Hours
Timely
| Feature | Hours | Timely |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $7.99/mo | From $9/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | freelancers, solopreneurs, ios-users, simple-tracking | consultants, agencies, freelancers, remote-teams |
| Founded | 2013 | 2014 |
| Visual Timeline | ✓ | ✗ |
| Running Timers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reports | ✓ | ✓ |
| Export | ✓ | ✗ |
| Apple Watch | ✓ | ✗ |
| Widgets | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automatic Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Memory Timeline | ✗ | ✓ |
| Project Budgets | ✗ | ✓ |
| Team Dashboard | ✗ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Hours Pros
- Beautiful design
- Visual timeline
- Simple to use
- Quick entry
✗ Hours Cons
- iOS only
- Limited features
- No team features
✓ Timely Pros
- Automatic tracking
- No timers needed
- Privacy focused
- Beautiful design
✗ Timely Cons
- Expensive
- AI not always accurate
- Requires desktop app
The Verdict
Hours is built for freelancers and solopreneurs, with a focus on visual-timeline and running-timers. Timely targets consultants and agencies and leads with automatic-tracking and memory-timeline.
Pricing is close: Hours starts at $7.99/mo versus $9/mo for Timely — 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. Timely 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.