# Costlocker review (2026): is it worth $12 a month, billed yearly? > Time and cost tracking that shows profit per project for agencies Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Costlocker is a time tracking tool built for agencies that bill for hours. Beyond logging billable and non-billable time, it records project costs and budgets so each project, client and team can be compared on profit. It sells one plan priced per active user. - **Category:** Time Tracking - **Made by:** Costlocker - **Website:** https://costlocker.com - **Runs on:** Web, macOS, Windows, iOS - **Who should skip it:** Pricey if you pay monthly, at $20 against $12 on a yearly plan. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Costlocker is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $12 per active user / month, billed yearly ($20 billed monthly). - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 30-day free trial, no credit card required. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | All-Inclusive Plan | $12 per active user / month, billed yearly ($20 billed monthly) | One plan with unlimited projects and clients, desktop apps, API access and chat and email support. | Read from https://costlocker.com/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Costlocker before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **40% off with yearly billing** (Annual discount): The pricing page states a 40% discount on the yearly plan compared with monthly billing. Source: https://costlocker.com/pricing ## Key features - **Profitability insights:** Compares projects, clients and teams on revenue against cost, so unprofitable work shows up and high-value clients stand out. - **Time tracking:** Logs billable and non-billable hours per project, with apps for Mac, Windows and iOS alongside the web app. - **Cost and expense tracking:** Records labor costs, subcontractors, overhead and other expenses next to the hours, not only time. - **Budget control:** Sets a budget per project and compares it with actual cost as work is logged, to catch overruns early. - **Active-user billing:** Only active users are billed. A deactivated user keeps their data, and unused prepaid time becomes credit on the next invoice. - **API and Make.com:** Connects to other tools through its developer API and through Make.com. ## Good for - Agencies that bill clients by the hour and want profit per project - Creative, software, accounting and architecture teams - Teams that need costs and budgets next to time entries ## Worth knowing - There is a single plan, so no free tier and no cheaper tier for light users. - The $12 price needs yearly billing; monthly billing is $20 per active user. - Integrations are limited to the API and Make.com; no native apps by name are listed. - Aimed at agencies, so it may carry more than a freelancer needs. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Costlocker ties tracked time and costs to project budgets, so an agency can see profit as it goes. It is a single plan at $12 per active user a month on yearly billing, $20 on monthly billing, with nothing cheaper for light users. - **Value for money: D.** $12 per active user a month billed yearly, or $20 monthly. The dearest tenth of time tracking starts at $12. - **Free plan and trial: C.** 30-day free trial with no card needed, and no free plan. - **Features: C.** Time, costs, expenses and budgets in one plan, but integrations are limited to the API and Make.com, per the listing. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. Projects, clients and budgets have to be built before the profit view is any use. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, Mac, Windows and iPhone apps with an API; no Android app on record and only the API and Make.com for integrations. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Costlocker's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among time tracking apps - Costlocker's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 4 of the 69 other time tracking apps we grade, and level with 12. - It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 18 of 69) and worst on value for money (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $12 a month for each person, against a middle price of $6.70 for the category: 50 of the 58 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 31 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/time-tracking ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** The plain part of Costlocker you could make: time tracking and reports. What surrounds it you could not. The 3 things listed below take a company, not a weekend. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 53 of the 69 other time tracking apps grade higher. It costs $144 a year. - You could make: Time tracking and reports: an app builder makes these well. - You could not: Apps for macOS, Windows and iOS that stay in step with each other. - You could not: It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Make.com among them, and has an API. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Make.com **Tags:** Time tracking, Reports, Public API ## Alternatives - [Harvest](https://toolgpa.com/tools/harvest): Time tracking that turns logged hours into client invoices. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/costlocker-vs-harvest) - [Everhour](https://toolgpa.com/tools/everhour): Time tracking that sits inside Asana, Jira, Linear and Trello. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/costlocker-vs-everhour) - [TMetric](https://toolgpa.com/tools/tmetric): Time tracking with billing, invoicing and team monitoring. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/costlocker-vs-tmetric) - [BigTime](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bigtime): Professional services platform with time, billing and projects. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bigtime-vs-costlocker) - [ClickTime](https://toolgpa.com/tools/clicktime): Timesheets and labor cost tracking for finance and project teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/clicktime-vs-costlocker) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://costlocker.com/pricing - https://costlocker.com/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/costlocker Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).