Time Trackers Cost Up to 2.5 Times Their Advertised Price Once Core Features Are Included, actiTIME Research Finds

A review of 16 time tracking tools finds a median entry price of $7.59 per user, monthly billing markups of up to 46%, and free plans that are getting smaller

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, October 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- actiTIME, the maker of project time tracking software, today published research comparing the published prices of 16 time tracking tools. The study found that most vendors keep timesheet approvals and profitability reports out of their cheapest plans. Teams that need those features pay up to 2.5 times the advertised entry price.
Entry plans cost $3.99 to $10.90 per user per month on annual billing, with a median of $7.59, according to vendor pricing pages checked on October 21, 2026. For a 10-person team, the cheapest plan that includes approvals and profit reports costs $720 a year with actiTIME and $959 to $2,028 a year with five other popular time trackers.

Key findings:
• Entry plans: $3.99 to $10.90 per user per month on annual billing; median $7.59. Top published plans run from $6 to $25; median $15.
• Core features cost extra: at 5 of the 6 tools priced for a 10-person team, timesheet approvals and profit reports require a mid- or top-tier plan. At one vendor, the entry plan costs $3.99, but approvals and labor costs start at $9.99.
• Monthly billing costs more: paying month to month costs 17% to 46% more than paying annually, with a median markup of 24%.
• Free plans are shrinking: two of the 7 free plans tracked since 2023–2025 got smaller in 2026. One dropped from unlimited users to 5, another from 5 users to 3. None got bigger.
• Prices are rising unevenly: four vendors raised prices between December 2025 and September 2026, including one that moved to usage-based fees. The largest increase on a single plan was 43%.
• Automation is sold separately: desktop automated time trackers cost $6.67 to $22 per user per month, and one vendor bills its AI tracker by usage at an estimated $6 per user on top of the plan price.

"Most teams compare time trackers by the price on the pricing page, but that number rarely includes what managers actually need, like timesheet approvals and profit reports," said Arina Katrycheva, CMO at actiTIME. "We wanted buyers to see the full cost before they commit. That's also how we price actiTIME: one plan with every feature for $6 per user, and the price per user goes down as the team grows."

actiTIME's team collected list prices from the official pricing pages of 16 time tracking tools on October 21, 2026. Prices are in USD per user per month on annual billing unless noted otherwise; discounts, taxes and regional prices are not included. Medians are calculated from the 10 tools that publish a full per-user price list in USD. Price and free-plan history comes from archived pricing pages and from vendor announcements.

The full research, including price tables, feature comparisons and sources, is available at actitime website. Teams can compare their current tool with actiTIME for their own team size using the time tracking pricing calculator.

About actiTIME
actiTIME is project time tracking software that connects tracked hours to cost, billing and profitability. Developed by a self-funded Canadian company, it has been on the market for more than 20 years and is used by teams in more than 130 countries, with more than 100,000 users tracking time every day. actiTIME offers one paid plan with its full feature set, a free plan for up to 3 users, and both cloud and self-hosted versions.

Arina Katrycheva
actiTIME
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