Timeglass
Timeglass and Timely both offer automatic time tracking that turns work activity into a timesheet draft. Timeglass prepares client and project records for employee review and further analysis. Timely combines its private Memory timeline with AutoSheet, project budgets, and invoicing. The best fit depends on the review experience and the rest of your workflow.
If you are comparing AI time tracking software, test what happens between capture and a submitted timesheet. This Timeglass vs Timely guide covers that process, employee visibility, project finances, and published pricing, checked on November 5, 2026.
Which product fits your team?
Timeglass is worth a trial if you want automatically prepared client and project records that people can review and your managers can use to understand work across the firm. Its appeal is the connection between a working day and a useful account of where the team's time went.
Timely is a strong candidate for teams that want automatic capture alongside project budgets, capacity reporting, and invoices. Its private Memory timeline is also an important consideration when employee control over raw activity is central to adoption. Timely's privacy approach explains that boundary.
For either product, start with the person who submits the timesheet. A good purchase should make their week easier and give the finance team records it can use.
How does each product record and review time?
Timeglass captures work context and prepares entries for review. People can check the assigned work and make corrections. They can also pause capture, set working hours, and choose how inactivity is handled. Those controls deserve a place in the onboarding session, especially for people who switch between personal and client work on one computer. Timeglass capture controls describe the available settings.
Timely's Memory app builds a personal activity timeline. AutoSheet uses captured work to prepare timesheets, which the person reviews, edits, and submits. Both products therefore deserve a test involving interrupted work and several clients in the same afternoon. Timely AutoSheet describes its draft and submission workflow.
Timeglass visibility follows workspace policy. A firm can publish time after submission, after a configured delay, or immediately. Manager review is another setting. Agree on those choices before inviting employees, so everyone understands who can see time and when. Timeglass publishing settings explain these options.
Timeglass can capture screenshots, and workspace settings govern metadata-only capture, screenshot retention, and access. Timeglass capture details explain the options.
Timely describes Memory as metadata capture, including document titles and meeting names, without screenshots. Its raw timeline is private by default. That is a concrete point to discuss when choosing the capture model your employees are comfortable using. Timely's capture and privacy details explain the policy.
How do the main features compare?
| Area | Timeglass | Timely |
|---|---|---|
| Time entry | Captured work becomes a draft with client, project, and category assignments. | Memory capture and AutoSheet prepare entries for review. |
| Review and control | People review entries, and workspace settings govern publication and manager review. | People choose what to submit from their private captured activity. |
| Project finances | Project billing supports hourly rates, fixed fees, and internal labor costs. | Project views show budget usage, logged hours, and unbilled work. |
| Billing workflow | Exported records can support the firm's billing process. | Invoices can use logged time, with a QuickBooks Online connection. |
| Connected tools | File exports and configurable connections support further use of time data. | Connections cover work tools and accounting, with scope varying by connector. |
| Team setup | Capture schedules and review policies can reflect the team's working routine. | Plan choice affects project limits, team size, capacity features, and planning. |
Timeglass lets firms value projects using member rates, client rates, category rates, or a flat hourly rate. Fixed-fee and internal work have their own treatment. A useful trial checks those settings against the firm's real commercial model. Timeglass project billing covers those choices.
Timely brings a substantial billing workflow to this comparison. It can create invoices from unbilled time and send draft invoices to QuickBooks Online, with payment status returning to Timely. Teams seeking that path should test it directly. Timely invoicing explains the process.
What should you budget?
Timeglass is $30/seat monthly or $25/seat with annual billing. Timeglass pricing publishes the current offer.
Timely Starter is $11 per user monthly or $9 with annual billing, with a limit of five users and 20 projects. Premium is $20 monthly or $16 annually, with up to 50 users and unlimited projects. Unlimited is $28 monthly or $22 annually. Enterprise requires a quote, and Tasks starts at an additional $5 per person. Timely pricing lists the plans.
Build the comparison around your required workflow. Include the plan that covers your projects and reporting, any task-planning fee, and the time your team spends reviewing entries. The lowest seat price is one part of that calculation.
What should you test before switching?
How much review do AI-generated timesheets need?
AI-generated timesheets need a check of the client, project, description, and duration before your team relies on the record. With Timeglass and Timely, measure the corrections needed during an ordinary week. A draft that handles common work accurately and makes exceptions easy to fix is a useful result to look for.
Use the same client list and sample week in each trial. Include an interrupted assignment, a fixed-fee project, internal work, and a short meeting. Ask employees to record the minutes they spend correcting descriptions and assignments. Timesheet automation is useful when the completed record takes less effort to prepare and still gives finance enough detail to check the work.
Have finance check the resulting totals and follow a sample record through billing. For any connection, confirm which data moves, in which direction, and on which plan. Timeglass file exports or a custom connection should be assessed as their own workflow.
Finally, ask two employees to explain the visibility rules back to you. Their understanding is a useful check on whether the rollout instructions are clear enough.
How can you try Timeglass?
Start a 14-day Timeglass trial with a small group that handles several clients. Agree on capture settings, run a normal working week, and review the results together.
Look for a clear result: useful client records, manageable correction work, and information your managers can apply to the next week's decisions. That gives you a practical basis for choosing Timeglass.
