Time tracking in ClickUp: how it works and which plans include it
ClickUp has time tracking built in. An owner or admin turns on the Time Tracking ClickApp, and from then on anyone with access can start a timer on a task or type hours in by hand. What catches teams out is not the timer. It is the usage limits. On the Free Forever plan, ClickUp's help center lists 100 uses for creating, editing and deleting time entries, and the advanced features that matter for invoicing, such as billable flags, tags and entering time for other people, are capped at 40 uses on both Free Forever and Unlimited.
This article covers how to switch time tracking on, every place you can log time, what each plan allows as of October 8, 2026, and how timesheet approvals work for teams that bill clients from their hours.
Turning time tracking on
Time tracking is off until a Workspace owner or admin enables it. ClickUp's "Activate time tracking" help article gives the steps:
- Open the App Center.
- In the left sidebar, click All ClickApps.
- Search for the Time Tracking ClickApp.
- Click the toggle to activate it.
- Optionally, use the dropdown to activate it only in specific Spaces.
On the same screen there is a setting called "Default new time entries to billable." If most of your work is client work, switch it on now. If most of it is internal, leave it off and mark the billable entries one by one. Either way, decide before the first entry goes in, because an entry with no deliberate billable choice is the one that causes an argument at the end of the month.
Two related ClickApps are worth turning on at the same time. Time Tracking Rollup adds the hours recorded on subtasks and nested subtasks into the total for the parent task. Without it, a parent task can show far fewer hours than were actually spent. The Time Estimate ClickApp lets you set a planned duration on a task, and when it is on, the timer in List view shows a progress bar of tracked time against that estimate.
Guests are handled separately. According to the help center, a guest can track time only if an owner or admin has enabled time tracking for them and they have edit or full edit permission on the task. If you work with freelancers who are guests in your Workspace, check this before their first week, not after.
Every place you can log time
ClickUp offers more entry points than most teams use. The "Track time on tasks" help article lists them.
Starting a timer
- From a task: below the task name, next to Track Time, click the start button.
- From List, Board, Gantt and Calendar views: right click a task and choose Start timer.
- From Board view: show the time tracked field on cards, then click the start button on a card.
- From the toolbar: pin Tracked Time from the Quick Action menu, then click the time tracking icon.
- From Timesheets: click the start button to the right of a task.
A running timer stays visible in the toolbar in the upper right, and you can start it on a computer and stop it on your phone.
Adding time by hand
Most teams log most of their hours after the fact, so manual entry matters more than the timer. You can type durations as "2 hours, 10 minutes", "2h 10m" or "2:10:30". In the entry form you can pick a date and time range, mark the entry billable or non billable, add a description and add time tracking tags. Owners and admins can also record time on someone else's behalf.
Time without a task
On the Business plan and above, ClickUp lets you track time that is not attached to a task. Meetings and support calls often have no task, so this is useful. On Free Forever and Unlimited, a task is required, and some teams create a standing "Internal" task to hold those hours.
ClickUp also accepts time entries from its AI assistant and agents, the API, the Chrome extension and automations. Entries created by Brain and Super Agents count toward the same plan limits as manual ones, according to the help center.
Which plan includes what
Two ClickUp pages describe plan coverage. The pricing page sets out prices and a feature table. The help article "Time Tracking feature availability and limits" sets out usage limits. Here are the prices as listed on clickup.com/pricing on October 8, 2026.
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Free Forever | $0 | $0 |
| Unlimited | $7 per user per month | $10 per user per month |
| Business | $12 per user per month | $19 per user per month |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Contact sales |
The pricing card for Unlimited names "Native Time Tracking" among the things it adds to Free Forever. The help article's table of usage limits, also read on October 8, 2026, is where the practical differences show:
| Time tracking feature | Free Forever | Unlimited | Business | Business Plus and Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create, edit, delete time entries | 100 uses | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Advanced features (timesheet entry, entries for others, descriptions, tags, billable, time without a task) | 40 uses | 40 uses | 100 uses | Unlimited |
| Timesheet approvals (submit, request changes, approve) | No | No | 100 uses | Yes |
| "View Time Tracked by Other Users" role permission | No | No | No | Yes |
Three points follow from this table.
First, the billable flag is an advanced feature. A team on Unlimited that bills clients from ClickUp hours will reach the 40 use cap quickly, because every entry marked billable counts.
Second, the two ClickUp pages do not say exactly the same thing. The feature table on the pricing page shows Timesheets as a trial on Free Forever and Unlimited, and Timesheet Approvals only under Enterprise. The help article shows approvals with 100 uses on Business and fully available on Business Plus and Enterprise. Business Plus also appears in the help article but not as a card on the current pricing page. The help article itself notes that timesheet features and plan availability "are subject to change" and that new features can be tried with unlimited usage for a limited time.
Third, the practical step is to check inside your own Workspace. The plan settings in your Workspace show what you are actually entitled to, which matters more than either public page.
Timesheets and approvals
The Timesheets Hub is where hours turn into something an accountant or a client can read. Open it by selecting Timesheets in the Global Navigation, or from More if it is not pinned.
What the Timesheets Hub shows
The My timesheet tab has two displays. Timesheet groups entries by task, with one column per day. Time entries lists every entry by date. Hovering over a day shows total capacity, tracked time, billable and non billable time, and how far over or under capacity you are. You can filter by billable status, tag, amount of tracked time and archived tasks.
One detail is easy to miss. If a cell already contains 1 hour and you type 2 hours, ClickUp does not overwrite it. It creates a new 1 hour entry to reach the new total. That keeps a clean history, but it also means one day can hold several small entries.
The All timesheets tab shows everyone's hours, and only Workspace owners and admins can see it.
Setting up approvals
From the Timesheets Hub, an owner or admin clicks the Approvals tab, then Setup timesheet approvals. You choose a weekly due date and time, optional reminders before and after the deadline, the people who submit, and an approver for each of them.
Once set up, a person clicks Submit for approval in the upper right of their timesheet. Time entries are locked when the timesheet is submitted. An approver can approve or request changes, and once approved, the timesheet can no longer be edited unless an approver reopens it. The statuses are Pending, Changes needed and Approved. Admins and owners can still edit locked and approved entries.
For a team that invoices from hours, this lock is the most important part of the feature. It is the difference between a number that can still change and a number you can send to a client.
Where teams get stuck
The plan limits explain part of the frustration. Three other problems show up regardless of plan.
Hours at two levels
ClickUp lets you log time on a task or a subtask. Unless Time Tracking Rollup is on, the parent shows only its own hours. Two people pulling a report for the same month can get two different totals, and neither one is obviously wrong. Decide on one level for logging, write it in the Space description, and turn on rollup.
Estimates read as actuals
A time estimate is a plan and a tracked entry is a record. Both appear as durations on the task. When an early estimate is never updated and the scope grows, comparing actual hours with that estimate tells you how old the estimate is, not how the work went. Revise estimates when scope changes, or stop comparing against them.
The weekly habit
A timer does not make people remember to start it. Accurate hours come from a fixed weekly moment to fill in and submit, which is exactly what approval deadlines and reminders are designed for. Without approvals, someone has to check for empty weeks by hand.
When a separate time tool makes sense
Many teams connect ClickUp to a dedicated time tracker instead of relying on the built in one. ClickUp's own help center notes that time tracked through integrations counts toward the same time tracking limits, so connecting an outside tool does not get around a cap on Free Forever.
A separate tool is worth considering in three situations. Contractors who are not in your Workspace need to log hours. You need contract types, such as hourly, fixed fee or monthly retainer, attached to each person and project so totals turn into amounts. Or the people who log hours are a small part of the team, and you would rather not pay a per user price for everyone just to unlock approvals. If any of these apply, compare a project management tool that includes timesheets with a separate time tracker. The comparison overview sets out how several tools handle boards, and the pricing page shows one example where timesheets are a paid add-on counted only for the people who log hours.
What to change first
Turn on the Time Tracking and Time Tracking Rollup ClickApps, decide whether new entries default to billable, and agree on one level for logging hours before anyone starts a timer. Then open the usage limits in your own Workspace and check them against how many billable entries you make each month. If the team needs contract based totals for outside contributors, Pinateca offers weekly timesheets with submission and approval alongside kanban and Gantt boards.
Q1. Is ClickUp time tracking free?
It is available on Free Forever, but with limits. ClickUp's help center lists 100 uses for creating, editing and deleting time entries on Free Forever, and 40 uses for advanced features such as billable flags and tags. Unlimited removes the cap on basic entries but keeps the 40 use cap on advanced features.
Q2. Why can't anyone on the team start a timer in ClickUp?
Time tracking has to be switched on first. A Workspace owner or admin opens the App Center, goes to All ClickApps, and turns on the Time Tracking ClickApp for the whole Workspace or specific Spaces. Guests also need permission from an admin and edit access to the task.
Q3. Which ClickUp plan includes timesheet approvals?
ClickUp's help center lists approvals as unavailable on Free Forever and Unlimited, 100 uses on Business, and fully available on Business Plus and Enterprise. The feature table on the pricing page lists approvals only under Enterprise. Check the plan settings in your Workspace for the current entitlement.
Q4. Can time be logged in ClickUp without a task?
Yes, on the Business plan and above. On lower plans, a task is required, so teams often create a standing task for meetings and internal work.
Q5. Do subtask hours count toward the parent task in ClickUp?
Only if the Time Tracking Rollup ClickApp is on. With rollup, the total includes entries from subtasks, nested subtasks and the parent. Without it, each task shows only its own hours.