TimeNova vs Time Doctor: an honest comparison.
Time Doctor is one of the oldest names in employee time tracking, and if you need mobile apps and dozens of integrations today, it may genuinely be the better pick for you. But if what you actually want is time tracking and productivity insights with screenshots or screen recording, and a team that does not feel spied on, here is how the two stack up.
Pricing
About these figures. Competitor prices are the vendor's own published list price, in US dollars, on the annual plan, read from their pricing page and last checked on 14 September 2026. Vendors change prices without telling us, so treat this as a snapshot with a date on it rather than a live quote, and confirm on their site before you decide. If you find one out of date, tell us at team@timenova.ai and we will fix it.
| TimeNova | Time Doctor | |
|---|---|---|
| Top plan, the one with screen recording (annual, per user/mo) | $11.67 (Max) | $16.70 (Premium) |
| Same, billed monthly | $14 (Max) | $20 (Premium) |
| Entry plan (annual, per user/mo) | $7.50 (Pro) | $6.67 (Basic) |
| Mid plan with recording bought as an add-on | Not needed | $11.67 (Standard) + $3 = $14.67 |
| Plans to choose from | 2, no add-ons | 3, plus add-ons |
| Screen recording | Included on Max | Included on Premium; $3 add-on on Basic and Standard |
| Above the top listed plan | Nothing, Max is the top | Enterprise, custom price, not published |
| Free trial | 14 days, all features | 14 days |
Compare the plans that do the same job. Time Doctor's plan with video screen recording is Premium, $16.70 per user on annual billing. TimeNova's is Max, $11.67, with on-device blur, the automatic tracker, projects, attendance and every report in it. That is 30% less for the like-for-like plan, and there is nothing to add on afterwards. The pattern to notice with Time Doctor is exactly those add-ons: recording on Basic and Standard is $3 per user on top, single sign-on and several other capabilities are priced on top of the plan too. TimeNova has two plans and no add-ons.
Where Time Doctor is ahead
Honesty first: Time Doctor supports Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile, and ships 60+ integrations with project management and payroll tools. TimeNova runs on macOS and Windows, without an integration marketplace yet, and does not track mobile devices.
Where TimeNova is ahead
- Recording is a plan, not an add-on. Low-frame-rate screen recording with on-device blur is the Max plan, one price, no add-on matrix.
- Fairness is enforced, not configured. Everyone using the TimeNova desktop app always sees their own data, guaranteed in the product. Stopping the tracker is never treated as suspicious. Meetings always count as work, even hands-off-keyboard.
- No keylogging by construction. TimeNova never requests input monitoring permissions, so there is nothing to trust us about: the operating system itself will not let us see keystrokes.
- Simpler to reason about. One Settings page controls everything, an activity log records every admin change, and privacy rules like URL query stripping and company-wide blur are enforced at the server, not just in the client.
Which should you pick?
Pick Time Doctor if you need mobile tracking or your workflow depends on specific integrations. Pick TimeNova if your team works on computers, Mac or Windows, and you want full capture at a lower price with privacy guarantees your employees can verify themselves. The fastest way to decide is to run both trials for a week with a couple of volunteers and ask the team which one they would accept.