Paymo vs Toggl: Which Is Better for Tracking Time Across Projects in 2026?

Pick Paymo if tracked project time needs to become invoices, estimates and Gantt-planned work, especially on Windows, Mac or Linux. Pick Toggl if a team needs billable rates, timesheet approvals and profitability reports, or Jira and Asana sync. Both depend on you assigning time to projects. Dayflow, our free Mac app, records the day automatically but has no invoicing or team reports.

Paymo treats time tracking as one part of running client work, so the hours you log feed tasks, Gantt charts and invoices in the same account. Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) puts the timer at the center and builds billable rates, team reports, planning and approvals around it.

Disclosure: Dayflow, the third option in this article, is our product. It is a free, MIT-licensed Mac app that records your screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write your day into a readable timeline. The method here is a comparison of vendor documentation. The Paymo and Toggl details come from each vendor’s own pricing and product pages as checked on October 4, 2026, and the Dayflow details come from our review of version 2.2.0. If your main question is how Toggl behaves on a Mac, our Toggl for Mac page covers that in more depth.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price	Platforms
Paymo	Small firms that bill clients from tracked project time	Stopwatch, manual and bulk timesheet entries, Pomodoro timer; Paymo Track can record desktop app time for you to match to tasks	Free (1 user, 2 projects); Solo $5.9/month billed annually; Plus $10.9 and Pro $16.9 per user/month billed annually	Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
Toggl	Freelancers and teams that need billable rates, team reports and capacity planning	Manual and real-time timers, timesheets, calendar integrations; vendor also lists background tracking and a desktop timeline	Free for up to 3 users; Starter $9 and Premium $16 per user/month billed annually; Enterprise: contact vendor	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Dayflow (ours)	One Mac user who wants an automatic record of the day	Screen capture at one frame every 10 seconds, AI-written timeline	$0 (MIT); optional Pro $20/month	macOS 14 or later

Key takeaways

• Paymo is the stronger pick when project hours must turn into invoices. Invoicing, estimates and expenses live next to the timer, and invoices are unlimited even on the free plan.
• Toggl is the stronger pick for teams. Its free plan covers up to 3 users, paid plans add billable rates and team reports, and Premium adds timesheet approvals, profitability reports and Jira and Asana integrations.
• Paymo’s free plan is tight for multi-project work: 1 user, 1 client and 2 projects. Toggl’s free plan is the more generous starting point for someone juggling several projects without billing.
• Neither tool knows what you worked on unless you start a timer or match recorded activity to a project. Both have some background tracking, but the project assignment is still yours to do.
• Dayflow fills a different gap: an automatic, readable record of a Mac workday. It has no invoicing, payroll approvals, team reports or website blocking, so it does not replace either tool for client billing.

What Paymo does better

Time and invoices in one place. Paymo lists invoicing, estimates and expenses alongside time tracking. For a consultant or small studio, that means the hours logged against a project are already sitting in the tool that produces the invoice. Unlimited invoices are included on the free plan, which is unusual.

Project management beyond a task list. Kanban boards, Gantt charts, scheduling and leave planning are available on Paymo’s higher plans. If you plan the work and bill the work in the same place, Paymo covers more of that loop.

Linux support. Paymo ships desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus iOS and Android. Toggl’s platform list does not include Linux. For a mixed team where someone runs Linux, that settles it.

Background tracking that stays on your machine. The Paymo Track desktop app can run in the background and record time spent in desktop apps, without screenshots. Paymo says those automatically recorded activities are stored locally on the computer, and you choose which entries get logged into your account. You then match the recorded time to tasks and projects.

A cheaper solo plan. Paymo Solo is $5.9 a month billed annually, against $9 a month for Toggl Starter on annual billing. On monthly billing, it is $9.9 versus $12.

The catches: the Free and Solo plans are limited to one user, the free plan stops at 1 client and 2 projects, and integrations and API access start on Plus.

What Toggl does better

A free plan that fits a small team. Toggl’s free plan, described by the vendor as free forever, covers up to 3 users and includes timers, focus mode, calendar integrations, tasks and boards. Paymo’s free plan is one person only.

Team reporting and billable rates. Toggl’s strengths are billable rates and team reports, with project planning built on timelines, tasks and capacity management. Billable rates require a paid plan. Premium adds timesheet approvals and profitability reports, which matter once you are answering “are we making money on this project?” rather than “how many hours did I log?”

Integrations with project tools. Jira and Asana integrations are listed on Premium. If your projects already live in one of those, Toggl connects to them directly.

AI features. Toggl lists Toggl AI for natural-language questions about workspace data and admin tasks, an MCP server and an AI Task Creator. Paymo states no AI features on the pages checked.

More ways to start a timer. Browser extensions sit alongside the web, Mac, Windows and mobile apps, so you can start tracking from wherever the work happens.

A longer trial. Paid plans come with a 30-day trial. Paymo’s trial is 15 days, no credit card required.

One naming note: Toggl now presents the product simply as “Toggl”, combining tracking with planning. Toggl Track and Toggl Plan are described as legacy products still available to existing users.

Head-to-head table

Capability	Paymo	Toggl	Dayflow (ours)
Automatic capture	Paymo Track records desktop app time in the background; you match it to tasks	Vendor lists automated background tracking and a desktop timeline; mainly timer-based	Screen capture at one frame every 10 seconds, turned into an AI-written timeline
Timers and manual entry	Stopwatch, manual intervals, bulk timesheets, Pomodoro	Manual and real-time timers, timesheets, calendar integrations	No timer; recording is automatic
Invoicing	Yes, plus estimates and expenses; unlimited invoices on Free	Not listed; billable rates on paid plans, profitability reports on Premium	No
Team reports	Multi-user on Plus and Pro; for report details see the vendor’s pricing page	Yes, team reports; approvals on Premium	No
Website blocking	Not listed; see the vendor’s pricing page	Not listed; free plan includes focus mode	No
AI features	None stated	Toggl AI, MCP server, AI Task Creator	AI writes the timeline; local, your own provider, or Pro
Data location	Cloud account; Paymo Track activities stored locally; server location not stated	Cloud, synced across web, desktop and mobile	Recordings and timeline on your Mac; analysis local or in the cloud depending on mode
Free tier	1 user, 1 client, 2 projects, 1GB storage	Up to 3 users	Full app at $0
Platforms	Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions	macOS 14 or later
Open source	No	No	Yes, MIT

Can Paymo or Toggl track time automatically on a Mac?

Both have a partial answer. Paymo Track records which desktop apps you used and when. Toggl lists background tracking and a timeline in its desktop app. In both cases, the output is a list of activity that you still have to sort into projects. Toggl’s own product is built mainly around timers and manual entry.

That works when the app tells you the project. A day spent in one client’s Figma file is easy to assign. It breaks down when the same browser, editor and Slack workspace serve five projects. “Chrome, 2 hours” doesn’t tell you which client the research was for.

This is the gap most Mac time trackers handle differently. For the broader set of options, see our guide to choosing a time tracker for Mac. For what “automatic” actually means across tools, see automatic time tracking on Mac. Dayflow takes the screen-level approach: it captures what was on screen and writes the day in plain language, such as “reviewed the onboarding copy for the Acme project.” That is more context than an app name, and it also means your screen is being recorded, which some people won’t want. We cover that tradeoff in time tracking without surveillance.

Which one handles invoicing from project time?

Paymo, clearly. Invoicing, estimates and expenses sit next to the timer, and the free plan includes unlimited invoices. If your process is “log hours against a client project, then bill them,” Paymo does both steps in one account.

Toggl’s documented strength is the step before the invoice: billable rates on paid plans, plus profitability reports and timesheet approvals on Premium. Invoice creation is not among the features listed on the pages checked. If you need to send invoices from your tracker, confirm on Toggl’s pricing page before you commit.

Dayflow has no invoicing at all. If you’re unsure what to charge per project once tracked time and admin overhead are counted, the real hourly rate calculator helps with the math.

Pricing compared

Plan	Paymo	Toggl	Dayflow (ours)
Free	$0, 1 user, 1 client, 2 projects	$0, up to 3 users	$0, full app
Entry paid	Solo: $5.9/month billed annually, or $9.9/month billed monthly; 1 user	Starter: $9/user/month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly	Pro: $20/month
Mid tier	Plus: $10.9/user/month billed annually, or $15.9 billed monthly	Premium: $16/user/month billed annually, or $24 billed monthly	None
Top tier	Pro: $16.9/user/month billed annually, or $23.9 billed monthly	Enterprise: contact vendor	None
Trial	15 days, no credit card	30 days on paid plans	Not needed for free app

Take one person tracking time across several client projects. Paymo’s free plan stops at 2 projects and 1 client, so the realistic floor is Solo. That costs $70.80 a year on annual billing, or $118.80 a year at the regular monthly price. Paymo was also running a time-limited offer for new monthly customers on October 4, 2026, with a lower price for the first three months. Whether it still applies when you sign up is something to check on the vendor’s pricing page.

Toggl’s free plan has no project cap in the facts checked, so a solo user who only needs hours per project may pay nothing. If those projects bill at different rates, you need a paid plan. Starter costs $108 a year on annual billing or $144 a year on monthly billing.

For a small team of up to three, Toggl’s free plan still covers everyone. Paymo’s Free and Solo plans are single-user, so a team on Paymo starts at Plus, $10.9 per user per month billed annually.

Dayflow is $0. Pro at $20 a month works out to $240 a year, and you only need it if you want Dayflow to manage the cloud analysis. The pricing page has the details.

When to choose Paymo

• You bill clients and want tracked hours, estimates, expenses and invoices in one tool.
• You plan projects visually and want Kanban, Gantt charts and scheduling in the same place you track time.
• Someone on the team uses Linux.
• You work alone, need more than 2 projects, and want the cheapest paid plan of the two: Solo at $5.9 a month billed annually.
• You like the idea of background desktop tracking where the raw activity stays on your computer until you choose what to log.

When to choose Toggl

• Two or three people need to track time against shared projects without paying yet.
• You need billable rates, team reports and capacity planning, and possibly approvals and profitability reports on Premium.
• Your projects live in Jira or Asana and you want the tracker connected to them.
• You start timers from the browser and want the extensions.
• You want AI help querying workspace data, or an MCP server to connect Toggl to other AI tools.

Where both fall short

Both tools assume you know what you’re working on and tell them. You either run a timer, or you sort background activity into projects afterward. Forget the timer on a busy Tuesday and that time is gone. Recording app usage doesn’t fully fix this, because app names rarely map cleanly to projects.

Neither produces a narrative of the day either. Paymo states no AI features. Toggl’s AI answers questions about data already in the workspace, so it works with what you entered, not with what you did.

On a Mac, Dayflow covers that specific gap. It records continuously, writes the timeline for you, and lets you export a date range as Markdown from Settings → Export. A reasonable setup is to keep Paymo or Toggl as the billing system and use Dayflow’s log to fill in or check the timesheet. We don’t document a direct sync with either tool, so expect to copy entries across. Our guide to a Mac timesheet without manual entry walks through that workflow, and remember what you worked on covers the recall side.

Two cautions. Dayflow’s AI summaries can miss or misread work, so check them before they become billable hours. And Dayflow only covers the Mac it runs on.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick

• You need to invoice from tracked time. Dayflow has no invoicing. Paymo wins here.
• You run a team. Dayflow has no team reports, no payroll approvals and no billable rates. Toggl wins, with team reports on paid plans and timesheet approvals and profitability reports on Premium.
• Anyone on the team uses Windows, Linux or an older Mac. Dayflow requires macOS 14 or later. Paymo covers Windows, Mac and Linux. Toggl covers Mac and Windows.
• You don’t want your screen captured at all. Dayflow’s whole method is screen capture. Toggl states it takes no screenshots and records no keystrokes, and Paymo Track’s automatic tracking works without screenshots.
• You need everything to stay off third-party servers but can’t run a local model. Dayflow keeps recordings on your Mac. Analysis stays on-device only with Local AI through Ollama or LM Studio, which needs your own hardware. Using your own cloud provider or Pro sends selected screenshots off-device. Read local and cloud processing before choosing a mode.
• You want website blocking. Dayflow doesn’t block anything, and blocking isn’t listed for Paymo or Toggl either.

The bottom line

For tracking time across projects, the deciding question is what happens to the hours afterward. If they become invoices, choose Paymo. It has the cheaper solo plan, invoicing included even on the free plan, and project planning in the same account. Just note that the free plan stops at 2 projects. If they become team reports, billable rate calculations and approvals, choose Toggl. Its free plan covers three people, and Premium adds the profitability view a growing team needs.

Both depend on you telling them what you worked on. If the real problem is that you can’t remember where the day went, Dayflow, our free Mac app, records that automatically. Use it alongside either tool, not in place of one, whenever billing is involved.

Frequently asked questions

Is Paymo or Toggl better for tracking time across multiple projects?

Paymo is better when project time has to turn into invoices, estimates and planned tasks in one account, and it runs on Linux as well as Windows and Mac. Toggl is better when several people track against projects and you need billable rates, team reports, capacity planning and, on Premium, timesheet approvals and profitability reports. For a solo user who just wants hours per project, either works. Price and the free plan limits usually decide it.

Is Paymo's free plan enough for tracking several projects?

Only if you have very few. Paymo's free plan allows 1 user, 1 client, 2 projects and 1GB of storage. Time tracking, tasks and invoices are unlimited within those caps, and the desktop and mobile apps are included. Once you have a third project or a second client, you need the Solo plan at $5.9 a month billed annually, or $9.9 a month billed monthly after the current introductory offer ends.

Does Toggl have a free plan for small teams?

Yes. Toggl's free plan, which the vendor describes as free forever, covers up to 3 users and includes timers, focus mode, calendar integrations, tasks and boards. Billable rates require a paid plan. Starter costs $9 per user per month billed annually or $12 billed monthly, and Premium costs $16 per user per month billed annually or $24 billed monthly. Paid plans come with a 30-day trial.

Can Paymo or Toggl track time automatically?

Partly. The Paymo Track desktop app can run in the background and record time spent in desktop apps, which you then match to tasks and projects. Toggl lists automated background tracking and a timeline in its desktop app, though the product is still built mainly around timers and manual entry. In both cases you still decide which project the time belongs to. Neither one writes a summary of what you actually did.

Can I send invoices from Toggl the way I can from Paymo?

Paymo includes invoicing, estimates and expenses, and invoices are unlimited even on its free plan. For Toggl, the vendor pages checked list billable rates on paid plans and profitability reports on Premium, but invoice creation is not among the listed features. If sending invoices from your time tracker matters, check Toggl's pricing page before committing. If you want time and invoices in one place, Paymo is the documented fit.

Is Toggl Track the same thing as Toggl?

It is the same company and the time tracking lives on. Toggl now presents its product simply as Toggl, combining time tracking with planning, and toggl.com/track redirects to toggl.com. The vendor describes Toggl Track and Toggl Plan as legacy products that remain available to existing users. New sign-ups get the combined Toggl plans: Free, Starter, Premium and Enterprise, the last priced by contacting the vendor.

Do Paymo or Toggl take screenshots of my screen?

According to the vendors, no. Toggl states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. Paymo describes Paymo Track's automatic tracking as working without screenshots, and says the activities it records are stored locally on your computer, with you choosing which entries get logged to your account. Dayflow, our app, is different: it does capture your screen, once every 10 seconds, and stores those recordings on your Mac.

Should I use Dayflow instead of Toggl for billing clients?

No. For billing, Toggl beats Dayflow. Toggl has billable rates on paid plans, team reports, timesheet approvals and profitability reports on Premium. Dayflow has no invoicing, no payroll approvals and no team reports, and its AI summaries can miss or misread work. If you also want invoices in the same tool, Paymo is the better choice. Dayflow is a record of your own day, not a billing system.

Can I use Dayflow alongside Paymo or Toggl?

Yes, as a separate record. Dayflow captures your Mac screen at one frame every 10 seconds and writes a timeline, and you can export a date range as Markdown from Settings, then Export. You can use that log to fill in or check a Paymo or Toggl timesheet by hand. We do not document a direct sync between Dayflow and either tool, so plan on copying entries yourself.

Which is cheaper for a freelancer, Paymo or Toggl?

On annual billing, Paymo Solo is $5.9 a month, or $70.80 a year, and Toggl Starter is $9 a month, or $108 a year. On monthly billing, Paymo Solo is $9.9 after the introductory offer and Toggl Starter is $12. Toggl's free plan has no project cap listed in the facts checked, while Paymo's free plan stops at 2 projects. Check which limit you will hit first.