projects.
• You want hours filed under clients automatically. Dayflow writes a timeline, and you still decide what goes on the bill. Timemator’s rules or Timing’s document-level record do more of that sorting for you.
• You run a team. Dayflow has no team reports or approvals. Toggl offers team reports, billable rates and, on Premium, timesheet approvals and profitability reports.
• Part of your pipeline runs on Windows. Dayflow is Mac only. Toggl and Rize both run on Windows.
• Your Mac runs an older macOS. Dayflow needs macOS 14 or later. Rize lists macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or later.

How much do they cost?

Tool	Plan	Price
Dayflow	Free	$0, MIT licensed
Dayflow	Pro	$20 a month
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
Timemator	Mac	$39 one-time (2 devices)
Timemator	iOS	$7.99 one-time
Harvest	Free	$0 (1 seat, 2 projects)
Harvest	Teams	$9/seat/month billed annually ($108), or $11 billed monthly
Harvest	Enterprise	$14/seat/month billed annually ($168), or $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, or $12 billed monthly
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Premium	$16/user/month billed annually, or $24 billed monthly
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Enterprise	Contact vendor
Tyme	Annual	$4.99/month per user ($59.99 annual payment)
Tyme	Monthly	$6.99/month per user
Rize	Basic	$9.99/month billed annually, or $12.99 billed monthly
Rize	Pro	$23.99/month billed annually; monthly price on the vendor’s pricing page
Rize	Max	$39.99/month billed annually; monthly price on the vendor’s pricing page
Rize	Team	$29.99/seat/month billed annually, or $39.99 billed monthly
Rize	Enterprise	Custom, contact vendor

The cheapest sensible setup for a solo editor with one or two clients is Dayflow for the record plus Harvest’s free plan for invoices, which costs $0. Once you have more clients, Timemator’s $39 one-time payment is the cheapest way to get per-project tracking that runs itself. Full details on Dayflow’s plans are on the pricing page.

The bottom line

If you bill per project and want capture and billing records in one place, choose Timing. If you would rather pay once and let rules file your editing time by project, choose Timemator. If invoicing is the bottleneck, use Harvest, or Toggl if you run a team. If you want a free, private record of what each day actually held, use Dayflow next to whatever you bill with.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free time tracking app for a video editor on a Mac?

It depends on what free needs to cover. Dayflow is $0 and MIT licensed and keeps a full AI-written timeline of your day on macOS 14 or later, but it has no invoicing. Harvest's free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects and includes invoicing and expenses. Toggl's free plan covers up to 3 users with timers and calendar integrations, but billable rates need a paid plan.

Can Dayflow create invoices for my editing clients?

No. Dayflow does not provide invoices, payroll approvals or website blocking, so Harvest is the better tool if invoicing is the job. Harvest invoices from tracked time with online payments, and its free plan includes invoicing for 1 seat and 2 projects. Some editors pair the two: Dayflow as the record of what happened, Harvest for the hours and the bill.

Is Timing or Timemator better for video editors?

Timing suits editors who want to track everything automatically and sort it afterward, with billing status, report rounding and AI summaries, from $9 a month billed annually. Timemator suits editors who prefer rules that start and stop timers based on the app, file or project open, with a $39 one-time payment and no AI features listed. Both offer a 30-day trial, so test them on a real client week.

Does Dayflow send my client footage to the cloud?

Full screen recordings and the timeline are stored on your Mac. With Local AI through Ollama or LM Studio, screenshot analysis stays on-device. If you choose your own cloud provider or Dayflow Pro, selected screenshots are processed off-device. Under the privacy policy, Pro deletes screenshots after processing and may retain Activity Data for sync. Your own provider's terms apply to it.

Which time tracker works for an editing team on Mac and Windows?

Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) runs on web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and browser extensions, with billable rates and team reports on paid plans from $9 per user per month billed annually. Rize runs on Mac and Windows with a Team plan at $29.99 per seat per month billed annually. Dayflow, Timing, Timemator and Tyme are tied to Apple platforms, so they fit poorly in a mixed shop.

Is there a Mac time tracking app I can buy once instead of subscribing?

Timemator for Mac is a $39 one-time payment covering 2 devices, and the iOS app is a separate $7.99 one-time payment. It includes rule-based auto-tracking and billable hours with hourly rates. Dayflow is free with no purchase at all, with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month. Timing, Tyme, Rize, Toggl's paid plans and Harvest's paid plans are subscriptions.

Should I track hours if I charge a flat fee per video?

Yes, if you want to know whether the fee was worth it. A flat fee hides revisions, client calls, file wrangling and exports. Tracking hours on fixed-fee jobs shows your real hourly rate per project and per client, which is the number you need when quoting the next job. You do not have to show the hours to the client for them to be useful.

Can I use Dayflow and Harvest together?

Yes. Dayflow captures the day automatically and lets you export a date range as Markdown from Settings, which you can read through to fill in Harvest's daily or weekly timesheets. Harvest then handles invoicing, expenses and accounting integrations such as QuickBooks and Xero. Check the AI-written timeline before entering billable hours, since summaries can miss or misinterpret work.

Which time trackers keep my data off the cloud?

Timing stores tracked times locally unless you opt into sync. Timemator keeps data on your device with optional iCloud sync. Dayflow stores recordings and the timeline on your Mac, and Local AI keeps screenshot analysis on-device. Rize hosts data on Amazon Web Services, Toggl and Harvest are web services, and Tyme syncs across devices through a backend its pages do not describe.