OpenTimeClock vs Kimai

Compare OpenTimeClock and Kimai on pricing, features, platforms, and ratings — both Time Tracking tools, Freemium vs Freemium / Open Source pricing to decide…

At a Glance

 OpenTimeClockKimai
Primary categoryTime TrackingTime Tracking
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium / Open Source
Starting priceFree (unlimited users); Paid plan from $39/monthFree (self-hosted); Kimai Cloud from EUR 2.99/user/month
Free planYesYes
Free trialNot documentedYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, Mac, WindowsWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresNot documentedNot documented
Public APINot documentedYes

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

OpenTimeClock

Free Plan — Free N/A
Paid Plan (Monthly) — $39/month Monthly
Paid Plan (Yearly) — $399/year (~$33.25/month) Annual
Sponsor Link — Free (in exchange for a homepage link) N/A

Kimai

Self-Hosted — Free N/A
Kimai Cloud Standard — EUR 2.99/user/month (annual), EUR 3.99 monthly Monthly or annual
Kimai Cloud Professional — EUR 3.99/user/month (annual), EUR 4.99 monthly Monthly or annual

Pros & Cons

OpenTimeClock

Pros

  • Free plan supports unlimited employees, which is rare among time-tracking competitors that charge per seat.
  • Paid plan is inexpensive relative to per-user competitors, especially for larger teams.
  • Supports multiple clock-in methods, including GPS, facial recognition, and offline mode.
  • Includes job costing and PTO accrual tracking typically reserved for pricier platforms.
  • Nonprofit-friendly pricing and a free 'Sponsor Link' option for cost-conscious organizations.

Cons

  • Free plan loses PDF/Excel report export after the initial 30-day trial period.
  • Company does not publicly disclose a physical headquarters or leadership team, which may concern due-diligence-conscious buyers.
  • Interface and design feel dated compared to newer, VC-backed time-tracking competitors.
  • Smaller integration ecosystem with payroll and HR platforms than larger competitors like TSheets/QuickBooks Time or Deputy.
  • Customer support is phone/email based with limited hours rather than 24/7 live chat.

Kimai

Pros

  • Free, self-hostable open-source core with no user limits
  • Low per-seat pricing on Kimai Cloud compared to many SaaS competitors
  • Extensive JSON API and plugin ecosystem for customization
  • GDPR-compliant hosting option in Germany
  • Active development with a long project history since 2006

Cons

  • Self-hosting requires server setup and maintenance effort
  • Advanced features like approvals and expense tracking require the Professional plan or plugins
  • Smaller company behind the product compared to large SaaS time-tracking vendors
  • Interface may feel less polished than premium commercial competitors
  • Non-profit discount pricing requires annual billing

Use Cases

OpenTimeClock

  • Small business payroll-ready time tracking — Small businesses use the free or paid plan to track hourly employee attendance and export data for payroll processing.
  • Multi-site and field-service workforce tracking — Companies with mobile or multi-location employees use GPS geofencing and offline clock-in to verify attendance away from a central office.
  • Nonprofit and school attendance tracking — Nonprofits and schools with large or fluctuating headcounts use the unlimited-user free tier to track staff or volunteer hours without per-seat costs.

Kimai

  • Freelance time and invoice tracking — Freelancers track billable hours per client and generate invoices automatically.
  • Agency project time management — Agencies track team hours across multiple clients and projects with approval workflows.
  • Self-hosted internal time tracking — Companies with data-residency requirements self-host Kimai to keep full control of timesheet data.

Read the full OpenTimeClock review · Read the full Kimai review