
In the 2026 landscape of productivity software, Clockify continues to be a titan in the time-tracking industry. Best known for its “unlimited free” philosophy, it serves millions from solo freelancers to Fortune 500 companies. However, as business needs shift toward more granular project accounting and automated workflows, the “free” price tag often hides growing administrative costs.
This review breaks down every dollar of Clockify pricing, analyzes its 2026 feature updates, and compares it side-by-side with its most strategic rival, actiTIME, to see where the real value lies.
Clockify 2026 Pricing Overview
Clockify’s pricing is built on a “per seat” model with five distinct tiers. Prices below reflect annual billing (the most common choice for businesses).
Detailed Tier Breakdown
The Free Plan: Unlimited, With a Catch
Clockify’s Free plan is arguably the most famous in the industry because it allows unlimited users, projects, and reports for $0.
- Key Features: Web/App tracking, idle detection, Pomodoro timer, and basic reporting.
- The 2026 Limit: While you can add 1,000 users for free, you cannot lock timesheets. This means a user can change a time entry from three months ago today, making it a liability for teams requiring strict audit trails or billing compliance.
Basic ($3.99/user): The Manager’s Entry
This plan is designed for administrators who need to “fix” team data.
- Top Features: Bulk edit, add time for others, required fields, and project templates.
Standard ($5.49/user): Agency Core
The Standard plan focuses on the transition from tracking time to getting paid.
- Top Features: Time off tracking, invoicing, timesheet approvals, and QuickBooks integration.
- Context Note: At this stage, Clockify begins to compete with full-service agency tools.
Pro ($7.99/user): Profitability Power
This is where the software shifts from a stopwatch to a financial tool.
- Top Features: Labor costs vs. billable rates, expense tracking, GPS tracking, and AI-driven forecasting.
- Missing Context: Note that GPS tracking in Clockify does not currently support “Geofencing” (preventing clock-ins outside a specific zone), a common request for construction teams.
Comparison: Clockify vs. actiTIME
When businesses outgrow a basic timer, they typically look for tools that offer Project Accounting rather than just a log of hours. This is where actiTIME enters as a formidable competitor.
Why we are comparing these specific plans:
We have selected the Clockify Pro Plan ($7.99) and the actiTIME Online Plan ($6.00).
- The Logic: Both plans are marketed toward professional services (lawyers, engineers, accountants) who need to measure estimates vs. actuals and manage profitability.
- Focus Features: We are focusing on granularity of roles, workflow customization, and cost-to-value ratio because these are the pain points for growing 2026 businesses.
Value Analysis: Where actiTIME Takes the Lead
1. Financial Granularity at a Lower Price
To get Labor Cost Tracking in Clockify, you are forced into the $7.99 Pro tier. In actiTIME, the full feature set (including task-specific billing rates and cost of work rates) is available for $5-6.00 per user. For a team of 30, actiTIME saves you roughly $720 per year while providing deeper financial insights.
2. Workflow Customization
Clockify treats every task the same. actiTIME allows for Custom Workflow Statuses (e.g., “Drafting,” “In Review,” “Awaiting Client”). This transforms the software from a simple timer into a light project management tool, reducing the need for a separate subscription to tools like Trello or Monday.com.
3. The Hosting Advantage
A major 2026 trend is “Data Sovereignty.” While Clockify offers a Server version starting at a high entry price (~$450), actiTIME offers a Self-Hosted perpetual license for a one-time payment of $120/user. For businesses that hate monthly SaaS fees, actiTIME wins by a landslide on long-term ROI.
Real User Feedback: “The pros for this software are easily the ability to host the software yourself; I currently have the software self-hosted… it provides me with everything I need to track my daily tasks… “ — Joseph S., Owner (Capterra).
Final Verdict
The decision between these two giants depends entirely on your organizational structure and how much you value data-driven project management over simple time logging.
Choose Clockify if: You only need basic “start/stop” logs without the budget to pay for every seat. It remains the king of accessibility and rapid deployment.
Choose actiTIME if: You are a professional team where profitability analysis, workflow control, and budget precision are your primary KPIs. actiTIME provides a more mature, accounting-focused environment for a significantly lower per-user cost than Clockify’s comparable tiers.
Final Authority Note: While pricing is a major factor, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Technical reliability, mobile performance, and long-term user adoption are equally critical. For a complete, unfiltered look at how these platforms perform in a live work environment, you can read our comprehensive Clockify review, where we dive deep into the interface and feature stability.
References
To ensure the highest accuracy, this 2026 review was compiled using the following resources:
- Clockify.me (v2026.1): Basic Plan Overview & Full Pricing Tier Table.
- actiTIME.com: Official Pricing Matrix 2026.
- Capterra 2026: Clockify Software Analysis & actiTIME Software Review.
- TrustRadius: McKay S. Review (Paid vs Free value).
- The Digital Project Manager (2026): Professional Services Comparison.
- Flowace Blog (Jan 2026): Clockify Pricing vs. Enterprise Value.
- actiTIME Guide: Clockify vs. actiTIME



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