How much does it cost to replace Clockify with your own system?
A bespoke time-tracking system typically costs €30,000–€35,000 to build in total, and when shared across a founding cohort of around five firms, each pays only a fraction of that (~€6,000–€7,000). Running costs are a flat ~€2,500 per year, covering hosting, maintenance, and updates. For a 20-person team on Clockify Business, the crossover point is usually under two years; after that, you add unlimited users for the same flat fee.
Side-by-side comparison
| Clockify (per-seat) | Your own system | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost model | Per user, per month: rises with every hire and every annual price increase | One-off build cost (shared across a founding cohort) + flat ~€2,500/year, no per-seat, ever |
| 20-user team, today | ~€90–180/month | ~€290/month (build share amortised over 5 years) |
| 5-year total (20+ users) | €5,000–€13,000 and rising | ~€19,000 all in (build share + 5× running) |
| Per-seat pricing | Yes: every new hire costs more | No: unlimited users for the same flat fee |
| Data ownership | Vendor-hosted; portability on their terms | Fully yours: export anytime, no permission needed |
| Licence when you stop | Access gone immediately | Perpetual, escrow-backed licence: you keep access even if we ever stop trading |
| Customisation | Their roadmap, their timeline | Built around your workflow: custom approval flows, reports, integrations |
Related questions
Yes: we migrate your existing time entries, projects, clients, and team members as part of the build. You keep Clockify running until we cut over; there is no data loss and no downtime for your team.
Sources
- Forbes: "If a product is essentially 'a simple database plus a form plus a dashboard,' customers will ask why they are paying recurring fees for something they can reproduce quickly."
- Clockify pricing as published (clockify.me, 2025)
- Rollout IT build and running-cost estimates
See what your SaaS spend looks like with a flat annual fee.
Enter your seat count and current monthly price. The calculator uses real build-cost estimates and shows you the five-year crossover.