TrackTime vs. TimeCamp

Most time tracking comparisons pit a manual timer against another manual timer. This one is different. TrackTime and TimeCamp are two of the few tools that record time automatically, without anyone pressing start. The catch is that they automate completely different parts of your day. TimeCamp watches what happens on your computer. TrackTime watches what happens on your phone.

That single difference decides which tool is right for you, and it is why this comparison ends with a genuine recommendation for each product rather than a winner-takes-all verdict.

Full disclosure before we start: TrackTime is our product. We have kept this comparison factual, we verified TimeCamp's current pricing and features in July 2026, and we say clearly below when TimeCamp is the better buy.

The short answer

• Choose TimeCamp if your billable work happens at a desk, inside documents, browsers, and desktop applications, and you want the cheapest paid plans in the category. Its desktop agent recovers untracked computer time well once you configure it.
• Choose TrackTime if your billable work happens in conversations, meaning phone calls, text messages, and email with clients, and you carry an Android phone. TimeCamp captures nothing on phones, and that is exactly where TrackTime operates.

How TimeCamp's automatic tracking works

TimeCamp's automation lives in a desktop app for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Once installed, it records which applications, documents, and websites are active on your computer throughout the day. You then define keyword rules, so that time in a window whose title contains a client name, a matter number, or a project keyword is assigned to the matching project automatically. Activity that matches no rule lands in an unassigned bucket for you to sort out later.

When it is set up well, this is genuinely useful. A consultant who spends the day moving between client documents, spreadsheets, and research tabs will find that TimeCamp reconstructs a fuller picture of the day than memory ever would. TimeCamp also includes billable rates and invoicing on its higher tiers, so tracked time can become a client bill without a second tool.

The setup effort is real, though. Keyword rules need to be specific to work, and it takes iteration before the automatic assignments become trustworthy. Vague rules produce misfiled time, and the unassigned bucket needs regular attention in the early weeks.

How TrackTime's automatic capture works

TrackTime automates a different layer of the workday: the client communication that happens on your phone and in your inbox. Its Android app runs in the background and, with your permission, captures the following automatically:

• Phone calls. Inbound and outbound cellular calls are timed and matched to the right client automatically.
• Text messages. SMS conversations and incoming RCS messages in Google Messages are captured as billable events.
• Email. Time spent working in Gmail and Outlook is tracked and attributed to clients.
• Travel. Drive time and mileage are recorded for client trips.

Captured entries flow into a web dashboard for review, where you adjust anything that needs it and then generate invoices directly, since invoicing is built in. The privacy design matters here: TrackTime stores metadata only, meaning who, when, and how long. It never stores message contents or email subject lines, which is the standard a lawyer or anyone handling confidential client communication should demand from a tool like this.

There is no keyword configuration to maintain, because calls and messages carry their own identity. A call from a client's number is matched to that client. The setup burden sits in granting Android permissions during onboarding rather than in weeks of rule tuning.

What each one cannot see

This is the heart of the comparison, so it deserves its own section, stated bluntly in both directions.

TimeCamp cannot see your phone. Its automatic tracking is desktop-only. The eleven-minute client call you took in the car, the text thread you answered at night, and the email triage you did from your phone in a waiting room are all invisible to it. For professionals whose billable value is delivered through conversation, that is the majority of the leaked time. Our post on five ways billable time leaks out of your week walks through exactly these gaps.

TrackTime does not watch your desktop applications. It captures email time in Gmail and Outlook, but it does not monitor which documents or desktop programs are open on your computer the way TimeCamp does. Long blocks of drafting or spreadsheet work are tracked in TrackTime the ordinary way, by entries you review and adjust in the dashboard rather than by a desktop watcher, which is the hybrid workflow we describe in our honest comparison of manual and automatic tracking.

Also worth stating plainly: TrackTime's automatic capture requires an Android phone. There is no TrackTime iOS app, and iOS does not allow any app to observe calls, message notifications, or foreground apps at the operating-system level, so capture like this is technically impossible on iPhone no matter who builds it. TimeCamp's desktop tracking, by contrast, does not care what phone you carry.

Pricing compared

TimeCamp is the budget leader in this category. It offers a free plan, and its paid tiers run from $3.99 for Starter, to $6.99 for Premium, to $9.99 for Ultimate, per user per month with annual billing. Those are among the cheapest paid tiers of any serious time tracker, and features such as billable rates and invoicing arrive as you move up the tiers.

TrackTime's Professional plan is $14.99 per month, or $161.89 per year, for a single user, with a 7-day free trial. It includes unlimited clients, automatic capture, built-in invoicing, two-factor authentication, and full API access at that single price. Team plans are available, and the Enterprise plan supports up to 30 users with team control from the dashboard.

TimeCamp is clearly cheaper on paper. The right way to evaluate the difference is against the time each tool recovers for you. If TrackTime captures even one otherwise-forgotten six-minute call per day, the recovered billing at typical professional rates exceeds the entire price gap many times over. If your day contains few billable calls and texts, that argument does not apply to you, and TimeCamp's price wins.

Where TimeCamp is the better choice

• Your billable work is desk-bound. Writers, developers, analysts, and anyone whose client work lives in documents and desktop applications will get more from a desktop watcher than from communication capture.
• Budget is the deciding factor. A free plan and paid tiers from $3.99 to $9.99 per user per month make TimeCamp the cheapest way to get real automatic tracking of any kind.
• You are on an iPhone. TrackTime's capture requires Android. An iPhone user gets nothing from our core feature, while TimeCamp's desktop tracking works regardless of phone.
• You are tracking a team's computer time. TimeCamp's per-user tiers and activity reporting are built for managers who want visibility into how desk time maps to projects.

Where TrackTime is the better choice

• Your billable day is conversations. Lawyers, consultants, accountants, recruiters, and IT consultants bill for calls, texts, and email that no desktop agent will ever see. TrackTime captures that automatically.
• You carry an Android phone. The full automatic-tracking app is downloaded from TrackTime.com, and a Lite manual-tracking version is on Google Play, so the capture engine is available to you today.
• You want capture without rule maintenance. Client matching is based on who called or messaged, not on keyword rules you have to tune and babysit.
• Privacy requirements are strict. Metadata-only storage, with no message contents and no email subject lines ever stored, is a design guarantee rather than a setting.

Frequently asked questions

Can TimeCamp track phone calls or text messages?

No. TimeCamp's automatic tracking runs on desktop computers, where it records active applications, documents, and websites. It captures nothing on phones, so calls and text messages never appear in it unless you enter them manually.

Does TrackTime track which programs I use on my computer?

No. TrackTime does not watch desktop applications. Its automatic capture covers phone calls, SMS and incoming RCS messages in Google Messages, time in Gmail and Outlook, and drive time for client trips, all on Android. Desktop-heavy work is entered and adjusted in the web dashboard rather than captured by a watcher.

Can I use TimeCamp and TrackTime together?

Nothing prevents it, and the two tools watch non-overlapping parts of your day, so a desk-heavy professional with a busy client phone could run both. Most people should start with the tool that covers their bigger leak, and add the second only if a real gap remains after a month of honest tracking.

Why is there no TrackTime app for iPhone?

iOS does not allow any app to observe calls, message notifications, or foreground apps at the operating-system level, so automatic capture like TrackTime's is technically impossible on iPhone. Rather than ship an iOS app that could not do the one thing TrackTime exists to do, we say so honestly and focus on Android.

Match the tracker to where your time leaks

The choice between these two comes down to a single honest question: where does your unbilled time actually hide? If it hides in documents and browser tabs on your computer, TimeCamp is a capable and inexpensive answer. If it hides in the calls, texts, and email on your phone, no desktop watcher will ever find it. Start a free 7-day TrackTime trial and let a week of automatic capture show you what has been leaking, or read about how the Android app works before you decide.