Kimai
Best open source
Zeitguru alternative
Kimai is the #1 open-source time-tracking alternative for Zeitguru. Learn how Kimai measures up to Zeitguru, so you can choose the right solution for your business.
Zeitguru
vs.
Kimai
Kimai vs Zeitguru: Which time tracking software fits your team best in 2026?
Kimai is the #1 open-source time-tracking solution designed for teams and businesses seeking flexibility and control over their time tracking infrastructure. Discover why more than 5000 companies worldwide trust Kimai for their time tracking needs and find out how it compares to Zeitguru’s offerings. Whether you’re evaluating a new time tracking app, analyzing Zeitguru pricing options, or planning a Zeitguru migration, Kimai provides a compelling alternative with superior features and cost savings.
Choosing the right time tracking software can make a huge difference in productivity, transparency, and billing accuracy of a freelancer, an agency, or a business owner managing a big team.
When selecting a time tracking tool, most users consider:
- Features: Does it cover everything from tracking and reporting to invoicing and project management?
- Price: Is it affordable (or even free) for the size of your team?
- Flexibility: Can it adapt to your current workflow, integrations, and tech stack?
- Accessibility: Does it support both desktop and mobile platforms, and can it be self-hosted or cloud-based?
- Scalability: Will it still fit your needs as your business grows?
The year 2026 also brings focus on data privacy, automation, and team transparency in time management tools. At the same time the market offers a range of solutions for every use case, from solopreneurs to large enterprise teams, and you can always find the solution that best fits your needs.
Let’s explore the best time tracking tools for 2026 and see how Kimai compares with Toggl Track — two popular choices among professionals and successful teams worldwide.
Kimai features most used
Not all time tracking tools are created equal. The best solutions for agencies offer a specialized set of features to streamline your workflows.
JSON API
Featuring an extensive JSON API for reading and writing data, so external apps and custom tools can communicate with Kimai.
Read moreCustomer Portal
Share client and project statistics and timesheets with anyone using a secret URL, optionally password protected.
Read moreTeams
Teams connects users into logical groups, like departments. Limit access to data by assigning customers and projects to your teams.
Read moreSAML
Log in and register users with SAML via your existing SSO identity provider, like Google Workspace, Authentik or Azure Active Directory.
Read moreInvoicing
Configurable invoice templates, options for entry grouping, configurable invoice numbers, and multiple formats like PDF and DOCX.
Read moreReports and analyses
Analysis of recorded times by users, customers, projects, activities, tags, time periods and more.
Read moreWhat users say about Kimai
At Kimai, we've designed our time tracking platform to meet the needs of agencies, teams, and freelancers. Our intuitive interface and powerful features help companies like yours work smarter and more profitably. You can now “listen” to the reviews of the real users.
We have been using Kimai for two years now to track the time spent on each phase of our projects and to bill our clients for the hours worked. The software is comprehensive, intuitive, and fully meets our needs. In addition to this, Kevin has always been helpful and attentive to our needs!
Alessandro Pollastri
DeveloperCollaboration with Kevin has been fantastic! His collaborative approach is top-notch, making our work smooth sailing. Kevin’s open communication style keeps us perfectly aligned.
Kristian Matic
FounderWe use Kimai as a self-hosted instance to manage working times, vacation and illness-days for ~40 employees. We love open source software and the passion Kevin Papst puts into that tool is a real gamechanger for us. There are a lot of features and settings to adjust, but it’s not too complicated to maintain the whole system. Hopefully Kimai will be our mate for the next years to support our own story as a company, that is developing impactful and open source software!
Daniel Kehne
Founder & CEOWe have been using Kimai in our electrical company for the past two years, and we are currently transitioning to a fully paperless process with Kimai only for managing timesheets. Our employees adapted quickly, as we developed a customized workflow tailored to our business needs. Thanks to Kimai, we’ve reduced the time spent processing timesheets for our 20 employees, as well as managing project reports (construction reports, work reports, daily customer reports), from around 10 hours per week to just 2 hours. We also underwent a payroll tax audit without any issues; the only requirement is the employee’s signature on the timesheet. The developer of Kimai is also very receptive to useful feature suggestions, which makes me co
...
Christoph Empl
CEOI was testing Kimai several years ago and then I decided to move to different time tracking tools and the last time I was mostly working with Clockify and now I found Kimai back and I’m very impressed how the software is working, How fast it is. And I also really like a lot the approach to host the software on my own so that we keep our confidential data in our own systems. The software is easy to use, it’s fast, and I get all the features that I need, and the possibility to discuss on GitHub also helps a lot to find fast solutions. Thank you very much for your very good work and let’s work together for the future.
Niels Przybilla
CEOAll your time-tracking needs in one platform
Time is money, and tracking it effectively has become a necessity for project-based teams. Kimai is a powerful time-tracker that's been the favorite of many businesses worldwide. But how does it stack up against Zeitguru? Dive into this comprehensive comparison to find out why businesses are choosing Kimai over Zeitguru
See the difference
Compare Kimai vs. Zeitguru: choose the options that make the most sense for your business.
Kimai
On-Premise
- Open source software :
- Available on-premises :
- Available in the cloud :
- Server location : Your choice
- Max. customers : Unlimited
- Max. projects : Unlimited
- Max. activities : Unlimited
- JSON API :
- Invoicing :
- Data export :
- SAML :
- Support : Forum (GitHub)
- Backups :
- TLS Certificate : Additional costs
- Custom domain : Additional costs
- Automatic upgrades :
- Server maintenance :
- IP access restriction :
- Custom content : Paid plugin
- Audit trail logs : Paid plugin
- Custom fields : Paid plugin
- Expense management : Paid plugin
- Task planning : Paid plugin
- Translations : Paid plugin
- Working hours, vacation, sickness, public holidays : Paid plugin
Kimai
Cloud
- Open source software :
- Available on-premises :
- Available in the cloud :
-
Server location
:
Hetzner Cloud
Germany (Falkenstein) - Max. customers : Unlimited
- Max. projects : Unlimited
- Max. activities : Unlimited
- JSON API :
- Invoicing :
- Data export :
- SAML :
- Support : Email, Forum
- Backups : Daily
- TLS Certificate :
- Custom domain :
- Automatic upgrades :
- Server maintenance :
- IP access restriction :
- Custom content :
- Audit trail logs :
- Custom fields :
- Expense management :
- Task planning :
- Translations :
- Working hours, vacation, sickness, public holidays :
Zeitguru
- Open source software :
- Available on-premises :
- Available in the cloud :
- Server location :
- Max. customers :
- Max. projects :
- Max. activities :
- JSON API :
- Invoicing :
- Data export :
- SAML :
- Support :
- Backups :
- TLS Certificate :
- Custom domain :
- Automatic upgrades :
- Server maintenance :
- IP access restriction :
- Custom content :
- Audit trail logs :
- Custom fields :
- Expense management :
- Task planning :
- Translations :
- Working hours, vacation, sickness, public holidays :
Germany (Falkenstein)
Please note that the above information were manually compiled on 2026-02-24 from the Zeitguru website. For the comparison, the best matching plans were chosen. Prices are subject to change. For the most current pricing, please visit the respective websites.
Kimai is open source
Kimai is #1 open-source time-tracking software, providing unparalleled transparency and flexibility. By choosing Kimai, you’re investing in a secure, cost-efficient solution with complete control over your data and the ability to customize it exactly as your team needs.
Zeitguru is a proprietary software, which includes a platform risk. Relying solely on a software vendor for code tweaks and feature implementations can feel and often is limiting.
Self-host with complete control
Kimai offers a self-hosted edition that puts data privacy to the front. With on-premises deployment, you maintain complete control over your sensitive business information, ensure compliance with stringent data protection regulations, and achieve a level of security that's often challenging with cloud-only solutions. Plus, Kimai's API allows seamless integration with your existing tools and workflows.
Unlike Zeitguru, which only operates in the cloud, Kimai gives you the flexibility to choose your deployment model.
EU-based data protection
If you decide to go with the cloud edition, you can be sure that your data is safe. With the headquarters located in Austria (EU), it is GDPR-compliant by default and all data is stored in Germany (Hetzner Cloud, Falkenstein). Learn more about our privacy-first approach
Conclusion
In today's digital age, data security is paramount. Kimai promises secure data protection and state-of-the-art encryption, ensuring that your business's sensitive information remains confidential.
Kimai offers a well-rounded solution that caters to a variety of workflows and use-cases for most project-based teams and companies. Its ease of use, integration capabilities, and commitment to data security and privacy make it a top choice for businesses seeking an efficient time-tracking software.