Clockify Review UK 2026: Is This Free Time Tracker Worth It for Small Businesses?
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Introduction: The Time Tracking Problem Every Freelancer Knows
You finish a project, sit down to invoice, and realise you have no idea how long it actually took. Whether you’re a sole trader juggling clients or a small team trying to understand where your hours go, accurate time tracking is one of those habits that pays for itself many times over — especially when HMRC wants to see your records.
Clockify has built a reputation as one of the most generous free time trackers available, and there’s been a lot of confusion in 2026 about what’s still included at no cost. This review settles it. We’ve checked Clockify’s current pricing directly, so you’ll find real figures here rather than hedging — including the free plan’s user cap and exactly which features moved behind the paywall.
What Is Clockify?
Clockify is a cloud-based time tracker from CAKE.com, the company behind project management tool Plaky and business messaging app Pumble. It runs in the browser, on desktop for Windows and Mac, and on iOS and Android.
The idea is simple: start a timer when you begin a task, stop when you’re done, and let Clockify build a picture of how your time is spent across projects and clients. Those records feed into reports, invoices and payroll calculations.
One thing worth knowing before you compare it to anything else: Clockify prices in euros, not US dollars. This gets reported wrongly almost everywhere, including in comparisons that convert the figures as though they were dollars. For a UK business it means your monthly cost moves with the euro exchange rate, and your bank may add a foreign transaction fee on top.
Clockify’s Free Plan: What’s Actually Included
The free plan is €0 for up to five users. That cap is the single most important thing to know, and it resolves the confusion that’s been circulating — the free tier is not unlimited-user, and hasn’t been since earlier in 2026.
What you get free:
- Unlimited tracking
- Time tracker, timesheet and auto tracker
- Calendar view
- Mobile and desktop apps
- Pomodoro timer
- Idle detection and reminders
- Tracking integrations
- Team activity
- Reports
That’s a genuinely capable free tier for a solo user or a team of up to five who simply need to log and review hours. Timesheets and reports being included free is more than most competitors offer.
What Moved Behind the Paywall
Here’s the part that changes the calculation for freelancers, and it’s now confirmed rather than rumoured. Billable rates, export and share data, customise export, bulk edit and historical rates all sit on the Basic tier at €3.99 per seat per month.
For a freelancer, that matters a lot. If you bill clients by the hour, billable rates aren’t a nice-to-have — they’re the point. And if you need to get your data into a spreadsheet or hand it to your accountant, export is on the paid side too. The free plan is excellent for understanding your time. It’s limited for charging for it.
Paid Plans: Pricing and What You Get
All prices are per seat per month, in euros.
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Free | €0, up to 5 users | — |
| Basic | €3.99 | €4.99 |
| Standard | €5.49 | €6.99 |
| Pro | €7.99 | €9.99 |
| Enterprise | €11.99 | €14.99 |
| cake.com Productivity Suite bundle | €12.99 | €15.99 |
Basic — €3.99
The administration tier, and for most freelancers the one that actually matters. It adds billable rates, export and share data, customise export, bulk edit, historical rates, required fields, time audit, time estimates, project templates, import time and users, breaks, split time, favourite entries, decimal format, and Kiosk mode for clock-in and clock-out.
Kiosk is worth flagging for small hospitality or retail businesses with part-time staff who just need to log attendance — that capability arrives here rather than at a higher tier.
Standard — €5.49
Adds invoicing and recurring invoices, time off, approval, lock time, attendance and overtime, targets and reminders, and a manager role.
For UK freelancers this is usually the most useful upgrade. Generating an invoice directly from tracked time saves real admin, and if you’re managing several clients and need a paper trail that stands up to a client dispute or an HMRC query, this is the level that provides it.
Note that timesheets are on the free plan — it’s invoicing that arrives at Standard, which is frequently misreported the other way round.
Pro — €7.99
Adds scheduling, forecasting, expenses, labour cost and profit, budget and estimates, custom fields, multiple currencies and user fields.
The profitability reporting is the draw here: seeing whether a project actually made money once you account for hours spent is something many small business owners don’t track until it’s too late. Multiple currencies is relevant if you invoice international clients.
Enterprise — €11.99
Single sign-on, custom subdomain, SCIM provisioning, control accounts and audit log. Aimed at larger organisations with IT security requirements. Most UK sole traders and small teams won’t need it.
The cake.com Bundle — €12.99
Worth knowing if you’re already considering the sister products. At €12.99 per seat annually the Productivity Suite bundles Clockify’s Enterprise features with Pumble for team communication and Plaky for project management, against a combined standalone value CAKE.com puts at €27.97 per seat per month.
If you were going to buy two of the three anyway, price this properly rather than subscribing separately.
Is Clockify Suitable for HMRC and Making Tax Digital?
Clockify is a time tracker, not an accounting platform. It doesn’t connect to HMRC, isn’t Making Tax Digital compliant the way FreeAgent or QuickBooks is, and won’t submit your VAT returns.
What it does support are the habits that feed good record-keeping:
- Detailed time logs with client and project breakdowns to support your invoicing records
- Billable and non-billable differentiation, so you can see your effective hourly rate — though note billable rates require Basic at €3.99
- Exportable reports, also from Basic upward, to use alongside your accounting software
The right approach for most UK freelancers is Clockify alongside MTD-compatible accounting software rather than instead of it. Log hours in Clockify, generate invoices, record those invoices in your bookkeeping tool.
What Clockify Does Well
The timer interface is genuinely simple. No learning curve to speak of — type a task, assign a project, hit start. That low friction matters, because time tracking only works if you actually do it.
Project and client organisation is solid. Colour-coded projects, assigned tasks, team members, and a clear view of where hours go. Useful for small agencies and consultancies.
The mobile app is reliable. Works offline and syncs when you reconnect, which suits anyone working on site or moving between client meetings.
Reporting is included free. Even without paying you get a decent visual breakdown by project, client and team member — you just can’t export it.
The free tier is real. Five users, unlimited tracking, timesheets and reports at no cost is a serious offer, not a trial.
Where Clockify Falls Short
Euro pricing creates unpredictability for UK users. Your monthly cost shifts with the exchange rate, and some UK business accounts add a foreign transaction fee on euro charges. Check yours before subscribing.
The free plan is capped at five users. Fine for a sole trader or small team, but a growing business will hit it, and the jump is per-seat from there.
Billable rates and export are paid features. For a freelancer billing by the hour, that means the free plan does about half the job. €3.99 a seat isn’t much, but it’s worth going in knowing that free won’t cover client billing.
Support can be slow. User reviews mention response times aren’t always quick, which matters mid-project.
It’s not an all-in-one tool. No payroll, no VAT, no HMRC integration. If you want your entire finance admin in one place, you’ll need to pair it with something else.
Who Should Use Clockify?
Good fit for:
- Freelancers and sole traders who bill by the hour — on Basic or above, for billable rates
- Teams of up to five who just need to log and review hours, where the free plan covers it entirely
- Small agencies tracking time across multiple projects
- Hospitality or retail businesses wanting Kiosk clock-in, available from Basic
- Anyone who wants to understand where their time actually goes before deciding whether to pay
Not ideal for:
- Businesses needing MTD-compliant accounting in one tool
- Teams wanting integrated payroll or UK-specific tax features
- Teams above five people looking for a genuinely free option
- Anyone who’d rather not deal with euro billing and exchange rate variability
How Does Clockify Compare to Alternatives?
Currency is worth watching across this whole category, because none of the main options bills UK customers in pounds.
Toggl Track — a more polished experience, and its free tier also covers up to five users. Paid plans start at $9 per user per month on annual billing, $12 monthly, rising to $14–$18 for Premium. Priced in US dollars, so a different currency exposure again.
Harvest — strong invoicing and integrates well with Xero and QuickBooks, but its free tier is far tighter at one seat and two projects. Teams is $9 annual, $11 monthly, with usage-based fees on top for invoices, projects, clients and tasks. Also US dollars.
FreeAgent — not just a time tracker but full bookkeeping, HMRC-recognised for MTD, and priced in pounds: £19 a month for sole traders, £27 for partnerships and LLPs, £33 for limited companies, all ex-VAT. Free entirely if you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle. If you want time tracking and accounts in one place with no currency exposure, this is the one to price against Clockify properly.
Timely — AI-powered automatic tracking, useful if you forget to start timers.
The honest comparison: Clockify Basic at €3.99 is cheaper than Toggl or Harvest at the entry paid tier, and its free plan is more generous than Harvest’s. But FreeAgent free via a Mettle account gives a UK sole trader time tracking, invoicing and MTD-compliant accounts for nothing at all, which is difficult to beat if you qualify.
FAQ
Is Clockify really free for UK users?
Yes, for up to five users, with unlimited tracking, timesheets, reports and the mobile and desktop apps. But billable rates and data export sit on the Basic tier at €3.99 per seat per month, so if you bill clients by the hour or need to hand data to your accountant, budget for that.
What currency does Clockify charge in?
Euros. It’s frequently reported as US dollars, including in comparison articles that convert the figures wrongly as a result. For UK buyers that means exchange rate variability and possibly a foreign transaction fee.
How many users does Clockify’s free plan support?
Five. This changed during 2026 and a lot of published guidance still says unlimited. If you have six people who need to track time, you’re on a paid plan.
Does Clockify work with HMRC or Making Tax Digital?
No. It’s a time tracker, not accounting software, and doesn’t submit to HMRC. Use it alongside MTD-ready software such as FreeAgent, QuickBooks or Xero.
Can I use Clockify on my phone?
Yes. The iOS and Android apps work offline and sync when you reconnect — one of the stronger parts of the product, particularly for tradespeople and consultants moving between locations.
Which plan should a sole trader choose?
If you only need to see where your time goes, free covers it. If you bill clients by the hour, Basic at €3.99 gets you billable rates and export. If you want to raise invoices from your tracked time, Standard at €5.49 is where that arrives. Most freelancers billing hourly will end up on one of those two.
Conclusion: Should UK Freelancers and Small Businesses Use Clockify in 2026?
Clockify remains a capable, well-designed time tracker with a clean interface and genuinely useful free tier. The confusion of the past year is now resolvable: the free plan covers five users with unlimited tracking, timesheets and reports, but billable rates and export require Basic at €3.99 per seat.
Our recommendation: if you just want visibility on where your hours go, the free plan is enough and you should use it. If you bill clients by the hour, go straight to Basic — €3.99 a seat is modest and billable rates are the whole point. If you want to invoice from tracked time, Standard at €5.49 is the step that unlocks it.
Two things to weigh before committing. Clockify bills in euros, so factor in the exchange rate and any foreign transaction fee your bank charges. And if you’re a UK sole trader who banks with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle, FreeAgent gives you time tracking, invoicing and MTD-compliant accounts free — which is worth checking before you pay for anything.
Clockify is a solid tool. Just be clear about which tier you actually need, and in which currency.
Pricing and features correct at time of writing. Plans and capabilities are subject to change — always confirm current details on the provider’s website before purchasing.