Asset 20 8 2
Does AI recommend your business? Run the free check →

Join 15,000 business owners, marketers and entrepreneurs. The Sunday newsletter you'll be annoyed only arrives once a week.

Article

Does Asana Have Time Tracking? Timer, Add-on and Integrations

Yes. Asana has built-in time tracking: turn it on in a project and each task gets estimated and actual time fields, with a timer or manual entry. Asana says it comes with the Advanced plan and above, as of Nov 2026. Billable hours need a separate timesheets add-on, and Toggl, Harvest or Clockify can connect instead.

Short answer: yes, with a timer on every task

If you run client projects, you've probably asked this because you're tired of keeping hours in a separate app and copying them over on a Friday afternoon. The good news is that it's built in. Once you switch time tracking on in a project, every task gets two fields: estimated time and actual time.

You fill the actual time in one of two ways. Start the built-in timer when you begin the work and stop it when you're done, or type the hours in by hand afterwards. Both land in the same field, so you can mix them depending on how you work.

A couple of details make it more useful than it first looks. Time logged on subtasks adds up to the parent task's total, so you can break a job into pieces and still see the whole. And a chart on the project reporting dashboard compares estimated time with actual time, by assignee or by section, which is the quickest way to see where your estimates keep slipping.

Hours you log also feed the workload views, so you can see who has room this week and who's already full before you hand out the next job.

Which accounts get it, and what's extra

This is where it gets more specific. The vendor's time tracking page says built-in time tracking is part of the Advanced plan and above, as of Nov 2026. Starter teams can opt for the add-on, and Personal or Starter teams can connect a third-party tracker from the app directory instead.

Billable hours are a separate layer. The Timesheets add-on separates billable from non-billable hours and applies user rates per project, so your logged time turns into numbers you can use for client work. It's licensed per user, which means you only need seats for the people who submit timesheets, and it can be added to Starter, Advanced, Enterprise and Enterprise+.

Timesheets are submitted and approved inside the same workspace, with approvals and invoicing exports in one place. For an agency that bills by the hour, that's the part that saves the Friday copy-and-paste.

What it won't track for you

Be clear on the edges before you rely on it. According to Asana's own time tracking page, it doesn't handle attendance, payroll clock-in or automatic activity capture. It tracks time against tasks and projects, and that's it. If you need staff to clock in for a shift, or you want an app that records what's on screen without anyone pressing start, you'll need something else alongside it.

The other limit is the plan level. Built-in tracking comes with Advanced and above, Starter needs the add-on, and billable versus non-billable needs the separate timesheets add-on. So check which of those three situations you're in before you plan your reporting around it.

The workaround: plug in a dedicated tracker

If you're on a plan without the built-in fields, or you want more than project time, connect a dedicated tracker. Toggl, Harvest and Clockify all appear in the time tracking integrations directory.

  • Harvest: its browser extension adds a timer icon to every task, so you start a timer by choosing a project and task, and you can import people and projects into Harvest.
  • Toggl: positions its tracker around giving teams the time data for capacity, profitability and project planning.
  • Clockify: lists a timer, timesheet, kiosk, calendar and auto tracker among its timekeeping features, which covers the clock-in and automatic capture gap.

For a wider comparison of trackers, my guide to the best time tracking apps for small teams lines up the main options side by side. And if the time question is part of a bigger rethink, there's also a list of project tools that do a similar job.

Work with me

Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?

I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.

Getting the setup right from day one

Whichever route you take, decide on estimates first. The estimated versus actual chart is only as good as the estimates you enter, so add a rough estimate in hours to each task when you create it, even if it's only a guess. After a few projects the chart will tell you whether you tend to underestimate design work or overrun on revisions.

If you automate task creation, it's worth building estimates into the template. This walkthrough on setting up repeatable workflows shows how to bake fields into a process so nobody forgets them.

My advice for agencies and freelancers

If you're already on Advanced or above, switch time tracking on in one live project this week and use the timer for every task. You'll learn more from one month of estimated versus actual than from any spreadsheet. If you bill by the hour, add the timesheets add-on for the people who submit time. If you need clock-ins or automatic capture, pair it with Clockify and don't try to force it.

Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.

Frequently asked questions

Does Asana have a built-in timer?

Yes. Once time tracking is on in a project, you can start the built-in timer on a task or enter hours by hand.

Which Asana plans include time tracking?

Asana says built-in time tracking is part of the Advanced plan and above, as of Nov 2026, and Starter teams can opt for the add-on.

Can Asana track billable hours?

Yes, with the timesheets add-on, which separates billable from non-billable time and applies user rates per project.

Can I use Toggl, Harvest or Clockify with Asana?

Yes. All three appear in the time tracking integrations directory.

Can Asana replace a dedicated time tracker?

For project time, the vendor says it can. It doesn't cover attendance, payroll clock-in or automatic activity capture.

Published and maintained by the Lilach Bullock team, covering marketing, AI and business growth.
Your buyers are asking AI who to use. Does it say you?

See for free whether ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google name you, and get the plan to become the answer.

Check my AI visibility →
Sundays only

Get the Sunday newsletter.

One email a week. AI experiments, marketing tactics, and the workflows Lilach is building right now in her own business.

Subscribe free

Let’s get your marketing running on AI.

Book a free 30-minute call

We figure out what you need, where AI fits in, and what working together would look like.

Book the call →

Or take the 30-second calculator

You’ll see the hours and the money quietly leaking out of your week, and the three workflows worth building first.

Take the calculator →

Or grab the free AI resource library

Prompt packs, templates, checklists, and swipe files. The exact tools I build for paying clients. Yours, free.

Get the library →
Keep reading

More from the blog.