Kimai is a capable open-source time tracker, but someone has to host, update, and secure it. Keito is a hosted billing-first workspace with approvals and client summaries built in — no server to maintain.
Monthly review
Client billing
$18.9k
Active work
24
Reviewed
91%
Ready to bill
$18.4k
Time captured with context
kimai alternative
Billing review complete
Client and project checked
Invoice evidence ready
Approved summary prepared
kimai alternative needs more than a timer. The billing record has to keep client, project, approval, and invoice context together before the work reaches finance.
Migrate client and project structure to Keito so the tracking workflow is familiar from day one — the same fields, the same billing discipline, without the pricing model that drove the switch.
Run the same approval step you relied on before, with the added assurance that the review covers project context, expenses, and billable status in one place.
Use the same billing data to produce client summaries and invoice backup without paying per seat each time the team or contractor roster changes.
Kimai alternative
Kimai is a popular open-source time tracker, and for technical teams that enjoy running their own infrastructure it is a reasonable choice — it is free, flexible, and self-hostable. The hidden cost shows up over time. Someone on the team owns the server: applying updates, managing backups, handling security patches, and being the person who gets called when time tracking is down before a billing deadline. And while Kimai captures time well, billing-grade workflow — an explicit approval step, client-readable summaries, structured billable-status review — is something teams end up building around it with exports and spreadsheets. For a services business whose core work is billing clients, not running infrastructure, that maintenance and gap-filling is a distraction. Keito is a hosted alternative built around the billing workflow. There is no server to maintain: time is captured against client, project, and billable status; managers approve entries before they become invoice evidence; and reviewed records become client summaries automatically. Teams moving from Kimai trade infrastructure ownership and DIY billing logic for a maintained workspace where the billing review process is the product, not something assembled afterward.
Drop the self-hosted server, updates, and backups Kimai requires
Get approval workflows and client summaries without building them yourself
Keep flexible client and project tracking in a maintained, hosted workspace
Workflow fit
Keito keeps kimai alternative connected to client, project, billable status, approval, and invoice context before the work reaches finance.
Drop the self-hosted server, updates, and backups Kimai requires
Get approval workflows and client summaries without building them yourself
Keep flexible client and project tracking in a maintained, hosted workspace
Keito is built around the same time capture, review, and invoice summary cycle used by the leading billing-focused time trackers — without the per-seat pricing model.
Add contractors, reviewers, and finance users to the billing workflow without checking whether each addition will increase the monthly tool spend.
Track AI agent costs by client and project alongside your team's billable hours so the full delivery effort is visible in one billing workspace.
The difference is not just recording time. It is whether the record can support billing, project decisions, and client conversations.
Self-hosted vs hosted billing workspace
Keito keeps kimai alternative tied to clients, projects, billable status, approvals, and billing summaries in one workspace.
Typical setups capture time in one tool and rebuild the billing explanation later from exports, comments, or spreadsheet cleanup.
Review before invoicing
Managers review entries before they become invoice evidence, so missing context is fixed internally rather than during a client dispute.
Raw timer exports usually reach finance before delivery leads have confirmed whether the work is billable, complete, or client-ready.
Predictable team pricing
Flat-rate plans let delivery staff, reviewers, contractors, and finance users participate without per-seat pricing friction.
Per-seat time trackers make teams choose between clean billing participation and controlling tool spend.
Use a workspace where time is captured against the right client and project, reviewed before invoicing, and exported as billing evidence. Keito is built around that workflow, so kimai alternative is not separated from the approval and invoice context it needs.
Yes. Keito tracks work by client, project, person, billable status, and review state, then turns approved records into client-ready summaries. That makes it useful when kimai alternative needs to support billing, profitability, and client reporting rather than just attendance.
A generic timer records duration. Keito records billable context: who did the work, which client and project it belongs to, whether it has been reviewed, and how it should appear in billing evidence.
Solo is built for one human owner and unlimited AI agents. Pro adds human teammates. Business adds integrations, exports, and online invoice payments.
One human owner
For independent consultants, freelancers, and small studios running work with AI agents.
Team collaboration
For teams that need shared workspaces, approvals, and team-level project visibility.
Advanced operations
For organizations that need integrations, exports, online payments, and stronger controls.
AI agents do not count as human seats on any plan.
Solo, Pro, and Business can use API keys for agent workflows.
Stripe payments, exports, Xero, and QuickBooks are on Business.
Start with Solo, add people on Pro when you need reviewers or collaborators, and see how Keito turns tracked effort into clearer reports.