Time & Bill vs Kimai
At a glance
| Category | Time & Bill | Kimai |
|---|---|---|
| Main model | Hosted SaaS | Open-source self-hosting or Kimai Cloud |
| Pricing | €5 for 1, €15 up to 5, €40 up to 20 per month, plus VAT | Cloud Standard from €2.99 and Professional from €3.99 per user/month on annual billing, plus tax |
| Project work | Projects, tasks, rates, reports, expenses, budgets, and mileage | Projects, activities, rates, reporting, invoicing; Professional adds expenses, tasks, working-time accounts, and more |
| Invoicing | Reporting and export for downstream billing | Invoicing is included in Kimai Standard |
| Mobile access | Native iOS and Android apps | Browser-based cloud or self-hosted application |
| Hosting | Application data on Hetzner infrastructure in Germany | Kimai Cloud states that it runs on Hetzner in Falkenstein, Germany; self-hosters choose their infrastructure |
| Source availability | Hosted product is not open source | Open source; optional paid plugins and cloud service |
The difference that matters
Kimai provides more deployment control. You can run the open-source application yourself or pay Kimai to operate its cloud version. That flexibility is valuable when source access, self-hosting, built-in invoicing, or customization matters.
Time & Bill removes that infrastructure choice and offers a smaller managed product. Its fixed Startup and Office prices become more economical as a team fills the included seats.
Time & Bill may suit you better if
- you want a managed browser and mobile product without operating servers;
- fixed pricing for up to 5 or 20 users is more useful than per-seat pricing;
- you need project reports, exports, expenses, mileage, budgets, and clear project roles;
- you prefer a focused workflow over an extensible platform.
Kimai may suit you better if
- open source or self-hosting is a requirement;
- built-in invoicing, plugins, custom fields, working-time accounts, holidays, or kiosk mode matter;
- you accept responsibility for self-hosted maintenance, or prefer Kimai Cloud’s per-user service.
Sources
- Kimai Cloud pricing and plan features
- Kimai: cloud and self-hosted models
- Kimai privacy policy: cloud hosting location
- Kimai Cloud user licensing
Prices and product details checked against Kimai's official pages on 19 August 2026.
See Time & Bill pricing, small-team examples, and Trust & Privacy.