Memtime vs Timing: Which Is Better for Reconstructing Billable Time in 2026?

Timing is the better pick for one person billing hours on a Mac. It starts at $9 per month billed annually and adds AI-suggested time entries, billing status tracking and report rounding. Memtime is the better pick if you also work on Windows or Linux, bill as a team, or need entries synced to 100+ project and billing tools from its Connect plan.

Memtime and Timing both record your computer activity automatically, so you can rebuild billable hours after the fact instead of remembering to start a timer. The real difference is reach. Memtime runs on Mac, Windows and Linux and is priced per user for firms that bill. Timing is Mac only, costs less for one person, and adds AI summaries and AI-suggested time entries.

Disclosure: Dayflow, which appears below as a third option, is our product. This article compares vendor documentation as published on each vendor’s own pages, checked on October 4, 2026. Prices change and can vary by region or tax.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price	Platforms
Memtime	Freelancers and firms that bill time on Mac, Windows or Linux	Automatic timeline of programs, documents, emails, calls, meetings and browser tabs. You turn it into time entries	From $14 per user/month billed annually (Basic)	Mac, Windows, Linux
Timing	Individuals and small teams on Mac who bill hours	Automatic tracking of apps, websites and documents down to URLs and Mail threads, plus manual entries	From $9 per month billed annually (Professional)	Mac
Dayflow (ours)	Remembering and reviewing what you worked on, not billing	Full screen recordings and an AI-written timeline stored on your Mac	$0, optional Pro at $20 a month	Mac (macOS 14+)

Key takeaways

• Both tools capture activity automatically. Neither is a pure stopwatch, which matters when your problem is the hours you forgot to log.
• Timing is cheaper for one person: $108 a year on Professional billed annually, versus $168 a year for Memtime Basic billed annually.
• Memtime is the only one of the two that covers Windows and Linux, and its higher plans add SSO, SAML, SCIM and call system integrations.
• Timing lists AI-suggested time entries and AI activity summaries on all plans. Memtime lists no AI features.
• Neither has a free tier. Memtime offers a 14-day trial, Timing a 30-day trial.

How do Memtime and Timing turn activity into billable hours?

Reconstructing billable time is a two-step job. First, something has to record what you actually did. Second, you have to turn that record into entries a client will accept: assigned to a project, rounded sensibly, marked as billed or not.

Memtime handles step one by recording time in every program, document, email, call, meeting and browser tab, then showing it as a timeline. Step two is yours. You look at the timeline and create time entries from it, then report on them or sync them to the tool you bill from.

Timing records apps, websites and documents on the Mac, down to specific URLs and Mail threads. It also lists manual time entries, iOS activity import and call tracking. For step two it offers AI-powered suggestions for time entries, billing status tracking, and customizable reports with report rounding.

The practical difference: in Memtime, you read the timeline and decide. In Timing, the app proposes entries and you correct them. Whether that saves time depends on how well the suggestions match your projects, so use the trial weeks to find out.

If you want the general background on this category, our explainer on what an automatic time tracker is covers how these tools differ from timer apps.

What Memtime does better

It works off the Mac. Memtime lists Mac, Windows and Linux. If you write code on a Linux box, review documents on a Windows laptop, and do email on a Mac, Memtime is the one of these two that can follow you. It has no mobile or Chromebook app, though.

It connects to more billing and project tools. From the Connect plan up, Memtime syncs time entries to 100+ project and billing tools. If your firm already lives in a particular practice management or billing system, there is a good chance it is on that list. Check the list on Memtime’s site before you commit.

It is built for firms. The vendor names legal, accounting, design, software, agencies and consulting as targets. Memtime includes built-in project management and custom reports. Premium adds call system integrations for tracking phone calls and SSO, SAML and SCIM for IT departments. Enterprise covers 50+ seats on custom terms.

Its data stays put. Memtime states that automatically recorded activity data is stored exclusively on the user’s device and is not uploaded to a server. For anyone handling confidential client work, that is a clean policy to point to.

Long commitments are cheaper. Memtime’s two-year billing brings Basic down to $12 per user per month. There is no month-to-month option, so the trade is a longer commitment for a lower rate.

If you are weighing Memtime against other tools, our Memtime alternative comparison goes further.

What Timing does better

It costs less for one person. Timing Professional is $9 per month billed annually, or $11 billed monthly. Memtime’s cheapest plan is $14 per user per month billed annually. Timing also offers a real monthly option, which helps if you are not sure the app will stick.

It does more of the reconstruction for you. Timing lists AI activity summaries, AI integration via MCP on all plans, and AI-powered suggestions for time entries. For the specific job of rebuilding last Tuesday from scattered activity, suggestions you can accept or edit are a meaningful head start.

It has billing details built in. Billing status tracking means you can see which hours have been invoiced and which have not. Report rounding means the report can follow your billing increment instead of raw minutes.

It connects to specific tools in depth. Timing lists two-way sync with ClickUp, Linear and Clio, plus a GrandTotal invoicing integration. It also lists scripting, a Web API and Zapier. Which of these you get depends on the plan, so read the plan table before you choose. Lawyers using Clio and freelancers invoicing through GrandTotal are the clearest fits.

It goes deeper on the Mac. Tracking down to individual URLs and Mail threads makes it easier to tell which client an hour belonged to when the app alone (a browser, Mail) does not say.

The trial is longer. Thirty days, no credit card, versus Memtime’s 14 days.

The main limits: Timing is Mac only, has no free tier, and the Professional plan covers one Mac with limited web app access. Our Timing alternative comparison covers those trade-offs in more detail.

Head-to-head table

Capability	Memtime	Timing	Dayflow
Automatic capture	Yes: programs, documents, emails, calls, meetings, browser tabs	Yes: apps, websites, documents, URLs, Mail threads	Yes: full screen recordings on your Mac
Manual entries	You create entries from the timeline	Manual time entries listed	No timesheet entries; AI-written timeline
Invoicing	Syncs entries to billing tools (Connect and above)	GrandTotal invoicing integration (plan dependent)	No
Team reports	Custom reports and built-in project management	Shared projects on the Connect plan	No
Website blocking	Not listed	Not listed	No
AI summaries	None listed	AI activity summaries, AI time entry suggestions, MCP	AI-written timeline; can miss or misinterpret work
Data location	Activity data stored exclusively on device	Local, with optional Sync and Cloud Backup	Recordings and timeline on your Mac; analysis local or cloud, your choice
Free tier	None (14-day trial)	None (30-day trial)	Free app, $0
Platforms	Mac, Windows, Linux	Mac	Mac (macOS 14+)
Open source	No	No	Yes, MIT

Which one handles privacy better?

Both vendors put local storage first, which is the right default for tools that see everything you open.

Memtime’s statement is the stricter one: automatically recorded activity stays exclusively on your device and is not uploaded. Timing stores tracked times locally and says they never leave your Mac unless you opt into sync. Every Timing plan lists Sync and Cloud Backup, so the choice is yours, but it exists.

Dayflow records more than either: full screen recordings rather than app and window names. Recordings and the timeline are stored on your Mac. What happens during analysis depends on the mode you pick. Local AI through Ollama or LM Studio keeps screenshot analysis on-device. Your own cloud provider receives selected screenshots under its own terms. Dayflow Pro processes selected screenshots off-device and, under our privacy policy, deletes them after processing while possibly retaining Activity Data for sync. The full breakdown is on our page about local and cloud processing.

Pricing compared

Plan	Billed annually	Other billing periods
Memtime Basic	$14 per user/month	$18 quarterly, $12 two-yearly
Memtime Connect	$21 per user/month	$26 quarterly, $18 two-yearly
Memtime Premium	$29 per user/month	$35 quarterly, $23 two-yearly
Memtime Enterprise	Custom, 50+ seats	Contact sales
Timing Professional	$9 per month	$11 billed monthly
Timing Expert	$11 per month	$14 billed monthly
Timing Connect	$16 per user/month	$20 per user billed monthly
Dayflow	$0	Optional Pro at $20 a month

What one person actually pays per year on the cheapest plan that fits the job:

• Timing Professional, billed annually: $9 × 12 = $108 a year. Billed monthly: $11 × 12 = $132.
• Memtime Basic, billed annually: $14 × 12 = $168 a year. Billed quarterly: $18 × 12 = $216. On two-year billing, $12 × 24 = $288 for two years, which works out to $144 a year.
• Memtime Connect, if you need entries synced to a billing tool: $21 × 12 = $252 a year billed annually.
• Dayflow: $0, or $20 × 12 = $240 a year if you choose Pro for managed cloud analysis.

For a solo Mac user, Timing is cheaper on every like-for-like comparison here. Memtime closes the gap only on two-year billing, and even then Basic stays above Timing Professional’s annual price. If an integration is the reason you are buying, price the plan that includes it, not the entry plan. If you want to see what that cost means against your earnings, the real hourly rate calculator puts tools and unbilled time into one number.

When to choose Memtime

• You bill time from more than one operating system, or your team does.
• Your firm needs SSO, SAML or SCIM, or phone call tracking through a call system integration (Premium).
• Your billing or project system is among Memtime’s 100+ integrations and you want entries pushed there automatically.
• You want a written policy that recorded activity never leaves the device.
• You are buying for 50+ seats and want Enterprise terms.
• You are comfortable reading a timeline and creating entries yourself, without AI suggestions.

When to choose Timing

• You work alone, or in a small team, entirely on Macs.
• You want the lowest yearly cost of the two for a single person.
• You want AI to propose time entries that you then review.
• You care about billing status and report rounding inside the tracker itself.
• You use Clio, ClickUp, Linear or GrandTotal and want them connected (check which plan includes each).
• You want a month-to-month option or a 30-day trial before committing.

For more Mac options built around client billing, see our roundup of time tracking apps for freelancers on Mac.

Where both fall short

Neither Memtime nor Timing has a free tier, and neither is open source. If you want to try automatic tracking without a subscription, or inspect exactly what the app records, both are closed paid products with time-limited trials.

The second gap is narrower. Both tools tell you which apps, documents, URLs or calls took your time. That is the right input for billing, but it is a list of places, not an account of what you did there. Timing’s AI summaries move toward that; Memtime lists no AI features, so the interpretation is all yours.

Dayflow, our app, covers both gaps for a different job. It is $0 and MIT licensed, and it turns full screen recordings into an AI-written timeline of your day on your Mac. You can export any date range as Markdown from Settings, then use it to fill in a timesheet template or to remember what you worked on before writing a client update. The summaries can miss or misinterpret work, so check them before anything goes to a client.

What Dayflow does not cover is the billing half. It has no invoices, no billing status, no report rounding, no team reports and no sync to billing tools. If the job ends in an invoice, Dayflow is at best a memory aid next to one of the two tools above. Our guide to building a Mac timesheet without manual entry shows where that hand-off sits.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

Be direct about this, because the job in the title is billing.

• You need billable entries, rounding and billing status. Choose Timing. It lists all three, and Dayflow has none of them.
• You bill from Windows or Linux, or your team does. Choose Memtime. Dayflow is Mac only and requires macOS 14 or later.
• You need entries pushed into a billing or practice management system. Choose Memtime Connect for its 100+ integrations, or Timing if your tool is Clio, GrandTotal, ClickUp or Linear.
• You need team reports, shared projects or SSO. Choose Memtime (custom reports, Premium for SSO, SAML and SCIM) or Timing Connect (shared projects). Dayflow has no team reports.
• You need payroll approvals or website blocking. Dayflow offers neither, and neither tool here lists blocking.
• Your Mac runs an older macOS. Dayflow will not install below macOS 14.

Dayflow fits when your problem is remembering a day well enough to write it up, and you are willing to turn that into billable entries yourself. For a broader view of the category, our list of the best time tracker for Mac options sets all three against the rest of the field.

The bottom line

For reconstructing billable time on a single Mac, Timing is the better buy. It is cheaper, it suggests entries instead of leaving every one to you, and it tracks billing status and rounding where you need them.

Memtime is the better buy once your work leaves the Mac or your firm needs it to. Windows and Linux support, 100+ billing and project integrations, call tracking and SSO are things Timing does not match, and its device-only data policy is the stricter of the two.

Dayflow, our app, does not compete on billing. It is the free, open-source option for remembering what you did. Run Timing’s 30-day trial and Memtime’s 14-day trial in the same week, rebuild one real invoice in each, and keep whichever got you there with fewer corrections.

Frequently asked questions

Is Memtime or Timing better for a freelancer billing hours on a Mac?

For a solo freelancer who works only on a Mac, Timing is usually the better fit. Its Professional plan is $9 per month billed annually, it lists billing status tracking and report rounding, and it adds AI-suggested time entries. Memtime starts at $14 per user per month billed annually and lists no AI features. Memtime makes more sense once you need Windows or Linux, or sync to many billing tools.

Does Memtime have a free plan?

No. Memtime lists no free tier. It offers a 14-day trial that asks for no payment information and does not convert into a subscription when it ends. After that, the cheapest plan is Basic at $14 per user per month billed annually, $18 billed quarterly, or $12 billed every two years. Memtime shows no monthly billing option.

How much does Timing cost per year for one person?

Timing's cheapest plan, Professional, is $9 per month billed annually, which is $108 a year. Paid month to month it is $11, or $132 over twelve months. Expert is $11 per month billed annually ($132 a year) or $14 billed monthly. Timing notes prices may vary by region or tax, so check its pricing page for your locale.

Does Memtime work on Windows and Linux?

Yes. Memtime lists Mac, Windows and Linux. That is its clearest advantage over Timing, which runs only on the Mac. Memtime does not offer a mobile or Chromebook app, so time spent on a phone or tablet is not captured by the app itself. If your billable work is split across a Mac and a Windows or Linux machine, Memtime covers both.

Does Timing use AI to suggest time entries?

Yes. Timing lists AI activity summaries and AI integration via MCP on all plans, plus AI-powered suggestions for time entries. That can shorten the step of turning tracked activity into billable entries. Memtime lists no AI features, so in Memtime you build entries from its timeline yourself. Either way, review the entries before you bill a client.

Where does Memtime store my tracked activity?

Memtime states that automatically recorded activity data is stored exclusively on your device and is not uploaded to a server. Timing also stores tracked times locally, but all of its plans list Sync and Cloud Backup, which you can opt into. If you want activity data that never leaves the machine by design, Memtime's stated policy is the stricter of the two.

Can Dayflow replace Memtime or Timing for billing clients?

No. For billing, Timing or Memtime beats Dayflow. Dayflow does not produce invoices or billing reports, and it does not sync time entries to project or billing tools. Its AI-written timeline helps you remember what you worked on, and you can export a date range as Markdown, but you would still build the timesheet yourself. Use Timing on a Mac, or Memtime across platforms.

Which tool syncs time entries to project management or billing software?

Both do, on paid tiers. Memtime syncs time entries to 100+ project and billing tools starting on its Connect plan, $21 per user per month billed annually. Timing lists two-way sync with ClickUp, Linear and Clio, a GrandTotal invoicing integration, plus Zapier, a Web API and scripting, depending on the plan. Check Timing's pricing page for which plan includes each integration.

Can I try Memtime and Timing before paying?

Yes. Memtime offers a 14-day trial with no payment information, and it does not turn into a paid subscription. Timing offers a 30-day trial with no credit card required. Running both during the same week is a practical way to compare how quickly each one lets you turn a messy day into clean billable entries.

Is Dayflow free and open source?

Yes. Dayflow is $0 and MIT licensed, with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month that manages cloud analysis. It runs on macOS 14 or later. Screen recordings and the timeline are stored on your Mac. You can analyze screenshots with a local model through Ollama or LM Studio, your own cloud provider, or Dayflow Pro.