BigTime vs Timely
A detailed comparison of BigTime and Timely covering features, pricing, integrations, strengths, and weaknesses to help you choose the right tool.
Quick Overview
BigTime
Professional Services Automation
BigTime is a professional services automation platform offering unified time and expense tracking, flexible billing and invoicing, AI-driven resource management, and real-time dashboards. It is purpose-built for professional services firms including accounting, engineering, architecture, IT services, and consulting.
Timely
Automatic Time Tracking
Timely by Memory AS is positioned as the world's first automatic time tracker. It uses an AI-powered Memory Tracker that captures activity across apps, websites, documents, emails, and meetings, presenting them on a private timeline for drag-and-drop into timesheets. It emphasizes privacy-first design with no screenshots or mouse tracking.
Feature Comparison
BigTime Features
Unified time and expense tracking
Flexible billing supporting time and materials, fixed fee, retainer, and blended rates
AI-driven Smart Staffing for resource management
Real-time dashboards and financial forecasting
Customizable standard and advanced reporting
Data Hub for BI integration with Power BI and Tableau
BigTime Wallet built-in payment processing
Project budgeting at company, project, or task level
Timely Features
AI-powered Memory Tracker capturing activity across all apps
Private timeline with drag-and-drop timesheet creation
AI learns patterns and generates draft timesheets
Project and budget management with billable rates
Team capacity planning dashboards
Customizable branded reports
Basic invoicing with QuickBooks integration
Pricing Breakdown
BigTime
$20/user/month
Essentials: $20/user/month. Advanced: $35/user/month. Premier: $45/user/month. Projector: $60/user/month. All billed annually. 14-day free trial.
Timely
$9/user/month
Starter: $9/user/month (annual). Premium: $16/user/month. Unlimited: $22/user/month. Enterprise: contact sales. No free plan. 14-day free trial.
Strengths & Weaknesses
BigTime
Strengths
Intuitive interface with high ease-of-use ratings
Excellent customer support rated 4.7/5 on Capterra
Strong QuickBooks integration
Comprehensive flexible billing supporting multiple project types
Robust reporting capabilities
SOC 2 Type 2 certified with bank-level encryption
Weaknesses
Mobile app is less polished and reliable than desktop
Steep learning curve for complex approval workflows
Occasional syncing issues between modules
Limited invoice formatting customization
Confusing terminology can cause implementation errors
Issue resolution for invoicing problems can be slow
Timely
Strengths
AI automatic tracking eliminates manual timers entirely
Privacy-first approach with no screenshots or mouse tracking
Beautiful and intuitive user interface
Strong reporting and project management features
100+ integrations available
GDPR compliant with European data residency
Weaknesses
No offline tracking capability
No payroll integration
Expensive for small teams with steep tier price jumps
AI auto-tracking sometimes lacks granularity
Limited invoice functionality
No multi-currency rate support
Reports of desktop app being discontinued
Integrations
BigTime (10 integrations)
Timely (14 integrations)
Target Market
BigTime
Professional services firms: accounting, engineering, architecture, IT services, consulting, government contractors. 5 to 500+ employees.
Timely
Consultancies, agencies, and SaaS businesses billing by the hour. Freelancers and knowledge workers.
The Verdict
Both BigTime and Timely are solid time tracking tools, but they serve different needs.
BigTime (Professional Services Automation) is best suited for professional services firms: accounting, engineering, architecture, it services, consulting, government contractors. 5 to 500+ employees.. It starts at $20/user/month and offers 8 key features.
Timely (Automatic Time Tracking) is best suited for consultancies, agencies, and saas businesses billing by the hour. freelancers and knowledge workers.. It starts at $9/user/month and offers 7 key features.
If neither tool quite fits your needs, consider comparing BigTime with TimeSentry or comparing Timely with TimeSentry. TimeSentry offers AI-powered time capture from 20+ integrations, built-in invoicing, multi-company workflows, and dedicated onboarding support.
The TimeSentry Guarantee
Free 7-day trial with full access to every feature. No credit card required.
White-glove onboarding so your team is set up correctly from day one.
AI that learns your patterns and gets more accurate the longer you use it.
Cancel anytime with no contracts, no lock-in, and no hidden fees.
Dedicated support from real humans who respond within hours, not days.
Need something better than both?
TimeSentry combines the best of AI-powered time tracking with built-in invoicing, multi-company workflows, and 20+ integrations. Try it free and see for yourself.