Compared honestly · July 2026
Timegeist vs Timely
“The AI time tracker to end time tracking” - timely.com, July 2026
Timely is the closest product to Timegeist in spirit - its own research says teams lose 1 in 5 billable hours to manual tracking, and we believe it. Its Memory tracker passively records the apps and documents you touch (titles and timestamps, not content; private to you, stored in its EU cloud) and its AutoSheet drafts timesheets you approve. The differences: Timely's capture requires its desktop tracker running on every machine, starts at $11/user with no free plan, and gates invoicing behind the $20 Premium tier. Timegeist doesn't watch anything passively - it rebuilds the day from the calendar, messages, and notes you choose to bring, on a free plan that already invoices.
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| Capability | Timegeist | Timely |
|---|---|---|
| Price and plans | ||
| Pricing | Free €0 · Pro €9/workspace/mo · Team €7/user/mo (2-seat min) | Starter $11/user/mo ($9 annual, max 5 users) · Premium $20 ($16) · Unlimited $28 ($22) |
| Free plan | Free plan: full solo workflow, 10 AI uses/mo, 3 invoice finalizations/mo | None, 14-day trial |
| How time gets captured | ||
| Capture model | No background capture. Calendar, messages, notes, and schedule images you choose become reviewable proposals | Desktop Memory tracker passively records app/document titles + timestamps (not content); requires the tracker on each machine |
| Where capture lives | No passive capture exists | Private Memory timeline in Timely's EU cloud, “Nobody can ever access your private Memory timeline” |
| Review before it counts | Always, AI and calendar output stays a proposal until you confirm it | Yes - AutoSheet drafts, you approve what publishes to the timesheet |
| Getting paid | ||
| Invoicing | Unlimited drafts on every plan; send by email or public link with seen status; Pro removes limits and branding | Premium ($20/user) and up; QuickBooks integration at the same tier |
| Delivery & seen status | Email or public link, with opened status | |
| Privacy | ||
| Surveillance features | None. No screenshots, no activity scores, no location - there is no employer view | None, “We will never support employee screenshots, keystroke monitoring or any other invasive surveillance tactics.” Managers see only published entries |
Competitor details verified against official pricing and documentation pages in July 2026. Spotted something outdated? Tell us at support@timegeist.ai and we'll fix it.
Choose Timely if…
- You want fully passive capture across every app you touch, and you're comfortable with a desktop tracker + cloud-stored private timeline.
- You're a larger team that lives in Asana/Jira/ClickUp and wants auto-drafted timesheets at scale.
- Budget accommodates $16–22/user/year-billed and invoicing at the Premium tier.
Choose Timegeist if…
- You want reconstruction without anything running in the background, only the evidence you explicitly bring in.
- You want to start free and invoice from day one, not at $20/user.
- Your work happens across machines and places a desktop tracker can't follow (meetings, calls, client sites), calendar and notes still capture it.
FAQ
Timegeist vs Timely, answered.
The questions people actually ask when weighing the two.
How is Timegeist different from Timely's Memory tracker?
Timely records your activity passively via its desktop app (titles and timestamps, private to you, stored in its EU cloud) and drafts timesheets from it. Timegeist runs nothing in the background: you bring the evidence - calendar events, messages, notes, schedule images - and AI turns it into proposals you confirm. Both agree you should approve before anything counts.
Does Timely have a free plan?
No, Timely offers a 14-day trial, then Starter at $11/user/month ($9 annual, capped at 5 users and 20 projects). Timegeist has a real free plan with the complete solo workflow and 3 invoice finalizations per month.
Which one invoices?
Both, but Timely's invoicing starts on Premium at $20/user/month. Timegeist includes unlimited invoice drafts on every plan, delivery by email or public link with seen status, and unlimited finalization from Pro at €9.
Sources · accessed July 2026
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