Kimai

Key features

• Multi-timer and punch tracking Staff can run several named timers in parallel or punch in and out like a time clock, and managers get day, week, and month timesheet views of the whole team.[1]

• Calendar timesheets for the whole team Entries land in shared calendar views that show who worked on what and when, which keeps distributed teams and client billing aligned.[1]

• Approvals with a full audit trail Submitted weeks move through an approval workflow where every approval, rejection, and edit is recorded, so billing disputes can be traced back to the decision.[1]

• Invoices from tracked hours Approved time converts into invoices with hourly or fixed rates, VAT handling, and customizable PDF templates that match company branding.[1]

• Expenses alongside time Travel and project expenses attach to the same customers and projects as hours, so a client invoice reflects the full cost of the engagement.[1]

• More than 60 built-in reports Weekly reports, yearly summaries, project breakdowns, and financial overviews come from stored evaluations that can be exported to PDF, Excel, or CSV.[1][2]

• Plugins, API, and mobile apps Over 100 plugins extend reporting, invoicing, and authentication; a documented REST API covers timesheets, projects, customers, invoices, and users; official iOS and Android apps track time on the go.[1][2]

• Team roles with directory login Fine-grained user roles govern who sees and approves what, and LDAP and SAML plugin bundles connect Kimai to existing company directories.[1][2]

Who will love it

• Freelancers who invoice hourly: free unlimited-user self-hosting plus invoice generation covers the whole billable workflow at zero licence cost.[1][2]

• Agencies with approval chains: billable rates, timesheet approvals, and audit trails match how client-services teams review work before it is billed.[1]

• Organizations that must own their data: the on-premise build keeps every record on the operator's own server, which suits privacy-sensitive companies and public bodies.[1][2]

Who should avoid it

• Solo users wanting automatic tracking: Kimai records what people enter or punch, not what the computer observes, so anyone wanting passive capture should pick an automatic tracker.[1][2]

• Non-technical teams without server help: on-premise setup means PHP, MySQL, or Docker administration; without that skill, only the paid cloud edition fits.[1][2]

• Businesses needing full accounting: Kimai invoices and exports to accounting tools, but it is not a ledger, payroll, or tax-filing system, so finance teams still need real accounting software.[1]

Alternatives and compatibility