Project budget time tracker that warns when hours approach budget thresholds
Tick is a project-focused time tracking tool built around budget awareness — every project has an hour budget, and Tick's interface constantly shows remaining hours against the budget to prevent overruns. Its real-time budget indicators turn project profitability management from a monthly accounting exercise into a daily visible discipline, making it particularly valuable for agencies billing fixed-fee projects.
Tick is a strong fit if its core strengths match your workflow, budget, and support needs. Use the quick signals below before opening the full review.
Tick's insight is that time tracking without budget context is incomplete — knowing you logged 60 hours matters less than knowing you logged 60 of a 50-hour budget. Its constant budget visibility turns overrun prevention into a daily practice rather than an end-of-month accounting discovery.
Every project and task in Tick displays a colour-coded budget indicator — green when hours remain comfortable, yellow approaching the limit, red when overrun. This visual cue is visible during time entry, not just in reports. When a designer is about to log time to a task already at 90% of its budget, Tick makes that visible before the time is logged — enabling a real-time conversation rather than a retrospective surprise.
Tick sends automated email alerts to project managers at 75% and 100% of budget consumption. For agencies running dozens of concurrent projects, these alerts surface the projects that need attention without requiring the PM to check each project's status manually. Catching a budget overrun at 75% leaves room for conversation with the client; catching it at 110% does not.
Tick charges per number of projects rather than per user — the $19/month plan covers 10 projects for an unlimited number of users. For larger teams tracking a smaller number of active projects, this model is substantially cheaper than per-seat alternatives. The unusual pricing model requires matching project count needs to plan tiers rather than headcount.
Score: 7.7/10 — Best budget-focused time tracker for fixed-fee agencies; narrow feature set suits budget management specialists only.
Free
Free billed annually
$19/mo
$228/mo billed annually
$49/mo
$588/mo billed annually
$149/mo
$1,788/mo billed annually
Tick is best for Creative and design agencies running fixed-fee projects where hour overruns directly reduce project profitability, Project managers who want budget visibility at the task level while work is in progress rather than in post-project reports, Basecamp teams who want time tracking embedded in the same ecosystem.
Yes. Tick currently lists a free plan in ToolRankr data.
It has a free plan.
Tick is reviewed using ToolRankr's scoring model for ease of use, value, features, support, and overall quality. Affiliate links may earn a commission, but sponsored labels do not change editorial scoring.
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