What Clockify Really Costs
The subscription is only 5% of what Clockify actually costs your team. Here's the full picture.
Clockify pricing vs total cost of ownership
A 10-person team at Clockify's published rate of $5/seat/month. The subscription is 5% of the real cost.
Subscription cost
$5/seat x 10 seats x 12 months
$659/yr
Labor cost
15 hrs/month x $50/hr loaded rate x 12 months
$9,000/yr
Error & rework cost
$250/month x 12 months
$3,000/yr
Total Cost of Ownership
$12,659/yr
Labor rate based on BLS ECEC June 2025 ($45.65/hr private industry total compensation, rounded to $50). Your actual numbers depend on team size, role mix, and usage. Run it with your own data.
What the invoice doesn't show
Monthly billing costs ~25% more at every tier: Basic $3.99 vs $4.99, Standard $5.49 vs $6.99, Pro $7.99 vs $9.99, Enterprise $11.99 vs $14.99. Every advertised price assumes an annual commitment.
The features billing teams actually need sit one and two tiers up: invoicing and QuickBooks sync arrive at Standard ($5.49/seat), labor cost, profit, and scheduling at Pro ($7.99/seat). Basic is mostly admin conveniences.
SSO/SAML and SCIM provisioning require Enterprise at $11.99/seat annual — a +50% jump over Pro paid by every seat the moment IT mandates single sign-on.
The CAKE.com Productivity Suite bundle ($12.99/seat) is anchored against a $27.97/seat sum of separate products — the bundle exists to upsell Plaky and Pumble alongside the tracker you came for.
Why this category is changing
Clockify is the honest benchmark for this category: its free tier includes the automatic tracker, and its paid ladder is the price floor. For most SMBs the finding is not that Clockify can be replaced — it is that Clockify is the replacement, and the cut runs from $9-16/seat incumbents down to $0-5.49.
Rize
Basic $9.99/mo annual ($12.99 monthly), Pro $23.99/mo, Max $39.99/mo
AI-native tracker: automatic app and website tracking with AI auto-categorization and tagging from the base tier, AI automations and MCP access on Pro. Honest caveat: it is a single-user desktop tool — SSO, SOC 2, and mobile live in its custom Enterprise tier, so it replaces the personal timesheet, not a team system of record.
Solidtime
Solo free (cloud), Professional EUR 8/user/mo billed annually, self-hosted $0
Open-source time tracking (AGPL) with timers, timesheets, invoicing, and a self-host option that removes the per-seat meter entirely. The tool departing Harvest customers actually name in migration threads. Not AI-automatic — the savings story is open source and no usage fees.
StackCut doesn't sell or recommend any of these tools. We show them for context. The decision is yours.
How we calculate TCO
Total Cost of Ownership includes subscription fees, labor (valued at $50/hr based on BLS ECEC data), and estimated error costs. Error cost is inherently speculative and can be set to $0 for a conservative estimate. All defaults are sourced from published benchmarks and adjustable in our methodology.
Other time tracking cost breakdowns
What Everhour Really Costs
Everhour is $8.50/seat/mo billed yearly with a 5-seat minimum — a 2-person team pays $42.50/mo. Integrations are paid-only. See the real TCO.
What Harvest Really Costs
Harvest lists $9-14/seat/mo annual — but 'Flex' usage billing now charges for projects, clients, and invoices above allowances Harvest doesn't publish.
What Hubstaff Really Costs
Hubstaff runs $4.99-$25/seat/mo annual with a 2-seat minimum, add-ons that rebuild the higher tiers, and compliance gated to a $25 Enterprise plan. Full TCO.
What QuickBooks Time Really Costs
QuickBooks Time is a $20-40/mo base fee plus $10-12 per user, and the 90%-off intro covers only the base fee for 3 months. QuickBooks Online required. Real TCO.
What Timely Really Costs
Timely's AI time tracking runs $9-22/user/mo billed yearly, with a hard 5-user cap on Starter and 50 on Premium forcing tier jumps as you hire. Real TCO inside.
What Toggl Track Really Costs
Toggl Track costs $9-18/seat/mo — the advertised $14 Premium is a first-year rate that renews at $18 (+29%), and idle free accounts are deleted after 6 months.
FAQ
Clockify pricing: quick answers
How much does Clockify cost per month?
Clockify lists at $5.49 per user per month. A 10-person team pays $659 a year in subscription alone, and an estimated $12,659 a year once the labor and error costs around it are counted.
How much is Clockify per seat?
$66 per seat per year at list price, or $5.49 per seat per month. Across a 10-person team that is $659 a year in Clockify license fees on their own, and an estimated $12,659 a year in total cost of ownership once the labor and error costs around the tool are included. The features billing teams actually need sit one and two tiers up: invoicing and QuickBooks sync arrive at Standard ($5.49/seat), labor cost, profit, and scheduling at Pro ($7.99/seat). Basic is mostly admin conveniences.
How much does Clockify really cost?
The subscription is only part of it. For a 10-person team, the $659/year Clockify subscription grows to an estimated $12,659/year total cost of ownership once labor and error costs are included. StackCut lets you adjust every assumption to your own numbers.
What are the most common Clockify complaints?
Monthly billing costs ~25% more at every tier: Basic $3.99 vs $4.99, Standard $5.49 vs $6.99, Pro $7.99 vs $9.99, Enterprise $11.99 vs $14.99. Every advertised price assumes an annual commitment. SSO/SAML and SCIM provisioning require Enterprise at $11.99/seat annual — a +50% jump over Pro paid by every seat the moment IT mandates single sign-on. The CAKE.com Productivity Suite bundle ($12.99/seat) is anchored against a $27.97/seat sum of separate products — the bundle exists to upsell Plaky and Pumble alongside the tracker you came for.
What is the best AI alternative to Clockify?
Teams replacing Clockify most often look at Rize and Solidtime. StackCut takes no referral fees and recommends no specific tool. It shows the financial case so you can decide.
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