RescueTime
Automatic time tracking and focus tool that logs where your time really goes.
- Starting price
- Free (Lite); Solo Focus from $7 / month
- Free trial
- Free tier (Lite), plus a 14-day trial of paid plans
Overview
RescueTime records time without timers. An app running in the background on the main desktop and mobile platforms logs which applications, websites and documents were in use; the vendor states it never records keystrokes or text entered into fields. The product then splits in two: Focus turns that record into behaviour change, blocking chosen sites and silencing notifications during a session, while Timesheets maps the same tracked activity onto projects and clients with billable rates. A free Lite plan sits underneath paid Solo and Team plans.
Our take
RescueTime bets that people are bad at recalling what they did and worse at remembering to start a timer, and the bet pays off: the record is complete without anyone maintaining it, which is the one thing a manual tracker can never promise. The cost of that completeness is that the raw output is personal insight rather than billing evidence, and it only becomes the latter on the plans that add timesheets, so anyone invoicing by the hour should price the upper tier and check that automatic categorisation lines up with how they bill. The design is pointedly not built for watching other people work, which will please some buyers and rule it out for others. It suits individuals and small teams who want to understand and defend their own attention.
Key Facts
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Starting price | Free (Lite); Solo Focus from $7 / month Solo Focus billed annually ($84 / year); $9 billed monthly. Solo+ (with timesheets) $12, Team Focus $10 and Team+ $16 per user and month. |
| Free trial | Free tier (Lite), plus a 14-day trial of paid plans |
Screenshots
Placeholders. They are replaced as soon as the vendor sends material, and both open the same short form.
Features
- Time tracking
- Yes, automatic tracking of apps, websites and documents in the background
- Invoicing
- No native invoicing; billable rates and client/project timesheets on Solo+ and Team+
- Reporting and controlling
- Yes, productivity reports, daily patterns and team reports
- Integrations and API
- Yes, an API plus integrations (Google Calendar, Slack, Asana, GitHub)
Integrations
- Google Calendar
- Slack
- Asana
- GitHub
Deployment and Support
- Deployment
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- Cloud (SaaS)
- Browser-based
- Support
-
- Email helpdesk
- Community forum
- Onboarding
-
- Documentation and knowledge base
- Company size
-
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Fully automatic tracking, no timers to start
- Strong focus and distraction-blocking features
- Free Lite tier for individuals
- Runs on Windows, macOS and Linux as well as iOS, Android and the major browsers
- States it never records keystrokes, typed text or page content
Limitations
- Built for personal productivity more than client billing
- No native invoicing
- Free tier limited to two weeks of history
- Timesheets and billable rates only on the Solo+ and Team+ plans
Pricing
-
Lite
$0
Free, with up to two weeks of history.
-
Solo Focus
$7
Per month, billed annually ($84 / year); $9 monthly.
-
Solo+
$12
Per month, billed annually ($144 / year); $15 monthly. Adds timesheets and billable rates.
-
Team Focus
$10
Per user and month, billed annually ($120 / year); $12 monthly.
-
Team+
$16
Per user and month, billed annually ($192 / year); $18 monthly. Adds timesheets with shared projects and role-based access control.
Alternatives and Comparisons
What users say
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