Time tracking for freelance designers who price by the project.
Most freelance design is quoted as a project price, so the only way to know whether a logo, a website, or a pitch deck paid well is to count the hours. TrackTimer counts them as you work, including the ones you would forget, and shows whether each project beat your hourly target.
At a glance
- Set each quoted job as a fixed-fee project and your pay rate to your target hourly income; fee less cost shows whether the job beat it.
- On a Mac, AI Auto Track keeps a private timeline of your day, including time in your design tools, that you can turn into entries.
- Put revisions beyond the agreed scope in an hourly project, priced at your rate and visible to the client.
- Clients can have a free, read-only dashboard of completed hourly billable time; they never see your activity or screenshots.
- Create an unsent invoice in Mercury from an agreed fee or reviewed hours, then send it from Mercury.
- Free during early access. Planned pricing for one seat is $8 a month billed yearly.
Where freelance designers lose time and margin
Prices set by guesswork
A quote is a guess about hours multiplied by a rate you never say out loud. Without records of past projects, every new quote repeats the same guess.
Revisions that are not counted
The agreed two rounds become four, one small change at a time. Each change feels too small to mention, and together they turn a good price into a poor one.
Time around the design work
Hours in the design tool are easy to remember. The calls, emails, file exports, and asset hunts around them are not, and they are part of what the project cost.
Scope conversations without evidence
Asking a client to pay for extra rounds is easier with a record of the hours they took. Without one, most designers absorb the work.
How TrackTimer works for freelance designers
A fixed-fee project for every quote
Create a client for each customer and a fixed-fee project for each quoted job with its agreed amount. Set your pay rate to the hourly income you are aiming for. The project then shows labor cost at that target and fee less cost: positive means the job beat your target.
AI Auto Track catches the whole job
On a Mac, AI Auto Track notes the app and window you use and keeps a private timeline of your day, with a title and summary for each block. Time in your design tools and the emails around it can become entries with a click, summary included.
An hourly project for work beyond scope
When the client wants more than the quote covered, track it in an hourly project at your billing rate. Those hours appear on the client’s dashboard and can be invoiced, instead of disappearing into the fixed price.
Timers when you want them
Start and switch timers on the web, on iPhone with a Live Activity on the Lock Screen, or in Raycast. Starting a new timer stops the previous one, so client switches take one step.
Share hours, not your screen
Invite a client to a free, read-only dashboard of completed hourly billable time by project and day. Your activity timeline and screenshots are never shared; clients see only the entries you create.
Invoice in Mercury
With Mercury connected, select a project’s agreed fee or review billable hours at saved rates, create an unsent invoice in Mercury, and send it from there.
Example: three projects, one quiet loss
A freelance designer aims to earn $85 an hour and sets that as their pay rate. Three fixed-price jobs finish in the same month:
| Project | Fee | Tracked | Per hour | Against target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logo and identity | $3,200 | 28h | $114.29 | +$820 |
| Marketing site design | $5,500 | 61h | $90.16 | +$315 |
| Pitch deck | $1,500 | 24h | $62.50 | −$540 |
| Total | $10,200 | 113h | $90.27 | +$595 |
- Project fees
- $10,200
- Tracked time
- 113h
- Labor cost at $85/h
- $9,605
- Fee less cost
- $595 · 6%
Illustrative example with hypothetical projects and figures. TrackTimer shows each project’s fee, tracked time, labor cost at your pay rate, and fee less cost; the per-hour column is the fee divided by tracked hours. The pitch deck took 24 hours for $1,500, $540 short of the target, so the next deck quote should be closer to $2,040 or the scope smaller.
Set up your first week
Set your target. Create your workspace with your billing rate for hourly work and your target hourly income as the pay rate.
Add clients and quoted jobs. Create a fixed-fee project for each quote with its agreed amount, and an hourly project for any work beyond scope.
Turn on AI Auto Track. Install the Mac app and allow screen access so your day builds a private timeline.
Track a real project. Turn timeline blocks into entries, or run timers on the web, iPhone, or Raycast.
Review when a job ends. Compare fee less cost across jobs, then invoice the fee and any extra hours through Mercury.
Frequently asked questions
Does TrackTimer track time in Figma automatically?
Yes. On a Mac, AI Auto Track records your activity in any app, including design tools, into a private timeline with titled, summarized blocks. You choose which blocks become time entries.
How do I know whether a project price paid well?
Set your pay rate to your target hourly income. Each fixed-fee project then shows fee less cost at that target. You can also divide the fee by the tracked hours for the effective rate.
Will clients see my activity or screenshots?
No. Your timeline is visible only to you, and screenshots stay on your Mac. Clients see completed hourly billable time on their dashboard, never your activity.
Can I bill extra revisions hourly?
Yes. Track them in an hourly project for the same client. The hours are priced at your billing rate, appear on the client’s dashboard, and can go on a Mercury invoice.
Do I need a Mac?
Only for AI Auto Track. Timers also work on the web, on iPhone, in Raycast, and in AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT.
See what your time earns.
Set up your first client and project in a few minutes. Free during early access.
Written by TrackTimer about its own product and reviewed . Examples use hypothetical people, hours, and rates. Features and planned pricing can change; the pricing section has the current terms.