Toggl retainer tracker: share a live client balance from your Toggl time entries.
Toggl Track is where most freelance consultants log their hours — it’s fast, reliable, and the free tier covers everything a solo consultant needs for internal tracking. What Toggl doesn’t have is a client-facing balance page. When a retainer client asks “how many hours do I have left?” there’s no Toggl URL you can send them. HourTab fills that gap: paste your Toggl CSV export and every 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 Toggl alone doesn’t solve the retainer question
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Toggl shows you the hours. Clients see nothing.
Toggl’s reports are designed for the time-tracker, not the client. You can see a project summary, a team breakdown, and a billable total. Your client cannot — not without a Toggl account you’d have to configure, which is clunky for a client who just wants to check their hours once a month. HourTab adds the public share layer that Toggl deliberately leaves out: a single URL per retainer that shows your client exactly one thing — their balance.
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Toggl budgets are internal alerts, not client balance pages.
Toggl Track’s project budget feature alerts you when a project nears its hour limit — but it’s an internal alert, not a client-visible balance. The budget number doesn’t update in real time on a page your client can bookmark. You still end up emailing a balance update or building a shared spreadsheet that falls out of date. HourTab turns your Toggl CSV export into a live, client-bookmarkable URL that updates every time you import a new CSV.
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Sending a Toggl link exposes your entire account.
The only way to give a client Toggl access is to add them to your workspace — which gives them visibility into every project, every time entry, and every team member’s hours. That’s a significant overshare for a client who needs to see one retainer balance. HourTab is scoped by design: one URL per retainer, showing only that client’s balance and work log. Nothing else from your Toggl account.
How it works with Toggl
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1
Set up the retainer in HourTab. Enter the client name, monthly hour allocation, and cycle reset date. For a 20 hr/mo retainer, that’s 20 hours. Takes two minutes per client.
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2
Export your Toggl CSV. In Toggl Track, go to Reports, filter by client or project, set the date range to the current retainer cycle, and export as CSV. Paste the CSV into HourTab. Each time entry populates the work log: date, description, duration, and updated balance.
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3
Send the client their link. Each retainer gets a unique public URL. Drop it in your onboarding email or the first month’s check-in. The client bookmarks it and checks their own balance — no Toggl account required, no login, no portal.
Your Toggl workflow stays exactly the same. You add one CSV export step and eliminate recurring “how many hours do I have left?” emails.
“Toggl is for me. My client just wants to know how many hours are left.”
— Freelance consultant managing 4 retainer clients
HourTab is the client-facing output your Toggl workflow was missing — one URL per retainer, no login, updated each time you import.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to give my client a Toggl account?
No. HourTab generates a separate public URL that doesn’t touch your Toggl workspace. Your client bookmarks the HourTab URL; they never log in to Toggl.
How often should I update the balance from Toggl?
Most consultants import their Toggl CSV weekly or every 2–3 days on busy retainers. You can import as often as you like; the balance updates each time.
Does HourTab connect directly to Toggl’s API?
Not in v1. You export from Toggl (CSV) and paste into HourTab. This takes about 60 seconds per retainer and keeps the workflow simple without requiring OAuth setup. API sync is on the roadmap.
What if I have multiple clients on retainer in Toggl?
Each client gets their own retainer in HourTab and their own share URL. You import each client’s Toggl CSV into the corresponding retainer — they only see their own balance.
Can I use HourTab alongside Toggl’s existing billing reports?
Yes. HourTab doesn’t replace your Toggl reporting; it adds the client-visible layer on top. You still run your internal Toggl reports for billing — you just also drop a CSV into HourTab so the client can self-serve their balance question.