Kimai
Open source time tracking for project work, with invoicing, reporting and a JSON API.
- Starting price
- Free (self-hosted); Kimai Cloud from €2.99 / user / month
- Free trial
- 30 days on Kimai Cloud
- API
- Yes, JSON API
Overview
Kimai is an open source time tracking application for project-driven teams, published under the AGPL 3.0 license and developed in Austria. Time is booked against customers, projects and activities, with billable rates, role-based permissions and team management on top. Invoices are generated from the tracked hours using configurable PDF and DOCX templates, and a JSON API opens the system to other tools. It runs either as Kimai Cloud, a managed service hosted in the EU, or self-hosted through Docker, and the higher cloud tier adds working hour accounts.
Our take
Kimai is the pick when the hours have to stay on hardware you control, and the license says so outright rather than leaving it to a vendor's goodwill. Where the rest of this category charges per seat every month, a self-hosted install changes the arithmetic entirely once a team passes a handful of people, while the managed cloud stays available for anyone who does not want a server to look after. What is given up is convenience: on the self-hosted route the setup, upgrades and backups are yours, and the cloud plans list email support only, so nobody is going to pick up a phone.
Key Facts
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Starting price | Free (self-hosted); Kimai Cloud from €2.99 / user / month Cloud Standard €2.99 per user / month billed annually, €3.99 billed monthly. Professional €3.99 annually, €4.99 monthly. Self-hosting is free under the AGPL 3.0 license. |
| Free trial | 30 days on Kimai Cloud |
| API | Yes, JSON API |
| Languages | More than 30 |
| Hosting | Kimai Cloud in the EU, or self-hosted via Docker |
| Made in | Austria |
Screenshots
Placeholders. They are replaced as soon as the vendor sends material, and both open the same short form.
Features
- Time tracking
- Yes, time booked against customers, projects and activities with billable rates and role-based permissions
- Invoicing
- Yes, invoices generated from tracked time with configurable PDF and DOCX templates
- Reporting and controlling
- Yes, reporting and analysis with exports in several formats and audit logs
- Integrations and API
- Yes, a JSON API, plus LDAP, SAML and two-factor authentication
Integrations
Integrations coming soon.
Deployment and Support
- Deployment
-
- Cloud (SaaS)
- Browser-based
- On-premise
- Support
-
- Email helpdesk
- Onboarding
-
- Documentation and knowledge base
- Company size
-
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Free and open source under AGPL 3.0, self-hosting keeps the data on your own server
- Native invoicing with configurable PDF and DOCX templates
- JSON API alongside LDAP, SAML and two-factor authentication
Limitations
- Self-hosting means running the setup, updates and backups yourself
- The cloud plans list email support only
Pricing
-
Self-hosted
€0
Free and open source under AGPL 3.0. Docker or manual installation on your own server.
-
Cloud Standard
€2.99
Per user / month billed annually, €3.99 billed monthly. Project tracking, billable hours, invoicing, exports, audit logs, translations and email support.
-
Cloud Professional
€3.99
Per user / month billed annually, €4.99 billed monthly. Adds working hour accounts, vacation and sick leave, expenses, custom fields, task management, customer portal, kiosk mode, daily backups, SAML single sign-on and a custom domain with SSL.
Alternatives and Comparisons
What users say
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