TMetric vs. Timely: Comparison and Expert Reviews for 2026

TMetric and Timely both track time, but one favors hands-on control while the other leans on AI automation. See which approach better fits your team’s workflow, budget, and reporting needs in 2026.

By Galen Low on Jul 16, 2026

15-year PM leader transforming digital project management in the AI age.

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Why Trust Our Reviews?

Tracking time becomes a problem when forgotten hours, incomplete timesheets, and scattered work records make it harder to understand where the day actually went. The real question is whether your team needs more control over every entry or less manual effort spent logging time.

TMetric and Timely are time tracking software tools designed to improve time management and productivity in different ways. TMetric focuses on user-controlled tracking, approvals, reporting, and project profitability, while Timely uses AI to capture work automatically and draft timesheets with less input.

In this comparison, I’ll help you decide which approach better fits your team’s workflow.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview
Why Trust Us
Pricing
Features
Integrations
Security
Ease of Use
Pros & Cons
Best Use Cases
Differences
Similarities

TMetric vs. Timely: An Overview

Why You Can Trust Us

TMetric vs. Timely Pricing Comparison

	TMetric	Timely
Free Trial	Free plan available + 14-day free trial	Free 14-day trial + free demo available
Pricing	From $5.83/user/month (billed annually)	From $9/user/month (billed annually)

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TMetric vs. Timely Pricing & Hidden Costs

TMetric offers more flexibility across its free and paid tiers, but teams need to check where features such as invoicing, approvals, attendance, PTO, and monitoring become available. In addition, the workspace owner counts as a paid seat. By contrast, Timely’s entry plan limits both users and projects, while integrations, team management, budgeting, capacity planning, and Azure user management sit on higher tiers. Its Tasks feature also costs extra per user, so the tidy starting price can grow once your workflow becomes more ambitious.

Ultimately, compare the plan your team will realistically need, not the cheapest one that gets you through the door. TMetric may suit teams that want to choose their feature level, while Timely’s AI automation can justify the higher cost for teams trying to reduce manual tracking. However, project limits, user caps, add-ons, and future upgrades should all be included in your total cost before signing up.

TMetric vs. Timely Feature Comparison

TMetric and Timely both cover project tracking, billable hours, team dashboards, reporting, budgeting, and integrations. However, TMetric builds these features around a more controlled time-to-billing workflow. Teams can track time across web, desktop, mobile, and browser extensions, work offline, submit timesheets for approval, create invoices from approved hours, and connect labor costs, revenue, budgets, and margins through profitability reports.

By contrast, Timely puts automation front and center. Its AI-powered Memory captures activity across apps, meetings, documents, and emails, then suggests time entries for users to review. It also adds visual project dashboards, workload views, and calendar-based timelines. Put simply, TMetric is stronger for teams that want precise, user-controlled records and deeper billing workflows, while Timely is better for reducing the effort required to remember and log every hour.

	TMetric	Timely
API
Analytics
Calendar Management
Dashboard
Data Export
Data Import
Data Visualization
External Integrations
Forecasting
Multi-User
Notifications
Scheduling

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TMetric vs. Timely Integrations

Integration	TMetric	Timely
Asana	✅	✅
Trello	✅	✅
Jira	✅	✅
Slack	✅	✅
GitHub	✅	✅
QuickBooks	✅	✅
Google Calendar	✅	✅
Outlook	✅	✅
Notion	✅	✅
monday.com	✅	✅
API	✅	✅
Zapier	✅	✅

TMetric and Timely both connect with the project management, accounting, calendar, and collaboration tools most teams already use. In addition, each supports API and Zapier access for less common workflows. However, connection depth varies: TMetric commonly adds timers to external tools, while Timely combines automatic activity capture with deeper synchronization for selected platforms. As a result, integration coverage alone is unlikely to decide the contest.

TMetric vs. Timely Security, Compliance & Reliability

Factor	TMetric	Timely
Data Encryption	Encrypts off-site backups and stores service data in Microsoft Azure’s West Europe region. Payment details are handled by Verifone rather than stored on TMetric’s servers.	Encrypts customer data in transit and at rest, with TLS 1.2 or higher protecting web traffic, API calls, and integrations.
Compliance	Supports GDPR rights covering access, restriction, portability, objection, and deletion. A GDPR-compliant DPA is also available for EU customers.	Holds ISO 27001:2022 certification and supports GDPR requirements through its DPA, privacy policies, and data protection controls.
Infrastructure Security	Uses Microsoft Azure for databases, import files, and encrypted backup archives. It also anonymizes IP addresses by suppressing the final octet.	Runs on EU-based AWS infrastructure with isolated customer environments, DDoS protection, continuous monitoring, and VPN- and MFA-restricted infrastructure access.
Access & Privacy Controls	Workspace admins can configure app and website tracking, activity levels, keyboard and mouse activity status, and optional screenshots. TMetric records activity, not what users type.	Uses role-based access, least-privilege controls, MFA, and SSO options. Meanwhile, automatically captured Memory data remains private to each user, with no screenshots or covert monitoring.
Reliability	Keeps encrypted and compressed backups for 30 days, with deleted personal data removed once the related backup copies expire.	Uses automated encrypted backups, integrity checks, multi-zone redundancy, and automatic failover to reduce disruption and support recovery.

Both tools take security seriously, but the difference goes beyond a generic GDPR checkmark. TMetric gives administrators configurable oversight of employee activity, making it better suited to teams that need monitoring controls alongside time records. By contrast, Timely draws a firmer privacy line by keeping AI-captured activity private to each user, while also backing its security approach with ISO 27001 certification, EU data residency, and multi-zone infrastructure. Ultimately, TMetric favors adjustable workforce visibility, while Timely makes the stronger case for privacy by design and formally audited security.

TMetric vs. Timely Ease of Use

Factor	TMetric	Timely
User Interface	Keeps timers, projects, timesheets, reports, billing, attendance, and team activity in a straightforward workspace. Its familiar layout makes it easy to move from daily tracking to approvals and financial reporting.	Uses a modern timeline-based interface centered on reviewing automatically captured activity and completing AI-generated timesheets.
Onboarding	Uses a self-serve setup where teams create a workspace, add clients and projects, invite members, configure rates and permissions, and install the apps they need. Guides, videos, sample data, and demos help teams get settled.	Requires users to install its tracking app, connect work tools, and teach the system how captured activities should be assigned to projects and tasks.
Mobile App	Supports mobile time entry, editing, reminders, project access, and GPS-based location capture. However, its mobile apps are no longer actively developed, and its main automatic tracking experience remains desktop-focused.	Supports mobile time entry, editing, reminders, project access, and GPS-based location capture, while its main automatic tracking experience remains desktop-focused.
Support	Provides 24/7 live chat and email support, alongside a help center, user guides, video tutorials, and optional product demos. Higher plans also receive priority assistance.	Provides in-app support and documentation, while higher plans add customer success support, training, and priority assistance.
Workflow Simplicity	Gives users direct control over task, project, client, and billing labels, with offline syncing, editable entries, approvals, and invoicing from approved time. It requires more active input, but the resulting records are easier to verify.	Reduces routine logging through automatic activity capture and AI-generated timesheet suggestions, although users still need to review and categorize the results.

TMetric takes a more hands-on approach, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Its structured setup gives service teams clearer control over how time is labeled, approved, billed, and reflected in project margins. By contrast, Timely removes more of the daily remembering through AI, which can make it quicker to adopt for users who dislike timers. Ultimately, TMetric is easier for teams that value precise, verifiable records, while Timely suits those willing to trade some control for automation.

TMetric vs Timely: Pros & Cons

Best Use Cases for TMetric and Timely

TMetric

Small and Mid-Sized Service Teams TMetric fits teams of roughly 5 to 200 people that need time tracking, approvals, attendance, PTO, billing, and project reporting in a self-serve platform.
Software Development Teams Development teams can track time by task, project, and client while connecting TMetric with tools such as Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Redmine, and ClickUp.
Professional Services Firms Professional services firms can approve billable hours, apply different rates, create invoices, and monitor the profitability of each engagement.
Consulting Teams Consultants can organize time across clients and engagements while using configurable rates to support different contracts, roles, and work types.
Marketing and Media Teams Marketing and media teams can track time by campaign, client, and task to compare delivery hours with budgets and project margins.
Legal Service Teams Legal teams can use TMetric for client- and matter-based time tracking and invoicing, though it does not replace legal practice management or trust accounting software.

Timely

Creative Agencies Timely’s automatic tracking and project dashboards help creative teams accurately capture time spent across multiple projects and clients.
Consulting Firms AI-generated logs and granular project reporting make detailed client billing effortless for consultants handling diverse projects.
Engineering Teams Timely’s background tracking and privacy model allow developers to stay focused without manual timesheets or oversight concerns.
Remote Workforces Distributed teams benefit from clear workload visibility and private, user-approved activity tracking.
Project Managers The project and team dashboards offer instant clarity on resource allocation, budgets, and potential overruns.
Freelancers Solo professionals appreciate the hands-off time capture and simple export for invoicing clients.

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Who Should Use TMetric, and Who Should Use Timely?

If you’re looking for time tracking software that gives service teams tighter control over billable hours, approvals, invoicing, labor costs, and project profitability, TMetric is likely the better fit. It works especially well for agencies, consultancies, software teams, legal firms, and other client-facing businesses that need accurate records they can verify before those hours reach reports or invoices.

By contrast, Timely is better suited to creative agencies, consulting firms, engineering teams, freelancers, and remote workforces that want time capture to happen with less daily effort. Its AI-powered tracking, private activity records, visual dashboards, and workload insights make it appealing for teams that value automation and project visibility. Put simply, choose TMetric for hands-on control and structured billing workflows, or Timely if your team would rather let AI handle most of the remembering.

Differences Between TMetric and Timely

	TMetric	Timely
Billing Workflow	Connects approved time entries to configurable billing rates, invoices, labor costs, budgets, revenue, and project margins.	Focuses more on billable time, project budgets, cost rates, and accounting sync, with fewer built-in approval and invoicing steps.
Employee Data & Privacy	Supports configurable activity levels, app and website usage, idle detection, and optional screenshots for teams that need closer oversight.	Keeps automatically captured Memory data private to each user and avoids screenshots, making its tracking model less focused on employee monitoring.
Pricing Structure	Uses a free plan and multiple paid tiers, with billing, approvals, attendance, PTO, and monitoring divided across plans.	Uses user and project limits across its tiers, while integrations, planning, advanced security, and capacity tools require higher plans. Task management is also sold as an add-on.
Time Capture Approach	Emphasizes user-controlled timers and time entries across web, desktop, mobile, and browser extensions. Offline records sync automatically, while users decide how each entry is categorized.	Uses AI-powered Memory to capture activity across apps, meetings, documents, and emails. Users review the suggested entries before adding them to their timesheets.
Workforce Management	Includes timesheet approvals, attendance tracking, PTO management, and payroll cost calculations alongside project time.	Places more emphasis on workload and capacity planning, including planned hours, overtime, undertime, and team availability.
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Similarities Between TMetric and Timely

Apps and Integrations	Both offer web, desktop, and mobile access and connect with widely used project management, calendar, accounting, and collaboration tools. API and Zapier support also help teams cover less common workflows.
Billable Time Management	Both separate billable and non-billable hours and support user-specific rates. This helps teams understand what can be charged to clients and what counts as internal work.
Project-Based Tracking	Both let teams assign recorded hours to projects and clients, making it easier to compare time spent with budgets, deadlines, and billable work.
Reporting and Exports	Both provide reports covering time, projects, clients, and team activity, with export options for sharing results with clients, finance teams, or other stakeholders.
Team Administration	Both support multiple users, permissions, team dashboards, and centralized management. Managers can review work across the team without giving every user access to sensitive financial or administrative data.
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