Clockify vs Toggl Track vs Harvest for Google Workspace

If you run an Australian SMB and cannot confidently answer the question "How long did the Carter project actually take last month?" then your business has a time tracking problem. It is not a minor one. Unbilled hours, underquoted projects, and invisible inefficiencies quietly erode profitability, and for professional services firms, agencies, and consultancies -- the industries that make up a significant share of Australia's SMB landscape -- every untracked hour is lost revenue.

The good news is that modern time tracking tools integrate directly with Google Workspace, sitting inside Gmail, Google Calendar, and Chrome so your team can log time without changing how they already work. The challenge is picking the right one. Three platforms consistently lead this space for Google Workspace teams: Clockify, Toggl Track, and Harvest. Each takes a different approach to time tracking, and the right choice depends on your budget, team size, and whether you need invoicing, reporting, or just a reliable timer.

Here is what this comparison covers:

• Individual deep dives on each tool's features, strengths, and limitations
• Pricing in AUD with realistic cost projections for teams of 10 to 50
• A feature-by-feature comparison table covering what matters most
• Google Workspace integration depth for each tool
• Recommendations matched to specific Australian business types

Clockify: The Free-First Time Tracker

Clockify has built its reputation on one powerful proposition: unlimited users on the free plan. For budget-conscious Australian SMBs, that is a compelling starting point. Unlike most competitors that restrict free tiers to one or two users, Clockify lets your entire team track time at no cost, with paid plans adding features like invoicing, time off tracking, and advanced reporting.

Features and Strengths

Clockify is a dedicated time tracking tool that covers the core workflow well. You can track time using a running timer or enter hours manually after the fact. Time entries are organised by project, task, and client, giving you the structure needed to understand where your team's hours go.

Key capabilities include:

• Timer and manual entry -- start and stop a timer, or log hours after the fact in a timesheet grid
• Projects and tasks -- organise time entries by client, project, and sub-task for granular reporting
• Timesheet view -- weekly grid where team members fill in hours by project, familiar to anyone who has used a traditional timesheet
• Dashboard -- real-time overview of tracked hours across the team, broken down by project and person
• Reports -- summary, detailed, and weekly reports that can be filtered, exported, and shared
• Invoicing -- generate invoices from tracked time (paid plans)
• Time off tracking -- manage leave requests and balances (paid plans)
• Kiosk mode -- shared device clock-in for on-site teams (paid plans)
• Scheduling -- visual shift and project scheduling (paid plans)

Google Workspace integration includes:

• Google Calendar -- track time directly from Calendar events; one click turns a meeting or task block into a time entry
• Chrome extension -- start timers from within Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and other web apps without switching tabs
• Google SSO -- sign in with Google credentials for simplified access
• Google Workspace Marketplace -- install and deploy across your organisation

The Google Calendar integration is particularly useful for teams that block out project time on their calendars. Rather than tracking time separately, you can convert Calendar events directly into Clockify entries, reducing double handling.

Pricing

Clockify uses a per-user-per-month model with a generous free tier:

• Free: Unlimited users, unlimited time tracking, unlimited projects, basic reports
• Basic: USD $4.99/user/month (~AUD $8/user/month) -- time rounding, custom fields, break tracking, bulk edits
• Standard: USD $6.99/user/month (~AUD $11/user/month) -- invoicing, time off, timesheet approvals, manager roles
• Pro: USD $9.99/user/month (~AUD $16/user/month) -- scheduling, GPS tracking, labour cost rates, budget alerts
• Enterprise: USD $14.99/user/month (~AUD $24/user/month) -- SSO/SAML, custom subdomain, audit log, dedicated support

For a team of 10 on the Standard plan: roughly AUD $110 per month or AUD $1,320 per year. For 25 users on Standard: roughly AUD $275 per month or AUD $3,300 per year.

The free plan is genuinely usable for small teams that need basic time tracking and reporting. The Standard plan is where most growing businesses will land, as that is where invoicing and timesheet approvals become available.

Limitations

Clockify's free plan, while generous, lacks features that many SMBs need from day one: invoicing, time off tracking, and manager approval workflows are all behind the paywall. The reporting, while functional, is less polished than Toggl Track's visual analytics. The interface is utilitarian rather than elegant -- it gets the job done, but the user experience does not inspire the same enthusiasm as Toggl Track's design. Integrations with project management tools are more limited than the other two options.

Toggl Track: The Design-Led Productivity Tool

Toggl Track is the time tracker people actually enjoy using. That might sound trivial, but adoption is the single biggest challenge with time tracking -- if your team does not use it consistently, the data is worthless. Toggl Track solves this with a beautifully designed interface, smart features like automatic tracking suggestions, and seamless Google Workspace integration.

Features and Strengths

Toggl Track focuses on making time tracking effortless. The one-click timer is accessible from a browser extension, desktop app, mobile app, or directly within integrated tools. Entries are categorised by project, client, and tags, and the platform uses these to generate insightful reports.

Key capabilities include:

• One-click timer -- minimal friction to start and stop time tracking from any device
• Timeline view -- visual representation of your day showing tracked and untracked time, with automatic activity detection on desktop
• Auto-tracker -- desktop app detects which applications and websites you use and suggests time entries (private to each user)
• Project dashboards -- real-time visibility into project progress, estimated vs actual hours, and budget status
• Reporting -- summary, detailed, and weekly reports with visual charts, filters, and export options
• Team management -- workspaces, groups, and project access controls for managing teams
• Saved timers -- quickly restart common tasks with one click
• Billable rates -- set per-user, per-project, and per-workspace billing rates
• Project estimates -- track time against budgeted hours or monetary amounts

Google Workspace integration includes:

• Google Calendar -- view Calendar events alongside your Toggl timeline; start timers directly from calendar entries
• Chrome extension (Toggl Track Button) -- adds a timer button inside Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, and 100+ other web apps
• Google SSO -- sign in with Google credentials
• Google Workspace Marketplace -- available for admin-managed deployment

Toggl Track's Chrome extension is exceptionally well-implemented. It embeds a small timer button directly into the interface of supported web apps, so you can start tracking time on an email in Gmail, a document in Google Docs, or an event in Google Calendar without opening a separate app. For teams that live inside Google Workspace all day, this reduces tracking friction to almost zero.

Pricing

Toggl Track uses a per-user-per-month model:

• Free: Up to 5 users, basic time tracking, reports, and integrations
• Starter: USD $9/user/month (~AUD $14/user/month) -- billable rates, project estimates, saved timers, project dashboards
• Premium: USD $18/user/month (~AUD $28/user/month) -- time audits, fixed fee projects, scheduled reports, project forecasting, priority support
• Enterprise: Custom pricing -- SAML SSO, dedicated account manager, custom data retention

For a team of 10 on the Starter plan: roughly AUD $140 per month or AUD $1,680 per year. For 25 users on Starter: roughly AUD $350 per month or AUD $4,200 per year.

The free plan is a solid starting point for teams of five or fewer, but the 5-user cap means most SMBs will need the Starter plan quickly. The Starter tier is the realistic baseline for teams needing billable rates and project estimates.

Limitations

Toggl Track does not include invoicing. You can track billable hours and export the data, but generating and sending invoices requires a separate tool or connecting to accounting software like Xero. For Australian SMBs that want a complete time-to-invoice workflow in one platform, this is a notable gap. The free plan's 5-user limit is restrictive compared to Clockify's unlimited free tier. Premium plan pricing at ~AUD $28/user/month starts to approach the cost of all-in-one project management tools like Monday.com.

Harvest: The Time-to-Invoice Workhorse

Harvest has been in the time tracking game since 2006, making it one of the most established tools in this space. Its defining strength is the seamless connection between time tracking and invoicing -- you track hours, review them, and send professional invoices to clients, all within the same platform. For Australian professional services firms that bill by the hour, Harvest is purpose-built for the workflow.

Features and Strengths

Harvest combines time tracking with project budgeting and invoicing in a single, focused tool. It does not try to be a project management platform; instead, it does the time-to-money pipeline exceptionally well.

Key capabilities include:

• Timer and timesheet -- start a running timer or fill in a weekly timesheet; both methods feed the same data
• Project budgets -- set budgets by hours or fees and track progress in real time with visual indicators
• Invoicing -- generate invoices directly from tracked time and expenses, customise templates, and send to clients from within Harvest
• Expense tracking -- log project expenses with receipt photos, then include them on invoices
• Capacity reporting -- see team utilisation rates and identify who has availability
• Detailed reports -- analyse time by project, client, team member, or date range; compare estimated vs actual hours
• Approval workflows -- managers review and approve timesheets before invoicing
• Integrations with accounting tools -- native integrations with Xero and QuickBooks for Australian businesses

Google Workspace integration includes:

• Google Calendar -- start timers from Calendar events with a single click
• Chrome extension -- add a timer button to Gmail, Google Docs, and other web apps
• Google SSO -- sign in with Google credentials
• Google Workspace Marketplace -- available for streamlined deployment

Harvest's integration with Xero is particularly relevant for Australian businesses. Tracked time flows into invoices within Harvest, and those invoices sync to Xero for accounting, GST handling, and payment tracking. This eliminates the manual data entry between time tracking and accounting that plagues many small firms.

Pricing

Harvest uses a straightforward pricing model:

• Free: 1 seat, 2 projects -- basic time tracking and invoicing
• Pro: USD $10.80/seat/month (~AUD $17/seat/month) -- unlimited seats, unlimited projects, invoicing, expense tracking, capacity reporting, integrations

For a team of 10 on the Pro plan: roughly AUD $170 per month or AUD $2,040 per year. For 25 users on Pro: roughly AUD $425 per month or AUD $5,100 per year.

Harvest's pricing model is refreshingly simple. There are no tiers to navigate -- every paid user gets every feature. No gatekeeping invoicing behind a more expensive plan, no caps on reporting, no feature unlock decisions. You pay per seat and get the full platform. For IT managers who are tired of deciphering tiered pricing, this clarity is a genuine advantage.

Limitations

Harvest's simplicity is both its strength and its limitation. It does not offer the advanced reporting visualisations that Toggl Track provides, and its interface, while clean, feels dated compared to Toggl Track's modern design. The free plan is severely limited at one seat and two projects, making it impractical for evaluation beyond a solo test. Harvest also lacks features like automatic time detection, scheduling, and kiosk mode that Clockify offers on paid plans. If you do not need invoicing, you are paying for a feature you will not use.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Here is how the three tools compare across the criteria that matter most for Google Workspace time tracking:

Winner by Category

• Best Free Plan: Clockify -- unlimited users with solid core features at no cost
• Easiest to Adopt: Toggl Track -- the most intuitive interface and best Chrome extension
• Best Invoicing: Harvest -- the only tool with built-in invoicing and expense tracking
• Best Xero Integration: Harvest -- native sync eliminates manual accounting entry
• Most Affordable at Scale: Clockify -- lowest per-seat cost at every tier
• Best Chrome Extension: Toggl Track -- embedded timer buttons in 100+ web apps including Gmail and Google Docs
• Best for Shift-Based Teams: Clockify -- kiosk mode and scheduling features for on-site workers
• Best Reporting Visuals: Toggl Track -- clean charts and dashboards for understanding time data
• Best for Project Profitability: Harvest -- budgets, billable rates, expenses, and invoicing in one flow

Which Tool Suits Your Business?

Choosing between these three time trackers comes down to what your business actually needs from the data and how much you are willing to spend.

Choose Clockify if:

• Budget is your primary concern. The free plan lets your whole team track time at no cost, and paid plans start at just ~AUD $8/user/month. For a 50-person business, that is a significant saving over Toggl Track or Harvest.
• You need scheduling or kiosk features. Clockify's paid plans include shift scheduling and a shared-device kiosk mode that the other two tools do not offer, making it suitable for businesses with on-site or shift-based workers.
• You are a trades, retail, or hospitality business in Australia where basic time tracking for payroll compliance is the priority and you do not need client invoicing.

Choose Toggl Track if:

• Team adoption is your biggest challenge. Toggl Track's polished design, automatic time suggestions, and embedded Chrome extension make it the easiest tool to get people actually using. If your team has resisted time tracking before, Toggl Track is your best shot at changing that.
• You already use a separate invoicing tool. If your accounting workflow runs through Xero or MYOB and you do not need invoicing built into your time tracker, Toggl Track's superior user experience and reporting make it the better choice.
• You are a consulting firm, IT services provider, or knowledge worker team in Australia where understanding how time is spent matters more than generating invoices from the tool itself.

Choose Harvest if:

• You bill clients by the hour and need a time-to-invoice pipeline. Harvest is the only tool here that takes you from "start the timer" to "send the invoice" without leaving the platform. For law firms, accounting practices, design agencies, and freelancers, this streamlined workflow saves hours of admin.
• You use Xero for accounting. The native Harvest-Xero integration means tracked time flows into invoices, invoices sync to Xero, and payments are reconciled automatically. No Zapier, no manual exports.
• You are a professional services firm, creative agency, or architecture practice in Australia with 10-100 employees who need to track billable hours and invoice clients directly from time data.

A Practical Australian Example

Consider three different Australian businesses, each with 20 Google Workspace users:

A Perth electrical contractor with 15 field workers and 5 office staff. They need basic time tracking for payroll, a kiosk for the warehouse where workers clock in, and scheduling for job assignments. Budget is tight. Clockify Pro at roughly AUD $320/month gives them scheduling, kiosk mode, and GPS tracking at a price point the others cannot match.

A Melbourne IT consultancy with 20 consultants who work across multiple client projects. They need to understand where time goes, track project profitability, and produce clean reports for clients. They invoice through Xero. Toggl Track Starter at roughly AUD $280/month delivers the best user experience and Chrome extension, and the team will actually use it consistently, which is what matters most.

A Sydney law firm with 15 lawyers and 5 support staff who bill every six minutes. They need timers, billable rates by matter, expense tracking for disbursements, and the ability to generate invoices directly from time data that sync to Xero. Harvest Pro at roughly AUD $340/month gives them the complete time-to-invoice workflow with native Xero integration, which is exactly what their billing process demands.

Affiliate & Partner Programs

If you are considering adopting one of the time tracking tools discussed in this guide, the following affiliate and partner program links may be helpful:

• Toggl Track Affiliate Program: https://toggl.com/track/affiliate-program/
• Harvest Partners: https://www.getharvest.com/partners
• Clockify Affiliate Program: https://clockify.me/

The Verdict: Practical Recommendations for Australian Businesses

There is no single best time tracker. The right choice depends on your budget, whether you need invoicing, and how much effort you are willing to invest in getting your team to actually track their time.

For budget-conscious teams that need a solid foundation, Clockify is the clear starting point. The unlimited free plan means you can roll it out to your entire team today at no cost and upgrade to paid features only when you need them. For businesses where time tracking is primarily about payroll, internal visibility, or compliance rather than client billing, Clockify delivers the most value per dollar. Its scheduling and kiosk features also make it the only realistic option for shift-based or on-site teams.

For teams where adoption is the priority, Toggl Track is the tool people will actually use. The design is a step above the competition, the Chrome extension integrates seamlessly into Google Workspace, and the automatic time detection helps capture hours that would otherwise slip through the cracks. If you have tried time tracking before and it did not stick, Toggl Track's user experience is your best chance at building the habit across your team. Pair it with Xero or your existing invoicing tool for a complete workflow.

For billable services businesses that need a time-to-invoice pipeline, Harvest is purpose-built for your workflow. No other tool in this comparison takes you from tracking a timer to sending a professional invoice to reconciling payment in Xero with as little friction. It is the most expensive per seat, but for firms where every billable hour directly translates to revenue, the investment in a seamless billing workflow pays for itself many times over.

All three tools offer Google Workspace Marketplace apps, Chrome extensions, and Google Calendar integration, so whichever you choose, your team can track time without leaving the Google tools they already live in. Start with a free plan or trial, pilot it with one team, and measure adoption before committing to a paid annual plan.

Useful Resources:
- Clockify Google Workspace Integration
- Toggl Track Chrome Extension
- Harvest Google Calendar Integration
- Google Workspace Marketplace

Need help selecting and deploying the right time tracking tool for your Google Workspace environment? Contact our team for a free consultation.