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. Kimai
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for teams that want to self-host their time tracking and keep the hours on their own server.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | ActivTrak | Kimai |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | 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 | 14 days of Workforce Management plus Productivity Optimization | 30 days on Kimai Cloud |
| Users | Free plan up to 3 users with 30 days of data history | Not stated |
| API | Yes, through the paid ActivConnect add-on | Yes, JSON API |
| Languages | Not stated | More than 30 |
| Hosting | Cloud, with a data collection agent installed on each device | Kimai Cloud in the EU, or self-hosted via Docker |
| Made in | United States | Austria |
| 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, time booked against customers, projects and activities with billable rates and role-based permissions |
| Invoicing | No, ActivTrak measures how time was spent and has no billing or invoicing | Yes, invoices generated from tracked time with configurable PDF and DOCX templates |
| 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, reporting and analysis with exports in several formats and audit logs |
| 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, a JSON API, plus LDAP, SAML and two-factor authentication |
| AI features | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat | Email helpdesk |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Guided onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar, Microsoft Entra ID, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Workday, ADP, Power BI, Looker Studio, Tableau | Not stated |
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 Kimai Free (self-hosted); Kimai Cloud from €2.99 / user / month
- Free trial ActivTrak 14 days of Workforce Management plus Productivity Optimization Kimai 30 days on Kimai Cloud
- Deployment ActivTrak Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Kimai Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
- Company size ActivTrak Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Kimai Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Hosting ActivTrak Cloud, with a data collection agent installed on each device Kimai Kimai Cloud in the EU, or self-hosted via Docker
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
Kimai
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
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.
Kimai
- 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.
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.
Kimai
- 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
Kimai https://www.kimai.org · checked against the official source on 2026-09-06
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.