Kimai vs Solidtime
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted time tracking options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Kimai
Professional time tracking for teams and freelancers
VS
Solidtime
Modern open-source time tracker for teams
| Feature | Kimai | Solidtime |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 90 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Time Tracking | Time Tracking |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,039 | ★ 8,929 |
| First released | 2006 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Toggl, Harvest, Clockify | Toggl, Clockify, Harvest |
What are Kimai and Solidtime?
Kimai
Kimai is a free, web-based multi-user time tracking application. It tracks work time across projects and activities and generates invoices and exportable reports.
- Multi-user time tracking
- Invoice generation
- Detailed reporting and exports
- Plugin marketplace
Solidtime
Solidtime is a modern, open-source time tracking application built for freelancers and agencies. It supports projects, clients, billable rates, and team reporting.
- Project and client billing rates
- Team time reporting
- Modern responsive UI
- REST API
Kimai vs Solidtime: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Kimai is the more established project (first released 2006), while Solidtime arrived in 2024.
Why pick each one
Choose Kimai if…
- Mature and actively maintained
- Strong invoicing features
Watch out for
- Configuration can be involved
Choose Solidtime if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 8.9k GitHub stars
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is Kimai or Solidtime better?
Neither is universally better. Solidtime has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Kimai and Solidtime free and open-source?
Yes. Kimai is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Solidtime under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kimai and Solidtime with Docker?
Kimai: yes. Solidtime: yes.