Managing contractors across time zones? It’s not good to rely on guesswork when tracking time.
When you hire contractors globally, visibility into hours worked is just one part of the puzzle. To ensure accuracy in payments, follow compliance rules, and control budgets, contractor time tracking is critical.
Still, many companies ignore this fact: poor contractor time tracking may result in misclassified contractors, violations, and expensive audits.
In this article, we’ll discuss why time tracking matters and what features are essential for managing distributed teams. We’ll compare five top time tracking apps for contractors, exploring their pricing, strengths, and limitations. We’ll also look at how time tracking fits into the broader context of contractor management — helping you go beyond logging hours to ensure accurate payments, minimize compliance risks, and stay in control as you scale globally.
Accurate time tracking is critical for contractor compliance and control
Time tracking is about more than just understanding when your contractor logged in. For businesses working with international teams, a time tracking app for contractors is a compliance essential.
Accurate time logs are crucial. They reduce your risk of contractor misclassification and ensure audit-ready documentation and several other key benefits:
- Legal and financial compliance: Contractor time tracking logs confirm the nature of the relationship between the contractor and the host country and prevent misclassification and permanent establishment risks.
- Payment accuracy: You pay contractors for the exact hours worked, eliminating disputes and maintaining trust.
- Budget control and forecasting: Proper data helps monitor expenses, plan for the future, and handle client billing.
- Performance evaluation: This helps you to evaluate productivity and determine how much you should pay.
- Remote work accountability: Using a time-tracking app for contractors helps remote teams accomplish their assigned goals and deliver on expectations.
With the importance of accurate time tracking established, let’s now look at the essential features to seek in a time tracking app for contractors.
Key features to look for in a time tracking app for contractors
A good time tracking tool should do more than just log hours. It should help you manage payments, ensure compliance, and provide productivity insights, so you’re not left stitching together data when it’s time to pay or report.
If you’re working across borders, a time tracking app must ensure you comply with local laws (for example, GDPR compliance in the EU, or local data protection acts). Here are some useful features to look out for:
- Mobile and desktop access: Makes it possible for contractors to record their time at home, while traveling, or on-site. Mobile access ensures on-the-go convenience while desktop access offers detailed entry and reporting, helping track tasks effectively regardless of location.
- Cross-time zone functionality: This feature automatically adjusts time entries and reports based on each user’s time zone, so distributed teams across LATAM, Europe, Asia, and beyond stay aligned without manual intervention.
- Integration with payroll and invoicing tools: It syncs work hours details with payroll and invoicing systems, which helps avoid entering the same information twice and guarantees on-time payment for all contractors.
- Project-based time entries: Allows time-tracking on a task-by-task basis, so you can track expenses. You can easily spot where funds are spent and if expenses follow the set budget.
- GDPR/privacy compliance: It guarantees that all data on work time is managed and protected as per global GDPR and privacy rules. Doing this protects the company and contractors working in highly regulated industries from getting into legal trouble.
- Reporting and analytics: Provides you with dashboards that help you track the team’s productivity, find places where time is wasted, and compare the time spent vs. planned time. These insights help you organize your budget, expect future trends, and review your achievements.
- IP protection features: Make sure that employees track their time using tools that the company allows. It protects client information and prevents losing intellectual property to unauthorized parties.
- Offline tracking: This feature allows contractors to record time even when they are in remote places (without strong internet signal). Tracking does not stop; time data is automatically updated whenever they connect the to the internet again.
- Custom permissions: Manage which information goes to certain people. Only the projects they have hired for are saved to a client’s account, while contractors see only their own work. This makes things clearer, safeguards private information, and secures data.
5 Popular time tracking apps for contractors (2025)
When it comes to time tracking apps for contractors, the right software can help you streamline operations, payments and compliance Below, we’ve reviewed five popular time tracking apps for contractors that many organizations with remote teams pick today. We covered what makes them good or bad based on online customer reviews.
1. Toggl Track (Best for user-friendly experience)
Toggl Track‘s uncluttered, straightforward interface draws the attention of many freelancers and small business teams. Because of idle time notification, easy syncing across devices, tagging, and thorough reporting, it allows businesses to manage productivity easily. It’s best for teams that need user-friendly, simple, flexible systems.
Toggl Track pricing
Even though the free plan is excellent, only the paid plans include sophisticated reporting and integrations. The paid plan starts at $9 per user per month (if billed annually).
Toggl Track limitation
As per user reports on Capterra, the Toggl Track mobile app can be cumbersome when adding or editing details.
Toggl Track ratings and recognition
Toggl has received high recognition from users across review platforms. Here’s a quick overview:
2. Clockify (Best for teams needing free tracking)
Clockify lets you handle unlimited users and projects for free within its free plan. The basic functions are a Pomodoro timer, project time tracking, tracking integrations, and browser extensions. Clockify works well for teams that are expanding remotely and need to increase capacity without paying much in the beginning. However some features like productivity data and invoicing are reserved for users who sign up for paid subscriptions.
Clockify pricing
Clockify offers a free forever plan for an unlimited number of users. The paid plan starts at $5.49 per seat per month (if billed annually).
Clockify limitation
As per G2 users, a major constraint of Clockify’s free plan is its limited reporting capabilities.
Clockify ratings and recognition
Clockify is highly praised by users on third-party review platforms. Here’s a quick overview:
- On G2, it gets a rating of 4.5 (178 reviews)
- On Capterra, it is rated 4.8 (9,206 reviews).
3. Harvest (Best for integrated invoicing)
Harvest is made for companies, agencies, and consultancies who invoice customers based on time worked. You can watch the budget, handle teams, and link the platform with Asana and Trello.
Harvest pricing
It offers a free plan for freelancers whereas the paid plan starts at $11 per seat per month (if billed annually).
Harvest limitations
According to its support page, Harvest does not allow more than one currency per client, project, or invoice, nor does it support currency conversion.
Harvest ratings and recognition
Harvest’s users have rated it 4.3 on G2 (816 reviews) and 4.6 on Capterra (633 reviews).
4. Hubstaff (Best for detailed monitoring capabilities)
Hubstaff helps users who must watch their teams carefully to utilize geolocation, monitoring productivity, and screenshots. The time tracking feature makes sense for field teams who want to check on how their time is managed.Hubstaff pricing
Hubstaff offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card requirements. The paid plan starts at $4.99 per seat per month (if billed annually).
Hubstaff limitation
According to G2, users have reported inaccurate time tracking when there is a connection issue.
Hubstaff ratings and recognition
On G2, Hubstaff is rated as 4.5 (1,448 reviews) and on Capterra it has a rating of 4.6 (1,582 reviews).
5. Time Doctor (Best for end-to-end time tracking and productivity analysis)
Besides normal time tracking, Time Doctor notifies employees about distractions, records videos, analyzes behavior in detail. It also offers real-time email notification. It’s a good option for companies that prioritize being productive and attentive.
Time Doctor pricing
Time Doctor offers a 14-day free trial to explore its features and functionalities. However, the paid plan starts at $6.70 per user per month (if billed annually).
Time Doctor limitations
The basic plan doesn’t include advanced reporting like unusual activity reports or API access. It also lacks integration via Chrome and Firefox.
Time Doctor ratings and recognition
Time Doctor’s G2 rating is 4.4 (413 reviews) and people have given it a rating of 4.5 (543 reviews) on Capterra.
While the time tracking apps reviewed above excel at logging hours and boosting productivity, contractor management goes far beyond timesheets. If you’re exploring time tracking tools, this might also be the right moment to level up your contractor management.
This is where Multiplier comes in.
Multiplier’s Agent of Record (AOR) — also known as a Contractor of Record (CoR) — takes over the heavy lifting after hours are logged. From generating compliant contracts to automating payments in 120+ currencies and ensuring tax and labor law compliance across borders, Multiplier helps you manage contractors the right way.
Beyond tracking time — a unified platform for global contractor management
A lot of work goes into contractor management. Beyond time tracking, here are some tasks your HR teams must also manage:
- Draft country-specific agreements and local compliance.
- Navigate regional tax and labor laws.
- Process international payments and project cost tracking.
- Ensure data privacy with regulations like GDPR, LGPD, and PIPL.
- Maintain centralized records for audits and global payroll
Trying to manage all this manually is time-consuming, risky, and slows growth. That’s why a comprehensive solution like Multiplier is essential to streamline your global operations.
How an AOR platform can help
An Agent of Record (AOR), also known as a Contractor of Record (CoR), functions as a third party by hiring and guiding contractors for you with full compliance in mind. With an AOR, you can:
- Bring new international contractors onto projects using contracts made for each region.
- Make sure you separate the roles of employer and contractor to avoid being misclassified.
- Be sure to comply with tax laws without resorting to outside help from consultants.
- Bring together expense reimbursement and license tools in one contract.
- Expand around the globe faster by using ready-made contractor solutions.
Using Multiplier for streamlined contractor management
While you use your usual time tracking app for contractors, Multiplier looks after the next steps:
- Onboarding and agreements: Multiplier can generate watertight contracts for different countries, quickly and compliantly. You protect yourself from misclassification and IP risks, without hiring expensive legal counsel to help you draft contracts.
- Payment processing: Automate payments in over 120 currencies and eliminate manual invoicing.
- Expense and benefit management: Easily pay back a contractor for any equipment, licenses, or travel that is their responsibility.
- Tax and compliance: Comply with local laws and tax regulations in every country you operate.
- Unified dashboard: All your activity related to onboarding and payouts can be viewed on one unified dashboard (except for time logs).
Managing contractors globally? Time tracking and beyond
We hope this guide helped you evaluate the right contractor time-tracking tool for your business.
If you’re looking to go a step further—beyond timesheets—into contracts, compliance, and global payments, Multiplier can help. It’s the ideal partner to complement your time tracking app and simplify how you manage international contractors, end-to-end.
Explore how Multiplier’s AOR can streamline your contractor operations. Book a demo today to see it in action and discover how easy global compliance can be.
FAQs
How to keep track of contractor hours?
Use an app such as Clockify, Hubstaff or Toggl Track, to keep records of your project hours. Comply fully by using Multiplier along with the process to match hours to payroll and tax records.
What is the best time-tracking app for self-employed people?
Freelancers typically use Toggl Track and Harvest because they find their features intuitive and the invoicing built right in is a bonus. It’s possible to use them when alone.
What is the best time-tracking software for small businesses?
Users can get a free team plan on Clockify and it is also usable for startups and other small companies. While, Multiplier makes it possible for companies to handle recruiting, check compliance, and manage payments for workers in any country.
Do time tracking apps offer GPS tracking?
Yes, many time tracking apps for contractors such as Hubstaff, Clockify, and others, offer GPS tracking as a feature. This helps to accurately verify work hours and location, which in turn contributes to streamlined payments and better project oversight.
Can I integrate a time tracking app with other tools?
Apps such as Clockify, Toggl Track, Hubstaff, and others offer integration with project management, communication, and productivity apps.
