Best for
Best for operations, HR and finance teams that want to measure where a workforce's time goes rather than bill it.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Time Tracking Comparison
ActivTrak vs. DeskTime
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for managers who want automatic time tracking with productivity analysis across remote and hybrid teams.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | ActivTrak | DeskTime |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free for 3 users; paid from $10 / user / month Billed annually. Workforce Management is $15, Productivity Optimization $17 and Workflow $21 per user and month; AI Insights is a $4 per user add-on. | lower value Pro from $6.42 / user / month Billed annually; $7.50 per user / month billed monthly. Premium from $9.17 ($10.71 monthly). Enterprise custom for 200+ users. |
| Free trial | 14 days of Workforce Management plus Productivity Optimization | 14-day free trial |
| Users | Free plan up to 3 users with 30 days of data history | Not stated |
| API | Yes, through the paid ActivConnect add-on | Not stated |
| Hosting | Cloud, with a data collection agent installed on each device | Not stated |
| Made in | United States | Latvia |
| Time tracking | Yes, automatic: an agent records application and website use and splits the day into active, passive and idle time, with no manual timers | Yes, automatic background tracking with app and website logging and productivity scoring |
| Invoicing | No, ActivTrak measures how time was spent and has no billing or invoicing | Yes, invoices are built from tracked project time and project hourly rates, saved as reusable templates, emailed to the client as a PDF and tracked through created, sent, unpaid, paid and cancelled statuses |
| Reporting and controlling | Yes, productivity trends, utilisation, schedule and location adherence, benchmarks, capacity planning and customisable dashboards, with Power BI, Looker Studio and Tableau templates through ActivConnect | Yes, productivity reports, project tracking and an absence calendar |
| Integrations and API | Yes, API and SQL access through the paid ActivConnect add-on, plus Outlook and Google Calendar, Microsoft Entra ID, SCIM, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Workday | Yes, an API and integrations (Jira, Asana, Outlook, Google Calendar, GitLab, Trello) from the Premium tier |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat | Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Guided onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Guided onboarding |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | more entries Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar, Microsoft Entra ID, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Workday, ADP, Power BI, Looker Studio, Tableau | Jira, Asana, Outlook, Google Calendar, GitLab, Trello |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
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 ActivTrak Free for 3 users; paid from $10 / user / month DeskTime Pro from $6.42 / user / month
- Free trial ActivTrak 14 days of Workforce Management plus Productivity Optimization DeskTime 14-day free trial
- Company size ActivTrak Small and mid-sized, Enterprise DeskTime Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Made in ActivTrak United States DeskTime Latvia
- Time tracking ActivTrak Yes, automatic: an agent records application and website use and splits the day into active, passive and idle time, with no manual timers DeskTime Yes, automatic background tracking with app and website logging and productivity scoring
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
ActivTrak
Strengths
- Records time automatically, so nothing depends on staff filling in a timesheet
- Measures AI tool adoption and its effect on output through the AI Insights add-on
- Work Advisor answers questions about your own data in conversation
- Reporting excludes non-business activity, with SSO, MFA and SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR and HIPAA compliance stated
Limitations
- An agent on every device is workforce monitoring and needs to be cleared with staff first
- No billing or invoicing of tracked hours
- The free tier stops at three users and 30 days of history
- API and BI access cost extra as the ActivConnect add-on
DeskTime
Strengths
- Automatic tracking with productivity scoring out of the box
- Shift scheduling and absence calendar for team management
- AI-generated summaries of work patterns
Limitations
- Monitoring focus leans toward oversight
- Screenshots and API sit behind the Premium tier
Plans
Pricing
ActivTrak
- Free $0 Up to 3 users, 30 days of data history. Automatic time tracking, activity summaries and productivity trends.
- Work Activity Tracking $10 / user / month Billed annually. Time tracking, real-time visibility, break identification, schedule adherence, application and website usage and compliance alarms.
- Workforce Management $15 / user / month Billed annually, 6 months of history. Adds utilisation metrics, productivity goals, schedule exception reporting, offline meeting tracking and location policy validation. AI Insights costs $4 more per user.
- Productivity Optimization $17 / user / month Billed annually, 1 year of history. Adds organisational insights, workload balance, activity alignment, benchmarks, capacity planning and coaching opportunities. AI Insights costs $4 more per user.
- Workflow $21 / user / month Billed annually. Work discovery, opportunity identification, AI and automation recommendations and impact measurement.
DeskTime
- Pro $6.42 Per user / month, billed annually ($7.50 monthly).
- Premium $9.17 Per user / month, billed annually ($10.71 monthly). Adds screenshots, integrations and API.
- Enterprise Custom For 200+ users; adds an account manager and training.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
ActivTrak
- 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.
DeskTime
- 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
Where this comes from
ActivTrak https://www.activtrak.com · no check date recorded yet
DeskTime https://desktime.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-04
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.