Time Doctor vs Toggl Track – which one is better? You know, big picture, they are pretty similar. Both apps obviously track time and both work great for individuals and businesses of all sizes. However, there are some key differences that you have to be aware of before deciding which one to go for. In this article, I’m going to be honestly comparing the two apps to help you decide which time tracking software is the best fit for you or your business.
BTW, you may want to check out my review of Time Doctor or review of Toggl. Anyway, let’s get cracking…
This Review Covers:
- What’s the difference between Time Doctor and Toggl?
- What are Time Doctor and Toggl’s Time Tracking Features?
- How much do Time Doctor and Toggl Cost?
- Who are the Target Users of Time Doctor and Toggl?
- What Platforms do Time Doctor and Toggl support?
- How do Time Doctor and Toggl do Time Auditing and Reporting?
- How do Time Doctor and Toggl do Scheduling and Budgeting?
- Do Time Doctor and Toggl have Employee Monitoring?
- How do Time Doctor and Toggl do Payroll and Invoicing?
- Are Time Doctor and Toggl’s user interfaces easy?
What’s the Difference Between Time Doctor and Toggl?
Time Doctor is a damn versatile app with a host of features that cover time tracking, employee monitoring, productivity tracking, and project management. It also has a wide range of integrations that include Asana, Trello, Jira, GitHub, Google Calendar, and more.
Listen, the goal of this app isn’t just to track the number of minutes and hours that an employee has spent working. It’s designed to be more of an employee monitoring app that aims to increase productivity, improve employee accountability, and prevent time theft.
On the other hand, Toggl is a cloud-based app that helps individuals and businesses track time, manage projects, improve collaboration among team members, and more. In contrast to Time Doctor, Toggl doesn’t offer employee monitoring features.
You know, the thing that really impressed me about Toggl is its intuitive user-friendly interface. Time tracking can be a lot less daunting, which is especially useful for employees who don’t have experience with time trackers. Additionally, Toggl allows users to easily switch between tasks, projects, and clients with just one click. No more guesswork and Excel sheets!
Standout Time Doctor Features
- Powerful employee monitoring functions
- Time use alerts
- Read-only version accessible to clients
- Automated payroll calculation
- Silent and interactive desktop app versions
Standout Toggl Features
- Comprehensive reports
- Over 100 integrations with project management, invoicing, and calendar apps
- No employee monitoring
- Customizable time tracking and reporting settings
- Powerful analytics tool
What are Time Doctor and Toggl’s Time Tracking Features?
Time Doctor
The app will start and stop tracking time with the click of a single button. It can show you the activity level of employees during all the hours they worked, and it also alerts users when it detects that there has been no activity for some time.
Users will also be able to manually add time to their entries.
Toggl
Toggl allows users to automate time tracking based on their use of certain apps. Time tracking will start once users open these apps and stop once the apps are closed, and that’s pretty cool.
Like Time Doctor, Toggl allows users to go back and manually edit time entries.
How much do Time Doctor and Toggl Cost?
Both apps are generous with their free time tracking plans, so you get essential time tracking and productivity management features without ever spending a dime. If you need additional features for your business, you’ll get more add-ons the more you spend.
Is Time Doctor Free?
It unfortunately doesn’t have a free version. Its Basic plan costs $7 per user per month, or $5.9 per user per month if you choose annual billing. All plans allow an unlimited number of users and projects, as well as the app’s basic time tracking and employee monitoring features.
Though the software doesn’t have a free plan, it has a 14-day free trial that doesn’t require you to enter credit card details. You’ll be able to use all of the app’s features during this period.
Is Toggl Track Free?
Toggl Track has a free tier, and you can also sign up for a free trial without having to enter your credit card details. You can take the software out for a spin without getting charged in case you forget to cancel your subscription before the trial ends.
However, Toggl’s paid tiers are more expensive than Time Doctor’s. Toggl charges $9 per user each month for its lowest paid tier, and the price only goes up from there.
Who are the Target Users of Time Doctor and Toggl?
Time Doctor
This app is designed for just about everyone, from freelancers to large enterprises. However, businesses that need to manage multiple employees or teams are likely the ones that will be able to make the most out of the app.
The app’s main function, other than simple time tracking, is employee monitoring. It’s thus a good option for businesses that have remote employees or those with concerns about employee productivity.
Toggl
Toggl Track is a versatile tool that can serve freelancers, remote teams, small businesses, medium-sized businesses, and large enterprises impressively well. Because its free tier is feature-rich, users can get quite a lot of juice out of it without spending a dime. It’s also suitable for a wide range of industries, including marketing, software development, and more.
Though Toggl Track has a lot to offer, it’s a straightforward time tracker at its core. Thus, if you only need a time tracking app and you don’t need a lot of the bells and whistles, you won’t have trouble with Toggl.
Toggl’s lack of employee monitoring functions is likely also a plus for managers who want an app that can help with time tracking, billing, and project management without the employee surveillance features.
What Platforms Do Time Doctor and Toggl Support?
| Platforms | Time Doctor | Toggl |
| Windows desktop app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac desktop app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux desktop app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apple app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser extension | ✓ | ✓ |
How do Time Doctor and Toggl do Time Auditing and Reporting?
Time Doctor
It can track different kinds of employee activity, from the total time spent on tasks and projects down to active and inactive time. You’ll also be able to see which websites and apps your employees visited while the tracker was running, as well as how much time they spent on those websites and apps. The app can also show you when your employees start and end their workday.
Overall, I found that the app can give you highly detailed reports that provide you with deep insight into how your employees spend their time at work.
Toggl
Toggl allows managers to start time entry audits. The app will flag anything suspicious, such as time entries that don’t have a job description. It will also flag any entries that are too long or too short.
Like Time Doctor, Toggl can also show you how much time each employee has spent on each task. You’ll also be able to use filters so you can immediately see the data you’re looking for.
Additionally, Toggl can automatically send reports on a regular basis.
How do Time Doctor and Toggl do Scheduling and Budgeting?
Time Doctor
Anyone that has an Owner or Admin account can set up work schedules using Time Doctor. Managers can also set up work schedules if they’ve been granted access to that function. Otherwise, they can only view the schedules of employees that they directly manage.
Setting up budgets and budget forecasting are also part of the app’s project management tools.
Toggl
Toggl Track doesn’t have a scheduling feature. However, it allows you to create time budgets or financial budgets as well as track expenses. You can also use reporting tools that can help you see if your projects are within budget and on schedule.
Do Time Doctor and Toggl have Employee Monitoring?
Time Doctor
Time Doctor is perhaps one of the most robust employee monitoring apps on the market. It can track employee activities in several ways, giving you a wealth of data that you can use to improve productivity.
The one problem I can see here is that because the app provides such detailed information on employee activities, many employees would see it as micromanagement, but that’s a choice you need to make.
Toggl
So, one important thing to note about Toggl is that it’s very decidedly against employee monitoring. It doesn’t have the typical monitoring features, such as screen recording and location tracking. This may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you want to manage your team.
How do Time Doctor and Toggl do Payroll and Invoicing?
Time Doctor
It allows authorized users to easily convert billable hours into invoices for clients and payrolls for employees. It thus eliminates the need to painstakingly count hours and calculate what your clients owe and what you owe to your employees.
The app also integrates with PayPal, Gusto, and other similar apps.
Toggl
On the other hand, Toggl integrates with Xero and Zoho books for accounting. Like Time Doctor, Toggl can automatically generate timesheets that make payroll and invoicing a breeze. It also allows you to create custom invoices whenever necessary.
Are Time Doctor and Toggl’s user interfaces easy?
Time Doctor
It has two different desktop app versions: a silent version and an interactive version. The silent version is invisible to users while they work, but it runs in the background. You won’t have to start and stop the silent app; it will automatically start tracking time once you turn the computer on and users won’t be able to pause it.
Meanwhile, users will be able to see the interactive app and use it to manually start and stop tracking time. This is the app that’s best for remote employees that use their personal computers for work, or employees who are allowed to do personal activities on their company computers.
Toggl
One of the things I appreciate the most about Toggl is that its user interface is well-designed and thus easy to use. Whether you’re using the desktop app or the mobile app, regardless of the operating system, your user experience will be generally smooth sailing.
Unlike Time Doctor, however, Toggl doesn’t have a silent and interactive version. It only has an interactive version that allows users to start and stop time whenever they want.
So, which one is better: Time Doctor or Toggl?
Though it was a close fight, I gotta say that Toggl is the better time tracking app. Both apps are similar in many ways and offer a lot of the same features. However, Toggl is way more user-friendly and accessible in a lot of ways.
For one thing, Toggl offers a feature-rich free plan that can work well for freelancers and small businesses. Time Doctor, on the other hand, doesn’t offer a free plan and might thus be out of reach for freelancers and businesses on a budget. Toggl will also help you focus more on the big picture of project management, as opposed to the minute details of employee activity that Time Doctor wants to bring to your attention.
