Hours
RescueTime
| Feature | Hours | RescueTime |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $7.99/mo | From $6.5/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.1 / 5 |
| Best For | freelancers, solopreneurs, ios-users, simple-tracking | knowledge-workers, remote-workers, freelancers, productivity-enthusiasts |
| Founded | 2013 | 2008 |
| Visual Timeline | ✓ | ✗ |
| Running Timers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reports | ✓ | ✗ |
| Export | ✓ | ✗ |
| Apple Watch | ✓ | ✗ |
| Widgets | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automatic Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Focus Sessions | ✗ | ✓ |
| Distraction Blocking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Daily Highlights | ✗ | ✓ |
| Goals | ✗ | ✓ |
| Detailed Reports | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Hours Pros
- Beautiful design
- Visual timeline
- Simple to use
- Quick entry
✗ Hours Cons
- iOS only
- Limited features
- No team features
✓ RescueTime Pros
- Fully automatic - no manual input needed
- Detailed productivity scoring
- Focus session mode blocks distractions
- Long-term trend analysis
✗ RescueTime Cons
- No free tier anymore
- Cannot track offline/meeting time well
- Limited team features
The Verdict
Hours is built for freelancers and solopreneurs, with a focus on visual-timeline and running-timers. RescueTime targets knowledge workers and remote workers and leads with automatic-tracking and focus-sessions.
Pricing is close: RescueTime starts at $6.5/mo versus $7.99/mo for Hours — not a deciding factor on its own.
Hours has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. RescueTime requires a paid subscription from day one.
Both tools are a solid fit for freelancers — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.