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Time Tracking Comparison

helloHQ vs. Kimai

At a glance

At a glance

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

Kimai

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 helloHQ Kimai
Starting price 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. lower value 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 30 days on Kimai Cloud
API Not stated Yes, JSON API
Languages German, English More than 30
Hosting Cloud, hosted in Germany, GDPR-compliant Kimai Cloud in the EU, or self-hosted via Docker
Made in Germany Austria
Time tracking Yes Yes, time booked against customers, projects and activities with billable rates and role-based permissions
Invoicing Yes Yes, invoices generated from tracked time with configurable PDF and DOCX templates
Reporting and controlling Yes, controlling and dashboards, including a PowerBI connection Yes, reporting and analysis with exports in several formats and audit logs
Integrations and API Yes, REST API Yes, a JSON API, plus LDAP, SAML and two-factor authentication
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 Live online demos and webinars, Personal consulting, On-site training Documentation and knowledge base
Company size Small and mid-sized more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
Integrations PowerBI, Microsoft Exchange, awork, Jira, Personio, agicap, Zapier, Memtime, REST API Not stated

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 helloHQ From €35 / user / month Kimai Free (self-hosted); Kimai Cloud from €2.99 / user / month
  • Free trial helloHQ 14 days Kimai 30 days on Kimai Cloud
  • Deployment helloHQ Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Kimai Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
  • Company size helloHQ Small and mid-sized Kimai Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
  • Hosting helloHQ Cloud, hosted in Germany, GDPR-compliant 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

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

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

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.
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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.
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What users say

Review Scores · opens after launch

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.

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

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

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.