drifty vs Timeglass: Which is Better in 2026?
A comprehensive comparison of drifty and Timeglass covering features, pricing, use cases, and which tool is the right choice for your needs.
⚡ Quick Verdict
Choose drifty if:
- →You want more affordable paid plans (from $5/mo)
- →You need automatic three-minute-block capture, no timers or ai classification into focus, neutral and drift
Choose Timeglass if:
- →You need timesheets built from real work signals — no timers or manual entry or automatic client, project and task attribution
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drifty vs Timeglass: At a Glance
Pricing Comparison: drifty vs Timeglass
Understanding the pricing differences between drifty and Timeglass is crucial for making the right choice. Here's how their plans compare side by side.
Timeglass Pricing
💡 Pricing takeaway: Both drifty and Timeglass offer free tiers, making it easy to try before you buy. Compare the specific plans to find the best value for your use case.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Here's how every feature from drifty and Timeglass stacks up.
What Makes Each Tool Unique
🔵 Unique to drifty
Features available in drifty but not in Timeglass:
- ✓Automatic three-minute-block capture, no timers
- ✓AI classification into Focus, Neutral and Drift
- ✓Cloud, BYOK or fully local model routes
- ✓No screen recording or saved screenshots
- ✓Timeline view with context switches marked
- ✓English and Korean interface
🟣 Unique to Timeglass
Features available in Timeglass but not in drifty:
- ✓Timesheets built from real work signals — no timers or manual entry
- ✓Automatic client, project and task attribution
- ✓Review-and-release workflow before anything is billed
- ✓Claude and ChatGPT access to your time data over MCP
- ✓Exports and alerts for downstream billing systems
- ✓SSO, SAML, SCIM and audit logs on enterprise
Use Case Recommendations
Best for: drifty
drifty is a context-aware AI time tracker for Mac that answers where the workday actually went without asking you to start a timer or clean up tags afterwards. It records the active app, site, session and window title in three-minute blocks in the background, then uses fast model routes to classify each block as Focus, Neutral or Drift based on what you were doing inside an app rather than merely which app was open — the distinction that makes app-level tracking useless when both real work and distraction happen in a browser. The privacy design is the notable part. There is no screen recording and no saved screenshots; raw history stays on the Mac and only minimal label hints are sent for classification, and you choose where that classification runs. drifty Cloud is managed with no setup at $5 a month; bring-your-own-key routes through your own OpenRouter account at an estimated $4–6 a month depending on usage; or run a local model on the Mac for nothing at all, at a cost of roughly 5–7GB of RAM. The models behind the cloud and BYOK routes are Gemini Flash, DeepSeek V4 Flash and Qwen 3.6 27B. The interface is available in English and Korean, with use-case guides for developers, freelancers and students.
Ideal use cases:
- •Teams or individuals who need automatic three-minute-block capture, no timers
- •Teams or individuals who need ai classification into focus, neutral and drift
- •Teams or individuals who need cloud, byok or fully local model routes
- •Teams or individuals who need no screen recording or saved screenshots
- •Anyone focused on time-tracking workflows
- •Anyone focused on macos workflows
Best for: Timeglass
Timeglass writes timesheets from the work you already did. Instead of a timer you have to remember to start or a Friday-afternoon reconstruction of the week, it reads the ambient signals across your tools — a spreadsheet edit, a Zoom call, a client email in Gmail, a Teams channel message, a revised estimate — and stitches them into billable blocks attributed to the right client, project and task. The insight it is built on is that no single signal tells the story but the combination does: a 24-minute window containing a TPS report edit, a 32-minute client sync and a follow-up email is legibly one piece of client work, and that is what goes on the timesheet. There is a review-and-release workflow so nothing is billed without a human approving it, which is the necessary counterweight to automatic attribution, plus exports and alerts and an MCP connection so Claude and ChatGPT can query your time data directly. It is priced simply for the category — $20 per seat per month or $180 per seat annually, with a 14-day free trial — and the enterprise tier adds SSO, SAML, SCIM, audit logs and roles. The obvious tradeoff is surveillance surface: a tool that reads your calendar, email, chat and file activity to infer billable time is reading a great deal, and that is a policy conversation before it is a product decision.
Ideal use cases:
- •Teams or individuals who need timesheets built from real work signals — no timers or manual entry
- •Teams or individuals who need automatic client, project and task attribution
- •Teams or individuals who need review-and-release workflow before anything is billed
- •Teams or individuals who need claude and chatgpt access to your time data over mcp
- •Anyone focused on time-tracking workflows
- •Anyone focused on timesheets workflows
⚡ Other Productivity Tools to Consider
drifty and Timeglass aren't the only options. Here are other popular tools in the same space:
Otter.ai
AI meeting transcription and automated notes
Mem
Self-organizing AI notes and knowledge base
Taskade
AI workspace for tasks, notes, and collaboration
Reclaim AI
AI calendar that auto-schedules tasks and focus time
Motion
AI project manager that auto-plans your day
Reflect
Fast, encrypted notes with AI and backlinks
Is one of these your tool?
This page ranks for "drifty vs Timeglass" — buyers comparing the two land here, and ChatGPT and Perplexity cite it. Claim your listing for $19 one-time — no subscription, nothing to cancel — and get a Featured badge, top placement in your category, and a permanent dofollow backlink. Prefer it ongoing? Monthly is one click away on the next page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is drifty better than Timeglass?
It depends on your needs. drifty offers 6 key features including Automatic three-minute-block capture, no timers and AI classification into Focus, Neutral and Drift, while Timeglass provides 6 features including Timesheets built from real work signals — no timers or manual entry and Automatic client, project and task attribution. drifty uses a freemium model with a free tier, while Timeglass is paid with free access available. Choose based on which features and pricing model align with your requirements.
Is drifty cheaper than Timeglass?
drifty is cheaper, starting at $5/month compared to Timeglass's $180/year. Both tools offer free tiers, so you can try each before committing. Always check the official websites for the most current pricing.
Can I use drifty and Timeglass together?
Yes, many users combine drifty and Timeglass in their workflow. drifty excels at automatic three-minute-block capture, no timers, while Timeglass shines with timesheets built from real work signals — no timers or manual entry. Using both allows you to leverage the strengths of each tool, though this means managing two subscriptions — though free tiers can help manage costs.
What's the main difference between drifty and Timeglass?
While both are productivity tools, drifty emphasizes automatic three-minute-block capture, no timers, whereas Timeglass is known for timesheets built from real work signals — no timers or manual entry. The best choice depends on your specific workflow and feature priorities.
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