RescueTime vs Timely

RescueTime

• People who want to see where computer time goes without running timers
• Blocking distracting sites and apps during set focus periods
• Freelancers who want timesheets filled in from tracked activity
• Teams that want aggregated reports on tools and focus trends

Timely

• Consultancies and agencies that bill by the hour and dislike running timers
• People who want timesheets drafted from a record of their activity
• Managers following project budgets and team capacity

RescueTime

• The free Lite plan keeps 2 weeks of history and 1 goal, with no Focus Sessions, alerts or offline time.
• The iOS app is not available on the Lite plan.
• Timesheets, clients, projects and billable rates need Solo+ or Team+.
• The supported systems list covers Windows, macOS, iOS and Android; Linux is not on it.

Timely

• There is no free plan: a subscription is needed once the 14-day trial ends.
• Starter is capped at 5 users and 20 projects, and Premium at 50 users.
• Timely's handbook says the iOS and Android apps remain available but are no longer actively developed.
• Memory apps are offered for macOS 14 or later and Windows 10 or later; no Linux app is listed.

RescueTime

Automatic activity tracking

Logs time in apps and websites without timers. Idle detection prompts you to record offline work, and tracking can be paused or limited to a work schedule.

Focus Sessions

Blocks distracting sites and apps for a set period on paid plans. Connecting Slack mutes notifications during a session, and Spotify can start a focus playlist.

Goals and alerts

Set goals for how time is spent, a daily target for focused time, and alerts that fire as you work. Lite allows 1 goal and has no alerts.

Reports and productivity scores

Breaks time down by app, website and category with daily, weekly or monthly productivity scores. Paid plans keep unlimited history; Lite shows 2 weeks.

Timesheets

Solo+ and Team+ add a timeline with suggestions for which client, project or task each activity belongs to, plus billable rates, time rounding and CSV or Excel export.

Team reporting

Team plans add aggregated reports on chosen key tools, categories and daily patterns, with owner, admin, manager and member roles controlling who sees what.

Timely

Memory tracker

The Memory app for Mac and Windows records your work automatically to a private timeline, so there are no timers to start and stop. A manual timer is also available.

AI timesheets

AI drafts a timesheet from the recorded activity and sorts it into projects, leaving the user to review and approve the entries.

Projects and budgets

A project dashboard shows team and budget activity as it happens, with billable rates and time or money budgets. Recurring budgets need Premium or Unlimited.

Planning and capacity

Premium lets managers plan work for their teams. Unlimited adds capacity management and reporting along with overtime and undertime tracking.

Reports and invoicing

Reports export as PDF, CSV or XLS and can be shared as live or snapshot links. Invoices are built from tracked time and can be sent to QuickBooks Online.

Tasks add-on

An optional add-on for assigning, scheduling and tracking progress on deliverables, available on any plan from $5 per person.

RescueTime

• Lite$0

  Automatic tracking, activity reports, weekly summaries and 1 goal, limited to 2 weeks of report history.

• Solo$7

  per month, billed annually ($84); $9 billed monthly

  Focus features for individuals: Focus Sessions, unlimited goals and alerts, offline time, detailed reports and unlimited history.

• Team$10

  per user / month, billed annually ($120); $12 billed monthly

  Focus features for teams, with team and individual reports, key tools, shared categories and role-based access.

• Solo+$12

  per month, billed annually ($144); $15 billed monthly

  Solo plus Timesheets for individuals: timeline, clients, projects and tasks, billable rates, project goals and exports.

• Team+$16

  per user / month, billed annually ($192); $18 billed monthly

  Team plus Timesheets: shared clients, projects and tasks, a team weekly calendar view and billable rates.

Timely

• Starter$9

  per user / month, billed yearly ($11 billed monthly)

  Up to 5 users and 20 projects, with automatic time tracking, AI categorization, billable hour reports and API access.

• Premium$16

  per user / month, billed yearly ($20 billed monthly)

  Up to 50 users and unlimited projects. Adds project management and accounting integrations, team management, budgets and costs, and planning.

• Unlimited$22

  per user / month, billed yearly ($28 billed monthly)

  Unlimited users and projects. Adds capacity management and reporting, overtime and undertime, Azure user management and 50+ currencies.

• EnterpriseCustom

  All Unlimited features plus tailored onboarding, team training, monthly or quarterly reviews and priority support.

RescueTime

• Annual discount

  Lower monthly rate on annual plans

  Annual plans cost less per month than monthly ones: Solo is $84 a year ($7 a month) against $9 month to month, about 22% less, and Team+ is $16 against $18 per user.

Timely

• Annual discount

  Up to 22% off with yearly billing

  Timely's pricing page lists savings of up to 22% for a yearly subscription: Unlimited is $22 per user a month yearly against $28 monthly, and Starter is $9 against $11.

• Education

  Student discount on request

  The pricing FAQ offers student discounts through support chat or email to people with a valid student ID and student email address. No amount is stated.