Top time tracking software that integrates with Asana

Short answer

Asana tracks tasks, not time. Its native time tracking (Advanced tier and up) logs estimated vs. actual hours on a task, but it doesn't invoice, doesn't run on Mac, and doesn't do anything with the hours once they're logged. If you want the loop closed — timer to margin to invoice to paid — you pair Asana with a dedicated time tracker that reads your assigned tasks, like Ayron, Harvest, Toggl Track, Clockify, or Timely.

Asana is where your tasks live. The question is: what tracks the time you spend on them? Asana added native time tracking to its Advanced tier in 2024 — estimated and actual time fields, a start/stop timer, and dashboard reporting. But it stops at hours logged. No invoicing, no AI weekly summaries, no Mac-native menu bar timer, and it requires the Advanced tier at $24.99/user/mo.

If you need the loop to close — timer to margin to invoice to paid — you need a dedicated time tracker that reads from Asana. This is a list of the five that do it well, who each one fits, and where each one falls short. Prices are annual-billing from each vendor's official pricing page, checked 2026-06-22.

TL;DR — Quick comparison

Below: what each tool does well with Asana, where it falls short, and who it's for.

1. Ayron — first-party Asana integration with the full billing loop

Starts at: Free; Pro $9/mo (annual); Team $12/user/mo.

Ayron is a native macOS time tracker with iPhone and iPad support. The Asana integration is first-party and OAuth-based — connect your Asana account, and your assigned tasks appear inside Ayron's menu bar timer picker. No browser tab, no copy-paste, no separate sync tool.

What it does well with Asana: The integration is read-first — Ayron pulls your tasks and projects but doesn't push status changes back into Asana. That's a deliberate design choice to keep Asana as the system of record for what's done and Ayron as the system of record for how long it took. Project mapping lets workspace admins link Ayron projects to specific Asana projects so the timer picker prioritizes the right tasks. The voice timer resolves Asana task names hands-free on iPhone — "start 30 minutes on the onboarding flow."

Where the loop closes: Tracked hours from Asana tasks flow through to AI weekly reports, estimate-vs-actual margin tracking, and branded invoices with Stripe payment links. The tracking is the on-ramp; the billing and analysis are the destination. One app, no handoffs. If you want the full setup walkthrough, see how to set up time tracking in Asana and the docs for connecting your Asana account.

Best fit: Apple-first freelancers and small teams who use Asana for task management and want the full timer-to-invoice loop in one Mac-native app.

Trade-off to know: Ayron is Apple-only. If your team includes Windows or Android users, a web-first tool like Harvest or Toggl Track is more practical.

What switching between Asana tasks actually looks like

Say you're a freelance ops consultant with three active Asana projects open at once — a website audit, a client's quarterly report, and an onboarding deck due Friday. In a browser-only setup, moving between them means three open tabs, three separate "did I start the timer?" checks, and a decent chance one of them just doesn't get logged.

With the Asana tasks pulled into Ayron's timer picker, the sequence looks more like this: 40 minutes on the audit, tracked against the actual Asana task; a Slack question interrupts, so you hit ⌘K, search "onboarding," and start a fresh timer against that task instead; 15 minutes later you're back on the audit, and the picker still has it near the top because that's the project you mapped as active this week. Nothing gets typed into a spreadsheet after the fact — the task names, project names, and time entries are the same ones sitting in Asana, just with hours attached.

That's the practical benefit of a first-party integration over a browser extension or marketplace add-on: the switching cost between tasks is a keystroke, not a tab change.

2. Harvest — the established timer-plus-invoice with Asana sync

Starts at: Free; Teams $9/seat/mo (annual); Enterprise $14/seat/mo.

Harvest has been the default "timer plus invoice" answer for over a decade. Its Asana integration runs through the Asana marketplace — you connect Harvest to your Asana workspace, and tracked time can be associated with Asana tasks. The invoicing side covers Stripe, PayPal, QuickBooks Online, and Xero — one of the cleanest published payment stories in the segment.

What it does well with Asana: Battle-tested, familiar, and if a finance workflow downstream depends on Harvest's invoice exports, the integration is proven. Time tracked in Harvest can be tagged to Asana tasks and projects.

Where it falls short: Web-first — the timer lives in a browser tab, not the Mac menu bar. Profitability reporting sits in the higher-tier plan. The only published AI evidence is a support chatbot, not an AI workflow feature. The Asana integration is a marketplace add-on, not a first-party OAuth connection — meaning the task-to-timer flow requires navigating between tools rather than having Asana tasks appear natively in the timer.

Best fit: Teams already standardized on Harvest, especially if a finance workflow depends on its payment integrations.

3. Toggl Track — reporting depth with an Asana browser extension

Starts at: Free; Starter $9/user/mo (annual); Premium $18/user/mo (annual).

Toggl Track has one of the strongest published stories on billable rates, labor costs, forecasts, fixed-fee projects, estimates, and profitability reports. Its Asana integration works through a browser extension — when you're viewing a task in Asana, the Toggl Track button appears and you can start a timer against that task.

What it does well with Asana: If project profitability math is the thing you care about most, Toggl Track Premium goes deeper than most tools in the segment. The browser extension integration is lightweight and unobtrusive.

Where it falls short: Web-first. The browser extension only works in the browser — no menu bar timer, no keyboard shortcut outside the browser. AI packaging isn't called out on its official pricing or product pages. Payment collection is lighter than Harvest's. For a closer look at how Toggl Track compares outside of Asana specifically, see Ayron vs. Toggl Track alternatives.

Best fit: Teams that already know they care about project profitability reporting and are willing to pay Premium for it.

4. Clockify — budget-friendly Asana integration for larger teams

Starts at: Free (up to 5 users); paid tiers from $3.99/user/mo to $11.99/user/mo (annual).

Clockify is the most affordable option on this list, with broad feature coverage including approvals, scheduling, GPS, kiosk, and admin controls. Its Asana integration is available even on the free tier — you can connect Clockify to Asana and track time against tasks without paying.

What it does well with Asana: Raw price per seat across a larger team. Free tier that actually works for small teams. The Asana integration is straightforward — connect, select a task, start tracking.

Where it falls short: More complex packaging than most freelancers need. Several billing and profit features are gated behind Pro and higher tiers. Not Mac-native — the timer lives in a browser or a wrapped desktop app. No published AI workflow for time tracking or reporting.

Best fit: Larger teams who treat time tracking as a workforce tool and for whom price per seat is the primary constraint.

5. Timely — automatic tracking with Asana integration

Starts at: ~$11–16/user/mo (annual, varies by plan).

Timely's differentiator is automatic tracking — it captures which apps, documents, and websites were foreground, then you categorize the activity. Its Asana integration lets you assign tracked time to Asana projects and tasks after the fact.

What it does well with Asana: If "I'll just remember to start the timer" has never worked for you, Timely's automatic capture is the answer. The AI summaries are genuinely useful — they read your tracked activity and produce a weekly summary you can edit.

Where it falls short: No first-party invoicing — time has to go somewhere else to become money. More expensive than the other options on this list. Web-first with desktop apps, not Mac-native. The Asana integration is retroactive (assign tracked time to Asana tasks) rather than proactive (pull Asana tasks into the timer).

Best fit: Teams who want minimum-friction automatic tracking and are comfortable using a separate tool for invoicing.

How to choose

• You want one Apple-native app that closes the loop — timer to invoice to paid: Ayron.
• You're already on Harvest and it works: stay; the Asana integration is proven.
• Project profitability math is the thing you care about most: Toggl Track Premium.
• Price per seat across a larger team is the deciding factor: Clockify.
• You want automatic tracking and don't mind a separate invoicing tool: Timely.

What Asana's native time tracking does and doesn't cover

For context: Asana's built-in time tracking, available on the Advanced tier ($24.99/user/mo annual) and above, includes estimated and actual time fields on tasks, a start/stop timer, and dashboard reporting. It's a real feature — but it stops at hours logged. There's no invoicing, no AI weekly summaries from tracked time, no Mac-native menu bar timer, and the tier it lives on costs more than Ayron Pro ($9/mo). On the free and Starter tiers, native time tracking isn't available at all — you need a third-party integration or a dedicated tool.

If you're on Asana Advanced and only need hours logged for internal reporting, the native tracking may be sufficient. If you need the full loop — invoicing, AI insights, profitability margins — a dedicated tool like Ayron is the complement, not the replacement. For the full feature-by-feature breakdown, see Asana time tracking vs Ayron.

Common mistakes when tracking time against Asana tasks

• Treating the estimated-time field as a timer. Asana's estimated hours are a projection you set before the work starts — they're not tracked time, and mixing the two up makes your "actual vs. estimate" numbers meaningless.
• Logging time in an Asana comment. It reads fine to a human but doesn't roll up to a project total, doesn't feed a report, and can't turn into an invoice line.
• Skipping project mapping in your integration. If you don't tell your time tracker which Asana projects matter, the timer picker fills up with every task across every workspace you belong to — including ones you're not actively billing against.
• Assuming subtask time rolls up automatically everywhere. Asana's own dashboard rolls subtask time up to the parent task. Not every third-party tool does this the same way, so check before you rely on a parent-task total.
• Not separating billable from non-billable Asana tasks before invoicing. Internal admin tasks and client work often live in the same Asana project — if your tracker doesn't tag them differently, that distinction has to happen manually before you send an invoice.

FAQ

Does Asana have native time tracking?

Yes — on its Advanced tier ($24.99/user/mo annual) and above. It includes estimated and actual time fields, a start/stop timer, and dashboard reporting. But it doesn't include invoicing, AI weekly summaries, or a Mac-native menu bar timer. On the free and Starter tiers, time tracking requires a third-party integration.

Which time tracking tool has the best Asana integration?

Ayron is the only tool on this list with a first-party OAuth integration that pulls your assigned Asana tasks directly into a Mac-native menu bar timer — no browser tab, no copy-paste. Harvest, Toggl Track, Clockify, and Timely all connect to Asana through marketplace integrations or browser extensions, which work but require navigating between tools.

Can I track time on Asana tasks for free?

Yes. Ayron's free plan includes Asana integration (1 user, 3 clients, 5 projects, 200 entries/month). Clockify's free tier (up to 5 users) also includes the Asana integration. Both let you try the workflow before paying.

Can I turn Asana-tracked hours into invoices?

Ayron and Harvest both include first-party invoicing with payment collection. Ayron generates branded PDFs with Stripe payment links; Harvest covers Stripe, PayPal, QuickBooks Online, and Xero. Toggl Track has lighter invoicing; Clockify's invoicing is tier-gated; Timely doesn't invoice. See the free invoice generator for a no-signup tool that produces a standalone PDF.

Do I need to be on Asana Advanced to use a time tracking integration?

No. The third-party tools on this list connect to Asana via OAuth or API, which works on any Asana tier — including the free Personal plan. Ayron's integration connects to your Asana account regardless of which Asana tier you're on. The scopes Ayron requests are read-only and plan-agnostic.

Which tools work on Mac?

Ayron is the only Mac-native option on this list — the timer lives in the menu bar with a ⌘K command palette, and the iPhone/iPad app includes voice timer support. Harvest, Toggl Track, Clockify, and Timely are all web-first with browser-based or wrapped-desktop timers. If you work primarily on a Mac, a Mac-native time tracker has lower daily friction than a browser tab.

Sources for competitor claims: official pricing and product pages for each tool listed, checked 2026-06-22. Asana time tracking details from Asana's official pricing page and Help Center, checked 2026-06-22. Ayron details are based on its public landing page and should be treated as marketing claims rather than independent product verification.

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