Our Verdict
Paymo is what Teamwork looks like at a lower price point for smaller teams. Time tracking connects directly to task management and invoicing – track time on a task, and that time populates the client invoice automatically. Paymo’s free plan is genuinely functional for solo freelancers: one user, unlimited clients, five projects, time tracking, and invoicing. Paid plans are priced significantly below Teamwork while covering most of the same agency workflow. For freelancers and small agencies where billable hours are the business model, Paymo earns serious consideration.
Who Paymo Is Best For
- Freelancers billing clients by the hour who need time tracking that flows directly into professional invoices without manual reconciliation
- Small agencies between 2 and 25 people running multiple client projects who need billable hour visibility across their entire team
- Teams currently evaluating Teamwork or ClickUp who want comparable project management depth at a meaningfully lower per-user price point
- Service businesses that need Gantt charts, time tracking, and client invoicing consolidated into one tool without paying enterprise-tier pricing
Who Should Look Elsewhere
- Internal teams without client billing - ClickUp or Asana are better for pure project management
- Larger agencies with complex resource planning - Teamwork's Business plan goes deeper
- Non-billable software development teams - Jira or Linear are better for sprint-based work
- Businesses that need CRM alongside project management - Insightly or HubSpot cover that
Features Breakdown
Task & Project Management
Paymo organizes work into projects containing task lists and tasks. Tasks have time estimates, due dates, assignees, and subtasks. Views include list, Kanban board, Gantt chart, and calendar. The Gantt chart shows project timelines and dependencies. Bulk task import and project templates accelerate setup for recurring project types. The task management layer is genuinely functional – not just a wrapper around the time tracking.
Time Tracking
Paymo’s time tracker starts from any task with a single click. Time is logged against the specific task and project – not just the client. The desktop app and browser extension allow tracking outside the web interface. Manual time entry allows logging hours retroactively. Timesheets show total hours per person, project, and client for any period. The granular task-level tracking gives clients accurate detail on where their budget was spent.
Invoicing
Paymo invoices are generated from tracked time – a filter selects all uninvoiced time for a client in a period, and an invoice is created pre-populated with those hours. Invoices are branded, customizable, and sent directly from Paymo. Payment via Stripe and PayPal is accepted directly from invoice links. Partial payments and expense billing are supported. The invoice-from-time workflow eliminates the manual calculation most agencies do in spreadsheets.
Reporting
Paymo’s reports cover time tracked per project, client profitability, team utilization, and budget burn rate. Project profitability compares tracked hours against the project budget in real time – so you know before the project is over whether you’re over or under. Resource reports show workload distribution across the team. Reports export to PDF, Excel, or CSV for client delivery or internal review.
Paymo Pricing (Verified June 2026)
Prices verified June 2026. Always confirm on the vendor's site before purchasing.
| Plan | Type | Starting Price | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Freelancer | $0 | 1 user, unlimited clients, 5 projects, time tracking, invoicing |
| Starter | Small Team | $5.90/user/mo | Unlimited projects, task management, Gantt charts, invoicing, reporting |
| Small Office | Growing Agency | $10.90/user/mo | Kanban board, project templates, portfolio management, advanced reports |
| Business | Full Platform | $16.90/user/mo | Workload management, resource planning, priority support, custom onboarding |
What We Like
- Free plan for solo freelancers with unlimited clients and invoicing
- Starter plan at $5.90/user/mo is one of the lowest prices for full project + time + invoicing
- Time tracking connects directly to task management - track at the task level, not project level
- Invoice creation from tracked time - billable hours to client invoice in one click
- Gantt charts and Kanban boards on all paid plans
- 20% recurring affiliate commission
Watch Out For
- Less well-known than ClickUp or Asana - smaller community and fewer integrations
- Resource planning requires Business plan ($16.90/user/mo)
- Integration ecosystem smaller than major PM platforms
- Mobile app experience lags behind desktop
- Customer support response times can be slower than US-based vendors
Frequently Asked Questions
Before You Buy — Know This
- Paymo's free plan allows 1 user with 5 projects. For freelancers starting out, this covers the essential workflow - track time, create invoices, manage tasks. Upgrade when you exceed the project limit.
- Annual billing is significantly cheaper than monthly. The prices above reflect annual billing. Monthly billing is available but costs more.
- The time-to-invoice workflow is Paymo's strongest feature. During the trial, run a complete workflow: create a task, log time against it, and generate an invoice from those hours. That test determines whether Paymo fits your billing process.
- Paymo's 20% recurring affiliate commission on a $10.90/user/mo plan generates meaningful recurring income for agencies with multiple team members - commission scales with team size.