When searching for the best time-tracking software, it is important to not only consider what it offers and how much it costs but also look at the features that set it apart from others. We all know that not all time trackers are created equal. It’s crucial to compare and decide which of the competitors is worth a shot.
Of course, we mustn’t forget to look into the aspect of personal feelings as well. What you ultimately choose may either increase your team’s productivity or not – either way, it will change you whether you like it or not.
Time Doctor is one of the most popular apps in today’s productivity market. It has both teams and single users in a stupor for its task- and time-monitoring capabilities. But has it caught us the same way? This comprehensive review will help you find out.
Frank Rivera has posted a video review of Time Doctor on his YouTube channel Franklin Rivera. For those who like a more visual experience, You can still read our article to get a complete overview of Time Doctor.
A Closer Look at Time Doctor Time In vs Time Out
Time Doctor is a time tracking and project-monitoring tool that’s best suited to small and large businesses, freelancers, remote teams, and freelance workers. Its lineup of tools and features aims to help teammates and individuals improve their productivity by an average of 22%.
Time Doctor was launched in 2012, a little over a decade ago. It has gradually gained a large audience and is now a well-known time management tool for companies, no matter how established or new to the field. The client portal feature has made it a favorite among freelancers, who frequently work for multiple clients.
Time Doctor has amassed a user base of over 250,000 businesses throughout its history. Among those who’ve used the service for time and employee management matters include Apple, Ericsson, Better Business Bureau (BBB), Verizon, Boost Media, and Thrive Market.
Time Doctor is well-known for its time and activity tracking functions, as well as advanced capabilities such setting reminders to remind you when the timer should be started and stopped. These features may be enough to help Time Doctor stand out from other time management apps. Still, the lack of cohesiveness in its general user usability stops it from doing so.
Despite this, we believe that Time Doctor has the potential to be a wonderful addition to any individual or team looking to expand their productivity levels. Keep reading to know more about what else this one-of-a-kind platform has to offer and how well each of them works! Time In vs Time Out
> > Click Here to Try Time Doctor Now < <
The Pros
- Time Doctor is most well-known for its easy-to-use, time- and activity management tools and functions.
- It includes outstanding features like pinpoint-accurate reports, idle alerts and automatic reminders.
- The user-friendly and extensive client portal makes it easy for freelancers to interact with clients.
- It allows for a large and seamless integration with third-party platforms.
The Cons
- The platform’s confusing user interface makes navigation difficult for many users, particularly first-timers. Time In vs Time Out
- Its mobile apps are not as flexible as its web and desktop counterparts, despite their potential.
- It doesn’t offer smooth switching between the web-based client and desktop apps, especially if you’re both the administrator and the user.
- You can only access the time tracking feature if you download and install the desktop app or web extension.
Pricing and plans
Before we move on to everything else, let’s talk about the plans and how much they cost first. Time Doctor currently has three paid subscription tiers. Each tier offers a unique set of tools and features that get more expensive as they become more complex.
The pricing will also increase according to the number of users added to one team. Let’s check out the following three available plans in the Time Doctor platform.
- Basic – $70/user annually or $7/user monthly
The Basic tier of Time Doctor includes access to core platform features such as task and project management and time and activity tracking. It also allows unlimited screenshots. You can only access them if the web extension or desktop application is downloaded. Plus, you’re limited to one month’s worth of data storage.
- Standard – $100/user per year or $10/user per month
Standard plans allow you to access advanced features such as tracking your team’s apps and URLs, the payroll tool, reporting and 60 additional integrations with third-party applications. It also sees upgraded time limitations to its customer support hotline – from three days to 24 hours.
- Premium – $200/user per year or $20/user per month Time In vs Time Out
The premium tier offers the most comprehensive of all three. Those subscribed to it are given access to all of what Time Doctor has to offer – on top of the core tools, they can also explore the client portal, take video screen recordings, and receive VIP-style support.
Paying annually will get a complimentary charge for the first 2 months. Time Doctor doesn’t offer a free plan. However, each of the three plans offers a limited 14 day trial that allows you to try it out and decide if it is the right tool for you.
> > Click Here to Try Time Doctor Now < <
The User Interface
Time Doctor is a robust tool for managing time and activities. However, it’s well-known for its awkward and poorly designed user interface. It can be a pain to navigate the platform. This is especially true if you are just starting to explore the dashboard and other features.
For instance, many who’ve used Time Doctor have found issues accessing its range of functions. Many users have complained about the inability to centralize their data within the app, which would have saved them a lot of time. Until now, users can only access the time tracking feature through the desktop app or web extension. The website version only has project management, reporting, as well as other admin features. With that in mind, switching between the two portals is more frequent – you usually wouldn’t see this on other time management platforms.
Another obstacle Time Doctor users need help with is the general look and design. Save for the desktop app, and the website-based dashboard sure does lack a few key intuitive features which would have made for a more convenient user experience. The diversity of data graphs needed for reporting is also a must. Sure, the bar graphs are awesome, but what about the circles graphs? Pie graphs, as well? Line graphs, perhaps?
Time Doctor’s interface and design are already a problem. We’ll be reviewing that in a moment! However, despite their combined lackluster appeal, they’re not strong enough to fully soil the experience of tracking work activity, which the platform was designed for in the first place. Some users don’t even mind the UI issues at all, while others have learned to adjust quickly to it over time. Time In vs Time Out
There is still hope that Time Doctor’s UX and UI issues could be fixed in the near future. For now, however, new users will need to learn the platform’s inner workings.
Key Features Included in Time Doctor
Now, let’s dive deeper into some of the features and tools you may want to explore if you log in to the Time Doctor platform.
Project and Data Management
With Time Doctor’s project management capabilities, individuals or administrators within a team can create tasks and group them into groups with just a few clicks. Admins may also utilize this feature to assign their employees tasks to offload and maximize their teams’ productivity. Although you can set up standalone tasks, you may group them if you’d like into larger projects to keep things tidy and organized – a great idea for big companies whose stability relies on numerous departments beneath them.
Time Doctor knows that a clear workboard is a great way to get things done. With that in mind, admins may opt to limit access to select tasks or projects by assigning them to only a specific employee or group of employees within the team. You may want to see who is working on the task or project right now. The dashboard allows you to track their progress and see how long they have been working.
Time Doctor is unlike other time management tools. Users can create permanent trackable tasks that they can easily edit, delete, or modify without the need to add one each day. Those who work around repetitive tasks will no longer need to face this burden every time – all they need to do is change them to permanent status! Time In vs Time Out
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Time Tracking and Alerts
As already established, Time Doctor’s signature time-tracking tool can only be accessed through either its desktop application or Chrome web extension. Despite not being available in the web dashboard, its capabilities are surprisingly well-versed enough to make it stand independently. It’s quite straightforward – just add in the task you’re assigned to work on and click the timer’s start button to track your progress. It’s that simple!
All your activities and actions will be recorded as the timer runs through your task. They will then be logged and saved to the web dashboard, where admins may use this to check on their employees’ progress on the go. You may do it the same way if you are working alone.
Time Doctor’s time tracking tool is unique in that it allows users to set up their own setup until they are happy enough to work. This includes the reminders feature, where the software automatically reminds you when to start or stop your work hours. Another is the “idle time” function, in which users can convert the duration in which they haven’t been working and reassign it to work hours.
If no sign of user activity is detected after a few moments, the timer will automatically bring it to a stop. If you spot something similar and have gone to attend other things, you can manually click the play button in order to restart tracking. You can also pause the timer if you need to take a break from work. If you need space to take a proper break and don’t want to resume or stop the timer on your own, Time Doctor lets you incorporate time intervals between your daily tasks.
Time Doctor may be able to track your work hours and progress online, but did you know that it could do the same offline, too? Time Doctor, like other time-monitoring apps like Hubstaff, can track your activities and record the hours spent on your task, even without an internet connection. Time In vs Time Out
Website and App Usage Monitoring
Time Doctor monitors more than just hours spent on a desktop. It also tracks websites visited and keystrokes made while you work. The platform will immediately pause if it detects that your mouse cursor or keyboard is still stationary for longer than a set time and it will stay there until you do something.
It’s often difficult to determine if someone is productive until you know what they have been doing. It’s an easy relief to hear if they are focusing on their tasks. It’s not the same story if they have been procrastinating and going to other platforms to distract from what they should be doing. No matter if you’re strict or relaxed with it, Time Doctor allows users to check which kinds of websites or applications their fellow teammates have used during work hours and how long they’ve glued their eyes to them.
Among Time Doctor’s set of robust monitoring capabilities, there is a feature in which admins can easily spot if their employees have either been wasting time or attending to a task by the website URL or application name and the status given to it. This feature is available to managers and administrators to adjust the platform’s productivity rating to any one of the three ranks.
- Productive, if it serves a team/project’s purpose as a key driver to its tasks.
- Unproductive, if it otherwise serves zero purposes and, therefore, a time-waster
- If it is neither productive nor unproductive, it will be considered neutral.
These statuses can be assigned to any app or website and can be set to be restricted to a single user, group/team or company. It is extremely convenient for those who work in specific jobs, such as content writing, to be able to monitor website activity and set productivity statuses per user. For what it’s worth, Time Doctor may be lucky this time to have this crucial function included, unlike other time-tracking software. Time In vs Time Out
Activity Screenshots and Screen Recording
Remember when we told you about Time Doctor being able to record your tracked time and activity in the background while they’re posting the data to the web dashboard for admins to see? Its built-in screenshot capabilities are there for this reason.
Admins can set a specific time interval for automatic screen capturing across their project/team, whether it’s fixed to 10 minutes or 30. They can also choose to allow access to any of their colleagues if they wish.
Each image is equipped with additional information on the level of keystroke and mouse cursor activity as a way to determine user productivity. While those subscribed to Time Doctor’s Basic and Standard plans have access to unlimited screenshots, Premium users get the upper hand with the inclusion of video screen recording. Instead of taking pictures of the computer monitor, the platform records three minutes’ worth of work activity in action.
There may be rare instances in which someone from a project/team may be at risk of a breach of privacy caused by serious circumstances. If this happens, they may be allowed to delete screenshots or screen recordings within the Time Doctor platform for their safety. This will likely lead to the deducting of the work hours on the recording date.
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Productivity Reporting and Analysis
Time Doctor lets users view, edit and save pre-built reports. Each contains data and insights collected by the software during their tracked work hours, all presented in the form of decent visuals and summaries. Reports can be provided as a means to help users determine which of the implemented time management and productivity habits have been working and which need improvement.
Time Doctor’s report collection has so many options for you to explore. Its Web and App Usage report, on the one hand, lets you see how many hours you’ve spent and how active you’ve been on any website or app that’s classified as productive. On the other hand, the Poor Time Use report plots out how long you’ve sat around on sites that have been flagged as inappropriate for work. Multi-screen work setups can lead to problems, such as the possibility of one person being able to jam out to their favorite music on one screen, while working on their task on the other. Poor Time Use also includes being able to set pop-up windows on off-limits websites, so whenever someone decides to go to YouTube, for example, they’ll be instantly met with a reminder if they want to continue or go back to focus on their assigned task.
Other types of reports include the Timeline report, which displays all your tracked hours in chronological order, primarily divided into the colors yellow for manual time recording and green for automatic; the Project and Tasks report, where hours spent on assigned tasks and/or projects are broken down in full detail; and the Activity Summary in which your total work hours and the full percentages derived from a combination of all other reports are laid out for you and your admin to see. Time In vs Time Out
While Time Doctor’s accurate reporting tools may be impressive and all, some of its users have historically not liked experiencing certain issues while generating them. Firstly, the formatting of most reports is generally clunky, further affecting how they’re exported. Second, XSL and CSV are the only two options Time Doctor has made available and nothing else – some may be simply okay with that, but others won’t like this lack of export file diversity as much.
Client Access and White-labeling
If there’s one thing about Time Doctor that dedicated freelancers or solopreneurs can’t get enough of, it’s the ability to share the progress of their tasks with their clients, even if they are not exactly their teammates or don’t share a Time Doctor account.
You may find it helpful to know that the Client Portal feature of the platform allows you to accept commissions from many clients.
Simply send the link to the portal directly to your clients. Once they have access to it, they can see how long you’ve been working, how many tasks you completed, and even the archive of screenshots and reports. You have complete control over what your clients see through the Client Portal, which results in smooth, tasteful interactions.
If you own and manage a well-established business – and have enough money to pull it off – you may also take advantage of Time Doctor’s white-labeling feature by integrating its tools with your own branding.
Payroll
Planning to pay your employees based on how much they’ve dedicated their time to their respective tasks? You can do this within the Time Doctor platform using its built-in payroll function. Turn on payroll deep in the settings of the web dashboard, and your team’s timeline will automatically be billed. Your teammates may be paid based on their hours worked or on a fixed rate.
Time Doctor’s payroll software supports all currencies. You can ask employees to send their salaries through PayPal, Payoneer or TransferWise. If you’re working for a larger company, you may export all the payroll info into a CSV file for purposes of batch payments (multiple payments are sent all at once).
Integrations with Third-Party Services
Time Doctor currently houses a decent yet heavy range of integrations with various third-party platforms, focusing on business, work, and productivity. With an approximate estimate of over 60 integrations, Time Doctor makes it easy for you to manage your team’s combined work in one interconnected ecosystem.
These include connections to project management platforms such as Trello and Asana, payment services such PayPal, work messaging apps such Slack and CRM platforms like Salesforce. On top of all this, a public API tool is made available for integrations with other apps beyond the given list – you may utilize this if you or your teammate know a thing or two about coding.
The Time Doctor Mobile App
Time Doctor’s desktop program is available to download and install on Windows PCs, Mac OS devices, and Linux OS computers. The latest web extension, however, is only available on Google Chrome. However, the time-tracking software also offers its users unlimited access through their smartphones: Time Doctor currently offers not one but two mobile app versions, both of which you can download on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
No matter how you look, you may be able to track your work hours and progress even if you’re out of the office. The classic version of the app allows you to view all tasks in a project and track your team’s location through GPS. This is on top of the basic tools for time tracking and the limited dashboard settings.
Time Doctor 2 is the latest version. It has almost the exact same functionality as the older version. Only two differences distinguish the two versions: 1) TD2 can only be used on Android devices and 2) you won’t have access to other features other than time tracking – a notable downgrade from TD Classic.
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How Safe and Secure is Time Doctor?
You may be questioning whether Time Doctor is worth using as a time management tool. You may also wonder if its surveillance tools could keep track of your actions, even as you pause your timer momentarily to catch a quick break. We are happy to inform you that the 1984-style work scenario is not something we find frightening. Your activities will not be saved to Time Doctor’s cloud database. It’s 100% not spyware material, so you’re in good hands.
We’d like to reiterate that your work activity may be tracked through screenshots and recordings, and we’d also like to add that there is a webcam shot feature that project managers may use to see their teammates right in front of their eyes…
Okay, maybe the thought of that may be quite concerning, especially for some who are protective of their privacy, but don’t worry – not all admins want to use this, so there’s a good reason why the webcam shots and screengrabs are optional and can be enabled or disabled depending on how the admin user feels.
As Time Doctor promises that all your activity and likeness will not be force-shared in vain, the same sentiment can be applied to the payment information typed into the platform by you or your teammates, which will then be automatically deleted after a short while for the sake of privacy.
Time Doctor also takes extreme security measures to make sure that no account is easily hacked. These measures include guaranteed protection by 2FA and a strong password policy, and all the data made within the platform is safeguarded by strong SSL encryption in maximum security facilities. Plus, since Time Doctor is cloud-based, expect all your stored data to be backed up regularly. You may be able to have your data restored quickly in the event of an internet or power outage. This will ensure that you don’t lose any progress.
The Bottom Line: Should You Use Time Doctor?
Time Doctor provides a steady user base of professional teams and freelancers with the benefits of a simple, straightforward task management space and the charms of an advanced-level time tracker, creating a harmonious balance between the two.
Although the range of dynamic features in this app has left us speechless, we still found the experience to be awe-inspiring. However, it would have been much better if the UI and UX were more clear, less cohesive and lacking in functionality in mobile apps. There was also a lack of report graphics options and, to a certain extent, a disorienting UI. These issues alone may have prevented other users and us from fully enjoying it. Others don’t mind, though, because it does exactly what it was designed to do: track time.
We believe Time Doctor is able to hold its own, even though it doesn’t offer the same ease of use as other apps. Besides, every time management platform shines uniquely, right?
FAQ Time In vs Time Out
How do I contact Time Doctor’s customer support team?
Time Doctor’s customer service hotline can be approached either through e-mail or live chat. At this time, there is no telephone support. However, if you have an important matter and the best and only thing you think to solve this is through talking over the phone, you may leave behind your contact details and preferred call time through any of the available outlets. A member of the hotline will notify this and reach you any day.
Where else can I look for tutorials and tips on how to use Time Doctor?
YouTube videos and how to articles by independent creators can be found. However, Time Doctor offers its users an alternative via its dedicated help center. Here, most of the information is provided by the team behind Time Doctor.
To apply for a Time Doctor paid plan, do I need credit card information?
You don’t have to sign up with your credit card for the limited 14-day trial. If you are done with the trial period, you can bring it up again to purchase a Time Doctor subscription.
Is Time Doctor HIPAA-compliant?
Yes. Time Doctor adheres to the standards and rules of the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The platform is technically flexible enough to be used in a wide range of industries and niches. However, it can also be useful for healthcare teams.