DeskTime vs Timely
The sharpest philosophical split in this category. Both capture automatically so nobody has to remember — and then they do opposite things with it. DeskTime classifies the activity and reports a productivity percentage to a manager. Timely keeps the captured record private to the individual, who drafts timesheet entries from it before anything is shared.
The difference that decides it
Feature lists make these products look interchangeable. This is the axis they actually differ on.
Who sees the raw record. In DeskTime the capture is management information by default. In Timely it is the person's own working memory, and only what they submit leaves their machine. That single decision changes how each product lands in a consultation with a works council or a nervous engineering team.
At a glance
DeskTime and Timely facts come from their own public pages, on the dates shown below the table.
| Dimension | DeskTime | Timely | ActivityPulse |
|---|---|---|---|
| How time gets recorded | Automatically from the moment the desktop app starts, and classified as it is recorded. | Automatically, via the Memory tracker, with AI drafting timesheet entries from the captured record. | Automatically, from the foreground window. Nobody starts or stops a timer, so nothing is lost to forgetting. |
| What is captured by default | Automatic application and URL tracking with productivity classification applied. | Applications, documents and websites used, held privately to that individual until they log time from it. | Foreground app and window metadata only. Nothing more without an explicit admin change. |
| Screenshots | Available on the Premium tier and above. | None published. Timely does not market screenshot capture. | Off by default. Available on higher plans and only after a compliance review. |
| Keystroke capture | Does not record keystroke content. | None published. Timely does not market keystroke capture. | Never records keystroke content, on any plan. |
| Productivity scoring | A productivity percentage per person, derived from productive versus unproductive application time. | No monitoring score. Reporting is built on logged hours and project budgets. | None. Hours are attributed to projects; the product does not grade the person. |
| Tenant data isolation | Shared multi-tenant architecture. | Shared multi-tenant SaaS; per-customer database isolation is not something they document. | A separate database per organisation, so isolation is structural. |
| Offline capture | Tracks offline time and reconciles it when the app reconnects. | The tracker records locally and syncs when reconnected. | Queues locally and syncs idempotently — no hour lost, none counted twice. |
| Desktop platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. | Desktop trackers plus iOS and Android; GPS on mobile only. | Windows and macOS. |
| Entry price (per user / month) | Around $7 on the entry paid tier. | No free plan — a 14-day trial, then $9 per user per month on Starter billed annually ($11 monthly), capped at 5 users. | Free up to 3 users, then $4 billed annually ($5 monthly). |
Sources: DeskTime (checked 2026-09-05); Timely (checked 2026-09-17). Products change — if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Choose DeskTime if…
Choose DeskTime if you need manager-visible activity data, absence and shift management in one product, and a productivity percentage is a report you want. It is also the cheaper of the two and covers more platforms.
Choose Timely if…
Choose Timely if the individual staying gatekeeper is the thing that makes the rollout possible, and if AI-drafted timesheets are worth $9 per user with no free tier. Its drafting is more mature than anything ActivityPulse offers, and it sees documents and mobile work a desktop agent does not.
Choose ActivityPulse if…
Choose ActivityPulse if you want Timely's restraint at DeskTime's price with data isolation neither offers. It captures automatically, produces no score, costs $4 billed annually against Timely's $9, has a genuinely free tier up to three people, and gives each organisation its own database rather than a row in a shared one.
DeskTime vs Timely — questions
Does Timely show managers what employees are doing?
Not directly. Timely's Memory tracker holds captured activity privately to that individual until they draft and log time from it — only the logged entries are shared. DeskTime reports activity and a productivity percentage to managers as a matter of course.
Which is cheaper, DeskTime or Timely?
DeskTime, at around $7 on its entry paid tier against Timely's $9 per user billed annually — and Timely has no free plan, only a 14-day trial, with the Starter tier capped at five users. ActivityPulse is $4 billed annually with a free tier up to three people.
Do either of them take screenshots?
Timely does not market screenshot capture at all. DeskTime offers screenshots on its Premium tier and above. ActivityPulse keeps them off by default and behind a compliance review.
See where the hours actually went
Free for up to three people. Windows and macOS. No keystroke content on any plan, and screenshots off unless an administrator turns them on.