Daily vs Timing: Which Is Better for Low-Effort Tracking on a Mac in 2026?

Timing is the better pick for low-effort tracking on a Mac. It records apps, websites and documents automatically, and it has a 30-day trial with no credit card. Daily wins if you would rather answer a short prompt every so often than have your activity captured. Dayflow, our free open-source app, fits if you want an AI-written timeline of your day rather than billable timesheets.

Timing watches what you do on your Mac and records it without asking. Daily asks you, on a schedule, what you are working on and builds a timesheet from your answers.

That is the real split: one captures, the other samples by prompt. Dayflow, the third option in the tables below, is our product, so weigh what we say about it accordingly. This is a comparison of each vendor’s own documentation as read on October 4, 2026, with Dayflow’s facts taken from its 2.2.0 release notes and policies. We also keep a longer Timing alternative comparison if Timing is the tool you are weighing most.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price	Platforms
Daily	People who report hours and would rather answer a prompt than run a timer	Periodic prompts ask what you are doing; answers become a timesheet	Business license €39,99 per year or €7,99 per month, excl. VAT; individual price: see the vendor’s pricing page	Mac, iOS companion app
Timing	Freelancers, developers and legal professionals who bill hours	Automatic across apps, websites and documents, down to URLs and Mail threads	From $9 per month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly	Mac
Dayflow (ours)	Remembering what you did without entering anything	One screen frame every 10 seconds; AI writes the day into a timeline	$0, MIT licensed; optional Pro at $20 per month	Mac (macOS 14 or later)

Key takeaways

• For the least effort after setup, Timing wins. It records on its own, and you sort the results later.
• Daily is low effort in a different way. There are no timers to forget, but you do have to answer its prompts.
• Timing has AI activity summaries, MCP integration and AI suggestions for time entries. Daily lists no AI features.
• Both keep data on your Mac by default with optional sync. Neither is open source, and neither runs on Windows.
• Dayflow is the free, open-source option, but it has no invoicing, payroll, team reports or website blocking. For the wider field, see our roundup of Mac time trackers.

What Daily does better

It never records your screen, apps or windows. Daily’s model is a question, not a log. That matters if the idea of software noting every URL you open makes you uneasy, or if your work involves material you would rather not have indexed anywhere, even locally. What ends up in Daily is exactly what you told it and nothing more.

Your timesheet is in your own words. Because each entry starts as your answer, the categories are the ones you chose at the time. Automatic tools hand you a pile of app and website names and leave the sorting to you. With Daily, the sorting happens as you go, a few seconds at a time.

It handles long, single-focus stretches without nagging. You can apply an activity silently for a set duration. If you know the next two hours are one client call and its follow-up, you tell Daily once and it stays out of the way.

Timesheets are the product. Daily produces daily, weekly and monthly timesheets with export. If your end goal is a list of hours to hand to a manager or a client, that output is the whole point of the app, not a report buried in a settings menu.

Integrations reach further than you might expect. Daily lists a Web API, Zapier and AppleScript. You can push entries into other systems or script around the app without waiting for a native integration.

There is a companion iOS app. It is for viewing and editing, not tracking, but it lets you fix yesterday’s entries from your phone. Data syncs through iCloud, and local backups are supported.

Business licenses can be managed centrally. For a small company that wants everyone reporting hours the same way, central license management is useful. The confirmed business price is €39,99 per year per license excluding VAT. Timing’s cheapest plan is $108 a year billed annually. The currencies and tax treatment differ, so this is not an exact comparison, but the gap is wide on the numbers the vendors publish.

The cost of all this is attention. Every prompt is a small interruption, and if you ignore a few, the timesheet has holes you will need to fill from memory.

What Timing does better

It is genuinely hands-off. Timing records time automatically across apps, websites and documents, down to specific URLs and Mail threads. You do not answer anything during the day. For the job in the title, low-effort tracking, that is the deciding feature. The effort shifts to a review session later, which most people find easier than responding in the moment.

It knows more than you would remember to type. A prompt answer like “client work” hides the fact that 40 minutes went to one long email thread. Timing’s automatic record keeps that level of detail, so your reports reflect what happened rather than what you thought was happening.

It has AI built in on every plan. Timing lists AI activity summaries, AI integration via MCP, and AI-powered suggestions for time entries. The suggestions matter most for low effort. Instead of assigning every block of activity to a project by hand, you review and accept.

It covers more than the Mac screen. Manual time entries are supported for work away from the computer, and Timing lists iOS activity import and call tracking.

Billing is a first-class feature. Timing has billing status tracking and customizable reports with report rounding. Depending on plan, it adds two-way sync with ClickUp, Linear and Clio, and an integration with GrandTotal for invoicing. That is a much more complete path from tracked time to a sent invoice than Daily’s timesheet export.

It scales to a team. The Connect plan adds team collaboration with shared projects, at $16 per user per month billed annually or $20 billed monthly.

The trial is easy to start. Thirty days, no credit card required. Daily offers a trial in the app, but its length is not stated on the vendor pages.

The trade-offs: there is no free tier, it is subscription only, and the entry Professional plan covers one Mac and has limited web app access. We cover Timing against another automatic tracker in Timing vs Rize.

Head-to-head table

Capability	Daily	Timing	Dayflow (ours)
Automatic capture	No, prompt-based	Yes, apps, websites and documents, down to URLs and Mail threads	Yes, one screen frame every 10 seconds
Timers	No timers; answer prompts or apply an activity silently for a set duration	Manual time entries listed	Not timer-based; records in the background
Invoicing	Not listed; timesheet export	Billing status, plus GrandTotal invoicing integration (plan dependent)	No
Team reports	Not listed; business licenses managed centrally	Shared projects on the Connect plan	No
Website blocking	Not listed	Not listed	No
AI summaries	None listed	AI activity summaries, MCP integration, AI entry suggestions	AI writes the day into a timeline
Data location	Local, optional iCloud sync, local backups	Local, opt-in sync and cloud backup	Recordings and timeline stored on your Mac; analysis local or off-device depending on mode
Free tier	See the vendor’s pricing page	None; 30-day trial	Free app at $0
Platforms	Mac; iOS app for viewing and editing	Mac	Mac, macOS 14 or later
Open source	No	No	Yes, MIT

Pricing compared: how much does each cost per year?

Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Daily Business license	€39,99 per year, per license, excl. VAT	€7,99 per month (€95,88 per year), excl. VAT
Daily Individual (Mac App Store)	See the vendor’s pricing page	See the vendor’s pricing page
Timing Professional	$9 per month ($108 per year)	$11 per month ($132 per year)
Timing Expert	$11 per month ($132 per year)	$14 per month ($168 per year)
Timing Connect	$16 per user per month ($192 per user per year)	$20 per user per month ($240 per user per year)
Dayflow	$0	$0
Dayflow Pro	Not listed	$20 per month ($240 per year)

For one person who wants low-effort tracking on a single Mac, Timing Professional is the cheapest plan that fits: $108 a year if you pay annually, or $132 a year if you pay month to month. If you need more than one Mac or fuller web app access, check Timing’s pricing page for which plan covers it, since the entry plan is limited on both.

Daily’s individual price is sold in-app and is not printed on the vendor’s site, so for a solo buyer we cannot give you a number. See the vendor’s pricing page at dailytimetracking.com or check the Mac App Store listing. The confirmed figure is the Business license at €39,99 a year, or €95,88 a year if paid monthly, both excluding VAT. Setapp is another route to Daily if you already subscribe.

Dayflow is $0 if you analyze screenshots with a local model or your own cloud provider, where that provider’s charges apply. Dayflow Pro, which manages cloud analysis for you, is $240 a year at $20 a month. Plans are on our pricing page.

If you bill by the hour, the subscription is easier to judge once you know what an hour of your time is worth. The real hourly rate calculator does that math.

When to choose Daily

Choose Daily if:

• You do not want any software logging your apps, windows or URLs, even locally.
• You are fine answering a short prompt during the day, and you would rather categorize in the moment than review a log later.
• Your output is a plain daily, weekly or monthly timesheet that you export and hand to someone.
• You want to edit entries from your iPhone through the companion app.
• You manage a small team on a single license scheme and want central license management at a confirmed business price.
• You script your Mac and want an AppleScript hook, a Web API or Zapier.

Skip it if you know you will ignore prompts when you are busy. Prompt-based tracking only works when you answer, and the busiest days are the ones you most need recorded.

When to choose Timing

Choose Timing if:

• Low effort means zero interaction during the day. You want to work, then sort it out later.
• You bill clients and need billing status, rounded reports, and a route to invoicing through GrandTotal.
• You already use ClickUp, Linear or Clio and want two-way sync (plan dependent).
• You want AI summaries of your activity and AI suggestions that cut down on manual categorizing.
• You may later add a team and want shared projects on the same tool.
• You want to try before paying without handing over a card. The 30-day trial allows that.

Skip it if a subscription with no free tier is a dealbreaker, or if detailed records of every site and document bother you, even when they stay on your Mac.

Where both fall short: what neither one covers

Three gaps are shared.

Neither is free or open source. Timing has no free tier. Daily’s free tier is not stated, so see the vendor’s pricing page. Neither publishes its source code. If you want to read exactly what a tracker does with your screen before trusting it, neither one lets you.

Neither gives you a narrative of the day. Daily gives you the labels you typed. Timing gives you a detailed activity record with AI summaries, which goes further, but it is organized around apps, sites and projects for billing. If your question is “what did I actually do on Tuesday afternoon,” as opposed to “how many hours go on the Acme invoice,” you are reading a report built for a different job.

Neither blocks distractions. Website blocking is not listed for either tool.

This is where Dayflow, our app, fits. It records one frame of your screen every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a readable timeline. Full recordings and the timeline are stored on your Mac. It is $0 and MIT licensed, so the source is public. You choose where analysis happens: a local model through Ollama or LM Studio keeps screenshot analysis on-device, your own cloud provider receives selected screenshots under its own terms, or Dayflow Pro handles cloud analysis and, under our privacy policy, deletes screenshots after processing. The trade-offs of each mode are spelled out on local and cloud processing. You can export any date range as Markdown, covered in export your work history.

What Dayflow does not fill: the blocking gap. Dayflow has no website blocking either, and none of the three tools here covers it. And AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work, so check them before you share anything built on them.

If you are not sure which gap matters to you, the where does my week go calculator is a quick way to see how your hours split before you install anything.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick: when should you skip it?

Dayflow is the wrong choice in several common cases, and in each one a tool above does the job better:

• You invoice clients from tracked hours. Dayflow has no invoicing and no billing status. Timing wins here, with billing status, rounded reports and its GrandTotal integration.
• You need team reports or shared projects. Dayflow has no team reports. Timing’s Connect plan has team collaboration with shared projects.
• You need payroll approvals. Dayflow does not provide them, and neither tool here lists them.
• You do not want your screen recorded at all. Dayflow’s method is screen recording, even if it stays on your Mac. Daily never captures your screen. It only stores what you tell it.
• You want to fix entries on your phone. Daily’s iOS companion app does this. Dayflow is Mac only.
• Your Mac runs something older than macOS 14. Dayflow requires macOS 14 or later.
• You want website blocking. None of the three covers it, so look beyond this comparison.

If timesheets with less manual entry are the goal and Dayflow still looks close, a Mac timesheet without manual entry walks through what each approach produces.

The bottom line: which should you install?

For low-effort tracking on a Mac, Timing is the better tool. It records apps, websites and documents without asking anything of you, adds AI summaries and entry suggestions on every plan, and turns the result into billing-ready reports. The cost is a subscription with no free tier, starting at $108 a year billed annually.

Daily is the better tool for a narrower group: people who want a timesheet in their own words, who will reliably answer a prompt, and who do not want anything watching their screen. It is low effort compared with timers, but not as low as Timing.

If you do not bill by the hour and mainly want to know where your days went, Dayflow, our free and open-source app, is worth a look. If you are still deciding among Mac time trackers more broadly, our time tracker for Mac roundup covers the rest of the field.

Frequently asked questions

Is Daily or Timing better for automatic time tracking on a Mac?

Timing. It records time automatically across apps, websites and documents on the Mac, down to specific URLs and Mail threads. Daily does not capture activity at all. It asks you what you are doing at intervals and builds a timesheet from your answers. If automatic means you never have to respond to anything, Timing is the one that fits.

Does Daily track time automatically?

Not in the sense of watching your apps. Daily periodically asks what you are working on, and your answers become a timesheet. You can also apply an activity silently for a set duration, so you are not interrupted while doing one thing. It is low effort compared with starting and stopping timers, but you still have to answer the prompts.

How much does Timing cost in 2026?

Timing's vendor pricing page lists Professional at $9 per month billed annually or $11 billed monthly, Expert at $11 per month billed annually or $14 billed monthly, and Connect at $16 per user per month billed annually or $20 billed monthly. There is no free tier, but there is a 30-day trial that does not require a credit card. Prices may vary by region or tax.

How much does Daily cost?

Daily's Business license is €39,99 per year or €7,99 per month, per license, excluding VAT. Individual licenses are sold inside the app through the Mac App Store, and that price is not printed on the vendor's site. For the individual price and whether a free tier exists, see the vendor's pricing page at dailytimetracking.com. Daily is also available on Setapp.

Does Timing have a free version?

No. Timing is subscription only and has no free tier. What it does offer is a 30-day trial with no credit card required, which is long enough to see whether its automatic capture and reports match how you work. If you need a free option on the Mac, Dayflow is $0 and MIT licensed, though it does not do billing or invoicing.

Where do Daily and Timing store my data?

Both keep data on your Mac by default. Daily stores data locally, can sync through iCloud, and supports local backups. Timing states that tracked times are stored locally and never leave your Mac unless you opt into sync, and all of its plans list Sync and Cloud Backup. Neither requires a cloud account just to track.

Does Timing or Daily use AI?

Timing does. Its pricing page lists AI activity summaries and AI integration via MCP on all plans, plus AI-powered suggestions for time entries. Daily lists no AI features. If you want something that turns raw activity into readable summaries, Timing is the only one of the two that offers it. Dayflow also uses AI, writing your day into a timeline.

Is Dayflow better than Timing for billing clients?

No, Timing is the better choice for billing. It has billing status tracking, customizable reports with rounding, a GrandTotal invoicing integration and two-way sync with ClickUp, Linear and Clio, depending on plan. Dayflow has no invoicing, no billing status and no team reports. Dayflow is built for remembering and reviewing your day, not for producing client-ready hours.

Can I use Daily or Timing on Windows or iPhone?

Neither runs on Windows. Daily tracks on the Mac, and its iOS companion app is for viewing and editing entries, not tracking. Timing is Mac only, though it lists iOS activity import as a feature. If you split work between a Mac and a Windows PC, neither tool will cover the Windows side.

Is Dayflow free?

Yes. Dayflow is $0 and MIT licensed, with source code public. It runs on macOS 14 or later. You can analyze screenshots with a local model through Ollama or LM Studio, or with your own cloud provider, whose charges apply. An optional Dayflow Pro plan at $20 a month manages cloud analysis for you.