Build your own time tracking or better buy and customize?
You have specific project structures, your own processes and workflows. You have tried several tools but none really reflects your reality. Then the idea “we will just build our own time tracking” often feels like the logical next step.
Building your own time tracking software means developing and maintaining the data model, user interface, permissions, reports and operations yourself. The alternative is a customizable standard product: time cockpit can be adapted down to the data model, customizations live as code, and the vendor takes care of operations, updates and security.
Is it worth building your own time tracking software?
A realistic look at effort, risks and alternatives.
Many companies face the same challenge. They need a time tracking system that fits their projects, roles, billing models and processes perfectly. Standard tools seem rigid, pricing models and modules are hard to evaluate and the conclusion becomes:
“Our requirements are so specific that we need to build our own time tracking.”
Developing your own solution may seem obvious but often leads to high ongoing costs, complex maintenance and long-term dependence on the internal development team. This is exactly where a customizable standard solution such as time cockpit comes in.
Build your own time tracking or use a customizable standard solution?
A direct comparison
| Build your own time tracking | Customizable standard solution (for example time cockpit) | |
|---|---|---|
| Customization | Advantage: Full control over features and future development | Advantage: Customizable data model, validations, business logic, additional features when needed |
| Initial effort | Disadvantage: High effort for planning, architecture and implementation | Advantage: Core time tracking features usable immediately |
| Feature set | Disadvantage: Small at the beginning, grows only slowly | Advantage: Comprehensive feature set already in the standard product |
| Maintenance & security | Disadvantage: Maintenance, security updates and legal changes are your own responsibility | Advantage: Updates, security and legal adjustments included |
| Interfaces & know-how | Disadvantage: Dependent on the knowledge of individual developers | Advantage: Open interfaces, Web API and internal customization |
| Support | Disadvantage: Time tracking is not the company’s core competence | Advantage: Personal consulting and support |
| Total cost of ownership | Disadvantage: Hidden total effort throughout the lifecycle | Advantage: Predictable costs |
In-house development vs. customizable standard product
In-house development offers high flexibility but also significant burden
Companies that build their own time tracking system take responsibility for:
- planning, implementation and continuous development
- security, updates and compliance with legal requirements
- framework upgrades and system operations
- support for new working time models
- error analysis and long-term maintenance
The result is often a system that works but brings substantial risks. Know-how depends on specific individuals, enhancements take longer than anticipated and the system quickly reaches its technical limits.
Included out of the box and ready to use
time cockpit gives you a professional foundation:
- project and activity time tracking
- working time tracking including breaks, time models and overtime
- absence management
- budget and utilization overviews
- activity tracking
- roles and permissions system
- secure cloud operation in the EU
This foundation covers typical requirements without any development effort.
Customize instead of starting from scratch
Where you have special needs, time cockpit can be extended:
- custom data model and user interface
- additional fields and entities
- individual logic and validations
- automation and workflows
- integrations via the Web API
- custom reports and dashboards
This allows the system to reflect your processes precisely with the flexibility of in-house development but without its downsides.
No vendor lock in. Extend it yourself and stay independent
Many companies fear dependency on software vendors. time cockpit is intentionally designed to be open.
- customizations can be implemented internally or by partners
- the data model is fully extensible
- all data is available through open interfaces
- you decide how deep you want to integrate or extend
This keeps you in control without the burden of building a full product yourself.
When a customizable standard solution is the better choice
A solution such as time cockpit is ideal for companies that:
- need to support complex or individual processes
- want a stable and maintainable platform
- seek flexibility without building their own product
- do not see time tracking as part of their core business
- still need professional and reliable functionality
Start fast, stay flexible and reduce long-term effort
Building a complete time tracking solution yourself may sound like the ultimate freedom. In practice it leads to high costs and constant maintenance work.
A customizable standard solution provides:
- immediately usable features
- high extensibility
- long-term future readiness
- low internal development effort
- full control over data and processes
You get a system that works today and grows with your needs tomorrow.
time cockpit at a Glance
- Product
- time cockpit, project and employee time tracking as software-as-a-service
- Vendor
- software architects gmbh, Leonding (Austria), time cockpit since 2010
- Hosting
- Microsoft Azure, data centers in the EU (Amsterdam and Dublin), dedicated database per customer, 35-day point-in-time recovery
- Price
- €10.85 per user per month; Freelancer plan free in the first year; Starter €29.90 in the first year for up to 10 users
- Trial
- 30 days free, no credit card, cancel any day afterwards
- Master data
- Unlimited clients, projects, tasks and invoices
- Platforms
- Browser on PC, Mac, Android and iOS; automatic time tracking with sidekick for Windows and macOS (early preview)
- Integrations
- Web API (REST, OData, TCQL) with personal access tokens, MCP server for AI assistants, Excel import and export, Office 365 appointments in the calendar
- Single sign-on
- Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD)
FAQ: Building Your Own Time Tracking Software
What does it cost to build your own time tracking software?
The initial development is only the beginning. Add operations, security updates, permissions, reports, a mobile interface, legal changes such as new working time rules, and the developer time that is not spent on customer projects. time cockpit costs €10.85 per user per month and covers all of that.
When is building your own worth it?
When time tracking itself is the core business, or when there are requirements no customizable product can meet. For service companies that track time to bill and control projects, that is rarely the case.
How far can time cockpit be customized instead of building from scratch?
Down to the data model: custom fields and tables, forms, lists, permissions, reports and business logic in IronPython. Customizations live as code and can be versioned and moved between sandbox and production.
Do I still get updates with a customized standard product?
Yes. Customizations extend the standard, they do not replace it. New features and security updates of time cockpit apply to customized installations as well.
Does time cockpit fit your process, from time tracking to invoicing?
In 30 minutes you will know whether time cockpit covers your project hours, project controlling and invoicing.
- What we cover
- You tell us how you track and bill time today. We show you live how that works in time cockpit and what switching involves.
- Who you talk to
- Someone from the team that builds time cockpit and rolls it out for customers, for example Alexander or Michael.
- How
- 30 minutes online via Microsoft Teams, free and without obligation.
You pick a free slot in Microsoft Bookings (opens in a new tab) and receive the confirmation with the Teams link by email. Prefer to write? support@timecockpit.com