Monotime vs a notebook

Writing an hour down is the easy part. The month-end is the work — adding it all up, multiplying by each client’s rate, leafing back to see who paid. Monotime does that as you go, so the month ends with the numbers already there.

	a notebook	Monotime
price	A few euros, once.	From €10 a month, after 14 days free. No card to try it.
logging time	Pen, page, done. Nothing to open, nothing to charge.	One line: a duration, or a range like 9-12. Or a timer, or a Google Calendar event that turns into an entry.
adding up	A calculator at the end of the month.	Hours and earnings per week, month, client and project — added up as you log.
what it earned	Hours times the rate, by hand, with each client’s rate in your head.	Worked out on every entry from the project’s rate, the client’s or your default.
who’s paid	A tick in the margin, if you remember it.	Not paid, invoiced, paid — and how many days late, counted from each client’s payment terms.
invoicing	Copy the lines out by hand.	What to bill a client for a period — the lines and the total, ready to copy into your invoice.
where it is	Wherever you left the notebook.	In the browser on any device — and on your phone’s home screen, if you add it.
your data	One spilled coffee from gone.	Kept online, and yours to export to CSV whenever you like.

The sums you’d do at the end of the month.

What the week and the month earned, and how much of the month is paid, invoiced or still open — added up while you log.

One client, a few hours a month? Keep the notebook.

Paper is quicker than any app, and a short list adds up in your head. Once there are rates, clients and invoices in it, it stops adding up.

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