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? Read this comprehensive review to find out.
For those of you who prefer a more visual experience, here is a video review from Frank on his YouTube channel Franklin Rivera. You can still read our article to get a complete overview of Time Doctor.
A Closer Look at Time Doctor Studies On Screen Time
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. The tool’s range of features and tools is designed to assist teammates and individuals in improving their productivity by 22% on average.
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 accumulated a user base that exceeds 250,000 over its 20-year 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. However, it is unable to do so because of its lack of consistency in user useability.
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! Studies On Screen Time
> > 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 standout features such as pinpoint-accurate reporting, idle alerts, and automatic reminders.
- The user-friendly and extensive client portal makes it easy for freelancers to interact with clients.
- It offers a smooth and sizable list of integrations with third-party platforms.
The Cons
- Its messy user interface makes navigating through the platform quite different for most users, especially first-timers. Studies On Screen Time
- Despite its potential, its mobile apps don’t provide the same flexibility as the desktop and web versions.
- 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.
Plans and Pricing
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.
Pricing will increase depending on how many users are added to a team. Let’s take a look at the three plans available on the Time Doctor platform.
- Basic – $70/user per year or $7/user per month
Time Doctor’s Basic tier includes access to the platform’s core features, such as time and activity tracking, task and project management, and unlimited screenshots. However, you can only use them if you download the desktop application or web extension. You can only store one month of data.
- Standard – $100/user annually or $10/user monthly
The Standard plan unlocks the opportunity to access a few advanced features, such as tracking the apps and website URLs used by any of your teammates, the payroll tool, reporting, and an additional 60 integrations with third-party apps. The Standard plan also has a new time limit for its customer support hotline, which is now limited to three days instead of 24 hours.
- Premium – $200/user per year or $20/user per month Studies On Screen Time
The Premium tier is the most complete yet out of the 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. Unfortunately, Time Doctor does not offer a free plan; however, each of the three plans has a limited 14-day free trial for those who want to test the waters and see if it’s the perfect tool.
> > 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. They’ve complained about the lack of in-app centralization, which would have saved a lot of time and effort. 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. This is why switching between the portals is easier – it’s not possible to do this with other time management platforms.
Another obstacle Time Doctor users need help with is the general look and design. The website-based dashboard lacks key features that would make it easier to use, except for the desktop app. The diversity of data graphs needed for reporting is also a must. Sure, the bar graphs are awesome, but what about the circles graphs? You might also like pie graphs. Line graphs, perhaps?
It’s already clear that Time Doctor’s user interface and design don’t shine as brightly as its features – we’ll review that very shortly! Despite their lackluster appeal, they are not strong enough for the platform to track work activity. Some users aren’t bothered by the UI problems, while others adjust to it quickly. Studies On Screen Time
There’s still a glimmer of hope that the UI and UX issues in Time Doctor could be resolved and improved in the future. For now, however, new users will need to learn the platform’s inner workings.
Time Doctor: Key Features
Let’s now dive into the tools and features you might want to explore when you log in to Time Doctor.
Project and Data Management
Time Doctor’s project management capabilities allow individuals and administrators to create tasks and group them in a matter of seconds. Administrators can also use this feature to assign tasks to their employees to reduce workload and increase productivity. You can create tasks as standalone tasks. However, you can group them together if necessary into larger projects. This is a great option for large companies whose stability depends on many departments below them.
Time Doctor knows that a clear workboard is a great way to get things done. Administrators can limit access to certain tasks and projects by limiting their visibility to a particular employee or group of employees in the organization. You may want to see who is working on the task or project right now. You may monitor their progress through the dashboard by checking how long they’ve been working, among other things.
Unlike the few other time management platforms out there, Time Doctor allows users to create permanent trackable tasks that can be easily adjusted, edited, or even deleted without having to worry about adding one day by day. People who are used to repetitive tasks no longer have to deal with this problem every day. All they have to do is make them permanent! Studies On Screen Time
> > Click Here to Try Time Doctor Now < <
Alerts and Time Tracking
As already established, Time Doctor’s signature time-tracking tool can only be accessed through either its desktop application or Chrome web extension. Although it is not available through the web dashboard, its capabilities can be used independently. It’s easy to use – simply add the task to which you are assigned and then click the start button to track your progress. It’s simple as that!
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. If you’re working solo, you may go through it in the same manner.
One unique trait of Time Doctor’s time-tracking tool that we can’t help but appreciate is allowing users to customize their set-up according to their liking until they’re content enough to work well. The software also has a reminders function that reminds you when it is time to start and stop work. 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 ever spot something like this and you’ve gone to attend to other things beforehand, you may manually click the play button to resume 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.
While Time Doctor can track your progress and work hours online, did you know it could also do this offline? Like some time monitoring apps such as Hubstaff, which have this function, Time Doctor can record your activity and the hours you spend on your task even without the presence of an internet connection. Studies On Screen Time
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. If the platform sees that the mouse cursor or keyboard hasn’t moved for longer, it will pause instantly and stay that way until you do something with it.
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. If they’ve been procrastinating by going to other platforms that divert from what they’re supposed to do, that’s a completely different story. 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 the purpose of a project/team as a key driver for its tasks.
- If it serves no purpose and is therefore inefficient, it will be a time-waster
- If it is neither productive nor unproductive, it will be considered neutral.
These three productivity statuses are assigned to any website or app and can be adjusted to be limited to one 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. Studies On Screen Time
Activity Screenshots and Screen Recording
We told you earlier about Time Doctor’s ability to track your activity and time in the background, while posting it to the web dashboard for administrators to view. This is why it has built-in snapshot capabilities.
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. The platform captures three minutes of actual work activity, instead of just taking photos of the monitor.
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. To protect their safety, they might be permitted to delete screen recordings or screenshots within the Time Doctor platform. This will likely lead to the deducting of the work hours on the recording date.
> > Click Here to Try Time Doctor Now < <
Productivity Reporting and Analysis
Time Doctor lets users view, edit and save pre-built reports. Each report contains the data and insights that the software has collected during the user’s work hours. All of these reports are presented in decent visuals or summaries. Users can request reports to determine which time management and productivity practices are working well and which ones need to be improved.
Time Doctor’s report collection has so many options for you to explore. The Web and App Usage report lets you see how much time you have spent on websites and apps that are considered 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. However, issues have arisen, especially from multi-screen work set-ups where one could jam to their favorite playlist on one screen while they get to their task on another. 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.
The Timeline report displays all of your hours tracked in chronological order. It is divided into two colors: yellow for manual time recording and blue for automatic. The Project and Tasks report shows hours spent on tasks and/or projects. Finally, the Activity Summary allows you and your admin to view your total work hours and all percentages from all reports. Studies On Screen Time
Time Doctor’s reporting tools are impressive, but some users don’t like the process of creating them. Firstly, the formatting of most reports is generally clunky, further affecting how they’re exported. Second, Time Doctor only offers XSL or CSV. Some may be okay with this, while others will not like the lack of options for export files diversity.
White-labeling and Client Access
Time Doctor is the one thing that solopreneurs and freelancers love the most. They can share their progress with clients even though they don’t have 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.
Time Doctor’s white labeling feature allows you to integrate its tools with your branding if you are the owner or manager of a successful business.
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. You can turn on payroll deep within the settings of your web dashboard and your team will be automatically billed. You may pay your teammates based on tracked hours or on a fixed-rate basis.
Time Doctor’s payroll tool supports every form of currency in existence. 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).
Integration 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. Time Doctor has over 60 integrations to make it simple for you and your team to manage their work together 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 software is available for download on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux OS computers. The latest web extension, however, is only available on Google Chrome. The time-tracking software offers unlimited access to its users through their smartphones. Time Doctor currently offers two mobile apps versions. You can download them both on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
You may be able track your work hours and progress no matter where you are. 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.
The latest version – Time Doctor 2 – has more or less the same functionalities as the previous iteration. 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.
> > Click Here to Try Time Doctor Now < <
Time Doctor: How safe and secure is it?
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. You’re safe because it’s not spyware-like.
We want to remind you that screenshots and recordings can be used to track your work activity. Project managers may also use the webcam shot feature to see their coworkers right in front of them.
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.
Time Doctor assures that your likeness and activity will not be forced-shared in vain. The same sentiment can also be applied to payment information entered into the platform by yourself or your colleagues. These will then be automatically deleted after a while for privacy reasons.
Time Doctor further takes up drastic security measures to ensure that every user’s account isn’t easily breached. This includes strong password policies and 2FA protection. All data stored within the platform is protected by strong SSL encryption with maximum security. Time Doctor is cloud-based so you can expect your data to be regularly backed up. 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: Do 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.
While its line-up of dynamic features has admittedly left us in awe, the experience would have been significantly better if it weren’t for the disorienting UI and UX, lack of functionality and cohesiveness in the mobile apps, and, to an extent, undersupply of report graphics options. 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.
Overall, we ultimately believe that Time Doctor has what it takes to stand on its feet, despite not offering the same easy accessibility as other apps do. Besides, every time management platform shines uniquely, right?
FAQ Studies On Screen Time
How can I approach Time Doctor’s customer service team?
You can contact Time Doctor’s customer support hotline via e-mail, or live chat. There is currently no phone support option provided. If you have a pressing matter that you need to resolve, and you feel the best way to do this is by calling the hotline. 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?
Though there are YouTube videos and how-to articles from independent creators that have already discussed it in full detail, Time Doctor does offer its users an alternative through its dedicated help center, where most of the information included comes from the team behind the platform themselves.
Do I need to add credit card details to apply for a free trial to any of Time Doctor’s paid plans?
You don’t have to sign up with your credit card for the limited 14-day trial. You can only bring it up once you finish the period and wish to commit to purchasing a Time Doctor subscription if you like.
Does Time Doctor comply with HIPAA?
Yes. Time Doctor follows the rules and standards of the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. 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.