Clockify is the best-known free time tracker, with a broad feature set and low prices. In 2026 it tightened its free plan and added a paid monitoring tier. TrustHours is built around monitoring and payroll for remote desk teams, with chat and an AI connector included.
Choose TrustHours if screenshots, payroll in 40 currencies, chat and an AI connector are what you need, at one price per active user. Choose Clockify if you want the lowest price, a free plan for up to 5 people, invoicing, GPS, kiosk and broad platform support, and monitoring is secondary.
Clockify wins on price and breadth. TrustHours wins when monitoring, payroll and team communication are the point. Here is where each fits.
Sixteen things buyers ask about, side by side. Every Clockify figure comes from its pricing page or help centre.
| TrustHours | Clockify | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes Up to 3 users | Yes Up to 5 users, with caps on API, exports and reports |
| Lowest paid price | $8 per active user ($4.80 launch price) | $4.99 monthly, $3.99 yearly (Basic) |
| Screenshots plan | Free (every 10 min) and Team | Pro only: $9.99 monthly, $7.99 yearly |
| Paid add-ons | None | None for monitoring Kiosk-only seats are cheaper limited seats |
| Screenshot interval | Every 2, 5 or 10 min, random moment | 30 seconds to 30 minutes, blurred by default |
| Screenshot retention | 2 weeks Free, 2 months paid | 60 days |
| Payroll | Team plan, 40 currencies | Earnings and exports Runs payroll in other apps |
| Invoicing and expenses | Not built in | Yes Invoicing from Standard, expenses on Pro |
| Team chat and video | Built in from Team | Pumble Separate product, bundled only in the CAKE.com Bundle |
| AI connector (MCP) | Read and act, per-permission, asks first | Official server, inherits user role; article marked coming soon |
| Platforms | Windows now, macOS coming, no mobile app | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android; monitoring agent Windows and macOS |
| GPS and kiosk | No | Yes GPS and kiosk photo capture on Pro |
| Integrations | Discord and the MCP connector | 100+, QuickBooks, Jira, Xero and a public REST API |
| Employee sees own monitoring data | Yes | No Per Clockify, for Activity Monitoring |
| Security statements | No SOC 2 claim yet | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, SSO and SCIM on Enterprise |
| Trial | 14 days, no card | 7 days, then drops to Free |
Clockify added "Activity monitoring" in August 2026 and says its older screenshot feature retires on 1 January 2027. Where the two differ, this page describes the new one.
Clockify is cheaper at every level, so the question is what you get for the difference. Monitoring starts on Clockify's Pro plan.
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Up to 5 users, time tracking, calendar, idle detection, auto tracker, PDF export, 31-day report range |
| Basic | $4.99 | $3.99 | Kiosk with PIN, bulk edit, project templates, import users |
| Standard | $6.99 | $5.49 | Time off, invoicing, approvals, attendance and overtime, QuickBooks |
| Pro | $9.99 | $7.99 | Activity monitoring and screenshots, scheduling, forecasting, expenses, GPS, kiosk photo, budgets |
| Enterprise | $14.99 | $11.99 | SSO, SCIM, audit log, custom subdomain, control accounts |
Prices are from clockify.me/pricing on 27 October 2026. Clockify lists the yearly price first and the monthly price in brackets. Every user is a paid seat once you leave Free, including the owner. Clockify tightened Free in April 2026 with a 5-user cap, API limits and paid-only exports.
| Plan | List | Launch* | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Up to 3 users, desktop app, live board, timesheets, screenshots every 10 min |
| Team | $8 | $4.80 | Unlimited users, screenshots every 2, 5 or 10 min, projects, chat and video, payroll in 40 currencies, leave, reports, MCP connector |
| Business | $12 | $7.20 | Team plus activity level, app and website usage, live view, screen recording, built-in AI assistant, priority support |
*40% off until 31 December 2026. The first 20 teams keep the launch price for life. Pay yearly and get 2 months free (about 17% off). No add-ons, no seat minimum, billed only for active users. See the live TrustHours pricing page.
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Limited kiosk-only seats | $0.79 to $2.39 yearly per seat | For people who only use a shared kiosk |
| Pumble chat (separate) | $2.49 to $6.99 yearly per seat | Free plan with unlimited users; in the Bundle |
| CAKE.com Bundle | $12.99 yearly, $15.99 monthly | Clockify Enterprise, Pumble Enterprise and Plaky |
| Dedicated success rep | Volume only | From 40 to 120 seats depending on plan |
Clockify says there is no additional fee for the activity monitoring feature itself beyond Pro.
| Scenario | TrustHours: monthly bill / yearly bill | TrustHours launch price (monthly bill) | Clockify: monthly bill / yearly bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro vs Team: 5 people | $40 / $33 | $24 | $50 / $40 |
| Pro vs Team: 10 people | $80 / $67 | $48 | $100 / $80 |
| Pro vs Team: 25 people | $200 / $167 | $120 | $250 / $200 |
| Pro vs Team: 50 people | $400 / $334 | $240 | $500 / $400 |
| Entry plans: 5 people | $40 / $33 | $24 | $25 / $20 |
| Entry plans: 10 people | $80 / $67 | $48 | $50 / $40 |
| Entry plans: 25 people | $200 / $167 | $120 | $125 / $100 |
| Entry plans: 50 people | $400 / $334 | $240 | $250 / $200 |
Monthly bill is month-to-month. Yearly bill shows the per-month equivalent. Clockify prices are per seat on every paid plan, including the owner. The Free plan covers up to 5 users on Clockify and 3 on TrustHours.
Move the slider to your team size. Figures are list prices from the vendors' own pages, October 2026.
Clockify's monitoring is new (August 2026), so most older reviews describe a different feature. This table uses Clockify's current Activity Monitoring help pages.
| TrustHours | Clockify | |
|---|---|---|
| Typed text (keylogging) | Never Counts only | No Clockify says it does not capture keystrokes, typed text or private messages, only the volume of typing and mouse movement |
| Screenshots | At a random moment in each interval (2, 5 or 10 min), passwords masked | Every 30 seconds to 30 minutes, all monitors, blurred by default, none while idle |
| Webcam and audio | No webcam or microphone capture. Screen recording is Business only | Webcam and audio recording not stated. Detects microphone or camera use only to keep status Active |
| Apps and websites | App and website usage on Business | Apps and websites with Productive, Neutral and Unproductive rules, on Pro |
| What the employee sees | Permission asked before tracking starts. Employees see their own hours, screenshots and activity | The agent runs in the background; employees install it. Per Clockify, employees cannot access their own monitoring results. The admin must consent before activation |
| Pausing | Pause or take a break from the tray. Manager sees the pause. Nothing is captured | The agent runs while the device is active. A manual off switch is planned. Employees can uninstall; macOS needs support |
| Deleting a screenshot | Your company controls retention: 2 weeks on Free, 2 months on Team and Business | Admins delete on the Screenshots page. Member deletion not stated |
| Background or silent mode | None | Background agent Works silently in the background. Not named stealth; whether it shows an icon is not stated |
| Fake-activity detection | Activity counts on Business. No jiggler detector is marketed | No jiggler detection claim found |
| Legacy screenshots | Not applicable | Older feature: notified members, only while the timer runs, users see and delete their own. Retires 1 January 2027 |
| How long data is kept | Screenshots: 2 weeks (Free), 2 months (Team, Business) | Screenshots 60 days, activity logs 90 days |
| Who can see screenshots | Owner and the people they authorise; each employee sees their own | Admins, owners and managers granted access |
Clockify's free Auto tracker, which records app and site time for the individual, is private to the user and not visible to admins. That is a different feature from Activity Monitoring. See privacy and trust for notice rules.
Eight areas where the two tools differ in ways that change your day.
Clockify Free covers up to 5 users, with auto tracker, idle detection, calendar and mobile and desktop apps. Since April 2026 it caps API calls at 30 an hour, limits reports to 31 days, makes CSV and Excel exports paid-only and removes billable rates.
TrustHours Free covers up to 3 users with the desktop app, live team board, timesheets, screenshots every 10 minutes and breaks.
Clockify calculates earnings from cost rates and exports hours for payroll apps, and invoices clients from Standard. It does not run payroll.
TrustHours runs payroll in 40 currencies with salary history on Team, with no built-in client invoicing.
Pumble is Clockify's chat product from the same company, with its own pricing and a free plan. It is bundled only in the $12.99 CAKE.com Bundle. TrustHours has chat, files and video calls inside Team.
Clockify has an official MCP server (help article dated 7 August 2026) with 13 tools and 6 prompts, inheriting the user's role. The article still carries a "coming soon" label. TrustHours' connector is live on Team and Business and acts only on permissions you grant, asking before every action.
Clockify Pro adds scheduling, forecasting, GPS tracking and kiosk photo capture, and the Standard plan adds attendance and overtime reports. These suit shift and field work. TrustHours has leave, holidays, check-ins and flags for desk teams, and no GPS.
Clockify runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, with browser extensions. The monitoring agent supports Windows and macOS. TrustHours is Windows today, with macOS coming for founding teams first.
Clockify lists 100+ integrations, QuickBooks, Jira, Xero, payroll-provider link pages and a documented REST API. TrustHours has Discord and MCP, with no public API yet.
Clockify states SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, SSO and SCIM on Enterprise, and data regions on Pro. It claims 24/7 support. TrustHours has a selectable data region and no SOC 2 claim yet.
Clockify has far more reviews than most trackers, mostly on Capterra. Scores were taken on 27 October 2026.
| Source | TrustHours | Clockify | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| G2 | Too new to have a rating yet | 4.5 out of 5 from 204 reviews | Lower than its Capterra score |
| Capterra | Too new to have a rating yet | 4.8 out of 5 from 9,274 reviews | The score Clockify markets |
| Trustpilot | Too new to have a rating yet | About 3.0 from 86 reviews | Via a data tool, not the page; verify before relying on it |
TrustHours is new and has no review-site score. Clockify's 9,274 Capterra reviews are a real strength. Compare it with G2 and judge on a trial.
Plan an afternoon, and start at the beginning of a pay period.
Clockify says trials downgrade to Free automatically. We have not tested the export tools, so confirm in your own workspace.
Subject: We are moving to TrustHours for time tracking Hi team, From [date] we are moving from Clockify to TrustHours. Here is what that means for you. - You will be asked for permission before tracking starts. - It captures your tracked time, a screenshot at a random moment in each interval, which apps were active, and keyboard and mouse activity counts. It never records what you type. - Nothing is captured while you are paused, on a break, or the app is closed. You can pause from the tray icon at any time. - You can see your own hours, screenshots and activity in your app. The full explanation is here: https://trusthours.com/what-trusthours-sees/ Please install the app by [date]. Reply to me with any questions. [Your name]
Who wrote this. TrustHours made this page, so we have an interest in you choosing us. We tried to make it useful even if you stay on Clockify, which is why it says where Clockify is the better fit.
How we checked. Every Clockify statement comes from a Clockify page, its help centre, or its listings on review sites, opened on 27 October 2026 (see Sources). When a figure comes from a pricing guide or a listing because the vendor page loads prices with JavaScript, we say so. Vendor claims are shown as claims.
What we did not do. We did not run a hands-on accuracy test, and we do not repeat unverified opinions from forums. Where we could not confirm something, we left it out or marked it as not stated.
Corrections. Prices and features change. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it and update the date. Last full check: 27 October 2026.
For monitoring, payroll and chat in one tool for a remote desk team, TrustHours. For another free tracker, Jibble or Toggl. For employee monitoring with analytics, ActivTrak or Insightful. For invoicing-led freelancers, Harvest. Each has a comparison page here.
Yes, with limits. Clockify Free covers up to 5 users, and since April 2026 caps API calls at 30 an hour, limits report ranges to 31 days, and makes CSV and Excel exports and billable rates paid features. Monitoring needs the Pro plan. TrustHours Free covers 3 users.
Basic is $3.99, Standard $5.49, Pro $7.99 and Enterprise $11.99 per seat per month billed yearly. Monthly billing is $4.99, $6.99, $9.99 and $14.99. A CAKE.com Bundle with chat and a project tool is $12.99 yearly.
Not on list price. Clockify Pro at $7.99 yearly or $9.99 monthly is close to TrustHours Team at $6.67 yearly or $8 monthly, and Clockify Basic is cheaper for plain tracking. TrustHours includes payroll and chat, and has a $4.80 launch price on Team until 31 December 2026.
Yes, on the Pro plan and above, through its Activity Monitoring agent. Screenshots are blurred by default, taken every 30 seconds to 30 minutes, kept 60 days, and not taken while idle. The older screenshot feature retires on 1 January 2027. TrustHours includes screenshots on its Free plan.
Clockify says its agent does not capture keystrokes, typed text or private messages. It measures typing and mouse movement volume only to judge whether someone is active. TrustHours likewise counts activity and never records what is typed.
Under the new Activity Monitoring, Clockify says employees cannot access their own monitoring results. Under the older screenshot feature they could see and delete their own. On TrustHours each employee sees their own screenshots, hours and activity.
Clockify does not describe a stealth mode. Its monitoring agent runs in the background, employees install it, and admins must consent before activating it. Whether it shows an icon was not stated on the pages we read. TrustHours has no hidden mode.
We found no jiggler detection claim from Clockify. It treats mouse and keyboard activity volume as an activity signal. Any tool that counts activity can be fooled by a jiggler, and vendors who claim detection are marketing it, not proving it.
No. Clockify calculates earnings from cost rates, tracks overtime and exports hours so you can run payroll in other apps. TrustHours runs payroll in 40 currencies with salary history on Team.
Yes. Clockify has an official MCP server with 13 tools and 6 prompts that inherits your user role, documented for Claude, Codex and Gemini CLIs, though its help article still shows a coming-soon label. TrustHours' connector is live, reads and acts, and asks before every action.
Clockify does not include chat. Pumble is a separate chat product from the same company, with its own free plan, and is included only in the CAKE.com Bundle. TrustHours includes chat, files and video calls on Team.
Not today. Export your time entries as CSV, and keep screenshots you need, which Clockify deletes after 60 days. Start fresh in TrustHours at the beginning of a pay period.
Clockify states SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, with SSO, SCIM and an audit log on Enterprise. TrustHours has a selectable data region and publishes what it captures, but does not claim SOC 2 yet. If you must show those certificates, Clockify is the safer choice today.
The software is lawful in most places, but notice rules vary. New York, Connecticut and Delaware require written notice, and UK guidance expects openness. Clockify itself requires the admin to consent before activating monitoring. This is general information, not legal advice.
Vendor pages, help centres and review sites, each opened on 27 October 2026. Where a vendor page loads its prices with JavaScript, the note beside the figure says which guide or listing it comes from.
14 days free, no card needed. Start with the Free plan for up to 3 people, or try Team with everyone. If it does not fit, you have lost nothing.
Related reading: what TrustHours sees, privacy and trust, the AI connector, free tools.
