QuickBooks Time vs Timely
Side-by-side total cost of ownership: subscription fees, labor, hidden costs, and AI alternatives.
Published pricing
The subscription is only part of the cost.
| QuickBooks Time | Timely | |
|---|---|---|
| Published rate | $10/seat/mo | $16/seat/mo |
What the invoice doesn't show
QuickBooks Time
The price is two-part: a base fee ($20/mo Premium, $40/mo Elite) plus per-user fees ($10 and $12/user/mo). A 10-person team on Premium pays $120/mo standing — more than double what the '$20/mo' framing suggests.
The 90%-off introductory offer applies only to the monthly base price for 3 months, by Intuit's own offer terms — per-user fees are excluded, and after the intro the base reverts from $2 to $20/mo (+900%) with automatic billing.
QuickBooks Time cannot be bought alone: 'A QuickBooks Online account is required,' so the real floor includes a QBO subscription on top.
Project features live one tier up: mileage tracking, project estimates vs actuals, and timesheet signatures require Elite at $40 base + $12/user.
Timely
Plan gates are hard user caps: Starter allows at most 5 users, Premium at most 50. The 6th hire forces every seat from $9 to $16/user annual (+78%); the 51st forces $16 to $22 (+38%). One hire reprices the whole team.
Starter also caps at 20 projects — agencies with many small clients outgrow it long before the 5-user limit bites.
Tasks — assigning and scheduling work — is an add-on 'for as little as $5 per person' on any plan, on top of the seat price.
The advertised yearly rates require a 12-month commitment; monthly billing is $11/$20/$28, up to 22% more.
What teams are switching to
Replacing QuickBooks Time
Clockify
Free; Basic $3.99, Standard $5.49, Pro $7.99, Enterprise $11.99 per seat/mo billed annually
The category's price floor: a free tier that includes the automatic tracker, and a paid ladder from $3.99/seat. Standard ($5.49/seat annual) covers invoicing and QuickBooks payroll/billing sync — the two features that usually justify far pricier incumbents.
Toggl Track
Free; Starter $9/seat/mo; Premium $14 first year then $18/seat/mo
The free plan carries calendar auto-tracking, keyword-triggered tracking, idle detection, and 100+ browser-extension integrations — automation that is rules-based rather than AI, but included at $0. Paid tiers add billable rates and reporting from $9/seat.
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.
Replacing Timely
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.
Toggl Track
Free; Starter $9/seat/mo; Premium $14 first year then $18/seat/mo
The free plan carries calendar auto-tracking, keyword-triggered tracking, idle detection, and 100+ browser-extension integrations — automation that is rules-based rather than AI, but included at $0. Paid tiers add billable rates and reporting from $9/seat.
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.
Total Cost of Ownership
Subscription fees plus labor and error costs, modeled at $50/hr loaded rate (BLS ECEC). Both vendors are costed at the same team size so the two columns can be compared directly.
| Cost Component | QuickBooks Time | Timely |
|---|---|---|
| Annual subscription | $1,200 | $1,920 |
| Labor cost | $9,000 | $9,000 |
| Error & rework cost | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Total Cost of Ownership | $13,200/yr | $13,920/yr |
| Est. AI alternative | $1,940/yr | $1,940/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.
Which one fits your team?
Both QuickBooks Time and Timely cost more than their published pricing suggests. The right choice depends on your team size and how you weigh each tool's trade-offs.
QuickBooks Time starts at $10/seat/mo , but watch for The price is two-part: a base fee ($20/mo Premium, $40/mo Elite) plus per-user fees ($10 and $12/user/mo). A 10-person team on Premium pays $120/mo standing — more than double what the '$20/mo' framing suggests.
Timely starts at $16/seat/mo , but watch for Plan gates are hard user caps: Starter allows at most 5 users, Premium at most 50. The 6th hire forces every seat from $9 to $16/user annual (+78%); the 51st forces $16 to $22 (+38%). One hire reprices the whole team.
An AI-native alternative may replace the workflow at a fraction of the TCO.
See all SaaS cost comparisonsBrowse alternatives for every tool
FAQ
QuickBooks Time vs Timely: quick answers
Is QuickBooks Time or Timely cheaper?
On total cost of ownership, QuickBooks Time runs about $13,200/year (10-person team) versus $13,920/year for Timely (10-person team) once labor and hidden costs are counted, not just the published subscription. Adjust the inputs to your own team to compare them directly.
What can replace QuickBooks Time or Timely?
QuickBooks Time is often replaced by Clockify and Toggl Track; Timely by Rize and Toggl Track. StackCut shows the cost case for each AI-first alternative without taking referral fees.
What are the hidden costs of QuickBooks Time and Timely?
QuickBooks Time: The price is two-part: a base fee ($20/mo Premium, $40/mo Elite) plus per-user fees ($10 and $12/user/mo). A 10-person team on Premium pays $120/mo standing — more than double what the '$20/mo' framing suggests. Timely: Plan gates are hard user caps: Starter allows at most 5 users, Premium at most 50. The 6th hire forces every seat from $9 to $16/user annual (+78%); the 51st forces $16 to $22 (+38%). One hire reprices the whole team.
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