Running a client project: Clockify vs Plutio
A new client reaches out to hire a web designer for a website redesign project. What happens next?
With Clockify, the workflow usually looks like this:
- Open a separate proposal tool (PandaDoc, Bonsai, or a Google Doc) to draft and send the project scope and pricing.
- The client signs in the proposal tool. Start a new project in Clockify manually with the agreed budget in hours.
- Create tasks inside the Clockify project as flat list items. Track time against each task. Budget burn shows in real time.
- When the project ends, generate an invoice from tracked hours on the Standard plan. Email the invoice manually. The client pays by bank transfer or through another tool because Clockify has no payment processing.
- Follow up on unpaid invoices by email. Check a separate accounting tool to verify payment arrived. Deliver final files through email or Google Drive.
With Plutio, the same project goes like this:
- Draft a branded proposal in Plutio with the project scope, pricing, and a deposit request. The client receives a link to a proposal under your domain and branding.
- The client signs and pays the deposit. Plutio creates the project automatically with the agreed scope loaded as tasks on a Kanban board.
- Track time against tasks inside the same project. Budget burn calculates against the quoted scope. No tab switching between tools.
- At project completion, generate an invoice from tracked hours. The invoice carries your branding, goes out with a Stripe or PayPal payment link, and sends automated reminders until paid.
- The client accesses everything, including project files, signed contract, invoice, and final deliverables, through a branded portal at your domain.
Clockify handles step three (time tracking). Plutio handles all five steps in one platform.
Verifiable differences between Clockify and Plutio
1. Clockify has no proposals or contracts
Clockify: The features page at clockify.me lists time tracking, project management, reporting, scheduling, and invoicing. Proposals, contracts, and e-signatures do not appear anywhere in the feature list or documentation.
Plutio: Proposals with e-signatures, interactive pricing tables, and project creation on acceptance. Contracts with audit trail. Both included at $19/month.
Check it yourself: Clockify features page. Proposals and contracts are not listed under any plan.
2. Clockify invoicing has no payment processing
Clockify: Invoicing on the Standard plan generates invoices from tracked time, but there is no Stripe integration, no PayPal integration, and no way for clients to pay directly from the invoice. Payment happens outside the platform.
Plutio: Full invoicing with Stripe and PayPal payment processing, automated reminders, recurring invoices, and payment tracking in one dashboard.
Verify on Clockify's pricing: Clockify pricing page. No plan tier mentions payment processing or Stripe/PayPal integration for invoicing.
3. Clockify plus supplementary tools costs more than Plutio alone
Clockify: Free or $5.49/user/month (Standard) for time tracking and invoicing. FreshBooks for billing adds $17/month. Bonsai for proposals and contracts adds $21/month. A client portal tool adds $39/month. Total: approximately $82/month for four tools.
Plutio: $19/month covering time tracking, proposals, contracts, invoicing with payment processing, and a white-labeled client portal.
The pricing pages confirm this: Clockify pricing. The free and paid plans cover time tracking with basic invoicing only.
When Clockify is the right fit
Clockify makes sense in narrow scenarios, but each comes with trade-offs:
- You need free time tracking for an unlimited team. Clockify's free plan covers unlimited users for time tracking with basic reports and billable rates, but adds no invoicing, no proposals, and no client portal. The free plan covers hour logging with basic reports, but adds no invoicing, no project budgets, and no expense tracking.
- Your team already has invoicing, proposals, and project management in other tools. If QuickBooks handles billing, PandaDoc handles proposals, and Asana handles project management, Clockify adds time tracking on top without disrupting the existing workflow.
- You need kiosk mode for on-site teams. Clockify's kiosk lets team members clock in from a shared device in a physical workspace. For field service, construction, or office environments where individual logins are impractical, kiosk mode fills a specific gap.
- Budget is the top priority and you handle fewer than 5 clients per year. Clockify is free for time tracking. If the volume of proposals and invoices is low enough to manage through email and Google Docs, the cost of separate tools stays minimal.
But for freelancers who need proposals, contracts, a client portal, or full invoicing with payment processing alongside time tracking, Clockify requires three to four additional tools. Plutio handles all of that under one login at a lower total monthly cost.
Freelancers who switched to Plutio
Freelancers who switch to Plutio typically replace three to five separate tools with one subscription.
West7th Design Studio consolidated five separate tools into Plutio, cutting their subscriptions from five line items to one. The studio had been using separate apps for project management, time tracking, invoicing, contracts, and client communication. Moving to Plutio connected those workflows, so proposals, time logs, invoices, and client messages all live in one place rather than five separate logins.
Yaz Marketing used Plutio to professionalize the client experience from the first touchpoint. Proposals, contracts, and project portals all carry the Yaz brand rather than the brand of whichever tool hosts each document. Clients receive proposals, sign contracts, review deliverables, and pay invoices inside the same branded environment.
Both studios were using a stack of specialist tools before switching. The common pattern: each tool worked on its own. The problem was manually copying data between them at the end of every billing cycle.
Final verdict
Clockify is a free time tracking tool used by teams that already run separate invoicing and project management tools. The time tracker includes timers, timesheets, kiosk mode, and reports on the free plan. Clockify holds a 4.5/5 on G2 (170+ reviews), with reviewers citing the free plan and time tracking depth alongside complaints about limited invoicing and no payment processing.
What Clockify covers: a one-click timer on web, desktop, and mobile with offline sync, kiosk mode for on-site teams, Pomodoro intervals, and detailed time reports with labor cost analysis. The Standard plan adds invoicing from tracked time, and the Pro plan adds expense tracking and auto-tracker.
Where Clockify falls short for freelancers: everything before the timer starts and after the invoice is sent. A freelancer who needs to send a proposal, collect a signature, deliver a branded invoice with a payment link, show a client their project progress in a branded environment, and maintain a consistent client experience uses three to four additional tools alongside Clockify. The combined stack costs more and requires manual data entry between systems at every billing cycle.
Plutio covers the time tracking and reporting that Clockify covers, and adds proposals, contracts, a full billing system with payment processing, Kanban-based project management, a white-labeled client portal, messaging, and scheduling in the same subscription. For a solo freelancer whose work runs from proposal to final invoice, Plutio at $19/month costs less than Clockify plus the three extra tools needed to match the same scope.
The bottom line: Clockify adds free time tracking on top of existing tools, but the combined subscription cost of separate invoicing, proposal, and portal tools and the manual data entry between them offsets the savings. Plutio fits if you want proposals, contracts, time tracking, full invoicing with payment processing, and a branded client portal in one platform at $19/month, with the complete workflow connected rather than split across separate subscriptions.
How to switch from Clockify to Plutio
Most freelancers complete the switch in a few hours of setup, then run both tools in parallel while active Clockify projects finish billing.
Step 1: Export Clockify data
In Clockify, go to Reports and export your time entries as CSV. The export includes project name, client, task, hours, and date. You can also export client and project data from workspace settings.
Step 2: Import into Plutio
Upload the time entry CSV into Plutio's import tool. Plutio maps Clockify's project and client fields to the corresponding Plutio fields. Create client records first, then import projects and time entries against those clients.
Step 3: Set up project templates
Create templates for the project types you run most often. In Plutio, these templates load automatically when a client signs a proposal, filling in tasks and scope without manual setup.
Step 4: Configure the client portal
Connect your custom domain to Plutio's client portal. Add your logo, brand colors, and a welcome message. Invite existing clients to the portal. From that point, clients log into your branded environment rather than receiving invoices by email with no payment link.
Research & Sources
Every comparison and price point on this page is backed by direct research conducted in March 2026. We verify data across official product pages, user reviews, and third-party analysis to ensure accuracy.
Pricing verification sources
- Plutio: Official pricing page
- Clockify: Official pricing page
Platform ratings (March 2026)
- Clockify: 4.5/5 on G2 (170+ reviews). Reviewers mention the free plan and time tracking depth. Common complaints include limited invoicing, no payment processing, and no client-facing features.
- Plutio: 4.6/5 on G2 (200+ reviews). Reviewers mention all-in-one coverage and white-labeling. The most cited limitation is the learning curve for new users.
How we verify
For each feature in the comparison table:
- We check official product docs
- We verify with multiple third-party sources (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius)
- We compare against user reviews and help center articles
- We update pricing based on current published rates
Feature verification
If anything looks wrong, let us know and we will fix it.
