Clockify retainer tracker: give clients a live balance URL from your Clockify hours.
Clockify’s free tier is why most solo consultants use it — it tracks unlimited projects and team members without a subscription. What Clockify doesn’t do is give clients a self-service balance page. When a retainer client asks how many hours they have left, Clockify doesn’t have a shareable URL that answers that question. HourTab adds that layer: export your Clockify time report, paste the CSV into HourTab, and each client gets a public, no-login URL showing their current balance and the work log behind it.
Free forever for your first retainer · no credit card.
Why Clockify alone doesn’t solve the retainer question
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Clockify’s Shared Reports are summaries, not retainer balances.
Clockify does have a Shared Report feature on paid plans — but it shows a breakdown of hours by project, not a retainer balance with a cycle start, monthly allocation, hours consumed, and hours remaining. A time summary isn’t a balance. HourTab tracks the retainer lifecycle: this cycle’s allocation, what’s been consumed, what’s left, and when it resets.
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Clockify client access exposes your entire workspace.
Adding a client to your Clockify workspace gives them visibility into all projects, all team members, and all time entries they have permissions to see. For a retainer client who needs one balance number, that’s invasive and confusing. HourTab scopes the client’s view to exactly one retainer per URL — their balance and their work log.
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Clockify’s paid budgets don’t reach the client.
Clockify’s budget alerts on the Pro plan notify you when hours approach a limit — but the client still has no self-service way to check where they stand. HourTab gives them that without requiring you to upgrade your Clockify plan or configure client-side access.
How it works with Clockify
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1
Set up your retainer in HourTab. Enter client name, monthly hours, and reset date. Done in two minutes.
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Export from Clockify. In Clockify Reports, go to Detailed Report, filter by client or project, set the date range to the current retainer cycle, and export as CSV. Paste it into HourTab.
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Share the link. HourTab generates a permanent public URL for each retainer. Send it to your client once. They bookmark it and check their own balance whenever they want.
Works with Clockify Free. No paid plan upgrade, no client accounts, no workspace access required.
“Clockify Free is all I need for tracking. But my clients still had to email me for their balance.”
— Freelance UX designer on 3 monthly retainers
HourTab adds the client-facing layer that Clockify deliberately leaves out — one URL per client, no login, updates whenever you import a fresh CSV.
Frequently asked questions
Does HourTab replace Clockify?
No. You continue using Clockify for time tracking exactly as you do now. HourTab adds the client-visible layer on top. Two tools, one workflow.
Does this work with Clockify Free?
Yes. Clockify Free lets you export time entries as CSV from the Reports section. That CSV is all HourTab needs. No paid Clockify plan required.
How do I export the right data from Clockify?
Go to Reports → Detailed Report in Clockify. Filter by Client or Project, set the start and end dates to match your retainer cycle, and click Export → CSV. The resulting file has the date, description, and duration columns HourTab uses.
What if a client has multiple projects tracked in Clockify?
You can include all projects in the CSV export and all entries will appear in the HourTab work log. Each line item shows the project or task description, so the client sees how hours were allocated across their different work streams.
Can I update the client balance in real time?
You can re-import a fresh Clockify CSV at any frequency — daily, weekly, or whenever you add new entries. The public URL always shows the data from the most recent import.