Worksnaps

Name of Time-Tracking Product: 

Worksnaps http://www.worksnaps.net

Cost: 

Free to start, paid subscription ($7 and up per month) based on the number of users and projects intended.

What do you use the product track time for? 

Type of Product: 

How long have you used this product? 

Useful Features: 

* Capturing of screenshots and applications used as work evidence

* Visual display of the activities

* Time report for various periods and various projects.

* Can integrate with Freshbooks for invoicing

My Review 

I am working as a independent freelancer for online marketing, product research and technical writing. I normally have 5-10 active clients at a time. I also get some ad-hoc work from existing customers if they need something quickly. I charge my clients by the hours that I work.

I have used self-entering time tracking software but am not so happy with them because many times I just forget to enter the right task I was working on. In this case, I have to rely on my memory and guestimate again.

Then I found Worksnaps, which use an agent program to automatically capture the work activities such as screenshots, software programs you are using, your keyboard and mouse clicks etc. This allow me to run the agent while working and consolidate my time afterward if I forget to set the correct task. Because I have the screenshots, I can easily associate the time with the jobs. The time incremental for the capturing is 10 minutes, which is sufficient for me to bill my customers. Now I even invite some customers into my projects to view my work activities so that they can silently keep an eye on my progress instead of inquiring via email.

Another good thing is that I can export the consolidated time into Freshbooks which I use to do invoicing (note: Freshbooks also has a web-based timer like most of the self-reporting time tracking tools.)

After a few months of using Worksnaps, here is my take of the pros and cons of the product:

Pro: Visual time tracking; capturing automatically done by client program; easy to use in general after you grasp how it works; can share your captured work with others such as your clients or your co-workers

Cons: Can have simple invoicing built in so that small shop like mine can do all I need (and don't need to pay for another service); The graphical reporting can be better

Overall, I think it is a unique and useful tool for small business.

Would you recommend this to a friend? 

Laureen Miles Brunelli, Work-at-Home Moms Guide, says: