Honest Review:

Timeular

• Usable across a wide range of devices
• Sleekly designed physical tracker to make time tracking fun and tactile
• Multiple time tracking options
• Automatically populated timesheets
• Goal setting functions
• Budget tracking
• Thoughtful notifications
• Insightful reports
• Leave and absence tracking
• Smooth integrations

Find more on what users love about Timeular.

Timeular has three paid plans with different features geared for different needs, with the higher tiers having more and arguably better selections. While the software does not have a free tier, it does allow a free trial period for any of the plans should users wish to experience it first before committing. In addition to that, the ZEIº is purchased separately from the plans.

Let’s dive in and take a closer look at what Timeular plans have to offer, and how much they cost.

Timeular Personal

Timeular Personal is designed for an individual user’s time tracking needs and is intended to help them get the most out of their time. At a hefty $7.50 per month billed annually or $9 billed monthly, users get unlimited manual tracking, automatic tracking, unlimited activities and tags, time tracking reminders, web, mobile, and desktop apps, full access to API and webhooks, interactive and customizable reports, saved reports for quick access, and one project budget estimate with alerts.

Timeular Personal Pro

Timeular Pro is designed for a professional user’s billing, time tracking, and leave tracking needs, and can be useful for individual freelance and remote workers. At a relatively expensive $11.70 per month billed annually or $14 billed monthly, users get all the features in Timeular Personal, plus leave and time-off tracking, billable rates-inclusive reports, native JIRA integration, and the ability to track work- and over-hours, export data as PDF, XLSX, or CSV, connect multiple calendars, and connect 3000+ apps through Zapier.

Timeular Team

Timeular Team is designed for teams of all sizes from startup to enterprise, and contains the fullness of the Timeular feature arsenal. At an eye-watering $15.80 per user per month billed annually or $19 billed monthly, this tier has all the features of the previous plans, plus shared activities and notes, shared reports and team analytics, permission and seat management, and a dedicated success manager for unlimited members. 

For teams with more than 10 members, Timeular offers custom pricing which can be discussed directly with their representatives.

Timeular Tracker / ZEIº Device

The Timeular Tracker / ZEIº device is sold separately from the plans and costs a whopping $69. While the software can be used without the tracker, users won’t get the full experience without it. When purchasing a ZEIº device, it will come packaged with a battery-operated base or resting dock, four sticker sheets, a dry-erase pen, a USB-C cable without an adaptor, and a free two-month subscription plan. It also comes with a 1-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Customers who order ten trackers or more are eligible for bulk discounts, which can be discussed with Timeular representatives. 

Read 5 things you MUST know about Timeular’s pricing.

1. Timeular Tracker / ZEIº Device

The ZEIº device is Timeular’s physical time tracker that facilitates switching between tasks using an eight-sided octahedron. I love its futuristic and minimalist form that evokes sci-fi sculpturality. It’s a highly tactile way of tracking time that engages the senses and allows for customization, both in appearance and functionality.

Timeular’s ZEIº comes packaged with four sheets of cool and colorful stickers and a dry-erase pencil with which to personalize the device. Users can go wild with their artsy side in making the gadget truly theirs and have the confidence of being able to redo anything with a simple peel or wipe-off. Aside from the physical customizability, users can assign a different task to track on each side of the gadget through the desktop or mobile apps upon setup. 

Setting up Timeular requires the download and installation of the program appropriate for the target device. After registering an account and signing in, the ZEIº can then be paired with the software and a successful pairing will be indicated with a “Connected” badge on the interface, after which activities can then be added to the system and assigned to each facet of the tracker through the app.

Assigning tasks to the facets of the Timeular Time Tracker is facilitated by a rotating visual that represents the orientation of the device in real time. Users must place the device with the facet they wish to assign an activity to face up and input the desired task using the interface. The stickers and pencil come in handy at this point to visually differentiate each facet according to their assigned tasks. 

Users can choose to assign tasks to all eight sides or enable Quicktrack tracking with the ZEIº on the desktop app. This requires leaving one facet unassigned, and it opens up the Timeular Time Tracker to more than just eight tasks. When the device is flipped to the unassigned facet, the Quicktrack window will pop up and users can choose an activity to track from the menu and begin tracking time for it. 

Alternatively, users can track time using Quicktrack with a keyboard shortcut for quick and easy time tracking that doesn’t require flipping the ZEIº. Simply enable the feature on the settings of the Timeular desktop app, hit the shortcut (CTRL + E on Windows, CMD + E on Mac, or a custom shortcut to be configured in the settings), type in an activity tile, description, or note in the dialog box, select the correct activity from the drop-down menu that appears, hit enter, and the tracker immediately begins. In case users need to keep the Quicktrack window open, they can hit shift + enter when choosing the activity — the window is handy for adding notes and tags or changing activities with ease. 

Another Timeular time tracking option is the automatic tracker which automatically records the apps and websites users access throughout the workday, giving deeper visibility to their time utilization practices with context gleaned from their computer use records. When this feature is enabled, the software automatically populates the Calendar View with users’ app and website usage records and allows the creation of time entries that go directly into the timesheets by simply clicking the calendar icon on the top right corner of the Calendar View interface, hovering over any specific item on the list, and clicking the calendar icon on the pop-up. It’s a useful way to track time when users need to be “in the zone” and work undistracted by external actions such as flipping the ZEIº or keying in tasks in Quicktrack — Timeular’s automatic tracker works unobtrusively in the background to capture how and where time is spent, and users can make time entries with the records at a more convenient time.

But despite all this praise for Timeular and the ZEIº, there’s a certain learning curve to it, and I understand that it’s not for everybody. For one, if users aren’t really inclined towards tactile tasks, forgetting about the ZEIº or even being annoyed by how it’s worked is a very real possibility. It can also pose a problem for folks who are challenged with motor coordination or are physically unable to flip the device over and over again throughout the day.

Aside from that, the device can also be unreliable sometimes, as it intermittently disconnects at random intervals as Bluetooth-connected devices are wont to do, or when the ZEIº is physically distanced from its paired device such as when users take their laptops or mobile phones to another room. And while the ZEIº is advertised to automatically reconnect when in proximity with its paired device, it doesn’t do that all the time, and that leads to messy time entries that need some pretty dedicated cleaning up. That runs counter to Timeular’s promise of easy and accurate tracking and really takes away from the user experience.

And don’t get me wrong, I do love how the device looks, but I don’t like how it feels — it looks good on my table, but when I hold it in my hands, it feels cheap and very easy to break. The pilot light on the side looks cool, but peeling back the black rubber strip covering it and the charging port isn’t the most elegant thing to do. Plus, the base operates on non-rechargeable coin batteries which feels pretty off-brand, considering that the octahedron itself recharges via USB, making it seem as if the designers were distracted when it came to designing it, or that they just didn’t care at all. This makes me feel like this little hunk of plastic and rubber isn’t worth the cash I coughed up for it.

But even so, I love the concept and I must say that it shows some really good potential… if only Timeular would invest some effort in improving things and delivering something more stable and reliable, something that doesn’t feel so half-baked and cash-grabby.

2. Timesheets and Calendar View 

One of Timeular’s highlights for me is the fact that it spares users the pain of manually creating timesheets by transforming every flip of the ZEIº, every activity tracked on Quicktrack, and every record of computer usage captured by the automatic tracker into time entries that only require a couple of clicks to turn into fully filled-out timesheets. This eliminates the potential for human error in the process and saves valuable time and resources for the business, allowing energies to be focused where they matter most.

The unique thing about Timeular is that the calendar view displays every captured time entry and every leave entry with a highly interactive interface that allows users to visually comprehend where their time went for a certain period, and allows users to edit entries with ease right there and then.

Creating time entries in the Timeular calendar view is as simple as using the previously discussed time tracking methods, clicking the play button beside any listed activity, or clicking on week view and doing a simple click-hold-and-drag action. The same can be done in to add a leave entry on any blank space in the calendar view and selecting a leave type in the pop-up menu. 

Recurring tasks such as meetings and admin work can be copied and pasted for convenience by holding the CTRL button on Windows or the OPTION button on Mac and dragging the time entry to the target destination. Doing this will copy the existing time entry onto the new location, including all of its information such as notes, tags, and everything else. 

The time and leave entries on Timeular’s calendar view can be easily edited by clicking and customizing all aspects in the pop-up menu that appears — activity type, start and end times, duration, billability, notes, and tags can all be customized in one place. Additionally, time entries can also be edited by dragging the top and bottom portions of the entry block to move the start and end times, or by dragging and dropping time entries to the users’ desired destinations. Current time entries can also be edited by dragging them to target destinations or by clicking the entry and manually editing the start time and date along with other details such as activity types, notes, and tags. 

What I love about Timeular’s calendar view is that it can be manipulated to show as much or as little detail as needed by simply moving the zoom scale on the bottom right corner. Zooming out gives a bird’s eye view of tasks and events, providing generalized insight into a selected period. Zooming in allows users to see more details about selected periods or time entries, and gives even more precise insight into time usage.

When users deem everything in the calendar view to be in order, they can then navigate to insights, select the work hours tab, and view timesheets that display the daily, weekly, or monthly summaries of their teams’ activities. The timespan can be selected using the drop-down menu near the upper left corner of the interface, and the people filter beside it can be used to specify whose timesheets will be displayed. 

Columns in blue indicate that there may be more data available for entry at a later time after the 24-hour privacy delay, and time entries in red indicate that working hours have been exceeded. More insights into the breakdown of time and and leave entries are available when the cursor is hovered over any particular day. But unlike the calendar view, entries cannot be edited on the timesheet view — at this point, they are supposed to be submission-ready and can be exported for sharing in CSV and XLSX formats, or any other format using Timeuluar’s Zapier integration.

And while all of these are really cool and helpful, the interface lends itself to the creation of unnecessary time entries by mistake. A misplaced click on the calendar can result in unwanted time entries, and if left unchecked, can skew time tracking. In addition, the app can sometimes be slow to respond when editing time entries, so keep an eye out for that. 

3. Budget Tracking

Another very thoughtful Timeular feature is its budget tracking function. Budgets are an important part of the project ecosystem and contribute significantly to the success or failure of business endeavors, so it is extremely important to keep an eye on them at all times.

Timeular’s budget tracking allows users to stay on top of multiple time budgets and monitor the health and profitability of projects. It helps in identifying projects that are prone to exceed budget estimates so that teams can redirect their efforts accordingly, and help focus time where it is most needed. Billable hours can also be tracked with ease by merely switching a toggle, reducing the time spent on the process compared to other systems, especially traditional paper-based ones. 

Creating and monitoring budgets on Timeular is pretty straightforward. On the navigation bar to the left of the interface, admins can click the clock-like budget icon to take them to the budgets tab, where they will see a prompt to create a new budget. Clicking the “Create New Budget” on the pop-up or the “New” button on the upper right side of the interface will initiate the process, and users will be prompted to enter the budget name and the combination of folders, activities, tags, and members to filter it — selecting one or more folders as a filter is mandatory, but the rest of the filter fields are not. 

Once the filters are in place, admins should specify the amount of time allotted for the budget, its beginning and ending dates, and whether it is to be repeated on other dates. They can then choose who to share it with — all members, other admins, or to themselves only. After that, they can choose when to be alerted about the budget, whether based on time until the end date, percentage, or a combination of both. 

Once the budget is set up and activated, users can then track time against it according to the specified filters and contribute to its progress. Admins can easily see how things are progressing against budgets by checking the project dashboard, or when they receive the notifications according to the intervals they specified. 

4. Insightful Reporting

I’ve said this before in other reviews: solid insights are the backbone of sound business decisions. The numbers don’t lie, and they point the way towards progress and improvement.

Timeular uses the data captured by its time tracking, budget tracking, and leave and absence tracking features to generate insightful reports that show businesses just exactly how they are doing. These reports point to what businesses can do to drive productivity and enhance time utilization among their ranks, as well as promote transparency and build the confidence of clients and stakeholders in their brand. 

Timeular reports give visibility into where company time goes, shed light on trends, and allow comparison with the key metrics of historical time frames. They also allow businesses to see how the patterns of their time expenditure change over time and affect processes, have a closer look at each and every time and leave entry, filter data with relevant criteria to streamline the presentation of information, and export data for sharing or further processing.

To access Timeular reports, users can click on the insights icon resembling a pie chart on the navigation bar which will take them to the Insights tab, which displays the general view by default. The general view shows the summary which contains an overview of how time was spent within a specific period on a pie chart composed of several colored segments denoting activities and folders listed in matching colors on its right side. It contains the total time spent for each segment, billable and unbillable hours, and how much they cost.

Timeular’s trends chart facilitates the comparison between two time periods which can be selected with the timespan drop-down in the charts. It compares average entries per day, average entry length, average amount of hours tracked per day, and average start and end times. The time chart allows users to see how multiple days, weeks, or months measure up to each other. It shows how and where time was spent with a colorful vertical bar graph, and can be configured to show either time percentage or hours. The tags chart displays the tags and mentions most often used throughout a certain period in a horizontal bar graph. It details the number of times a tag or mention was used, and how much on which activities. Like the time chart, the tags chart can also display values in percentages or hours. 

Timeular’s people chart allows folder supervisors to view the time data of members invited to the folders they manage. It shows the total hours logged by specific members within a certain period, and how that total is broken down into specific tasks in either hours or percentages. Drilling down further, individual time entries over a certain period can be closely examined using the time entries list, which can be arranged in ascending or descending order based on when they were made. In this report, users have the option to edit their time entries. 

Aside from the reports that deal with time utilization and trends, Timeular also generates the previously- discussed timesheets, as well as a list view leave report that shows all applicable leaves within a certain period, as well as the type of leave, the person requesting it, the duration, start and end times, and notes. The chart view leave report shows leave information in a horizontal bar graph, detailing how individual members’ leaves are broken down in days.

The reports generated by Timeular are no doubt helpful in informing future decisions and impacting strategies positively, but they feel quite limited to me. And while they can be filtered by any combination of timespan, folders, people, activities, tags, and notes to show data relevant to analytic needs, the system lacks the customizability of insight structure that other similar solutions offer. 

(As of December 2023)

• Capterra: 4.6/5
• G2: 4.6/5
• GetApp: 4.6/5
• Google Play Store: 3.7/5
• App Store: 4.6/5
• Technology Evaluation Centers: 4.5/5
• SaaSworthy: 4.1/5

At this point, we’ve already discussed so much about Timeular that I feel like you already know what I’m gonna say, so let’s keep this short and sweet.

Timeular is beautifully conceptualized, the ZEIº device is elegant to look at, and I love that they’ve added a physical aspect to time tracking. I also like the fact that there’s not just one option on how to track time, and users are given the choice to track with the device or without, as in the case of the highly intuitive automatic tracker and Quicktrack. 

The presentation of time entries in the calendar is quite engaging, and I love that it can be edited quite extensively to really reflect time usage down to the minute. The painless timesheets are a godsend, the reports are quite insightful, and the budget tracker is a very thoughtful touch.

However, not everything is roses and rainbows, as Timeular might be beautifully conceptualized but there are failures in the way it was brought to life. And it is definitely not the most accurate and effortless time tracker out there as they advertise on their site. 

The unreliable time tracking caused not the least by the unreliability of the ZEIº device, a boatload of bugs, the less than desirable mobile apps, the glitches and crashes, and the inexcusable mediocre execution of a grand concept is an embarrassment. And while the tracking device is pretty to look at, when you get your hands on it, the cheapness of it all becomes truly manifest. I wasn’t expecting that from something that costs so much — at the very least, I’d be expecting excellent time tracking and a tracker with a more premium feel. Or at least doesn’t disconnect intermittently.

The features, while impressive when discussed one by one, constitute a very short list of functionalities that may not even come up to half of what the better-designed but similarly-priced solutions offer. And speaking of feature deficiencies, the pesky accidental creation of time entries due to the way the interface functionality is designed, the slow response times in editing time entries, and the lack of customizability in the structure of the reports can be quite limiting. 

While the cool stickers and the visual personalization possibilities of the tracker device don’t solve any of those issues, they’re a positive point that appeals to me and stands as a metaphor for constant development. And Timeular can be made so much better if only its developers would put in the effort. I believe in the power of great ideas and hope that they can turn this around and make it reach its full potential with better execution… in time. 

So listen, if you don’t mind its faults and deficiencies, can cough up the cash, and enjoy a physical and artistic aspect to your time tracking, Timeular might just be the solution for you. But if you’re looking for something more stable, more feature-rich, and more reliable, it’s time to flip.