Time tracking for developers

By Darko Bačić, founder of App Tube · 9 October 2026 · Facts checked 9 October 2026

Pick devBoard if you want the timer on the task you already track. Pick Harvest if you bill clients by the hour. Pick Clockify for cheap seats or a Linux app, and WakaTime to see coding time without pressing a button. We make devBoard, so keep that in mind. It is on the list, and we say where the others are better.

There are three kinds: a timer inside the tracker, a separate timer app, and an automatic tracker that reads your code editor.

At a glance

devBoard

devBoard is a project tracker with the timer on the task. Press Start on a task or subtask, and the time lands there. You get one running timer per workspace, so a freelancer with a workspace per client can run one for each.

Pick it if you are a small dev team or a freelancer and want one less app. With an AI assistant linked, "start APP-42" assigns you, moves the card and starts the timer. How time tracking works in devBoard has more.

The catch is that there is no timesheet screen, no invoices and no billable rates. In the app, Log time takes minutes only and counts them for today. Notes, past days and fixes go through your assistant, as logging time after the fact shows. Epics, the big pieces of work that hold tasks, have no timer.

ClickUp

ClickUp has a timer on every task and in a toolbar. It also has manual entries, billable rates, timesheets and reports.

Pick it if you want tasks, docs, chat and time in one tool, and will spend time on setup.

The catch is that time tracking is only a trial on the free plan. ClickUp's pricing page also holds a second, newer plan list, so check the price you see. More in devBoard vs ClickUp.

YouTrack

YouTrack is an issue tracker from JetBrains with time tracking built in. You add spent time to an issue, with a type and a comment. A workflow can start a timer when an issue moves to In Progress. Timesheets and time reports are on the free plan.

Pick it if you want timesheets inside a free tracker, or a tracker you can host yourself.

The catch is that the timer needs a workflow, not a button. There is no official desktop app, and one App Store review calls the phone app clunky.

Toggl Track

Toggl Track is a separate timer app. Start a timer with one click, or add time by hand. Its browser extension adds a timer to GitHub, Asana and Trello.

Pick it if you want quick timers and clean reports across several trackers.

The catch is that Toggl's new work goes into Toggl 2.0, a newer product. Track goes on with no end date, but its old pricing page now sends you to the new one.

Harvest

Harvest is a timer with invoices attached. It has one-click timers, timesheets, expenses and invoicing. It links to Jira, Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Linear and GitHub.

Pick it if you bill clients by the hour and want time and invoices in one place.

The catch is price. Harvest was bought in 2025 and changed its prices in 2026. The BBC reported a firm whose bill jumped sharply at renewal. Harvest says the biggest rises hit old plans.

Clockify

Clockify is a low-cost timer with apps everywhere, Linux included. It has a timer, entries by hand, reports, and links to Jira, GitHub, ClickUp, Asana, Trello and GitLab.

Pick it if you want a low price per seat or a Linux app.

The catch is the free plan, which got smaller in April 2026. Free reports cover one month at a time, and billable rates are paid only. On paid plans, every active or invited user takes a seat.

WakaTime

WakaTime has no timer. Plugins in your editor count coding time on their own. It can also tie time to commits and issues on GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket.

Pick it if you want to see your coding time without pressing anything.

The catch is that it is not built for billing clients. The free plan shows only a week of history. One developer would not roll it out to their team, for fear the stats get used against people.

Jira, Asana, Linear, Trello and GitHub Projects

Not every tracker has a timer.

• Jira has Log work, where you type time by hand once an admin turns it on. Timers usually come from paid apps such as Tempo.
• Asana has its own time tracking on the Advanced plan and up. Timesheets are a paid add-on.
• Linear, Trello and GitHub Projects have no time tracking. Teams add a browser extension, for example from Harvest.

Why small teams lose time to big trackers covers the bigger problem.

How we chose

We looked at where the timer lives, whether a small team can start free, and which apps exist.

We also checked whether an AI assistant can reach each one over MCP. MCP is an open standard that lets an AI assistant read and change your tools. ClickUp, YouTrack and Harvest have official MCP servers that can log time. Clockify's is labeled coming soon. Toggl Track and WakaTime have none, though the newer Toggl 2.0 does. Project management tools with MCP servers has the full list.

We make devBoard, so we put it first. Prices and features come from each vendor's own pages, checked on 9 October 2026. More fair lists are on the devBoard blog.