Best Time Tracking for Linear in 2026

How Time Tracking Works With Linear

Linear time tracking integrations fall into two categories: tools that embed timers inside Linear issues, and tools that track time outside Linear and sync the data over. The first requires your team to click start and stop on every session. The second captures everything automatically and maps it to the right issue.

For engineering teams, the compliance problem with manual timers is acute. Development work spans the IDE, GitHub, Slack, Zoom, documentation, and code review tools — not just Linear. A timer that lives inside Linear only captures the fraction of work that happens while looking at Linear. Research by Gloria Mark at UC Irvine found it takes an average of 23 minutes to regain full focus after a context switch — meaning even a brief distraction mid-session can lead to a missed timer, and that time disappears from your records.

Rize — Automatic Tracking With Native Linear Integration

Rize is an automatic time tracker that captures every work session without manual timers, then syncs that data to Linear issues via a native Linear integration. A developer writes code in their IDE, reviews a PR on GitHub, discusses context on Slack, then opens a Linear issue — Rize logs all four activities and maps them to the right issue automatically. No timer starts, no session misses.

The Rize–Linear integration was built for engineering workflows where work happens across a wide surface area. AI categorization uses window titles, URLs, and app context to assign time to the correct Linear project — even when the developer never opened Linear during that session. Engineering teams using Rize report that their sprint hour estimates improve significantly once they can compare estimated vs actual time — the kind of feedback loop that manual timers never produce accurately.

Everhour — Best Embedded Timer for Linear

Everhour embeds a timer button inside Linear issues. Open an issue, click start, work, click stop — time attaches to that issue immediately. Everhour's reporting pulls Linear's project structure, so you can see time by team, project, or issue type across your whole engineering org.

For agencies billing clients for engineering work, Everhour adds budget tracking and invoice generation that Linear lacks. You can set hour budgets per project and get alerts when you're close. The limit: if a developer forgets to start the timer when switching issues, those minutes aren't there.

Toggl Track — Flexible Timer With Linear Sync

Toggl Track's native Linear integration lets you start timers from within Linear and sync time entries to issues. Toggl runs on desktop, mobile, and browser — useful for distributed teams where developers work across devices and time zones.

Toggl's reporting is strong for a manual tool, with filtering by project, team member, and client. The free tier supports unlimited tracking for solo developers. For larger teams, the manual model means some sessions go unlogged every week — especially shorter tasks like code review and Slack-based unblocking that don't warrant starting a timer.

Clockify — Free Tier With Browser Extension

Clockify offers unlimited tracking on its free tier, which makes it a popular choice for teams starting out. The Linear connection works via a browser extension that adds a timer button to Linear issues — similar to Everhour, but without the reporting depth or budget features.

Clockify's paid tiers start at $4.99/user/month and add scheduling, audit logs, and GPS tracking. For teams that primarily want free time tracking alongside Linear and have consistent manual habits, Clockify covers the basics without a subscription cost.

Linear Native — Estimates, Not Time Tracking

Linear includes issue estimates — point-based or hour-based — that let teams forecast sprint capacity. But these are estimates, not actual time records. Linear doesn't have a timer, a tracking dashboard, or any way to capture time as it's happening. For teams that only need rough capacity planning, the estimate field is fine. For billing or reporting actual hours, it's not sufficient.

Timely — Semi-Automatic With Timeline Review

Timely captures all application activity automatically, like Rize, but requires a manual review step before time is assigned to Linear projects. You see a timeline of your day and drag sessions to issues to confirm them. For teams that want control over the final log before it hits Linear, this workflow works well.

The review requirement is also the friction point — someone on the team needs to log in daily and confirm entries. At $11/user/month, Timely is more expensive than Clockify with more friction than Rize. It suits teams that want automatic capture but aren't comfortable with fully automated categorization.

Why Engineering Teams Need Automatic Linear Time Tracking

Engineering work is the hardest to track manually because it's the most fragmented. A single feature involves code, review, testing, documentation, and cross-functional communication — spread across six or more tools. A timer that requires a manual start at the beginning of each session misses most of that surface area.

Automatic capture solves this by tracking at the app level rather than the session level. Rize's automatic time tracking captures IDE time, GitHub review time, Slack discussion time, and Linear planning time — all mapped to the right project — without any action from the developer. The result is time data in Linear that reflects what actually happened, not an approximation.

Which Tool Is Right for Your Linear Team?

If you want timers embedded inside Linear issues, Everhour is the strongest choice — tight integration, budget tracking, and team reporting. If you need a free tier to start, Clockify handles the basics without a subscription. If you want semi-automatic capture with a review step, Timely is worth evaluating.

If you want accurate time data in Linear without relying on anyone remembering to click buttons, Rize is the right fit. The Rize–Linear integration and automatic capture mean your Linear issues reflect actual engineering hours. For a broader comparison of time tracking tools, see the Rize comparisons page.