Timeglass
Timeglass vs Kimai compares hosted automated timesheet software with an open-source time tracker available through self-hosting or Kimai Cloud. Timeglass prepares draft entries from captured work. Kimai centers its core recording workflow on timers and manual entries, with configurable records, invoicing, and a plugin ecosystem.
For teams choosing web-based timesheet software, browser access is one part of the decision. You also need to decide how work gets recorded, who maintains the system, and how reviewed time reaches billing. This comparison reflects public product information checked on November 5, 2026.
Which product fits your team?
Consider Timeglass if your team’s main friction is remembering and classifying a busy day. It aims to give people a prepared record they can review, using work context to help describe and assign activities. That approach is especially relevant when client work is spread across files, applications, and meetings.
Consider Kimai if hosting choice, extensibility, and explicit time entry are priorities. You can run it yourself or use Kimai Cloud, and you can shape the workflow with plugins and integrations. That flexibility is useful when your business has clear technical requirements and someone who can maintain the chosen setup. Kimai product options
How does each product record and review time?
Timeglass combines desktop capture with instructions that help guide grouping, wording, and assignment. Teams can supply context at several organizational levels, and people review the resulting entries. This helps the draft reflect your work while keeping a human check on the record. Timeglass AI instructions
Kimai’s core workflow supports timers, manual records, calendar entry, and editing. Employees select the relevant customer, project, and activity. That makes the recording process explicit and gives teams a clear structure for their timesheets. If people can consistently record work as it happens, this can be a comfortable routine. Kimai timesheets
Approval depends on your Kimai configuration. Core locking, a working-hours extension, and a separate weekly approval plugin serve different purposes. Decide whether you need weekly submission, monthly closure, or restricted edits after invoicing, then verify the selected Cloud tier or installed extension supports that exact path.
Timeglass can send periodic screenshots for cloud analysis, and metadata-only capture is available when workspace settings permit it. Timeglass capture settings
What should web-based timesheet software support beyond browser access?
Check the complete route from recording work to reviewing and exporting it. Timeglass uses an installed desktop app for capture, with access rules set in the workspace. Kimai provides a browser-based interface, and the selected hosting option and extensions shape its workflow. Confirm the devices, review process, and billing output your team needs.
How do the main features compare?
| Area | Timeglass | Kimai |
|---|---|---|
| Time entry | Captured work and configured instructions support reviewable draft entries. | People create records with timers, manual entry, or calendar-based tools. |
| Review and control | Workspace permissions govern editing and access to work records. | Roles, record locks, and selected extensions govern review and editing. |
| Project finances | Configured billing and cost data support project-level financial estimates. | Project budgets and separate internal and external rates support cost tracking. |
| Billing workflow | Teams export time and billing files for downstream processing. | Core invoicing creates documents from eligible recorded work. |
| Connected tools | API keys and webhooks support connections built for a chosen destination. | A REST API and ecosystem extensions support configured connections. |
| Team setup | A hosted workspace uses desktop capture and team policies. | Teams choose Cloud hosting or maintain their own installation and plugins. |
For timesheet reporting software to be useful, its totals need consistent project assignments and rates. Check one known project from recorded hours through to its financial report before judging either system’s output.
Kimai includes substantial billing structure. Its rates can follow customer, project, activity, and user rules, and rates are stored with time records. Changing a base rate affects future records; batch recalculation can change existing records. That detail is useful when your finance process needs deliberate treatment of historical prices. Kimai rate rules
Timeglass’s API and webhooks offer another way to connect time with existing systems. The destination still needs an adapter or automation tool, so include configuration and maintenance in the plan. Ask which data moves, what triggers it, and how later corrections are handled. Timeglass API and webhooks
What should you budget?
Compare timesheet software pricing using the full setup you plan to run. Include the number of paid users, required extensions, hosting, maintenance, and time spent administering the system.
Timeglass is $30/seat monthly or $25/seat with annual billing. Timeglass pricing
Kimai Cloud lists Standard at €3.99 per user monthly or €2.99 per month with annual billing. Professional is €4.99 monthly or €3.99 per month with annual billing, excluding taxes. Professional includes features such as expenses, tasks, and working-time accounts; annual Professional adds specific access and identity options. Confirm the exact checkout selection for your team. Kimai Cloud pricing
Self-hosted Kimai has a different cost structure. Budget for hosting, updates, backups, technical support, and any paid plugins you choose. A subscription comparison becomes more useful when those costs sit beside employee entry time and administrative upkeep. Review each extension’s license and support terms before committing to a setup. Kimai extensions
What should you test before switching?
Use a small group and one real project. Set the same customer names, rates, and reporting period in both systems so the results are comparable.
- Have employees complete a normal week and record the time spent entering and checking their hours.
- Test one interrupted task, one offline activity, and one day split across several clients.
- Confirm who can view captured detail, change entries, and access financial data.
- Follow a correction through the selected approval or locking process and into a billing document.
- For Kimai, check the versions, plugins, hosting responsibilities, and backup process you intend to use.
Timeglass lets administrators set access by role and scope, including separate controls for meeting information and detailed activity views. Review those settings with employees before the pilot begins. Timeglass data access
How can you try Timeglass?
Start a 14-day Timeglass trial with a few people who regularly work across clients. Add enough project context to make the drafts useful, review a normal week, and check the resulting totals with your finance lead. You can then judge whether prepared timesheets fit your team’s routine and justify the subscription.
