Kimai vs TimeTagger: Self-Hosted Time Tracking

Quick Verdict

Kimai is the better choice for teams and freelancers who need invoicing, project management, and client billing. TimeTagger is the better choice for individuals who want fast, flexible time tracking with a beautiful timeline interface and minimal resource usage.

Updated February 2026: Verified with latest Docker images and configurations.

Overview

Kimai is a full-featured time tracking application written in PHP (Symfony framework). It supports multiple users with role-based permissions, project and activity hierarchies, invoicing, and extensive reporting. It requires MariaDB and uses 200-400 MB RAM.

TimeTagger is a lightweight time tracker written in Python (async stack). It uses tag-based tracking instead of project hierarchies, runs on embedded SQLite, and uses under 100 MB RAM. It’s designed for simplicity — no invoicing, no team management, just time tracking.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Kimai	TimeTagger
Architecture	PHP (Symfony)	Python (async)
Database	MariaDB (required)	SQLite (embedded)
Docker image	kimai/kimai2:apache	ghcr.io/almarklein/timetagger
Multi-user	Yes, with roles and permissions	Yes, isolated per user
Time entry model	Projects → Activities → Entries	Tags → Entries
Timer	Start/stop + manual entry	Start/stop + timeline drag
Timeline view	Calendar view	Interactive drag-and-drop timeline
Invoicing	Built-in	No
Client management	Yes	No
Project management	Yes (hierarchical)	No (tags only)
Reporting	Advanced (filterable, exportable)	Basic (PDF, CSV export)
API	Full REST API	REST API
Targets/goals	Budget tracking	Daily/weekly targets
Pomodoro timer	No	Experimental
Browser extension	Chrome (community)	No
Mobile app	Responsive web	Responsive web
RAM usage	200-400 MB	50-100 MB
License	MIT	GPL-3.0

Installation Complexity

Kimai requires a Docker Compose setup with the Kimai container plus MariaDB. Initial setup includes a database migration step and creating the admin user. The setup is straightforward but has more moving parts.

TimeTagger is a single container with no database dependency. Set one environment variable for credentials and start. It’s one of the simplest self-hosted apps to deploy.

Winner: TimeTagger — significantly simpler. Single container, no database, no migration steps.

Performance and Resource Usage

Metric	Kimai	TimeTagger
RAM (idle)	200-400 MB	50-100 MB
RAM (under load)	400-600 MB	100-150 MB
Disk (application)	~500 MB	~50 MB
Disk (per user)	~10 MB	~10 MB
Startup time	10-15 seconds	2-3 seconds
Container count	2 (app + database)	1

TimeTagger uses 4x less RAM and starts instantly. On a Raspberry Pi or a VPS shared with other services, this difference matters.

Community and Support

Kimai has a larger community with over 3,000 GitHub stars, an active forum, regular releases, and a commercial cloud-hosted option. Its documentation covers every feature in detail.

TimeTagger has a smaller but focused community (~1,000 GitHub stars). Development is driven primarily by a single maintainer. Documentation is adequate but less comprehensive.

Metric	Kimai	TimeTagger
GitHub stars	~3,500	~1,000
Release frequency	Monthly	Quarterly
Documentation	Comprehensive	Adequate
Community forum	Active (GitHub Discussions)	GitHub Issues
Plugins/extensions	100+ (paid and free)	None

Use Cases

Choose Kimai If…

• You bill clients for time worked and need invoicing
• You manage a team and need role-based access
• You organize work into projects and activities
• You need detailed, filterable reports
• You want plugin extensibility (vacation tracking, expense management, etc.)

Choose TimeTagger If…

• You track time for personal productivity
• You prefer tags over rigid project hierarchies
• You want the lightest possible deployment
• You value the visual timeline interface
• You run on a resource-constrained server (Raspberry Pi, small VPS)

Final Verdict

These tools solve different problems. Kimai is a business tool — it’s what you deploy when time tracking feeds into invoicing, project budgets, and team management. TimeTagger is a personal productivity tool — it’s what you deploy when you want to understand where your time goes without the overhead of project management.

For freelancers who invoice clients: Kimai. For developers, writers, or anyone tracking personal time: TimeTagger. For teams that just need basic time logging without invoicing, Traggo is worth considering as an even simpler alternative.

Related

• How to Self-Host Kimai
• How to Self-Host TimeTagger
• How to Self-Host Traggo
• Best Self-Hosted Time Tracking Tools
• Self-Hosted Alternatives to Toggl
• Self-Hosted Alternatives to Clockify
• Kimai vs Traggo