DeskTime vs EARLY
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DeskTime
This app automatically tracks how employees spend their time online and offline, boosting productivity. It allows for project-based time tracking, cost calculation, custom reporting, and managing employee time off. The mobile version includes a timer and remote team performance viewing.
- Automatic time tracking
- Project-based time tracking
- Cost calculation
- Customizable reports
- Vacation and time-off planning
- Mobile timer
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DeskTime is fully automatic time tracking software that has proven to boost employee productivity by 30% within the first weeks of using it. See how you and your employees spend their time online and offline, track time by projects, and automatically calculate their costs based on workers' hourly rates. Additionally, generate custom reports for in-house use or your customers, plan employee vacations and time offs, calculate overtime pay, and store your team member's contact information in one place. The iOS app with mobile timer feature allows you to manually start and stop a timer on the app, fill in your idle time gaps, get a remote view of the office and see how teams are performing, what projects/programs they're working on, who's been late and more. Key Features: - mobile timer - see who's working, slacking, late, or absent in real-time - assign idle time gaps - view your profile - view and change your settings Let us know what you think, send feedback and questions to support@desktime.com
EARLY
This app offers a streamlined approach to time tracking, helping users understand how they spend their hours. It provides insightful reports and customizable features to boost productivity and improve work-life balance.
- One-tap time tracking
- Real-time productivity data
- Customizable reports and charts
- Easy entry editing
- Cross-device synchronization
- Calendar view for reviews
- Integrations with popular tools
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Discover a better way to track your time with EARLY. EARLY will help you own your time and maximise your productivity at work. Instantly start tracking your activities within the EARLY app and unlock actionable insights to optimise your workflow, improve work-life balance, and achieve your goals. What is EARLY? Effortless Tracking • Track time with one tap — spend 90% less time logging your hours. Boosted Productivity • Get precise, real-time data on how you allocate your time to improve focus and reduce distractions. Reports • Visualise and analyse time distribution with customisable charts and reports that reveal trends, patterns, and opportunities for easy improvement. Easy Editing • Quickly adjust, add, or delete entries so that your logs are always accurate. Cross-Device Sync • Seamlessly track time across your devices for consistent, updated logs wherever you are. Calendar • View time entries in a calendar format for easy daily and weekly reviews, where time tracking becomes key to your routine. Integrations • Sync with JIRA, Toggl, Harvest, Zapier, and many more to streamline time tracking within your existing workflow.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: EARLY at 4.5 against DeskTime's 2.3. EARLY also leads on update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (146 vs 6). DeskTime's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On price, review sentiment and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. EARLY sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.00 per month. DeskTime asks for nothing beyond the download.
EARLY holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EARLY has 146 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of DeskTime's written reviews are positive against 37% of EARLY's.
DeskTime ships an update every 6 months, EARLY every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DeskTime | EARLY |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.3 (6 ratings) | 4.5 (146 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 36.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 146 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DeskTime | Timeular GmbH |
Customer experience
DeskTime
EARLY
Bugs and requests
DeskTime
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
EARLY
Reported bugs
30 issues- Login flow bugs (user does not exist/already exists)
- App logs out frequently
- App disconnects from internet
- Inputting entries via iOS app is difficult
- Stuck during setup
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- Tracker pairing issues
- App gets stuck during setup
- Cannot create an account (bouncy scroll)
- App logs out and gives constant errors trying to log back in
- UI doesn't load properly
- Hardware die doesn't activate consistently
- App crashes when expanding/editing entries
- iPad app is a scaled iPhone app, not optimized
- Cannot submit more than 1000 characters in iOS app entries
- Tracker not pairing with phone app
- Mac app buggy, Bluetooth buggy, iOS app buggy
- Cannot edit activities properly, glitches out
- Cannot delete activities
- Cannot 'forget' device
- App has to remain open to register task changes
- App complains about connectivity
- Undo button placement issue on iPhone
- Unclear which device handles Bluetooth
- Tracker won't connect to the app
- Cannot pause and restart timers
- App refuses to keep changes to hours/events
- App is cloud-based, no offline access
- App would not save activities
- UI constantly gives errors on iPhone 6S
- Editing tasks locks in incorrect time
Requested features
15 requests- Home screen widgets
- Dark mode
- Apple Watch integration
- Customizable colors
- Set and manage goals
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- Direct tracker connection to services
- More integrations with other apps
- iPadOS app support
- Siri integration/voice commands
- Ability to restart timers
- Offline functionality
- Badge indication on app icon for running timer
- Ability to edit time blocks
- More advanced analytics
- Lifetime subscription option
In-app purchases
DeskTime
No in-app purchases
EARLY
- Personal Pro$14.001 Month
- Personal Pro$139.001 Year









