TimeTac vs Zistemo (2026): which should you pick?

Pick TimeTac if

• Fits if you track hours and leave for a team and want apps on phones and computers
• Works for teams that bill projects as well as hours

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want one price per head, as there is a base fee on Working Hours
• Tight if you need compliance, approvals or the API, which start on Standard
• Pricey if you want automated tracking, which sits on Project Time Advanced at $18
• Watch out: prices vary by visitor country, and hardware is priced separately

Pick Zistemo if

• Fits if you are a small agency that tracks hours and sends the invoice from the same place
• Makes sense if your client data has to stay in Switzerland

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you work alone and want to pay little, since 1 user is $15 a month
• Tight if you will need more than 5 or 15 users, because extra users on Enterprise cost $5 each
• Not for you if you need timesheet approval without paying $75 a month for Enterprise
• Watch out: cancel and the account's data is deleted, so export first, and payment is PayPal or Visa or MasterCard only

TimeTac

• The Working Hours licence adds a base fee on top of per-user prices: $20 a month billed yearly or $25 billed monthly.
• The price table is built by page script and varies by visitor country; the dollar prices here are the page's US rates.
• The page invites teams of 20 or more users to request a personalised quote.
• Hardware such as terminals and premium support services are priced individually, not listed.

Zistemo

• Plans include a fixed number of users: 1, 5 and 15. Additional users on Enterprise cost $5 a month each.
• Timesheet approval and the employee planner are listed only on the Enterprise plan.
• Cancelling an account permanently deletes its data, so export first.
• Payment is by PayPal or Visa or MasterCard cards, as stated on the pricing page.

TimeTac

Several ways to clock in

Browser, mobile apps with offline mode, NFC tags, terminals and a time tracking cube, with GPS and geofencing on higher plans.

Absence management

Leave requests with approval workflows, absence quotas, public holidays and holiday templates, with balances and entitlements from Standard.

Overtime and payroll data

Overtime rules, paid breaks, automatic break rules and compliance checks prepare hours for payroll on the Standard plan and above.

Project time and budgets

Track hours by client, project and task, compare against budgets and run billable-hours and client reports.

Automatic time tracking

A desktop app records apps and browser tabs in the background and suggests entries to confirm. The plan matrix lists it under Project Time Advanced.

Integrations and API

Integrations and an API are part of the Standard plans, with API users and bulk actions on Advanced working hours.

Zistemo

Project time tracking

Time tracker on the mobile app, plus monthly or weekly timesheets on the web app, with reminders and planned-versus-actual comparisons.

Attendance time

Clock-ins, breaks and overtime with automatic flextime balances, escalation rules and detailed time reports.

Absence management

Several leave types, bank holidays handled automatically, time-off requests and a department calendar.

Invoices and estimates

An invoice wizard turns tracked time into invoices, and web-based offers cover estimates. Clients can pay by PayPal or credit card.

Tasks and planning

Tasks with tags, attachments, checklists and dependencies, plus an employee planner and skill-based resource planning on Enterprise.

Swiss data hosting

The vendor says data is stored in a Swiss data center with automatic backups; trial data is kept 60 days after the trial ends.

TimeTac

• Working Hours: Essential$5

  per user / month, billed yearly ($6 billed monthly)

  Time tracking, absence management, reporting, multi-device access and exports. Plus a base fee of $20 a month ($25 billed monthly).

• Working Hours: Standard$9

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

  Adds compliance checks, approval workflows, overtime and payroll, geofencing, integrations and API. Base fee applies.

• Working Hours: Advanced$11

  per user / month, billed yearly ($13 billed monthly)

  Adds advanced absence rules and team workshops or pilot projects. Base fee applies.

• Project Time: Essential$10

  per user / month, billed yearly ($12 billed monthly)

  Project time tracking, basic reporting and budget overview. No base fee when bought without Working Hours.

• Project Time: Standard$14

  per user / month, billed yearly ($17 billed monthly)

  Adds budgets and cost control, billable hours, client reports, team utilization, geofencing and API.

• Project Time: Advanced$18

  per user / month, billed yearly ($22 billed monthly)

  Adds automated time tracking, custom workflows, advanced BI and team workshops or pilot projects.

Zistemo

• Starter$15

  per month for 1 user, billed monthly ($158 billed yearly)

  Unlimited invoices, estimates, clients, projects and expenses, time tracking by project, late payment reminders and 1 GB storage.

• Pro$45

  per month for up to 5 users, billed monthly ($475 billed yearly)

  Starter extended to 5 users, with team timesheets, a live tracker, reminders, billable team rates and access levels. 2 GB storage.

• Enterprise$75

  per month for up to 15 users, billed monthly ($790 billed yearly)

  Pro plus timesheet approval, team performance overview, an employee planner, skill-based resource planning and an own SQL database copy.

TimeTac

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing is cheaper per user

  The pricing configurator defaults to yearly billing and lists a lower per-user rate for each plan than the monthly one, for example $5 against $6 on Working Hours Essential.

Zistemo

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing costs less than 12 months

  The pricing page has a Yearly toggle: for example $158 a year for Starter against $15 a month, and $475 against $45 for Pro.