Buddy Time Tracker vs Other Softwares
What the paid trackers cost, and what you give up by not paying it.
Other Softwares are sold per person, per month, for as long as you use them. This tracker is $9.99 a year, paid once, and runs entirely on your own computer. That difference is real, and so is the reason for it — they are workforce-management products and this is a single-user desktop app. Both halves are below.
What each one costs
Per user, per month, in US dollars, as each vendor publishes it. Annual rates are the discounted ones most vendors quote first; the monthly column is what you pay without committing to a year. Buddy Time Tracker is the exception: one payment covers a year.
| Product | Plan | Annual | Monthly | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Time Tracker | Yearly licence | $9.99 a year | no monthly plan | One person, one computer. Paid once, never charged automatically. Free to try: the app works the same without a licence. |
| Other Softwares | Paid plans | paid | paid | Not a Buddy Time Tracker plan — listed only to contrast monthly per-person billing with the yearly licence above. Exact competitor figures stay in the dated private catalogue. |
Compared on 13 September 2026. Other Softwares change their prices; the point that does not move is that they bill per person, per month, and this one does not.
Other Softwares often start with a short trial and no free tier, or bill a minimum of more than one seat. A single tracked person can be charged for two — which is why the solo case is worth pricing carefully before you sign up for anything.
What Other Softwares do that this tracker does not
A comparison that lists only the columns we win is not worth reading. Version 0.2.14 is one person on one computer, and these are real capabilities you would be giving up:
- a team dashboard
- payroll
- integrations with other tools
- API access
- real-time notifications
- an administrator console
If you manage a team and need oversight of other people’s hours — approvals, payroll, a dashboard showing who is working now — buy one of the paid tools. This is not a cheaper version of that product; it is a different one.
What this one does that they do not
- One payment a year, never charged automatically. A licence is $9.99 for one year. Renewing is a new payment you choose to make, and renewing early keeps the days you have left. A per-seat subscription is a cost that never stops: a freelancer tracking their own hours with Other Softwares pays for the privilege every month they keep working.
- There is nowhere for the data to go. The app has exactly one network request in it — an update check that runs when you ask for it, to a fixed address, sending nothing about you — so screenshots and activity cannot leave the machine even by accident. That is a narrower claim than “nothing ever connects”, and it is the one that is actually true — which is the version worth telling you.
- The tracked person owns the screenshots. They are off until switched on, visible to the person being tracked, and deletable by them. No copy is held anywhere else, because there is nowhere else.
- No account, no seat minimum, no trial clock. Download it and it works. In version 0.2.14 the app works the same with or without a licence, so you can try all of it before paying anything.
Which one you actually want
Choose a paid tracker if someone other than the tracked person needs to see the hours — a manager approving timesheets, a payroll run, a client portal, a dashboard.
Choose this one if you are tracking your own time: a freelancer billing by the hour, a contractor keeping an honest record, or anyone who wants a timesheet without handing their screen to a server.
Built by Thomas Woodfin
I build desktop, mobile and web software, and I consult on AI products. More about me, or hire-programmers.com if you have something you would like built.
