Good mobile tracking apps can control timers, show time balances, and, ideally, notify you when a timer is running unusually long or has been stopped during normal working hours. Mobile options: You probably don’t do all of your work at your computer, and sometimes you need to track things like conference calls or meetings in your off-hours or your travel time while away from your desk.Plans or pricing that work for freelancers: Since our guide is aimed at solo practitioners, we avoided apps that were priced or centered on teams or were priced like something only a corporation could afford.Some apps limit the features or scope of their trial software in a way that makes it hard to tell if it’s right for you. A free trial or limited free plan: You should be able to use the software for at least one workweek with every feature enabled, to see how it logs your work and fits into your routine.You shouldn’t be locked out of a tracking system because it only works with certain operating systems, phones, or browser extensions. Support for more than one computer platform or browser: People switch computers and platforms, sometimes of their own accord or sometimes when they switch jobs.Plenty of freelancers may have similar computer-free tasks, and a good time tracker should be able to adapt to those occasions. Even though my job as a Wirecutter writer is mostly about working at a computer, I’m sometimes building standing desks, cutting up piles of cardboard boxes, donating goods to nonprofits, or doing other work tasks not involving a screen. But we made sure that our picks would still work for offline tasks, whether you time them with a phone app or post-fill a timesheet with the app. Most of the apps we tested are aimed at those who work from a computer-writing, designing, programming, Web-based tasks, and the like. And we focused on solo practitioners instead of teams.

By “freelancer,” we mean anyone who works for a client that is not their full-time employer, in nearly any field. We wanted to find the software that best allows someone to track their hours so they can then bill for them.

We researched, interviewed, and tested for this guide with a freelancer’s mind-set.

Pomodoro time tracker