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

For most virtual assistants on a Mac, Clockify is the best start. It is free for up to 5 users, and invoicing begins at $5.49 per seat a month billed annually. Toggl wins for polished billable reports. Hubstaff wins when a client requires screenshots and activity levels. Timing wins for automatic billable records kept on your Mac, and Dayflow for a free, complete record of each day.

A virtual assistant on a Mac usually works for several clients at once. At the end of the week, each of them wants a number of hours they can trust. That gives the tool two jobs. It has to keep one client’s inbox triage separate from another client’s calendar work. It also has to produce proof you can hand over: a report, an invoice or, for some clients, screenshots from a monitoring app they insist you install. This ranking is for VAs who bill hourly or on retainers and need both of those jobs done on a Mac. If you want the wider field of Mac time trackers, that list covers more tools and more use cases.

Dayflow is our product, so read its placement with that in mind. It ranks fifth here. It is free, and it records your screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a timeline, so work you forgot to time is still on record. It loses on the two criteria that matter most to many VAs. It has no billable rates or invoicing, and it is not a monitoring tool a client can log into and review.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price
Clockify	Solo VAs with several clients on a budget	Timer, timesheet, calendar and kiosk entry, plus a desktop auto tracker	Free for up to 5 users; paid from $3.99 per seat/month billed annually
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Polished billable reports	Timers, timesheets, calendar integrations; background tracking and timeline in the desktop app	Free for up to 3 users; Starter $9 per user/month billed annually
Hubstaff	Clients who require screenshots and activity levels	Timer with activity levels, screenshots, app and URL tracking	Starter $4.99 per seat/month billed annually, 2 seat minimum
Timing	Automatic billable records kept on the Mac	Automatic tracking of apps, websites and documents	Professional $9 per month billed annually

Quick picks by use case

Best free: Clockify. The free plan costs $0 for up to 5 users and includes unlimited tracking, a timer, timesheets, an auto tracker and reports. Invoicing starts on Standard at $5.49 per seat/month billed annually. More detail is on our Clockify for Mac page.

Best for client reports: Toggl. Starter is $9 per user/month billed annually or $12 billed monthly, and you need a paid plan for billable rates. See our Toggl for Mac page and the Toggl vs Clockify breakdown.

Best when a client requires monitoring: Hubstaff. Starter is $4.99 per seat/month billed annually or $7 billed monthly, with a 2 seat minimum. It provides screenshots and activity levels a client can review.

Best automatic tracker for billing: Timing. Professional is $9 per month billed annually or $11 billed monthly. It is Mac only and keeps tracked times on your Mac unless you opt into sync. See how it compares on our Timing alternative page.

Best free record of the whole day: Dayflow. It costs $0 and is MIT licensed, with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month. Use it alongside a billing tool, not instead of one.

Best for invoicing: Harvest. It is free for 1 seat and 2 projects. Teams is $9 per seat/month billed annually or $11 billed monthly.

How we compared them

These are the criteria that matter for a VA billing several clients from one Mac:

• Client separation and billable reporting (25%). High scores go to tools with billable rates and reports you can send to a client. Low scores go to tools with no rates or client-ready reports.
• Proof of hours (20%). High scores go to tools that produce evidence a skeptical client can inspect, such as screenshots or a detailed activity record. Low scores go to tools where the only proof is a number you typed.
• Cost for a solo VA (20%). High scores go to a usable free plan or a low single-seat price. Low scores go to no free tier or seat minimums that charge you for people who don’t exist.
• Capture effort (15%). High scores go to tools that record time without you remembering to start anything. Low scores go to tools that depend entirely on timers and manual entry.
• Invoicing (10%). High scores go to tools that turn tracked hours into an invoice. Low scores go to tools that leave that to another app.
• Data location (10%). High scores go to tools that keep data on your Mac or let you choose the hosting region. Low scores go to tools with cloud-only storage and no choice.

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

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

1. Clockify

Clockify is a cross-platform timer and timesheet tracker, part of CAKE.com, with one of the most generous free plans in the category. You can track time in several ways:

• start a timer
• fill in a timesheet
• pull entries from your calendar
• use kiosk clock-in
• let the desktop app’s auto tracker record what you used

For a VA, the free plan covers what a one-person business needs at the start. It includes unlimited tracking, reports and apps for a workspace of up to 5 users, which is enough to log every client’s hours and pull totals. When clients start asking for invoices, Standard adds invoicing, time off and approval workflows. It costs $5.49 per seat/month billed annually or $6.99 billed monthly.

The other paid plans:

• Basic: $3.99 annually or $4.99 monthly.
• Pro: $7.99 annually or $9.99 monthly. It adds activity monitoring, scheduling, forecasting and expenses.

Data lives in the cloud, and you can choose hosting in the EU (Germany), UK, USA or Australia. The trial is 7 days of Pro features with no credit card.

The honest limit is that Clockify is still mostly timer and timesheet based, and the vendor lists no AI features. Invoicing also needs a paid plan.

Pick it if you want a free tracker that grows into invoicing without switching tools.

2. Toggl

Toggl, formerly Toggl Track, is a timer-based tracker that now bundles project planning under one name. 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. It states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes, which matters if you would rather not be watched.

For a VA, the useful parts are billable rates and reports, and both need a paid plan:

• Starter: $9 per user/month billed annually or $12 billed monthly. This is where billable rates begin.
• Premium: $16 annually or $24 monthly. It adds timesheet approvals, profitability reports and Jira and Asana integrations.

The free plan covers up to 3 users with timers, focus mode, calendar integrations, tasks and boards. Toggl AI answers natural-language questions about your workspace data, and there is also an MCP server and an AI Task Creator. Paid plans come with a 30-day trial.

The honest limit is that Toggl is mainly a timer and manual-entry tool, so the record is only as complete as your habits. The free plan also has no billable rates.

Pick it if your clients want polished billable reports and you are fine paying from $9 a month.

3. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is employee monitoring software, and the vendor names virtual assistant services among its target teams. It tracks time with a start-and-stop timer in the desktop and mobile apps. Alongside the timer it records activity levels, screenshots, apps and URLs, and GPS location for field teams. That is why it shows up in VA contracts: a client can review screenshots and activity in dashboards instead of taking your word for the hours. It also handles payments, payroll and invoices, and lists 35+ integrations.

There is no free tier, and Starter, Grow and Team have a 2 seat minimum:

Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Starter	$4.99 per seat/month	$7 per seat/month
Grow	$7.50 per seat/month	$9 per seat/month
Team	$10 per seat/month	$12 per seat/month
Enterprise	$25 per seat/month	Not offered

Add-ons such as Insights, Tasks and Silent app start at $2.5 per seat/month. The AI-powered unusual activity detection is part of the Insights add-on. There is a 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The honest limit is that tracked data is uploaded for managers to review. That is the point for the client and a cost to your privacy. If you run it alone, the seat minimum makes it cost more than the per-seat price suggests.

Pick it if a client requires it, or you want to offer screenshot-backed proof up front.

4. Timing

Timing is a Mac-only automatic tracker. It records time across apps, websites and documents, down to specific URLs and Mail threads. It also supports manual entries, iOS activity import and call tracking.

For a VA juggling clients, the draw is that you never have to remember a timer. The record builds itself, and AI-powered suggestions help turn it into time entries. For billing, it offers:

• billing status tracking
• customizable reports with rounding
• GrandTotal invoicing integration and two-way ClickUp, Linear and Clio sync, depending on plan

AI activity summaries and an MCP integration come on every plan. The vendor states that tracked times are stored locally and never leave your Mac unless you opt into sync.

Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Professional	$9 per month	$11 per month
Expert	$11 per month	$14 per month
Connect (shared projects)	$16 per user/month	$20 per user/month

There is a 30-day trial with no credit card.

The honest limit is that there is no free tier and it is Mac only. Professional also covers only 1 Mac and has limited web app access. Timing is a record you control, not a monitoring tool built for clients to inspect.

Pick it if you want automatic, billing-ready records that stay on your Mac.

5. Dayflow

Dayflow is our free, open-source Mac app. It records your screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a readable timeline. Recordings and the timeline stay on your Mac. You choose where the analysis runs:

• on-device, with a local model through Ollama or LM Studio
• through your own cloud provider
• through Dayflow Pro

Our page on local and cloud processing explains the differences.

For a VA, the value is memory and backup. If you forgot the timer during a two-hour inbox cleanup, the timeline still shows that work. You can then export a date range as Markdown to fill a timesheet or write a client update (how the export works). The app is $0 under the MIT license, with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month. It needs macOS 14 or later.

The honest limit is large for this job. Dayflow has no billable rates, invoices, payroll approvals, team reports or client-facing dashboard. AI summaries can also miss or misread work, so check them before you send hours to anyone.

Pick it if you want a free, complete record of your day to sit next to a billing tool.

6. Harvest

Harvest is a timer and timesheet tracker built around invoicing, now owned by Bending Spoons. You track with one-click timers, daily and weekly timesheets, or entries from a connected calendar.

For a VA, Harvest offers the shortest path from hours to a paid invoice. It creates invoices from tracked time and takes online payments. It also tracks expenses and connects to accounting tools such as QuickBooks and Xero.

Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Free	$0 forever (1 seat, 2 projects)	$0
Teams	$9 per seat/month ($108 per seat per year)	$11 per seat/month
Enterprise	$14 per seat/month ($168 per seat per year)	$17.50 per seat/month

The free plan includes invoicing and expenses. Enterprise adds profitability reporting and timesheet approvals. There is a 30-day trial with no credit card, and no AI features are listed.

The honest limit is that there is no automatic activity capture, so the record depends on you starting timers. Harvest ranks last here mainly because the free plan’s 2-project cap fits poorly with a roster of clients. If that cap is the dealbreaker, our Harvest alternatives roundup has other options.

Pick it if invoicing and getting paid matter more to you than anything else.

Full comparison table

Tool	Price	Automatic capture	AI summaries	Where data lives	Open source	Platforms
Clockify	Free for up to 5 users; paid from $3.99 per seat/month billed annually	Auto tracker in the desktop app	None listed	Cloud, hosting in EU (Germany), UK, USA or Australia	No	Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Toggl	Free for up to 3 users; paid from $9 per user/month billed annually	Background tracking and timeline in the desktop app	Toggl AI answers questions about workspace data	Cloud	No	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Hubstaff	From $4.99 per seat/month billed annually, 2 seat minimum	Timer plus screenshots, activity levels, app and URL tracking	AI unusual activity detection (Insights add-on)	Cloud	No	Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Chrome, Web
Timing	From $9 per month billed annually; no free tier	Yes, apps, websites and documents	AI activity summaries	Local, optional sync	No	Mac
Dayflow	$0; optional Pro at $20 a month	Yes, one frame every 10 seconds	AI-written timeline	Recordings and timeline on your Mac; analysis local, your provider or Pro	Yes (MIT)	Mac (macOS 14+)
Harvest	Free for 1 seat and 2 projects; Teams from $9 per seat/month billed annually	No	None listed	Cloud	No	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions

Do you need screenshots to prove your hours to a client?

Often you don’t. Sometimes it is not your call. VAs can offer three kinds of proof, and they ask different things of you.

A report from a timer tool. Clockify, Toggl and Harvest give you per-period reports and, on the right plan, invoices. The client trusts the number because they trust you, and the report shows how the hours break down.

An automatic record. Timing and Dayflow build a record from what actually happened on your Mac. That record lets you answer “what took four hours on Tuesday?” with specifics instead of a guess. You decide what leaves your Mac.

Monitoring. Hubstaff, and Clockify’s Pro plan with activity monitoring, give the client their own view of your activity. With Hubstaff that includes screenshots and activity levels uploaded for review. Toggl, by its own statement, does none of this.

If a client requires monitoring, the practical move is to run their tool only while you work for them. Keep your own record somewhere else, for all clients. Turn the monitoring app off when you switch to another client’s work, so you do not upload screenshots of one client’s inbox to another client’s dashboard. Our piece on time tracking without surveillance goes further into where that line sits.

How do you keep several clients’ hours apart on one Mac?

Separation happens at two points: when you capture the time and when you review it.

At capture, timer tools make you choose the client as you start. That is accurate if you remember, and wrong if you forget to switch when an urgent message from another client pulls you away.

Automatic tools flip the order. They record everything, and you sort it afterward. Timing does this with suggestions for time entries. Dayflow does it with a written timeline you read through and then copy into a timesheet. Our guide to a Mac timesheet without manual entry walks through that workflow.

A setup that holds up for most VAs:

1. Use one billing tool with a project or label per client.
2. Reconcile it against an automatic record at the end of each day, while the details are fresh.
3. If a client wants a simple sheet rather than a portal login, our free timesheet template works for that.
4. If you work on retainers, check your effective rate with the real hourly rate calculator. Untracked switching between clients is usually where the rate quietly drops.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

Dayflow is a record of your day, not a business system. These are the cases where another tool wins:

• A client requires monitoring. Hubstaff wins. Dayflow has no dashboard a client can log into, and its recordings stay on your Mac by design.
• You need invoices from tracked hours. Harvest wins if you have two clients or fewer, since the free plan includes invoicing. Clockify Standard, at $5.49 per seat/month billed annually, wins once you have more.
• Clients expect billable-rate reports. Toggl or Clockify wins. Dayflow has no billable rates and no team reports.
• You want automatic tracking with billing status built in. Timing wins. It tracks automatically and also marks what is billed, rounds reports and connects to GrandTotal on some plans.
• You also work on Windows, Linux or a Mac older than macOS 14. Clockify wins, with apps on Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.
• You run a VA agency with a team. Toggl or Hubstaff wins. Dayflow has no team reports or payroll approvals.

How much do they cost?

Tool	Plan	Price
Clockify	Free	$0, for up to 5 users
Clockify	Basic	$3.99 per seat/month billed annually, or $4.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Standard	$5.49 per seat/month billed annually, or $6.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Pro	$7.99 per seat/month billed annually, or $9.99 billed monthly
Clockify	Enterprise	$11.99 per seat/month billed annually, or $14.99 billed monthly
Clockify	CAKE.com Bundle	$12.99 per seat/month billed annually, or $15.99 billed monthly
Toggl	Free	$0, free for a limited number of users (up to 3)
Toggl	Starter	$9 per user/month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly
Toggl	Premium	$16 per user/month billed annually, or $24 billed monthly
Toggl	Enterprise	Contact vendor
Hubstaff	Starter	$4.99 per seat/month billed annually, or $7 billed monthly, 2 seat minimum
Hubstaff	Grow	$7.50 per seat/month billed annually, or $9 billed monthly, 2 seat minimum
Hubstaff	Team	$10 per seat/month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly, 2 seat minimum
Hubstaff	Enterprise	$25 per seat/month, billed annually
Timing	Professional	$9 per month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly
Timing	Expert	$11 per month billed annually, or $14 billed monthly
Timing	Connect	$16 per user/month billed annually, or $20 billed monthly
Dayflow	Free	$0, MIT licensed
Dayflow	Pro	$20 a month
Harvest	Free	$0 forever (1 seat, 2 projects)
Harvest	Teams	$9 per seat/month ($108 per seat, billed annually), or $11 billed monthly
Harvest	Enterprise	$14 per seat/month ($168 per seat, billed annually), or $17.50 billed monthly
Harvest	Enterprise Plus	Custom pricing

The cheapest sensible setup is Clockify Free for client hours plus Dayflow for an automatic record of the day, which costs $0. When clients start asking for invoices, move Clockify to Standard at $5.49 per seat/month billed annually rather than adding a second billing app.

The bottom line

Start with Clockify if you are a solo VA who wants free tracking now and invoicing later. Choose Toggl if clients judge you on the polish of your billable reports, or Hubstaff when a contract requires screenshots and activity levels. Choose Timing if you want automatic, billing-ready records kept on your Mac. Add Dayflow at $0 if you want a full record of every workday to reconcile your timers against.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free time tracking app for a virtual assistant?

Clockify's free plan is enough for a solo VA. It covers up to 5 users with unlimited tracking, timer, timesheet, auto tracker, calendar, reports and apps. Toggl's free plan covers up to 3 users, but billable rates need a paid plan. Harvest is free for 1 seat and 2 projects. Dayflow is $0 and records the whole day automatically, but it has no billing features.

Do virtual assistants have to use Hubstaff?

Only when a client requires it. Hubstaff is employee monitoring software, and the vendor names virtual assistant services among its targets. It captures screenshots, activity levels and app and URL tracking, which clients review in dashboards. If a client does not ask for monitoring, you can use a timer tool like Clockify or Toggl, or an automatic tracker like Timing. Both kinds give you a report without uploading screenshots.

Can Dayflow replace Hubstaff if my client wants screenshots?

No. Hubstaff is the better tool here. It uploads screenshots and activity levels for managers to review in dashboards, which is what a monitoring requirement asks for. Dayflow keeps recordings and its timeline on your Mac. It has no client dashboard or team reports, and it was not built to show your screen to someone else. Use Hubstaff for that client, and keep Dayflow as your own private record if you want one.

Which time tracker can send invoices to clients?

Harvest creates invoices from tracked time and takes online payments, even on its free plan of 1 seat and 2 projects. Clockify adds invoicing on its Standard plan at $5.49 per seat/month billed annually. Hubstaff includes payments, payroll and invoices. Timing connects to GrandTotal for invoicing on some plans. Dayflow does not create invoices, so pair it with one of these if you bill clients.

Does Toggl take screenshots of your screen?

Toggl states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. It tracks with manual and real-time timers, timesheets and calendar integrations. The vendor also lists automated background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app. If a client requires screenshots, Toggl will not meet that requirement. Hubstaff, with screenshots and activity levels, is the tool built for that job.

Is there an automatic time tracker for virtual assistants on a Mac?

Timing is a Mac-only automatic tracker with billing features. It records apps, websites and documents and adds billing status tracking and report rounding, from $9 per month billed annually. Dayflow records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds and writes an AI timeline for $0. Clockify's desktop app also has an auto tracker, and Toggl lists background tracking in its desktop app.

How much does Hubstaff cost for one virtual assistant?

Hubstaff has no free tier and a 2 seat minimum on Starter, Grow and Team. Starter is $4.99 per seat/month billed annually or $7 billed monthly, and you pay for two seats even if you work alone. Grow is $7.50 annually or $9 monthly, and Team is $10 or $12. If a client runs the workspace and adds you, ask who pays for your seat.

Where is my time tracking data stored?

Clockify, Toggl, Harvest and Hubstaff are cloud services. Clockify lets you choose hosting in the EU (Germany), UK, USA or Australia. Timing states that tracked times stay on your Mac unless you opt into sync. Dayflow stores recordings and its timeline on your Mac. Screenshot analysis stays on-device with local AI, or goes to your own provider or to Dayflow Pro if you choose those options.

Is Dayflow really free?

Yes. Dayflow is $0 and open source under the MIT license. An optional Pro plan at $20 a month adds managed cloud analysis. It runs only on macOS 14 or later. The free app works with local AI through Ollama or LM Studio, or with your own cloud provider, whose charges and terms apply. It does not include invoicing, payroll approvals or team reports.