Clockify vs Horaflow: Free vs Flat-Priced Time Tracking (2026)
Clockify is the most-installed free time tracker on the planet — unlimited users, unlimited projects, no time limit, no credit card. For tiny teams that just need to log billable hours, it's genuinely hard to beat.
Horaflow is paid-only ($125–$500/mo flat), but bundles screenshots, productivity scoring, attendance, and leave management into one tool. The math gets interesting once you start adding Clockify's paid features.
This piece is the honest side-by-side: when Clockify free is enough, when Clockify paid stops making sense, and what Horaflow actually adds.
TL;DR — Clockify if free is the budget; Horaflow if you're paying either way
For solo freelancers and trust-first teams under 5 people that only need manual timers and reports, Clockify's free tier is the right answer. Stop reading and install it.
For teams of 10+ that need screenshots, productivity scoring, attendance, or leave management, Clockify's paid plans (Pro at $9.99/user/mo) hit the same per-seat trap as every other vendor. Horaflow's flat $125–$500/mo gets you the full feature set at a fraction of the price.
Pricing — where the math flips
Clockify's free plan is the headline feature: unlimited users, unlimited projects, basic time tracking, reports, and team management. No screenshots, no activity tracking, no idle detection — but if you don't need those, it's free forever.
The paid plans climb fast: Basic ($4.99/user/mo, adds bulk edits + project templates), Standard ($6.99, adds invoicing + approvals), Pro ($9.99, adds screenshots + activity tracking), Enterprise ($14.99, adds SSO + audit logs).
Horaflow has no free tier — but the cheapest paid plan is $125/mo flat for up to 100 users ($1.25/user), which is cheaper than Clockify Pro for any team over 13 people.
| Feature | Clockify | Horaflow |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | ✓ Unlimited users (no screenshots) | 30-day full trial |
| Cheapest plan with screenshots | $9.99/user/mo (Pro) | $1.25/user/mo (Team, 200 users) |
| 50-user team /yr (with screenshots) | ~$6,000 (Pro) | $1,500 |
| 200-user team /yr (with screenshots) | ~$24,000 | $2,500 |
| Plan structure | Per-user, 4 paid tiers + free | Flat, 3 tiers |
| Yearly discount | ~20% off | ~17% (2 months free) |
Features compared
| Feature | Clockify | Horaflow |
|---|---|---|
| Manual timer + project tags | ✓ excellent | ✓ |
| Pomodoro timer | ✓ (browser extension) | ✗ |
| Auto tracker (idle apps) | ✓ Pro+ | ✓ |
| Screenshots | ✓ Pro+ ($9.99/seat) | ✓ all paid plans |
| Activity / productivity score | ✗ basic activity only | ✓ keyboard + mouse + active app |
| Attendance management | Limited (kiosk mode) | ✓ full |
| Leave management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Project & task time | ✓ tasks | ✓ + Kanban board |
| Shift-aware day attribution | ✗ | ✓ |
| Idle detection + meeting mode | ✓ idle, ✗ meeting | ✓ both |
| Mac / Windows / Linux | ✓ | ✓ signed installers |
| Mobile app | ✓ | ✗ (web only) |
| Native invoicing | ✓ Standard+ | ✗ (CSV export) |
| API + webhooks | ✓ | ✓ |
Where Clockify wins
- Cost at the very low end. If you have under 13 people and need screenshots, Clockify Pro is cheaper than Horaflow Starter. Under 5 people with no screenshots, free Clockify wins outright.
- Built-in invoicing on Standard plan — bill clients directly without exporting to a separate tool.
- Mature mobile apps for time tracking on the go (Horaflow is desktop + web only).
- Browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) that integrate with 80+ tools — Asana, Trello, Jira, GitHub.
- Pomodoro timer built in for self-paced focus tracking.
- Bigger ecosystem of native integrations and a longer track record (founded 2017).
Where Horaflow wins
- Cost above ~13 users. Horaflow Starter at $125/mo flat = $1.25/user is cheaper than Clockify Pro for any team that needs screenshots.
- Real productivity scoring — Clockify's "auto tracker" tells you what app was open, but doesn't score productive vs unproductive time. Horaflow does.
- Bundled attendance + leave management. Clockify has a kiosk mode for clock-in but no real attendance dashboard, and zero leave-balance tracking.
- Shift-aware day attribution. A 22:00–06:00 shift correctly belongs to the day it started; Clockify splits it.
- Real Kanban project management — drag-drop tasks, labels, comments, due dates. Clockify has tasks but no board view.
- Meeting mode — suppresses idle alerts during calls. Critical for sales/support teams; Clockify doesn't have it.
The "free → paid" switch point
Clockify's free plan is genuinely usable. Most teams running it discover the limits when (a) they need screenshots for client billing or compliance, (b) they're running payroll and need attendance + late tracking, or (c) the team grows past 10 and trust-based tracking stops scaling.
At that point, the math changes. A 50-person team needing screenshots is $6,000/year on Clockify Pro vs $1,500/year on Horaflow Starter. The features overlap heavily; the price difference is a function of "per-seat" vs "flat" billing models, not feature value.
💡 Tip
If you're happy on free Clockify and don't need screenshots — stay there. Migration only makes sense once you've outgrown free, not before.
Migration: how long does it take?
Clockify exports timesheet data to CSV (Reports → Detailed → Export). Horaflow doesn't auto-import it, so most teams treat the switch as a fresh start: close the books on Clockify on the last of the month, send the Horaflow install link on the 1st.
Users migrate via CSV bulk-invite (Members → Import CSV). Project structure has to be recreated by hand — there are usually fewer projects than people think, and rebuilding them in Horaflow takes 30 minutes.
Verdict
✅ Verdict
Free Clockify wins for solo and very small teams that don't need screenshots. Horaflow wins for any team outgrowing the free tier that doesn't want to pay $10/seat. Run the 30-day Horaflow trial alongside your existing Clockify; if your team is over 15 people, the math will make the decision for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Clockify really free forever?
Yes — the free tier is genuinely free, no credit card, no time limit, unlimited users, unlimited projects. The catch: no screenshots, no productivity scoring, no idle detection. For trust-first teams that only need timers + reports, it's the best deal in the market.
When does Clockify Pro stop being worth it?
At about 13 users. Clockify Pro is $9.99/user/mo with screenshots; Horaflow Starter is $125/mo flat for up to 100 users. The break-even is 13 users — anything bigger is cheaper on Horaflow.
Does Horaflow have a free plan like Clockify?
No. We have a 30-day full-feature trial instead — no credit card needed. Once paid, Horaflow Starter is $1.25/user/mo on a 100-user team, which is comparable per-seat to Clockify's free tier.
Can Clockify do screenshots on the free plan?
No. Screenshots require Clockify Pro at $9.99/user/mo. This is the most common reason teams move from Clockify to a paid alternative — once you need screenshots, the per-seat math gets expensive fast.
How does productivity scoring compare?
Clockify has an "auto tracker" that records which app was open, but doesn't classify time as productive vs unproductive. Horaflow scores active vs idle time + categorizes apps/sites by team-defined rules + surfaces a daily productivity percent per user.
Will Clockify's mobile app work for my team?
Clockify's iOS + Android apps are mature and widely used. If your team needs phone-based time tracking (deliveries, field work, on-the-go consultants), Clockify is the better choice — Horaflow is desktop + web only.
Outgrowing free Clockify?
If you're hitting Clockify's feature limits and the per-seat math on Pro is getting painful, book a 10-minute demo. We'll show you what your team would look like in Horaflow and whether the switch makes sense for your size.
Book a 10-minute demo →