Time Tracking Comparison

actiTIME vs. helloHQ

At a glance

actiTIME

Best for

Best for teams that need billable timesheets on their own infrastructure rather than in a subscription cloud.

Freelancers
Small and mid-sized
Enterprise

helloHQ

Best for

Best for small and mid-sized agencies that want the whole process from lead to invoice in one German-hosted system.

Small and mid-sized

Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.

Full Comparison

Criterion	actiTIME	helloHQ
Starting price	Free for 3 users; paid from $6 / user / month Billed yearly for 1 to 40 users, $5 per user and month for 41 to 200, a fixed cost for unlimited users above 200. The self-hosted edition is a one-time $120 per user.	From €35 / user / month Team plan, no base fee, minimum 3 users; €29.75 per user in the first contract year. The Pro and Enterprise plans add a monthly base fee of €180 and €600.
Free trial	Free trial, no credit card required, plus a free version for up to 3 users	14 days
Users	Free version up to 3 users	Not stated
API	Yes, a REST API on paid plans; the free version has none	Not stated
Languages	Not stated	German, English
Hosting	Cloud on Amazon servers, or self-hosted on your own Windows or Unix server	Cloud, hosted in Germany, GDPR-compliant
Made in	Canada	Germany
Time tracking	Yes, weekly timesheet, calendar view with start and stop times, iOS and Android apps and a Chrome extension that logs online activity automatically	Yes
Invoicing	Yes, branded PDF invoices from billing rates and recorded time, with leave and overtime costs and a QuickBooks export	Yes
Reporting and controlling	Yes, staff performance, time balances and overtime, estimated versus actual, detailed time-track and cost and billing reports, with charts and real-time widgets; the free version exports CSV only	Yes, controlling and dashboards, including a PowerBI connection
Integrations and API	Yes, a REST API on paid plans, plus QuickBooks, Zapier, the Chrome extension and actiPLANS	Yes, REST API
Deployment	more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise	Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
Support	Email helpdesk	more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat
Onboarding	Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Live online demos and webinars	Live online demos and webinars, Personal consulting, On-site training
Company size	more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise	Small and mid-sized
Integrations	QuickBooks, Zapier, actiPLANS, Chrome	more entries PowerBI, Microsoft Exchange, awork, Jira, Personio, agicap, Zapier, Memtime, REST API

Compare more tools

Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.

The short version

Key Differences

Starting price actiTIME Free for 3 users; paid from $6 / user / month helloHQ From €35 / user / month
Free trial actiTIME Free trial, no credit card required, plus a free version for up to 3 users helloHQ 14 days
Deployment actiTIME Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise helloHQ Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
Company size actiTIME Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise helloHQ Small and mid-sized
Hosting actiTIME Cloud on Amazon servers, or self-hosted on your own Windows or Unix server helloHQ Cloud, hosted in Germany, GDPR-compliant

Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.

The trade-offs

Strengths and Limitations

actiTIME

Strengths

Self-hosted licence as a one-time payment, with the data on your own server
Billing rates, cost-of-work rates and branded invoices are part of the product
Free version for up to three users
Chrome extension logs online activity and imports it into the timesheet

Limitations

Major upgrades of the self-hosted edition cost 100 percent of the initial price
The free version has no API and exports only CSV
The per-user rate only drops above 40 users

helloHQ

Strengths

Centralises the whole agency process in one system
Replaces many separate tools
Responsive support
German hosting

Limitations

Occasional slow load times reported
No built-in ticketing
Some customisation limits

Plans

Pricing

actiTIME

Free $0 Up to 3 users, limited functionality, CSV reports, no API.
actiTIME Online $6 / user / month Billed yearly for 1 to 40 users. $5 per user and month for 41 to 200 users, a fixed cost for unlimited users above 200.
actiTIME Self-Hosted $120 / user One-time payment, installed on your own server, with direct database access. Minor upgrades are free, major upgrades cost 100 percent of the initial price. A fixed cost for unlimited users is also offered.

Visit site

helloHQ

Team €35 Per user and month, no base fee. Minimum 3 users. First contract year discounted.
Pro €30 Per user and month, plus a €180 monthly base fee. Minimum 5 users. First contract year discounted.
Enterprise €24 Per user and month, plus a €600 monthly base fee. Minimum 20 users. First contract year discounted.

Visit site

What users say

Review Scores · opens after launch

actiTIME

Ease of use: Not rated yet
User interface: Not rated yet
Onboarding: Not rated yet
Support and service: Not rated yet
Value for money: Not rated yet
Features: Not rated yet

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.

helloHQ

Ease of use: Not rated yet
User interface: Not rated yet
Onboarding: Not rated yet
Support and service: Not rated yet
Value for money: Not rated yet
Features: Not rated yet

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.

Where this comes from

actiTIME https://www.actitime.com · no check date recorded yet

helloHQ https://www.hellohq.io · checked against the official source on 2026-08-14

This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.