Buddy Time Tracker vs Time Doctor
What the paid trackers cost, and what you give up by not paying it.
Time Doctor, Hubstaff, Toggl Track and Clockify are sold per user, per month, for as long as you use them. This tracker is $9.99 a year, paid once, and runs entirely on your own computer. That difference is real, and so is the reason for it — they are workforce-management products and this is a single-user desktop app. Both halves are below.
What each one costs
Per user, per month, in US dollars, as each vendor publishes it. Annual rates are the discounted ones most vendors quote first; the monthly column is what you pay without committing to a year. Buddy Time Tracker is the exception: one payment covers a year.
| Product | Plan | Annual | Monthly | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Time Tracker | Yearly licence | $9.99 a year | no monthly plan | One person, one computer. Paid once, never charged automatically. Free to try: the app works the same without a licence. |
| Time Doctor | Basic | $6.67 | $8.00 | Tracking, projects and tasks, screenshots, timeline report. |
| Time Doctor | Standard | $11.67 | $14.00 | Adds payroll, schedules, attendance, productivity ratings, 60+ integrations. |
| Time Doctor | Premium | $16.70 | $20.00 | Adds video screen recording, AI activity reports, open API access, SSO. |
| Clockify | Free | free | free | Up to 5 users; reporting range capped at one month; no activity monitoring. |
| Clockify | Basic | $3.99 | $4.99 | Lifts the free plan’s reporting and administrative limits. |
| Clockify | Standard | $5.49 | $6.99 | Adds timesheet approvals, invoicing and time-off tracking. |
| Toggl Track | Free | free | free | Up to 3 users, per Toggl’s own FAQ. |
| Toggl Track | Starter | $9 | $12 | Billable rates, project templates, saved reports. |
| Toggl Track | Premium | $16 | $24 | Adds scheduled reports, fixed fees and time-tracking reminders. |
| Hubstaff | Paid plans | not published | not published | Billed per seat with a two-seat minimum, so one tracked person costs two seats. Hubstaff does not publish a figure we could read and cite, so none is quoted here. |
Prices read from each vendor’s own pricing or support pages on 13 September 2026. Each product name above links to the page the figure came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it. Vendors change prices; if the date above is old, check the link.
Time Doctor offers a 14-day trial and no free tier. Hubstaff bills a minimum of two seats, so a single tracked person is charged for two — which is why the solo case is worth pricing carefully before you sign up for anything.
What Time Doctor does that this tracker does not
A comparison that lists only the columns we win is not worth reading. Version 0.2.13 is one person on one computer, and these are real capabilities you would be giving up:
- a team dashboard
- payroll
- integrations with other tools
- API access
- real-time notifications
- an administrator console
If you manage a team and need oversight of other people’s hours — approvals, payroll, a dashboard showing who is working now — buy one of the paid tools. This is not a cheaper version of that product; it is a different one.
What this one does that they do not
- One payment a year, never charged automatically. A licence is $9.99 for one year. Renewing is a new payment you choose to make, and renewing early keeps the days you have left. A per-seat subscription is a cost that never stops: a freelancer tracking their own hours on Time Doctor Standard pays for the privilege every month they keep working.
- There is nowhere for the data to go. The app has exactly one network request in it — an update check that runs when you ask for it, to a fixed address, sending nothing about you — so screenshots and activity cannot leave the machine even by accident. That is a narrower claim than “nothing ever connects”, and it is the one that is actually true — which is the version worth telling you.
- The tracked person owns the screenshots. They are off until switched on, visible to the person being tracked, and deletable by them. No copy is held anywhere else, because there is nowhere else.
- No account, no seat minimum, no trial clock. Download it and it works. In version 0.2.13 the app works the same with or without a licence, so you can try all of it before paying anything.
Which one you actually want
Choose a paid tracker if someone other than the tracked person needs to see the hours — a manager approving timesheets, a payroll run, a client portal, a dashboard.
Choose this one if you are tracking your own time: a freelancer billing by the hour, a contractor keeping an honest record, or anyone who wants a timesheet without handing their screen to a server.
Built by Thomas Woodfin
I build desktop, mobile and web software, and I consult on AI products. More about me, or hire-programmers.com if you have something you would like built.
