# Kimai

> Open-source time tracking with invoicing, self-hosted or cloud

Kimai is an open-source, browser-based time tracker for project work. Time is recorded against customers, projects and activities, then analyzed in reports, exported, or turned into invoices from configurable templates. It can be installed on your own server at no cost under the AGPL 3 license, or used as Kimai Cloud, a paid service hosted in Germany and operated by the same developer.

- **Category:** Time Tracking
- **Made by:** Kevin Papst (since 2006)
- **Website:** https://www.kimai.org
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 6, 2026

## Pricing

Kimai has a free plan. Paid plans start at €2.99 per user / month, billed annually (€3.99 billed monthly).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** Self-hosted Kimai is free and open source (AGPL 3) with unlimited users, customers and projects. Extras such as expenses, custom fields and kiosk mode are paid plugins. The Kimai Cloud pricing page lists no free plan.
- **Free trial:** 30-day free trial of Kimai Cloud.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Self-hosted | Free | The open-source edition on your own server, installed with Docker or over SSH. Community support; some features are paid plugins. |
| Cloud Standard | €2.99 per user / month, billed annually (€3.99 billed monthly) | Hosted time tracking with billable hours, invoicing, data export, audit logs, the JSON API, 5 invoice templates and weekly backups. |
| 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, a customer portal and daily backups. |

Read from https://www.kimai.org/en/pricing on Oct 6, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Kimai before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **20 to 25% off Kimai Cloud with annual billing** (Annual discount): Kimai's discount page says paid cloud plans cost 20 to 25% less when paid annually: Standard is €2.99 against €3.99 a month, and Professional €3.99 against €4.99. Source: https://www.kimai.org/en/discount-codes
- **Discounted annual cloud plan for nonprofits** (Nonprofit): Nonprofits, schools and clubs that register with an official email address and message support get a reduced annual cloud plan after a manual review. Source: https://www.kimai.org/en/non-profit

## Key features

- **Project time tracking:** Time is recorded against customers, projects and activities, with budgets and order numbers on projects. Every installation supports unlimited users with roles.
- **Invoicing:** Invoices are created from timesheets with configurable templates and invoice numbers, grouping options for entries, and output formats such as PDF and DOCX.
- **Reports and exports:** Recorded time is analyzed by user, customer, project, activity, tag and period. Timesheets export as XLSX, PDF, CSV or HTML, and exported records can be locked.
- **Teams and permissions:** Teams group users into units such as departments. Assigning customers and projects to a team limits who can see and record time on them.
- **Login and security:** Supports LDAP and SAML login through providers such as Google Workspace, Azure AD or Authentik, plus optional two-factor authentication with TOTP tokens.
- **JSON API and plugins:** A JSON API reads and writes data for external apps. Plugins add functions such as expenses, task planning and a kiosk mode with barcode or RFID scanning.

## Good for

- Teams that want to host their own time tracking data
- Freelancers and agencies invoicing clients from timesheets
- Organizations that need EU hosting and open-source code

## Worth knowing

- Cloud prices are in euros and exclude taxes; the pricing page lists no free cloud plan, only a 30-day trial.
- On Cloud Professional, kiosk mode, SAML single sign-on, a custom domain and IP access restriction are shown only with annual billing.
- Kimai runs in the browser; the mobile and desktop apps on its integrations page are made by third parties, and some are paid.
- Self-hosting needs SSH access to a server, and plugins such as expenses (99 €) are bought separately.

## Works with

GrandTotal, Bexio, VS Code, Google Workspace, Azure AD

**Tags:** Time tracking, Open source, Self-hostable, Invoicing, Reports, Public API

## Alternatives

- [solidtime](https://toolgpa.com/tools/solidtime): Open-source time tracker for freelancers and teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kimai-vs-solidtime)
- [TimeTagger](https://toolgpa.com/tools/timetagger): Open-source time tracker built on tags and a timeline. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kimai-vs-timetagger)
- [Clockify](https://toolgpa.com/tools/clockify): Team time tracker and timesheets with a free plan for 5 users. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/clockify-vs-kimai)
- [Toggl](https://toolgpa.com/tools/toggl-track): Team time tracker with billing reports and capacity planning. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kimai-vs-toggl-track)
- [Harvest](https://toolgpa.com/tools/harvest): Time tracking that turns logged hours into client invoices. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/harvest-vs-kimai)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 6, 2026:

- https://www.kimai.org/en/pricing
- https://www.kimai.org/en/
- https://www.kimai.org/en/about.html
- https://www.kimai.org/en/download.html
- https://www.kimai.org/en/integrations
- https://www.kimai.org/en/store/
- https://www.kimai.org/en/discount-codes
- https://www.kimai.org/en/non-profit
- https://www.kimai.org/en/site-notice.html

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/kimai
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).