Paymo
Timely
| Feature | Paymo | Timely |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $5.9/mo | From $11/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | freelancers, small-businesses, agencies, consultants | consultants, agencies, freelancers, remote-teams |
| Founded | 2008 | 2014 |
| Time Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Project Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Resource Scheduling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Kanban Boards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Gantt Charts | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automatic Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Memory Timeline | ✗ | ✓ |
| Project Budgets | ✗ | ✓ |
| Team Dashboard | ✗ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ✗ | ✓ |
| Billable Hours | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Paymo Pros
- All-in-one project and time tool
- Built-in invoicing
- Resource scheduling
- Good free plan
✗ Paymo Cons
- Limited advanced features
- Reporting could be deeper
- Mobile app less polished
✓ Timely Pros
- Fully automatic time capture
- Beautiful interface
- Memory timeline feature
- Privacy-focused
✗ Timely Cons
- No free plan
- AI capture needs training period
- Mobile tracking less reliable
The Verdict
Paymo is built for freelancers and small businesses, with a focus on time-tracking and project-management. Timely targets consultants and agencies and leads with automatic-tracking and memory-timeline.
On pricing, Paymo is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $5.9/mo compared to $11/mo for Timely. That $5.1/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Paymo 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, agencies, consultants — 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.