Ever wondered where your creative team’s time actually goes each day?
If you manage a team of designers, whether they work remotely, in a hybrid setup, or in the office, keeping track of hours, tasks, and productivity is more than helpful. It’s essential.
Without clear time tracking for designers, it becomes easy to lose sight of billable hours, miss deadlines, and overspend on payroll.
You need a smart way to track project progress, monitor time usage, and ensure your designers stay focused. That’s where the right time tracking software comes in.
As Forbes contributor Mark Murphy explains
“People who track their time are significantly more likely to feel like their days are spent on truly value-adding and important work.”
- 10 of the best tools for time tracking for designers
- What features matter most, from screen monitoring to attendance
- How to choose a tool that works with your remote, hybrid, or in-office setup
Let’s get into it.
As a manager, this kind of insight provides a clear view of employee time tracking, productivity, workload balance, and the amount to bill your clients. Whether leading a creative agency or an in-house design team, a good tool helps you reduce wasted hours and support your team’s best work.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
Table of Contents
- How does a time tracking app help designers stay on track?
- How does time tracking support creative teams?
- How can you introduce time tracking to your design team?
- 10 best time tracking apps for designers
- Comparison table: Best time tracking tools at a glance
- 5 benefits of time tracking software for designers
- 8 key features to look for in time tracking software for designers
- 5 Common time tracking mistakes (and how to avoid them)
- Why Time Doctor is the best time tracking software for designers?
How does a time tracking app help designers stay on track?
A time tracking app helps your team record exactly how they spend their work hours. Instead of guessing, they can track time automatically or use a simple timer to stay focused.
When you use time tracking for designers, you get complete visibility into your team’s time and output.
You can:
- See how much time each designer spends on specific clients or projects
- Spot time drains early and improve how work gets done
- Track billable and non-billable hours for accurate payroll and invoicing
- Measure productivity across remote, hybrid, and in-office teams
The best tools also include employee time tracking, screen monitoring, attendance tracking, and payroll features. These provide a clear picture of how your team operates daily.
How does time tracking support creative teams?
Managing a design team means balancing creativity, deadlines, and workloads. Using time tracking for designers helps you accomplish this with less stress and greater clarity.
Here’s how it supports your team every day:
1. Tracks workloads to prevent burnout
When designers have too much on their plates, you’ll see it through their tracked hours. This lets you step in early, adjust tasks as needed, and maintain a balanced workload.
2. Supports better time management
With clear tracking, your team can focus on what really matters. This means fewer distractions, smoother workflows, and more time spent on creative work.
3. Gives you real productivity data
Instead of relying on gut instinct, productivity analytics help you understand where time is going. You’ll know what’s slowing your team down and where improvements are possible.
4. Protects creative work time
Designers need uninterrupted time to do their best work. A tracking app shows how much time is spent on deep work versus distractions, such as meetings or administrative tasks.
5. Keeps everyone aligned
Whether your team is remote, hybrid, or in-office, employee time tracking helps everyone stay connected and aligned. You can check progress, manage expectations, and avoid constant back-and-forth.
Employee time tracking is about giving your team the freedom to create while helping you lead with confidence.
How can you introduce time tracking to your design team?
Bringing time tracking into your creative team doesn’t have to be difficult. When you lead with clarity and support, you can introduce time tracking for designers in a way that builds trust and boosts performance.
Follow these steps to make it work:
Step 1: Share the purpose with confidence
Explain why time tracking matters. Focus on team goals, such as improving time management, distributing workloads fairly, and enhancing project planning. Show your team that tracking time supports their success.
Step 2: Focus on what your team gains
Highlight how tracking time benefits designers. With employee monitoring and time tracking, they can enjoy fewer check-ins, better recognition for their work, and a more structured day.
Step 3: Pick a tool that fits how they work
Choose a flexible app that supports their creative flow. Look for tools that allow both manual and automatic tracking, connect with design tools like Adobe or Figma, and work for remote, hybrid, and in-office teams.
Step 4: Keep privacy clear and legal
Be transparent about what the tool tracks and how you’ll use that data. Make sure your process respects local labor laws and privacy standards. A reliable tool with built-in controls makes management more effortless.
Step 5: Start with the basics
Start simple at the beginning. Start with task or project-level tracking. As your team recognizes the value, you can introduce other helpful features like productivity analytics or attendance tracking.
Step 6: Listen and improve
Check in with your team. Ask what’s working well and what could be better. Use their feedback to shape a system that supports their creativity while helping you lead with clarity and confidence.
When you roll out time tracking for designers with care and purpose, your team stays engaged, your projects stay on track, and everyone wins.
10 best time tracking apps for designers
Let’s look at the ten best time tracking software for designers:
1. Time Doctor
Time Doctor is a powerful tool built to simplify time tracking for designers. It helps you manage hours, tasks, productivity, and client projects in one place.
It also gives you complete visibility and control over time usage in your design workflow.
Time Doctor key features
Let’s explore some of Time Doctor’s best features for designers in detail.
A. Accurate time tracking
Track billable hours manually or automatically.
- In manual mode, your team can start and stop the timer while working on specific tasks.
- In automatic mode, tracking begins immediately upon startup. This helps designers stay in their creative zone without interruptions.
This is a crucial aspect of adequate time tracking for designers, particularly when reliable data is needed for billing or project planning.
B. Idle time tracking
Identify when someone is inactive while time is still running.
- Set time limits and send gentle reminders when there’s no keyboard or mouse activity.
- Time Doctor never records keystrokes. It only checks if there’s basic activity.
This keeps time records accurate without affecting your team’s privacy.
C. Task and project management
Create projects for each client and assign tasks to team members.
- Break work into smaller parts for better visibility
- Track how much time is spent per task or project
This makes time monitoring for designers easier to manage, especially when working across multiple brands or creative campaigns.
D. Productivity ratings
Mark websites and apps based on their relevance to work.
- Design tools like Canva or Figma? Mark them as productive.
- Social media or unrelated tools? Mark them as unproductive.
This helps you understand how focused your team is during work hours.
E. Reports
Access detailed insights that help you make smarter decisions:
- Activity report – shows active time, idle time, and app usage
- Hours tracked – total hours worked by each team member
- Attendance report – who showed up, when, and for how long
- Timeline report – a full breakdown of daily activity
- Project and task report – see how much time is spent per job
- Web and app usage report – spot habits, trends, and focus areas
These reports are beneficial when using time tracking for designers to improve project timelines, balance workloads, or report to clients.
F. Payroll management
Pay your team accurately based on the time they have tracked.
- Works with hourly designers, freelancers, and consultants
- Export timesheets in PDF, CSV, or XLS
- Integrates with payment platforms like Wise, Gusto, and PayPal
This makes payroll management easier and keeps everything transparent.
G. Integration
Connect Time Doctor to the tools your designers already use:
With the Chrome extension, your team can track time without switching between tools.
H. Features designers appreciate
- Optional screen monitoring with flexible privacy settings
- iOS and Android apps for mobile time tracking
- Works across Windows, Mac, and Linux
- Built-in security to protect sensitive team and client data
Pricing (2025)
- Basic: $6.70 per user/month (billed annually)
- Standard: $11.70 per user/month (billed annually)
- Premium: $16.70 per user/month (billed annually)
- 14-day free trial available, no credit card required
User ratings
- G2: 4.4/5 (380+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (530+ reviews)
2. Harvest
Harvest is a time tracking and expense management app. It works well for freelancers and small teams that want a basic way to track billable hours and project budgets.
Harvest key features
- Track time using task lists, to-dos, or manual entry
- Use the app on desktop, mobile (iOS and Android), or the web
- Turn timesheets into visual reports and summaries
- Set project budgets and compare estimated time with actual hours
- Create invoices directly from tracked time
- Connect with other tools like Slack, Trello, Stripe, QuickBooks, Asana, and Basecamp
Harvest helps solo designers and small teams log hours and send invoices easily. It can be set up quickly, and the interface makes it easy to track time and manage basic projects without any complexity.
However, Harvest doesn’t include built-in tools for employee time tracking, attendance, or detailed productivity analytics. It also doesn’t provide a comprehensive timeline of how your team spends their day, making monitoring real-time activity more challenging, especially in remote, hybrid, or in-office setups.
You can still track time and send invoices, but if you’re managing ongoing creative projects or need more visibility into how work flows from task to task, you may add extra tools to fill those needs.
Pricing
- Starts at $13.75 per user/month
- Includes a 30-day free trial
User ratings
- G2: 4.3/5 (800+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (600+ reviews)
3. Toggl Track
Toggl Track provides a clean and straightforward way to manage time. For creative teams focused on project work, it gives an easy path to start time tracking for designers without adding extra complexity.
Toggl Track key features
- Track time automatically or manually with a simple one-click timer
- Create detailed reports by project, task, or client
- Export data in CSV format for use in payroll or billing
- Send invoices through integrations like FreshBooks
- Connect with 100+ popular tools, including Trello, Asana, and Slack
- Access it across desktop, mobile, or web platforms
Toggl Track gives small teams and freelancers a flexible way to manage time. Its interface is simple and quick to learn, making it an excellent option for fast-moving projects or independent creatives.
However, it doesn’t offer features like idle time tracking, timeline views, or task-level breakdowns.
Pricing (2025)
- Free plan available for up to 5 users
- Starter: $9 per user/month
- Premium: $18 per user/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for larger teams
User ratings
- G2: 4.6/5 (1,500+ reviews)
- Capterra-4.7/5 (2500+ reviews)
4. Tick
Tick is a time tracking app that focuses on time management. This tracking software is best suited for medium and large teams.
Key features
- Update your budgets in real-time with every time entry you make.
- Set monetary or time budgets for individual tasks within a project.
- Categorize timecards by client and project to improve work organization.
- Take advantage of several integrations, including project management software Basecamp and QuickBooks.
Pricing
Tick’s paid plans start at $19 monthly for 10 projects (unlimited users). A free trial is available for one project (unlimited users).
User ratings
- G2: 4.5/5 (36 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (1440+ reviews)
5. Timely
Timely brings a visual approach to time tracking that many designers appreciate. Its layout looks and feels like a calendar, making it easy to see where time goes across the workweek. This setup works well for creative teams that value a more intuitive time management method.
Timely key features
- Get a real-time view of how much time each project takes
- Track time across devices using GPS location data
- Assign projects, balance workloads, and check availability in one dashboard
- Track time spent on creative tools like Photoshop, Lightroom, Sketch, and Google Calendar
- Automate time tracking with AI that learns how your team works over time
Timely is especially helpful for tracking billable hours. For teams that need a gentle, non-intrusive way to manage schedules, its design feels less like software and more like a familiar planner.
While Timely shows calendar-based data, it does not include employee time tracking, attendance reports, or task-specific timelines. This can make it harder to review team activity in real time or dive deeper into productivity analytics.
Pricing (2025)
- Paid plans start at $11 per user/month
- Free trial available
User ratings
- G2: 4.8/5 (430 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (700+ reviews)
6. TrackingTime
TrackingTime gives design managers a simple and collaborative way to track time spent across projects. It works well for small creative teams that want a tool that blends time tracking with lightweight project management.
TrackingTime key features
- Track time using a timer or enter time manually with full flexibility
- Create clean, professional timesheets and export reports with a few clicks
- Use task notes, checklists, comments, attachments, and updates to manage work in one place.
- View scheduled and tracked hours for every team member from a shared dashboard.
- Stay aligned with built-in tools for collaboration and task progress tracking
It’s a good match for teams that prefer a focused tool with straightforward features, but it may require more back-and-forth or extra setup to align larger teams, streamline creative handoffs, or capture more context around how time is used.
Pricing (2025)
- Paid plans start at $7 per user/month
- No free plan is currently available
User ratings
- G2: 4.5/5 (95 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (40+ reviews)
7. TimeCamp
TimeCamp helps creative teams track hours, monitor project progress, and analyze team productivity all in one platform. It works well for agencies and managers who want to connect time data with project costs and billing.
TimeCamp key features
- Track time automatically in the background without disrupting creative work
- Use GPS tracking to log hours while working from different locations
- Set custom billable rates by project or client
- Export detailed reports for invoicing, payroll, or performance reviews
- Monitor activity levels and generate project-specific summaries
TimeCamp helps managers see how time is used across the day. It’s a good fit for teams focused on time tracking for designers who want reliable time logs and simple reporting.
While TimeCamp tracks time well, managing fast-changing tasks or capturing creative flow may take extra steps outside the tool.
TimeCamp keeps things simple and efficient. For teams with more flexible design workflows, pairing it with other tools may offer a more complete experience.
Pricing (2025)
- Starter: $1.49 per user/month
- Premium: $2.99 per user/month
- Ultimate: $3.99 per user/month
- Enterprise: $11.99 per user/month
User ratings
- G2: 4.7/5 (300+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (500+ reviews)
8. TMetric
TMetric allows you to track hours, monitor budgets, and understand how your team spends time. It works well for freelance designers and creative agencies that want to track billable hours and manage project costs effectively.
TMetric key features
- Track time and team workload in real time
- Generate reports that show project hours, income, and costs
- Monitor app and website activity to understand focus and habits
- Analyze billable and non-billable hours for better profit tracking
- Use the app across all major browsers and devices including Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android
TMetric helps you stay organized and on time. It’s a great fit for teams that want a simple way to manage hours, track projects, and stay within budget. For time tracking for designers, it covers the basics well. It works best when tasks are defined and projects follow a set structure.
Pricing (2025)
- Paid plans start at $4.17 per user/month
- Free 30-day trial available
User ratings
- G2: 4.6/5 (100+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (240+ reviews)
9. Time Analytics
Time Analytics helps teams track work hours and analyze where time and money go. It’s popular with marketing and advertising agencies and gives managers the tools to measure performance, billing, and overall project value.
Time Analytics key features
- Track how much time your team spends on tasks, projects, and clients
- Monitor employee productivity, billable hours, and time spent per activity
- Use a built-in timesheet calculator to assess project and client profitability
- Review detailed analytics to understand time use across the company
- Generate accurate invoices directly from tracked data
Time Analytics gives you reliable billing, planning, and team performance reports. It works well for structured teams that need precise time logs and strong visibility into profitability.
The platform offers helpful data for managers focused on time tracking for designers, but leans more toward high-level reporting than day-to-day creative flow.
Time Analytics keeps things simple and focused. If your projects follow a set structure, it works well. But if you’re leading a creative team that needs flexibility and deeper context around design phases, you may look for a more connected solution as your workflow grows.
Pricing (2025)
- Paid plans start at $5.99 per user/month
- Free 14-day trial available
User ratings
- G2: 4.9/5 (4 reviews)
- Capterra: 5/5 (7 reviews)
10. AtTrack
AtTrack is an automatic time tracking tool that helps teams better understand how time is spent. It’s designed for companies that want to enhance daily focus and track team activity with minimal manual intervention.
AtTrack key features
- Track time automatically, even while offline
- Monitor on-screen activity through optional screenshots
- Analyze breaks, activity levels, and patterns to spot burnout risks
- Track website and app usage to review how time is spent
AtTrack supports time tracking for designers by capturing activity in the background, allowing creatives to stay focused. Its automation and reporting help managers see patterns across remote or distributed teams.
While AtTrack provides helpful insights into how time is used, its approach leans more toward monitoring than collaboration.
Designers working in flexible or creative workflows may find that the tool prioritizes tracking behavior over supporting creative flow or task context.
Pricing (2025)
- Paid plans start at $3 per user/month
- Free 60-day trial available
User ratings
- G2: 5/5 (2 reviews)
- Capterra: 5/5 (4 reviews)
Comparison table: Best time tracking tools at a glance
| Tool | Best For | Starting Price (USD) | Free Trial | Employee Time Tracking | Productivity Insights | Payroll Integration | User Ratings (G2/Capterra) |
| Time Doctor | Complete time tracking for designers, task management, and reporting | $6.70 | 14-day free trial | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4.4 / 4.5 |
| Harvest | Simple tracking and invoicing for freelancers and small teams | $13.75 | 30-day free trial | No | No | No | 4.3 / 4.6 |
| Toggl Track | Freelancers and small teams looking for fast, simple time tracking | $9.00 | Free plan available | No | No | No | 4.6 / 4.7 |
| Tick | Budget-focused tracking for medium to large teams | $19.00 | Trial for 1 project | No | No | No | 4.5 / 4.5 |
| Timely | Calendar-style tracking and AI-powered automation | $11.00 | Free trial available | No | No | No | 4.8 / 4.7 |
| TrackingTime | Small design teams wanting time tracking and collaboration | $7.00 | No free plan | No | No | No | 4.5 / 4.6 |
| TimeCamp | Automated time tracking with detailed reports | $1.49 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4.7 / 4.7 |
| TMetric | Freelancers and small teams tracking hours and apps | $5.00 | 30-day free trial | Yes | Yes | No | 4.6 / 4.5 |
| Time Analytics | Agencies needing detailed time and cost reports | $5.99 | 14-day free trial | Yes | Yes | No | 4.9 / 5.0 |
| AtTrack | Automated tracking and behavioral data insights | $3.00 | 60-day free trial | Yes | Yes | No | 5.0 / 5.0 |
5 benefits of time tracking software for designers
Using the right time tracking software for designers does more than just log hours. It helps creative professionals stay focused, deliver quality work, and confidently manage projects.
Here are five ways time tracking makes a real difference for design teams:
1. Helps you stay focused on creativity and productivity
Design work demands deep focus. Between client feedback, drafts, and deadlines, switching tasks can break your creative rhythm, especially if you’re also tracking time manually.
With a reliable time tracking tool, you can automate hour tracking while you work. Whether your team is remote, hybrid, or in-office, this helps eliminate distractions and keeps your energy centered on doing great design work.
2. Makes payroll and payments more accurate
Whether paying a team or billing clients directly, a tracking tool simplifies the process. It shows how much time was spent, by whom, and on which task.
You can generate accurate timesheets and connect them directly to payroll or invoicing with clear employee time tracking. Some tools even include integrations with payment platforms like PayPal or Gusto, keeping payment processes fast, fair, and frustration-free.
3. Supports better time management and work-life balance
Good time management improves both output and well-being. When you can see how your hours are spent, you can set better limits, avoid overworking, and create space for focused work or breaks.
With access to productivity analytics and daily time reports, designers can adjust their workflow to avoid burnout. Managers can also use workforce analytics to understand team capacity and adjust workloads accordingly.
4. Improves team collaboration and visibility
Tracking time gives design managers a comprehensive view of the team’s work. This is especially valuable when managing a distributed workforce or juggling multiple deadlines.
When paired with features like screen monitoring, attendance, or project-based dashboards, tracking helps everyone stay aligned. Fewer check-ins and more visibility mean teams can collaborate smoothly, without micromanagement.
5. Helps optimize project costs and budgeting
Whether freelancing or running an agency, understanding how time relates to costs is crucial to profitability. Time tracking for designers enables you to measure billable hours, monitor project timelines, and gain insight into where time is spent.
You can also use detailed reports to improve pricing strategies, quote future projects more accurately, and protect your margins while delivering top-notch work.
8 key features to look for in time tracking software for designers
If you manage a creative team, the right time tracking software for designers should do more than track hours. It should help you lead smarter, stay organized, and support your team’s best work.
Here’s what to look for:
1. Flexible time tracking
Select a tool that provides both manual and automated tracking capabilities. Offline tracking helps when your team works from remote areas or without internet.
2. Idle time tracking
Make sure the software detects when no work is happening and gently reminds users to refocus. This keeps time logs clean without invading privacy.
3. Task and project tracking
Look for tools to break down work by client, campaign, or task. This helps you see exactly where your team’s time goes.
4. Productivity analytics
Use built-in reports to track hours, focus time, activity levels, and employee attendance. These insights help you plan better and support your team.
5. Payroll and invoicing
A great tool makes payroll and billing easier. It should let you export timesheets and automate invoices without switching platforms.
6. Screen monitoring (optional)
You can review screen activity to stay aligned on tasks, especially with remote or distributed workforce teams if needed. Make sure it includes flexible privacy settings.
7. Integrations with design tools
Your tool should connect with Canva, Figma, Adobe, Asana, Trello, and more. This keeps your creative work and time tracking in sync.
8. Works on all devices
Your team needs to track time wherever they are. Make sure it works on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.
5 Common time tracking mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Time tracking for designers works best when it fits naturally into your team’s workflow. But without the right habits or setup, it can feel clunky or even frustrating. Let’s look at the most common mistakes and how to stay on track.
1. Inconsistent tracking
When designers forget to start or stop the timer, time logs quickly become inaccurate. This leads to underbilling, missed hours, and unreliable reports. Using automatic tracking or built-in reminders helps the team stay consistent without extra effort.
2. Over-monitoring the team
Tracking every little movement or requiring constant updates can create pressure and hurt creativity. Designers do their best work with trust and space. Time tracking is better used as a support tool, focusing on trends and productivity, not micromanagement.
3. Skipping time reports
Tracking time is valuable, but only if you review the data. Skipping reports means missing insights that could improve team performance and project flow. Reviewing productivity analytics, attendance, and workforce analytics regularly helps you spot delays, rebalance tasks, and improve schedules.
4. Using the wrong tool for creative work
Not all time tracking tools support design teams. Some don’t offer the flexibility or integrations you need. When your team has to switch between too many apps or log time manually, it adds friction. A tool that integrates with your design and project management stack keeps things running smoothly.
5. Tracking time without task context
Logging time without tagging tasks, clients, or projects makes reports more challenging to read and billing less accurate. Giving your team a simple way to label what they’re working on improves payroll, invoicing, and project insights.
Why Time Doctor is the best time tracking software for designers?
After reviewing all the options, Time Doctor gives design managers the most complete tools available in one platform.
It lets you track time flexibly. You can choose automatic or manual tracking depending on your team’s workflow. It also provides detailed reports on productivity, attendance, and task-level performance.
You also get optional screen monitoring, idle time detection, and real-time visibility. These features are beneficial when managing remote, hybrid, or in-office design teams that must keep everything aligned.
Time Doctor is different because it’s not just for logging hours. Instead, it gives you the insights to plan smarter, support your team’s creative flow, and deliver client projects on time, without extra tools or manual work.
Final thoughts
If your design team is already tracking time, ask yourself this:
Are you getting the insights you need, or just collecting hours?
Many tools can log time. However, very few show how that time translates into focus, productivity, and project progress.
If you’re switching between platforms, missing real-time visibility, or struggling to keep your team aligned, you might be working harder than necessary.
What would it look like if time tracking supported your creative process instead of interrupting it?
This is precisely where Time Doctor makes a difference. It offers flexibility, accuracy, and clarity to confidently manage your team. Rather than creating more work, it helps you streamline tasks, understand how your team works, and stay on top of every deadline.
If you’re ready to simplify your workflow, improve visibility, and lead your team with less guesswork, now is a great time to look closer.
Ready to improve time tracking for designers?
Get a demo of Time Doctor and see how it can help your team stay focused, productive, and on track.
Carlo Borja is the Content Marketing Manager of Time Doctor, a workforce analytics software for distributed teams. He is a remote work advocate, a father and an avid coffee drinker.