Timely vs Toggl: Which Is Better for Team Time Tracking in 2026?

Pick Timely if your team bills hours and wants work captured in the background, with AI drafting timesheets each person approves. It has no free tier and starts at $9 per user per month billed yearly. Pick Toggl if your team is fine starting timers, wants a free plan for up to 3 users, or needs Windows and browser extensions. Dayflow, our app, only fits one person on a Mac.

Timely and Toggl (formerly Toggl Track) both help teams log billable hours, but they start from opposite ends. Timely records work in the background and has AI draft timesheet entries for each person to approve. Toggl is built around timers and manual entry, with background tracking available in its desktop app but not at the center of the product.

Disclosure: we make Dayflow, a free, open-source Mac app that records your screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write your day into a timeline. It is a personal tool, not a team tracker, so it appears here only as a third option for one specific case. The method is a comparison of vendor documentation: Timely and Toggl facts come from each vendor’s own pages as checked on October 4, 2026, and Dayflow facts are from version 2.2.0. For deeper single-tool pages, see Dayflow as a Timely alternative and Toggl on the Mac.

One naming note: Toggl Track is now just Toggl. The vendor folded time tracking and planning into one product and describes Toggl Track and Toggl Plan as legacy products for existing users.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price	Platforms
Timely	Consultancies, agencies, SaaS and professional services teams that bill hours	Background Memory tracker into a private timeline, AI-drafted timesheet entries to approve, plus a manual timer	No free tier. From $9 per user per month billed yearly, or $11 billed monthly	Web, desktop app, iOS, Android
Toggl (formerly Toggl Track)	Freelancers and teams that need billing, profitability and capacity data	Manual and real-time timers, timesheets, calendar integrations; background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app	Free for up to 3 users. Paid from $9 per user per month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Dayflow (ours)	One person on a Mac who wants an automatic record of their day	Screen captured at one frame every 10 seconds; AI writes a readable timeline	$0, MIT licensed. Optional Pro at $20 a month	macOS 14 or later

Key takeaways

• If your team’s problem is forgotten timers and reconstructed timesheets, Timely is built for that. Capture runs in the background, and AI auto-completes and auto-allocates entries for each person to approve.
• If your team already works with timers, Toggl is cheaper to start: its Free plan covers up to 3 users, and paid plans get a 30-day trial versus Timely’s 14 days.
• Annual prices are identical at the entry and middle tiers ($9 and $16 per user per month). On monthly billing, Timely is cheaper ($11 and $20 versus Toggl’s $12 and $24).
• Timely’s Starter plan stops at 5 users and 20 projects, so most real teams land on Premium at $16 per user per month billed yearly.
• Dayflow is not a team tool. It has no invoicing, payroll approvals, team reports or website blocking. It fits one Mac user who wants a private, local record of the day.

What Timely does better

Automatic capture is the product, not an extra. Timely’s Memory tracker records work in the background across web and desktop apps and puts it into a private timeline. The point is that nobody has to remember to press start. For a consultancy where people jump between five clients before lunch, that removes the main failure of timer-based tracking: the gaps.

AI does the timesheet drafting. Timely lists AI timesheets with auto-completed and auto-allocated entries, plus AI time categorization. The flow is record first, then review a drafted timesheet, then approve. Compare that with Toggl, where the AI features are aimed at querying workspace data and creating tasks rather than filling in the timesheet for you.

Privacy between the person and the team is built into the model. The vendor states that each timeline is private and that only entries the user approves are shared. That matters if your team is wary of background tracking. The raw record stays with the individual, and the manager sees the timesheet.

Team and budget controls scale with the plan. Team and budget management, plus project management and accounting integrations, start at Premium. Capacity reporting and overtime tracking come with Unlimited. There is also a Tasks add-on, which the vendor lists at “as little as $5 per person.” See the vendor’s pricing page for its billing terms.

Monthly billing is cheaper. If you don’t want to commit for a year, Timely’s monthly prices ($11, $20, $28 per user) undercut Toggl’s ($12 and $24) at the comparable tiers.

What Toggl does better

You can start for free. 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. A small studio can run on it indefinitely. Timely has no free tier at all.

Longer trial. Paid Toggl plans get 30 days. Timely gives 14 days, which is short if you want a full billing cycle of data before deciding.

Platform coverage is explicit. Toggl lists Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and browser extensions. Timely lists Web, a desktop app, iOS and Android, but the vendor pages read did not confirm which desktop operating systems the app supports. For a mixed Mac and Windows team, Toggl removes a question you would otherwise have to ask sales.

Planning lives in the same tool. Toggl now combines tracking with project planning: timelines, tasks and capacity management. Premium adds timesheet approvals, profitability reports, and Jira and Asana integrations. If your team plans work in the same place it logs time, Toggl covers both halves.

Clear limits on what it collects. Toggl states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes. For teams that want time data without anything that looks like monitoring, that is a simple line to put in an internal policy. If that worry is driving your decision, our piece on time tracking without surveillance goes further.

AI for admins. Toggl AI answers natural-language questions about workspace data and handles admin tasks. Toggl also offers an MCP server and an AI Task Creator. These help the person running the workspace more than the person filling in hours.

Head-to-head table

Capability	Timely	Toggl	Dayflow (ours)
Automatic capture	Yes, Memory tracker records work in the background into a private timeline	Partial, the vendor lists background tracking and a timeline in the desktop app; mainly timer-based	Yes, screen captured at one frame every 10 seconds
Manual timers	Yes, included	Yes, manual and real-time timers, timesheets, calendar integrations	No
Invoicing	Not listed, see the vendor’s pricing page	Billable rates on paid plans; invoicing not listed, see the vendor’s pricing page	No
Team reports	Team and budget management (Premium and up); capacity and overtime (Unlimited)	Team reports; approvals and profitability reports (Premium)	No
Website blocking	Not listed, see the vendor’s pricing page	Not listed (Free plan includes a focus mode), see the vendor’s pricing page	No
AI features	AI timesheets with auto-completed and auto-allocated entries; AI categorization	Toggl AI for workspace questions and admin tasks; MCP server; AI Task Creator	AI writes a readable timeline of your day
Data location	Cloud web service; timelines private, approved entries shared	Cloud web service synced across web, desktop and mobile	Recordings and timeline on your Mac; analysis local or cloud, your choice
Free tier	None (14-day trial)	Free for up to 3 users (30-day trial on paid plans)	Free app, $0
Platforms	Web, desktop app, iOS, Android	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions	macOS 14 or later
Open source	No	No	Yes, MIT

On Dayflow’s data location: with Local AI, a model runs on your Mac through Ollama or LM Studio and screenshot analysis stays on-device. With your own cloud provider or Dayflow Pro, selected screenshots are processed off-device. Under our privacy policy, Pro deletes screenshots after processing and may retain activity data for sync. The details are on local and cloud processing.

Pricing compared

Plan	Timely, billed yearly	Timely, billed monthly	Toggl, billed annually	Toggl, billed monthly
Free	None	None	$0 (up to 3 users)	$0 (up to 3 users)
Starter	$9 per user per month (max 5 users)	$11 per user per month	$9 per user per month	$12 per user per month
Premium	$16 per user per month (max 50 users)	$20 per user per month	$16 per user per month	$24 per user per month
Unlimited	$22 per user per month	$28 per user per month	No equivalent plan	No equivalent plan
Enterprise	Custom, contact sales	Custom, contact sales	Contact vendor	Contact vendor

Dayflow for comparison: $0 for the app, or $20 a month for the optional Pro plan, which is $240 a year. Plans are on our pricing page.

What one person actually pays per year. If timers are enough, Toggl Free costs $0. If you want background capture with AI-drafted timesheets, Timely Starter is the cheapest fit: $9 times 12 is $108 a year billed yearly, or $11 times 12 is $132 billed monthly. Toggl Starter matches at $108 a year billed annually but costs $144 billed monthly ($12 times 12).

What a team pays. Timely’s 5-user cap on Starter changes the picture quickly. A team of six or more can’t stay on Timely Starter, so it lands on Premium at $16 per user per month billed yearly. The same team can stay on Toggl Starter at $9 per user per month billed annually, since Toggl Starter has no stated user cap in the facts we read. If that team also needs Toggl’s timesheet approvals and profitability reports, it moves to Toggl Premium at the same $16 per user per month billed annually. So the real question for a growing team is whether it needs Toggl’s Premium features. If it doesn’t, Toggl saves $7 per user per month on annual billing. Multiply by your headcount and 12 to see the yearly difference, and confirm current terms on each vendor’s pricing page.

If you bill by the hour, run your rates through the real hourly rate calculator. Untracked time usually costs more than the subscription.

When should you choose Timely?

• Your team bills hours and the recurring problem is missing or reconstructed time, not a lack of reports.
• People resist starting and stopping timers, and you’d rather review a drafted timesheet than build one from memory.
• You want a clear privacy boundary: a private timeline per person and only approved entries shared.
• You expect to need budget management, accounting integrations or capacity and overtime reporting, and you’re prepared to pay for Premium or Unlimited.
• You prefer monthly billing, where Timely is cheaper than Toggl at the comparable tiers.

Before committing, confirm which desktop operating systems Timely supports for your team, since the vendor pages read did not say.

When should you choose Toggl?

• Your team already uses timers and logs time well enough. You want reports, billable rates and approvals on top.
• You’re 3 people or fewer and want to pay nothing.
• You have a mix of Mac and Windows users, or people who live in the browser and want an extension.
• You want planning, tasks and capacity in the same tool as tracking, with Jira or Asana integrations on Premium.
• You want a stated commitment to no screenshots and no keystroke recording.
• You want 30 days to evaluate instead of 14.

If you’re comparing Toggl against another timer-first tool, see Toggl vs Clockify.

Where do both fall short?

Both are cloud services. Timely’s background record and Toggl’s timers both live on the vendor’s servers, and neither is open source. For a team that bills clients, that is usually fine and often necessary, because shared timesheets have to live somewhere shared.

The gap is personal. Neither tool is designed to give one person a private, local, readable account of what they did on their computer, kept on their own machine, with code they can read. Timely comes closest on privacy because the timeline is private to the user, but it’s still a cloud record, and there is no free tier. Toggl’s automatic tracking sits beside a timer-first product rather than replacing it.

That’s the case Dayflow (ours) covers, and only for one person on a Mac. It records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds, stores recordings and the timeline on your Mac, and has AI write the day into a timeline you can read. You can run the analysis locally through Ollama or LM Studio so screenshots never leave the machine. You can export a date range as Markdown from Settings, then Export, and use it to fill in a Toggl or Timely timesheet, as described in a Mac timesheet without manual entry. If you want a broader view of the category first, our guide to Mac time trackers covers the other options, and what an automatic time tracker is explains the approach.

AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work, in Dayflow as in any tool that drafts entries for you. Check the output before you send it to a client.

When is Dayflow the wrong pick?

For the job in this article, team time tracking, Dayflow is usually the wrong pick. Be clear about why:

• Your team needs shared timesheets, approvals or team reports. Dayflow has none of these. Toggl wins for timer-based teams, with team reports on paid plans and approvals on Premium. Timely wins if you want those team features fed by automatic capture.
• You invoice from your tracker or need billable rates. Dayflow does no invoicing or payroll approvals. Toggl supports billable rates on paid plans.
• Anyone on the team uses Windows, or works mainly on a phone. Dayflow runs only on macOS 14 or later. Toggl covers Windows, mobile and browser extensions.
• You need website blocking. Dayflow doesn’t block sites, and neither tool here lists it either.
• You want a free team plan. Dayflow is free, but it’s free for one person’s private record, not a team workspace. Toggl Free covers up to 3 users with shared tracking.

Where Dayflow does fit: a person on one of these teams who wants a private memory of the day to check their timesheet against, or a solo Mac user who doesn’t need a team product at all.

The bottom line

Choose Timely if the main problem is time that never gets logged. Its background Memory tracker and AI-drafted timesheets are designed for that, with a private timeline per person. It costs $9 per user per month billed yearly on Starter, and realistically $16 on Premium once you pass 5 users. Choose Toggl if your team works with timers and wants to start free, cover Windows and the browser, and add approvals and planning on Premium. At equal annual prices, the deciding factor is how your team actually works: whether people will run timers, or whether you’d rather have the work recorded and review a draft.

Dayflow, our app, isn’t a substitute for either at the team level. It’s for one Mac user who wants an automatic, local record of the day, free under the MIT license, and it works fine alongside whichever team tool you pick.

Frequently asked questions

Is Timely better than Toggl for a team?

It depends on how your team works. Timely is the better fit when people forget to start timers, because its Memory tracker records work in the background and AI drafts timesheet entries for approval. Toggl is the better fit when your team already works with timers, wants a free plan for up to 3 users, or needs planning tools, Jira and Asana integrations, and approvals on its Premium plan.

Does Toggl track time automatically?

Partly. Toggl is built around manual and real-time timers, timesheets and calendar integrations, and the vendor also lists automated background tracking and a timeline in its desktop app. It is still mainly a timer and manual-entry tool rather than a full automatic record. Toggl states that it does not take screenshots or record keystrokes.

Does Timely have a free plan?

No. Timely has no free tier. It offers a 14-day trial, after which the cheapest plan is Starter at $9 per user per month billed yearly or $11 per user per month billed monthly. Starter is capped at 5 users and 20 projects. Larger teams need Premium, Unlimited or a custom Enterprise plan.

How much does Timely cost per user?

Timely Starter is $9 per user per month billed yearly or $11 billed monthly, for up to 5 users. Premium is $16 per user per month billed yearly or $20 billed monthly, for up to 50 users. Unlimited is $22 per user per month billed yearly or $28 billed monthly. Enterprise is custom pricing through sales.

How much does Toggl cost per user?

Toggl has a Free plan for up to 3 users. Starter is $9 per user per month billed annually or $12 billed monthly. Premium is $16 per user per month billed annually or $24 billed monthly. Enterprise pricing is through the vendor. Paid plans come with a 30-day trial, and billable rates require a paid plan.

Will my manager see everything Timely records?

According to Timely, no. The vendor states that each person's timeline is private and that only entries the user approves are shared with the team. The background record feeds AI-drafted timesheet entries, and the person decides what goes into the shared timesheet. Timely is a cloud web service, so the data lives on the vendor's servers rather than only on your computer.

Can Dayflow replace Toggl for my team?

No, and Toggl is the better tool here. Dayflow has no team reports, timesheet approvals, billable rates or invoicing, and it runs only on macOS 14 or later. Toggl offers team reports, a free plan for up to 3 users, and approvals and profitability reports on Premium, across Web, Mac, Windows and mobile. Dayflow fits one person who wants a private record of their own Mac day.

Can I use Dayflow alongside Timely or Toggl?

Yes. You can keep Toggl or Timely as the team's system of record and run Dayflow on your own Mac as a personal memory of the day. Dayflow is free under the MIT license, stores recordings and the timeline on your Mac, and can export a date range as Markdown, which you can use to check or fill in timesheet entries before submitting them.

What happened to Toggl Track?

The product is now presented as Toggl (formerly Toggl Track), combining time tracking with planning. As of October 2026, toggl.com/track redirects to toggl.com, and the vendor describes Toggl Track and Toggl Plan as legacy products still available to existing users. New teams sign up for Toggl, which includes timers, timesheets, project planning, capacity management and Toggl AI.

Which works on Windows, Timely or Toggl?

Toggl explicitly lists Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and browser extensions. Timely lists Web, a desktop app, iOS and Android, but the vendor pages read did not confirm which desktop operating systems its app supports, so check with the vendor before rolling it out to a mixed team. Dayflow runs only on macOS 14 or later.