Timing vs Rize: Which Is Better for Automatic Tracking on a Mac in 2026?

Timing is the better pick for automatic tracking on a Mac if you bill by the hour or want tracked data kept on your Mac, from $9 a month billed annually. Rize wins if you also use Windows or want AI categorization and focus insights, from $9.99 a month billed annually. Dayflow, our free open-source app, fits if you want a written record of your day.

Timing and Rize both record what you do on your Mac without a timer, so the real difference is where the data lives and what it is for. Timing keeps tracked times on your Mac unless you opt into sync, and it is built around billable hours. Rize hosts your data on Amazon Web Services and is built around AI categorization, focus insights and Windows support.

Dayflow, the third tool in the tables below, is our product. It is a free, open-source Mac app, and it does a somewhat different job, so it is labeled wherever it appears. This comparison is based on vendor documentation only: Timing’s and Rize’s own pages as checked on October 4, 2026, and Dayflow 2.2.0 as reviewed on September 6, 2026. For more depth on either tool, see our pages on Timing alternatives and Rize alternatives.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price	Platforms
Timing	Billable-hour records kept on your Mac	Automatic tracking of apps, websites and documents, plus manual entries	From $9/month billed annually, or $11/month billed monthly	Mac
Rize	AI categorization and focus insights across Mac and Windows	Automatic app and website tracking with AI categorization, plus Google Calendar for meetings	From $9.99/month billed annually, or $12.99/month billed monthly	Mac, Windows
Dayflow (ours)	A written timeline of what you actually did	One screen frame every 10 seconds, then AI writes the day as a timeline	$0, optional Pro at $20/month	Mac (macOS 14+)

Key takeaways

• Timing keeps tracked times local by default. Rize hosts data in the cloud on AWS. If storage location decides the matter for you, it decides it here.
• Timing is the billing tool. It lists billing status tracking, report rounding, a GrandTotal invoicing integration and Clio sync, depending on plan. Rize lists client reports in PDF and CSV on Pro and above, with no invoicing.
• Rize is the only one of the two on Windows. It also bundles more AI features, but it meters them in monthly AI credits.
• Neither has a free tier. Timing offers a 30-day trial and Rize a 7-day trial. Neither asks for a credit card.
• Dayflow (ours) costs $0 and is MIT licensed. It writes a readable record of your day. It has no invoicing, team reports or website blocking.

What does Timing do better than Rize?

Your tracked time stays on your Mac

Timing says tracked times are stored locally and never leave your Mac unless you opt into sync. Every plan includes Sync & Cloud Backup, so you can add cloud sync, but the default is local.

This is the biggest difference between the two tools. If you work with client material or just prefer that a record of every app and URL you touch stays on your machine, Timing starts in the right place. Rize’s documentation describes cloud hosting only.

Billing and client work

Timing’s strengths are about turning hours into money:

• Billing status tracking, so you can mark time as billed or unbilled.
• Customizable reports with report rounding.
• A GrandTotal invoicing integration.
• Two-way sync with ClickUp, Linear and Clio. Clio matters to legal professionals, who are one of the groups Timing names.

Some of these depend on the plan, so check which tier includes the integration you need before you buy. Rize can produce client reports on Pro and above, but none of these billing features appear in its documentation.

Finer-grained capture

Timing tracks apps, websites and documents, and goes down to specific URLs and Mail threads. It also lists manual time entries, iOS activity import and call tracking.

That level of detail is what makes an after-the-fact timesheet accurate. You can tell which client’s document you had open, not just that you were in Word. Rize describes its capture as app and website tracking with AI categorization, which is less specific on paper.

A longer trial and a lower entry price

Timing gives 30 days to try it. Rize gives 7. For automatic tracking, a longer trial is useful. A week shows you a week. A month shows you a billing cycle and whether the categories hold up.

Timing’s entry plan also costs a little less: $9 a month billed annually, against $9.99 for Rize Basic.

MCP on every plan

Timing lists AI integration via MCP on all plans. You can connect an AI assistant to your tracked data on the cheapest tier. Rize reserves MCP server access for Pro and above, which starts at $23.99 a month billed annually.

What does Rize do better than Timing?

It runs on Windows

Rize supports macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or later and Windows 10 or later. Timing is Mac only.

If you have a Windows desktop at the office and a MacBook at home, Rize can track both. Timing can only track the Mac. Rize does say Linux is not yet available.

More AI built into the daily view

Rize puts AI into more of the product than Timing does:

• AI auto-categorization and tagging of your activity.
• AI chat over your data.
• AI productivity and focus insights.

Timing has AI too, with AI activity summaries and AI-powered suggestions for time entries. Rize puts more weight on telling you how focused you were, while Timing puts more weight on getting time entries right.

The catch is metering. Rize plans include monthly AI credits: 500 on Basic, 1,000 on Pro and 3,000 on Max. If you rely heavily on AI chat, the plan you need may be higher than the one you would otherwise pick.

Meetings from Google Calendar

You can connect Google Calendar to Rize to capture meeting time. If a large share of your week happens in meetings, that saves you from reconstructing them later. Timing lists call tracking, but a calendar connection is not among its listed features.

Scheduled reports and automation on Pro

Rize Pro and above include client and scheduled reports in PDF and CSV, plus an API, webhooks and Zapier. Timing also lists scripting, a Web API and Zapier, depending on plan, so automation is roughly even.

Scheduled reports that arrive without you opening the app are something Rize names explicitly.

Head-to-head table

Capability	Timing	Rize	Dayflow (ours)
Automatic capture	Apps, websites, documents, URLs, Mail threads	Apps and websites with AI categorization	One screen frame every 10 seconds, written up by AI
Manual entries and timers	Manual time entries listed	Not listed, see the vendor’s pricing page	Not listed, capture is automatic
Invoicing	Billing status, report rounding, GrandTotal integration (plan dependent)	Client reports in PDF and CSV on Pro and above, no invoicing listed	None
Team reports	Shared projects on Connect	Team plan	None
Website blocking	Not listed, see the vendor’s pricing page	Not listed, see the vendor’s pricing page	None
AI features	AI activity summaries, AI time entry suggestions, MCP on all plans	AI categorization, AI chat, focus insights, credit-metered, MCP on Pro and above	AI-written timeline, with local AI, your own provider or Pro
Data location	Local, optional sync	Cloud (AWS, encrypted at rest and in transit)	Recordings and timeline on your Mac; analysis local or cloud, your choice
Free tier and trial	No free tier, 30-day trial	No free tier, 7-day trial	$0 app, optional Pro
Platforms	Mac	Mac, Windows	Mac, macOS 14+
Open source	No	No	Yes, MIT

Pricing compared

Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Timing Professional	$9/month	$11/month
Timing Expert	$11/month	$14/month
Timing Connect	$16/user/month	$20/user/month
Rize Basic (500 AI credits/month)	$9.99/month	$12.99/month
Rize Pro (1,000 AI credits/month)	$23.99/month	See the vendor’s pricing page
Rize Max (3,000 AI credits/month)	$39.99/month	See the vendor’s pricing page
Rize Team	$29.99/seat/month	$39.99/seat/month
Rize Enterprise	Custom, contact vendor	Custom, contact vendor
Dayflow (ours)	$0	$0, optional Pro at $20/month

For one person who wants automatic tracking on a single Mac, the cheapest plan that fits is the entry tier of each tool.

Timing Professional comes to $108 a year billed annually, or $132 over twelve months billed monthly. Be aware that Professional covers one Mac and has limited web app access. If you need more than that, Expert costs $132 a year billed annually or $168 billed monthly.

Rize Basic comes to $119.88 a year billed annually, or $155.88 over twelve months billed monthly, with 500 AI credits a month. If you need MCP access or the scheduled client reports, the cheapest option is Pro at $287.88 a year billed annually.

Dayflow is $0. If you choose Pro, it costs $240 over twelve months at $20 a month. See Dayflow pricing for details.

Timing notes that its prices may vary by region or tax, so check the price shown at checkout.

When should you choose Timing?

Pick Timing if any of these describe you:

• You bill clients by the hour. Billing status, report rounding and the GrandTotal and Clio integrations are built for this job.
• You want tracked data to stay on your Mac. It is local by default, and sync is something you opt into.
• You need detail at the document level. URLs, documents and Mail threads give you enough to rebuild a timesheet that names the client.
• You only use Macs. Being Mac only costs you nothing in that case.
• You want to connect an AI assistant cheaply. MCP comes with every plan, including Professional.

Timing is also the cheaper entry point. If you are unsure, the 30-day trial gives you a full month to judge it.

When should you choose Rize?

Pick Rize if any of these describe you:

• You work on both Mac and Windows. It is the only one of the two that covers both.
• You care more about focus than billing. AI focus insights and AI chat are central to the product.
• Your calendar drives your day. Google Calendar captures meeting time without any extra work.
• You are comfortable with cloud hosting. Data lives on AWS, encrypted at rest and in transit.
• You want scheduled reports sent to clients. Choose Pro or above for PDF and CSV client reports and webhooks.

Watch the AI credits. If AI chat becomes a habit, plan around the credit limit on your tier instead of assuming Basic will cover you.

Where do Timing and Rize both fall short?

Both tools charge from the first day after the trial, and neither is open source. You cannot read the code that records your activity, and you cannot keep using either one without paying. Linux users are not covered by either tool, and that holds for every tool on this page.

There is a quieter gap too. Both tools record which apps, sites and (for Timing) documents were active, then sort that into categories or time entries. Neither lists keeping a visual record of what was on your screen.

That leaves a hole when your question is “what was I actually doing on Tuesday afternoon?” rather than “how many hours went to Client B?” A row that says you spent 47 minutes in a browser does not say what you figured out.

Dayflow, our app, is built for that gap. It records one frame every 10 seconds, stores full screen recordings and the timeline on your Mac, and has AI write the day as a readable timeline. You choose where the analysis happens:

• Local AI runs a model on your Mac through Ollama or LM Studio, so screenshot analysis never leaves the device. It needs your own hardware resources.
• Your own provider sends selected screenshots to the cloud service you configure. That provider’s charges and terms apply.
• Dayflow Pro manages the cloud analysis for you. Under our privacy policy, screenshots are deleted after processing, and Activity Data may be kept for sync.

More detail is on local and cloud processing. You can export any date range as Markdown, and the code is MIT licensed. If being watched worries you more than being billed, read time tracking without surveillance.

Dayflow closes the cost and open-source gaps, but not the platform gap. It is Mac only and needs macOS 14 or later.

When is Dayflow the wrong pick?

Dayflow is not a billing tool, and it does not replace either of these apps for the jobs they are built for.

• You invoice by the hour. Choose Timing. Dayflow has no invoices, no billing status and no report rounding. Its AI summaries can also miss or misinterpret work, so they are not a dependable base for an invoice without checking.
• You need to track a Windows PC. Choose Rize. Dayflow runs only on macOS 14 or later.
• Your Mac runs an older macOS. Rize supports Mojave 10.14.6 or later. Dayflow needs macOS 14.
• You manage a team. Choose Timing Connect for shared projects, or Rize Team. Dayflow has no team reports and no payroll approvals.
• You want sites blocked during focus time. Dayflow does not block websites. Neither Timing’s nor Rize’s documentation lists blocking either, so look elsewhere among Mac time trackers.
• You want structured hours with nothing to set up. Timing’s local, automatic time entries work out of the box. Dayflow’s fully on-device mode asks you to run a local model.

The bottom line

For automatic tracking on a Mac, choose Timing if the hours have to end up on an invoice, or if your tracked data should stay on your machine. It costs a little less, the trial is longer, and the billing features have no match in Rize.

Choose Rize if you also work on Windows, want AI categorization and focus insights in your daily view, and are fine with cloud hosting.

If what you really want is to remember and explain your day, rather than bill for it, Dayflow (ours) does that for $0. See how automatic time tracking on a Mac works, or compare every time tracker for Mac we cover.

Frequently asked questions

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

Timing is the better fit if you bill by the hour or want tracked times stored on your Mac. It tracks apps, websites, documents and Mail threads, and it adds billing status and report rounding. Rize is the better fit if you also work on Windows or want AI categorization, AI chat and focus insights, and you are comfortable with cloud hosting on Amazon Web Services.

Does Timing have a free plan?

No. Timing's pricing page, checked on October 4, 2026, shows no free tier. Timing offers a 30-day trial with no credit card required. After the trial, the Professional plan costs $9 per month billed annually or $11 per month billed monthly. Expert costs $11 per month billed annually or $14 per month billed monthly.

Does Rize have a free plan?

No. Rize has no permanently free tier. It offers a 7-day trial with full feature access and no credit card required. After the trial, Basic costs $9.99 a month billed annually or $12.99 billed monthly, and it includes 500 AI credits a month. Pro costs $23.99 a month and Max costs $39.99 a month, both billed annually.

Does Timing work on Windows?

No. Timing is Mac only. If you split your week between a Mac and a Windows PC and want one automatic tracker on both, Rize is the one of the two that supports both. Rize requires macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or later and Windows 10 or later. Dayflow, our app, is also Mac only and needs macOS 14 or later.

Where does Rize store my data?

Rize stores data in the cloud. The vendor says data is hosted on Amazon Web Services and encrypted at rest and in transit. Timing is different. It says tracked times are stored locally and never leave your Mac unless you opt into sync. If local storage is a requirement for you, Timing or Dayflow fits better than Rize.

Can Dayflow replace Timing for billing clients?

No. Timing is the better tool for billing. Dayflow has no invoicing, no billing status and no report rounding. Its AI summaries can also miss or misinterpret work. Timing lists billing status tracking, customizable reports with rounding, a GrandTotal invoicing integration and Clio sync, depending on plan. If your tracked hours turn into invoices, use Timing.

How much does Timing cost per year?

The Professional plan costs $108 a year billed annually ($9 a month), or $132 over twelve months billed monthly ($11 a month). Expert costs $132 a year billed annually, or $168 over twelve months billed monthly. Connect costs $16 per user per month billed annually. Timing notes that prices may vary by region or tax.

Do Timing and Rize use AI?

Both do. Timing lists AI activity summaries and AI integration via MCP on all plans, plus AI-powered suggestions for time entries. Rize uses AI for auto-categorization, tagging, AI chat, and productivity and focus insights. Rize meters these in monthly AI credits: 500 on Basic, 1,000 on Pro and 3,000 on Max. Rize's MCP server access starts on the Pro plan.

Is there a free alternative to Timing and Rize on Mac?

Dayflow, our app, costs $0 and is MIT licensed, with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month. It records one screen frame every 10 seconds, and AI writes your day into a timeline. It runs on macOS 14 or later. It is not a billing tool. It has no invoices, no team reports and no website blocking.

Which is cheaper, Timing or Rize?

Timing is slightly cheaper at the entry level. Timing Professional costs $9 a month billed annually and Rize Basic costs $9.99, which is $108 against $119.88 a year. On monthly billing, it is $11 against $12.99. The gap widens on higher tiers: Timing Expert costs $11 a month billed annually, while Rize Pro costs $23.99.