I’m going to take a quick look at the Web 2.0 time tracking web app space. By “quick” I mean “draw a conclusion before I shower and go to work“. Based on my strenuous observation the clear winner in the Web20 battle of the time-trackers is SlimTimer, because they have the best tagline with “Make Love Not Timesheets”.
Congradulations SlimTimer, for winning you get the visualization of me typing this post in my underwear. For $20 I’ll send you the photos.
Cedric Savarese’s TimeTracker gets second place (how apropos) for using the tagline “v2.0″. How oh-so-web-too-dot-oooh. Ballsy, brash, but effective. What’s he going to do when he upgrades the application and it’s no longer v2.0? He’s going to lose second place, that’s what.
And Tick? Most of your site 404s. Not a good sign for a web app.
But seriously folks, is time tracking appropriate for a web app? Here’s my review of several PC apps for time tracking. At the very least these web apps should have mobile enhanced versions (like 88 Miles) so people could use them with their cell phones.
After the break, a really long list of Time Tracking web applications (valid as of 2006/08/17)
Do you really want to pay for a time tracking web app where you could lose all the data when they go under? There are some open source alternatives that you can self-host: dotProject and WR Consulting’s Time Tracker.
Have you written a real review for one of these time tracking web apps? Post a comment and I’ll add you to the links.
>>BaseCamp Time Tracking - probably the only pay time tracking app that will still be around in two years
>>BaseCamp screenshots
>>SlimTimer - Make Love Not Timesheets
>>SlimTimer Official Blog
>>makeyougohmmm’s review of SlimTimer
>>Screeniac screencast of SlimTimer
>> Tick � Track time - Hit budgets
>> Direct link to screenshots
>> makeyougohmmm’s review of Tick
>>Toggl - Track Time Online
>>Screeniac screencast of Toggl
>>ClockingIT - It’s About Time
>>Direct link to screenshots
>>Screeniac screencast of ClockingIT
>>Cedric Savarese’s TimeTracker - v2.0
>>TimeTracker Official Blog
>>Screeniac screencast of TimeTracker
>>88 Miles - Simple Time Tracking
>>Screencast of using 88 Miles
>>Official Blog of 88 Miles
>>Harvest - Simple Timetracking, Powerful Reporting
>>Official Harvest Blog
Open Source / Free
>>dotProject - Open Source Project Management Tool
>>dotProject online demo
>>WR Time Tracker - Open Source Web Based Time Tracker
>>WR Time Tracker screenshots
Please leave comments with any web other apps that should be on the list.
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15 Comments
Thanks for the round-up. Just wanted to let you know about our time tracking app, Harvest. It’s been well received thus far for its functionality and design, and we think it’d make a suitable addition to this list. Here’s our product and its companion blog. If you have any questions about it, feel free to drop me a line.
cheers,
Danny
Thanks for giving me the second place (btw what’s my prize?) .. I need to correct you though. v2.0 is actually the version number, not the tagline (crazy I know). The tagline used to be ‘a personal time management application’, but somehow it got lost in the upgrade to v2.0 (not related to web 2 point oh).
Thanks for giving me the second place (btw what’s my prize?)
After seeing what first place got, are you sure you want the second place prize?
:)
Sorry about the 404’s on Tick. The beta’s keeping us busy and the server needed some updating. We didn’t think anyone else got up that early ;-)
I would love to have you take another look if you have the time, but if SlimTimer does the trick for you then congratulations. We’re just happy to be one of many great solutions.
Take care,
Kevin
It’s not my fault I get up so early. I’m on the east coast :)
We actually have 7 equally witty taglines that are randomly assigned when you hit the site. But I’m glad you liked the one you got (I’m a big fan of that one myself), I know I’m pretty happy with that nice visualization, NOT.
The burn about users losing their data *when* the sites go under hurts. If there is anything I want to pull out of the Kiko rubble as an example, it’s that I believe that user data is the user’s data, you’re free to take it with you whenever (I’m writing API and export in the next few weeks and no that doesn’t mean I’m going under) :)
Rich
Thanks for the mention! Looks like all 2.0 time trackers have made their comments. We should have some sort of conference or somthing :)
Hey Rich, sorry about the burn about “*when* the sites go under”. I’m a bitch before the first coffee in the morning :)
I’m also a bit sceptical of how many web 2.0 apps will be around in 3 years time.
Hey, just thought I’d let you know that my company has just (as in yesterday) release a widget for Mac OS X that makes it dead simple to track time in Basecamp (with a Plus or Premium account). It’s called Sundial. You can get more information here: http://www.clearwired.com/sundial/
There’s another one to add to the list. It’s an online time tracking application called ToadTime. It let’s you generate invoices automatically from your time entries and it’s got a place to track tasks as well. It’s also nicely integrated with QuickBooks for anybody who needs real accounting software.
I have been using TimeIQ for the last 5 months to track my time on projects. It has all the same features as the other time tracking web apps, however it seems to have a better interface and in the way the information is organized. And this was a large factor for me in determining which web app to go with; also the time reports look cool.
I’m using 1Time (http://www.1time.ie/) for some time and am very satisfied. And yes its free!
What about http://dekkotime.com ? it is totally free if you are a single user..and they have a premium version and a multi user premium version…but the base version is 100% free..
I am a freelance developer and I use it everyday to track my billable hours…
Time59 (http://www.time59.com) provides Timekeeping and Invoicing. 30 day free trial, after that only $19.95 per year for unlimited use. Also interfaces with QuickBooks.
Hiya,
You might like to know about our new ‘web 2′ time tracking app. It’s very simple, light weight, tracks time and generates invoices. Live editing and snazzy graphics galore. It’s called Platypus, (pun on the ‘Billing’ aspect of the app if you hadn’t noticed!) and is here: http://www.phototropic.co.uk/platypus/ - 30 day free trial then $5/month. Oh, and there’s a mobile phone version in the works.
Thanks!
Ben
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