The short answer
Choose Toggl when capturing time in many places, integrations, automated tracking, or team capacity matter most. Choose Phased when one freelancer needs the plan, recorded work, phase fee, scope change, and client record to remain one connected project story.
Toggl
Published fit: individuals and teams that want time tracking plus capacity planning
- Web, desktop, mobile, and browser-extension tracking
- Automated capture and integrations with everyday tools
- Team capacity, approvals, profitability, and planning views
Better fit when time must be captured across tools and coordinated across a team.
Official source toggl.com
Phased
Designed for: solo freelancers, independent artists, and one-person studios
- Project → Phase → Task keeps the fee, time, and scope connected
- Grid and List entry views, plus a synced live timer
- Phase budgets, effective rates, and frozen client reports
Better fit when you agree a project price up front and need to protect it during delivery.
Toggl follows time across tools and teams
Its published product combines time tracking with capacity planning. Time can be captured on web, desktop, mobile, and browser extensions, then used for estimates, reports, team capacity, billing, and planning across calendar, board, timeline, and Gantt views.
Read the official product overview toggl.com
Connect every tracked hour to the fee it affects
In Phased, every task belongs to a phase and every phase belongs to a project. Time added through Grid, List, or the live timer inherits that context, so each recorded hour updates the budget and current effective hourly rate for the part of the job that used it. The rate remains provisional until the work is finished.
When a request falls outside the agreed work, mark that time Out of scope. It stops consuming the original phase budget and can appear as Additional Work in a frozen Phase or Project Report, with its own hours and amount. This keeps the fee, the work that used it, and the client record in one project structure.
Record time your way. Draw an entry in Grid, add or review it in List, or run the live timer. The running timer stays synced with your account, so you can start it on a desktop and stop it from a mobile browser. The complete workflow is optimised for desktop and mobile browsers, with nothing else to install.
Follow one project through PhasedProject
The client, agreed price, overall budget, tasks, status, and reports.
Phase
A real slice of delivery with its own money or hours budget and health.
Task + time
Calendar work inherits its task, phase, project, rate, and scope context.
Decision + record
Current effective rate, Additional Work, and frozen client reports close the loop.
Compare the tier that covers the job
Toggl has cheaper entry plans, but its Premium tier is the closest published match for fixed-fee projects, profitability analysis, and approvals, and it is priced per user. The complete paid Phased workflow costs €7 with monthly billing or €66 with yearly billing, with phase budgets, effective-rate analysis, Additional Work, and branded reports included. Compare the tier that covers the job rather than the first number on the page.
$24/user/month
Annual billing $16/user/month $192 per user per year
Official pricing toggl.com/pricing
€7/month
Annual billing €5.50/month €66 per account per year
See Phased pricingThe paid Phased plan is the full solo workflow. It includes unlimited active projects and phases, money budgets, custom rates, current effective-rate analysis, priced Additional Work, branded reports, and templates. A new account can try it for 30 days without a card.
A focused tool should make its limits obvious
Phased is not a general team timekeeping, billing, or firm-management suite. Its narrower job is helping one person connect project structure, time, scope, and fixed fees. These are the boundaries to consider before choosing it.
- No browser extension, background activity capture, or idle-time detection. Phased is optimised for desktop and mobile browsers, with nothing else to install.
- No third-party integration catalogue or API workflow for tracking time inside other products.
- No team capacity, shared workload planning, member roles, or timesheet approvals.
- No client billing or payment collection. Phased produces project records and reports, not accounting documents.
If cross-platform automatic capture, integrations, approvals, or shared capacity planning become everyday needs, Toggl is the more appropriate category.
Before you decide
Is Phased a replacement for Toggl?
Not if you rely on native desktop or mobile apps, browser extensions, automatic activity capture, many integrations, team capacity, or approvals. For one person managing fixed-fee projects through phases and client-facing records, Phased replaces a narrower part of the workflow and keeps it in one project spine.
Can I try Phased before paying?
Yes. A new account starts with a 30-day trial of all paid features. No card is required, and the trial does not become a paid subscription automatically.
What happens if my studio grows?
Phased remains one person per account. Separate freelancers can each send a Time Report to an owner or project lead, but their accounts do not share projects, roles, approvals, or one capacity view. When the studio needs those shared controls, Toggl is designed for the team-tracking and planning job.
Can I use the complete Phased workflow on my phone?
Yes. Phased is optimised for desktop and mobile browsers. You can use Grid or List, run the timer, and manage the rest of the workflow in your browser of choice. A running timer stays synced with your account, so it can be started on a desktop and stopped from a phone. Phased does not provide OS-level background activity capture or native app integrations.
Is Phased only for architects?
No. It is especially useful for solo architects, interior designers, graphic designers, artists, consultants, and videographers who agree a project price, organise work into phases, and need to see how the fee holds up against recorded time.