In any case, you\u2019ll want to weigh your options carefully. This week, we\u2019re taking a deep dive into two popular time-tracking apps \u2013 RescueTime<\/a> and our very own Timing<\/a> \u2013 to compare features and capabilities…and help you decide what will be best for you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One powerful advantage offered by both Timing and RescueTime is that they are both user-friendly, convenient, and automatic<\/strong>. You don\u2019t have to log in to either app to ensure that it\u2019s automatically tracking your working hours and minutes \u2013 both systems automatically track all your activity on your computer so that you get an accurate breakdown of your timing usage.<\/p>\n Here are additional features and capabilities that both Timing and RescueTime have in common:<\/p>\n As mentioned above, both apps automatically log your total hours and minutes, which are then displayed on your \u201cDashboard\u201d (RescueTime), or \u201cOverview\u201d (Timing). You can check this total throughout the day to see how much you\u2019ve worked, or at the end of each day. In any case, your total time is continually updated so that you get an accurate summation.<\/p>\n On both Timing and RescueTime, it\u2019s also possible to adjust the timeframe of your time usage, so that you can view how much time you\u2019ve worked per week, per month, or even per year.<\/p>\n Both Timing and RescueTime show you what you\u2019ve worked on by URL or application. On RescueTime, this information is accessible by clicking on \u201cmore details\u201d under specific categories displayed in the Dashboard. On Timing, this information is immediately available in the Overview tab \u2013 with even more details displayed under the Review tab.<\/p>\n Here is RescueTime\u2019s Dashboard\u2026.<\/p>\n And here is Timing\u2019s Overview tab\u2026<\/p>\n One of the most powerful ways to leverage your time-tracking results is to export your results as a report. Both Timing and RescueTime offer this functionality, although Timing offers more customizable options for reporting (ideal for invoicing clients).<\/p>\n Ideally, time-tracking should give you insight into when<\/em> you\u2019re working the most, in addition to how much you\u2019re accomplishing. Fortunately, both apps offer this functionality by displaying your most active hours in an easy-to-understand bar graph.<\/p>\n Timing and RescueTime do have some commonalities, but there are critical differences between the apps. Let\u2019s take a look at a few key areas of difference:<\/p>\n The primary area of difference between Timing and RescueTime is in the area of time categorization. Both applications rely on fairly broad categories to break down your time usage, and also provide a percentage of how much time you spend on any given category (such as RescueTime\u2019s \u201cDesign & Composition\u201d or Timing\u2019s \u201cWeb Browsing\u201d).<\/p>\n Timing, however, takes it to the next level by allowing you to create your own \u201cProjects\u201d that act as far more specific categories. Projects include customizable details (which we\u2019ll discuss more in a minute) that allow you to \u201chelp\u201d Timing effectively categorize your time. The result? At the end of each day, you\u2019ll be able to see far more detail \u2013 for example, you spent 55% of your time on Client X, or 30% of your time on a particular video project.<\/p>\n Both Timing and Rescue Time offer multiple, helpful visualizations of your time usage. Both apps display your time usage as a pie chart broken down by category, and produce bar graphs that show your most active hours. The result is that you get quick, immediate insight into your time usage (especially useful for more visual thinkers).<\/p>\n Timing, however, offers a greater number of visualizations, with richer detail. While RescueTime offers one pie chart visualization on the Dashboard, Timing generates two pie charts that break time down by both application and project\/task. Timing also offers bar graph visualizations of your most active hours and<\/em> your most productive hours.<\/p>\n Finally, Timing generates a detailed, interactive timeline of each day\u2019s activity, shown on the Review tab below. You can use this timeline to add New Tasks, or recategorize time after the fact \u2013 helping you to finetune your time-tracking results even more.<\/p>\n Both Timing and RescueTime offer keyword functionality, but in very different ways.<\/p>\n RescueTime offers you the ability to search through your work by keyword \u2013 and then produces a total percentage of time spent on work related to that keyword. So, if you\u2019re working on a project that involves the phrase \u201ccyber security,\u201d you can search for that keyword to discover that you, for example, spent 40% of your day on this kind of work.<\/p>\n Timing, on the other hand, uses keywords a bit more strategically. Remember the \u201cProject\u201d categories mentioned above? For every Project, you can assign keywords that help Timing to effectively categorize that time usage from the get-go. Or, you can retroactively \u2325-drag and drop detected keywords from the Review screen onto projects. At the end of the day, you have the same result as you would have received from RescueTime \u2013 but this time, the keyword is attached to a client or project title.<\/p>\n Both applications generate a productivity score that can be extremely helpful for those looking for deeper insight into how well<\/em> they\u2019re using their time \u2013 not just how much. RescueTime produces this score based on detected activity \u2013 assuming, for example, that time spent on social networking sites is unproductive.<\/p>\n Timing, however, allows you to assign your own productivity ratings to Projects, so that the score produced is based on what you<\/em> determine to be productive. You can adjust your productivity score when creating a new project.<\/p>\n Both Timing and RescueTime offer valuable time-tracking capabilities, useful insight into your personal time usage, and the ability to export reports.<\/p>\n That being said, Timing is far more customizable than RescueTime as it allows users to produce more detailed, fine-tuned results. Timing, for example, may be more useful for the solopreneur or freelancer looking for a tool to help them effectively manage their clients and projects.<\/p>\n But the only real way to know which option is best is to try yourself. For a free trial of Timing, click here<\/a>. For a free trial of RescueTime, click here<\/a>. Good luck!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With so many time-tracking apps available, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Which apps are user-friendly and convenient? Which apps are worth the cost? And how do you choose the app that will perform the best? It might be the case that you\u2019re looking for a more general overview of your time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Time-tracking app","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Comparing Time-Tracking Apps: Timing vs. RescueTime","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Breaking down the differences between 2 popular time-tracking apps: Timing vs. RescueTime.","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","related_articles":"","language":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[175,177,176],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-timing-app","tag-time-tracking-app","tag-time-tracking-capabilities","tag-timing-vs-rescuetime"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Both Apps Offer<\/h2>\n
Log total hours and minutes worked.<\/h3>\n
Show you what you\u2019ve worked on.<\/h3>\n
![\"Time-tracking](\"https:\/\/timingapp.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/image1__rescuetime.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Time-tracking](\"https:\/\/timingapp.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/image2_rescuetime.png\")
<\/p>\nExporting abilities.<\/h3>\n
Displays your most active hours.<\/h3>\n
What\u2019s Different: Timing vs. RescueTime<\/h2>\n
Categorization.<\/h3>\n
Visualization.<\/h3>\n
![\"Time-tracking](\"https:\/\/timingapp.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/image3_rescuetime-770x464.png\")
<\/p>\nKeyword functionality.<\/h3>\n
Productivity score.<\/h3>\n
The Final Verdict<\/h2>\n