Clockify's pitch is a free timer, with paid tiers for what you actually need. AetherTime's pitch is one payment for a desktop app that includes billing and stays offline. Both are honest options; the trade-off is price model and where your data lives.
Clockify offers a genuinely free tier and charges monthly for more, and it runs in the cloud. If your budget is zero and you only need a timer, Clockify is a reasonable answer, and its free plan is more generous than most.
AetherTime is not free, but it is not a subscription either. $99 once buys the timer, task management, invoicing, estimates, reports, and analytics in a single desktop app that runs offline and stores everything locally. There is nothing to upgrade into and no monthly bill.
| AetherTime | Clockify | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $99 one-time | Free tier; $3.99–$11.99/mo paid |
| Over 3 years, paid tier | About $99 | About $144–$432 |
| Works offline | ✓ | ✗ |
| Runs from a USB drive, no install | ✓ | ✗ |
| Data stays on your machine | ✓ | ✗ (vendor cloud) |
| Invoicing and PDF reports | ✓ included | Paid tiers |
| Estimates and proposals | ✓ | ✗ |
| No account needed | ✓ | ✗ |
| Free tier available | ✗ 30-day trial, then buy | ✓ |
Clockify pricing and features as of August 2026, from public vendor pages; check their site for the current numbers. AetherTime details from our own pricing, which includes every feature in every license.
Choose Clockify if a free cloud timer covers your needs today and you do not mind a monthly tier later for reports or invoicing.
Choose AetherTime if you would rather pay once, work offline, keep client and billing data on your own machine, and get invoices and estimates in the same app. For a consultant billing multiple clients, that combination is the point.
No. AetherTime has a free private beta and a 30-day trial at launch, but it is a paid product: $99 once for Solo, $199 once for Pro. There is no permanent free tier.
It depends on the constraint. Clockify is cloud-based and has a free tier. AetherTime is a one-time desktop app that runs offline from a USB drive and includes invoicing and reports, which suits firms with locked-down machines or a preference for keeping data local.
No. AetherTime is a desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Clockify's mobile apps are one of its advantages if you need to track time from a phone.
Private beta is open. Email us for a free copy before launch — no account, no credit card, no data sent anywhere.
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