A Productive alternative for the timesheet, not the whole agency suite

Productive runs an agency end to end: budgets, profitability, resource planning, invoicing, sales pipelines, and docs, priced per user. Sandtime.io does one part of that job. People log hours against projects, submit the week, an administrator approves it, and the week locks, free for unlimited users.

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Productive is an operations platform for agencies and professional services firms, founded in 2014 and built by a team in Zagreb, Croatia. It sells Essential, Professional, and Ultimate plans per user, with budgets, resource planning, invoicing, CRM, and docs on every plan, time approvals from Professional, and timesheet submission and time locking on Ultimate. Visit Productive website

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Sandtime.io weekly timesheet with projects, daily hours, and approval status — Sandtime.io timesheets, from the public Sandtime.io brand kit. Submitting, approving, and locking a week are part of the free plan.

Sandtime.io vs Productive: the short answer

Productive is the better choice when time data has to drive budgets, resource plans, and invoices in one agency system; Sandtime.io is the better choice when the job is a submitted, approved, locked timesheet for everyone without a per-user bill. Productive starts time approvals on Professional at $25 per user per month billed yearly and lists timesheet submission and time locking on Ultimate. Sandtime.io has none of Productive's suite, but it includes approvals, locking, and dated rates free for unlimited users.

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Choose Sandtime.io before or after a suite

Before a team needs an agency operating system, and after one has been abandoned as too heavy, the job is the same: everyone logs hours against projects, submits the week, an administrator approves it in the app or from the email in one click, and the week locks. Reports use the rate that applied on the day, in the client's currency, for any team size.

Choose Productive when time feeds the whole agency

Productive connects time to budgets with spend warnings, profitability, revenue recognition, resource planning with tentative bookings, invoices and e-invoices, a sales pipeline that converts deals into projects, tasks with Gantt and workload views, docs, and time off. For an agency that plans and bills from one place, that breadth is the point.

Sandtime.io vs Productive at a glance

Where each capability sits on Productive's plans, as of September 30, 2026.

Decision factor	Sandtime.io	Productive
Main job	Project timesheets that are submitted, approved, locked, and reported with rates	Agency operations: projects, budgets, profitability, resourcing, billing, and sales in one system
Price	Free for unlimited users and projects	Per user per month, billed yearly or monthly: Essential $10 or $12, Professional $25 or $29. Ultimate priced by sales
Seat minimum	None	Three seats on every plan. Clients free, contractors charged like employees
Timesheet approvals	Submit, approve, and reject the week, in the app or from the email in one click, included free	Time approvals from Professional. Timesheet submission for approval on Ultimate
Locking	Approved weeks lock, past weeks can lock automatically, and unlock requests reopen a week for a set period	Time locking and financial month closing on Ultimate
Rates and costs	Dated cost and revenue rates with a currency per rate, and billable or non-billable time, included free	Employee cost rates on every plan. Rate cards from Professional, overhead cost on Ultimate
Budgets and profitability	No budgets or profitability tracking	Budgets, spend warnings, and financial reports on every plan. Recurring budgets from Professional, forecasting and Scenario Builder on Ultimate
Resource planning	None	Bookings, availability, and utilization planning on every plan
Invoicing and CRM	No invoicing or CRM. Invoice-ready reports with Excel and CSV export	Invoices and credit notes on every plan, accounting integrations from Professional. Deals with 1, 3, or 5 pipelines by plan
Tasks, docs, and time off	Projects only. No tasks, docs, or leave management	Tasks, boards, docs, and time off on every plan. Gantt and workload views and time off approvals from Professional
Reminders	An optional email on Friday at 6 PM, in the organization's time zone, while auto-locking is on	Scheduled report emails to an inbox or Slack channel on Ultimate
API, MCP, and integrations	A public REST API with an OpenAPI schema, an MCP server, Slack, and the Chrome extension, included free	API, Slack, and calendars on every plan. Jira, Zapier, and HRIS from Professional. MCP server, webhooks, and HubSpot on Ultimate
Hosting	OVHcloud in the European Union, built in Poland; self-hosting arranged case by case for Enterprise	Amazon Web Services in the European Union; contracting entity in Delaware
Best fit	Agencies and teams that need approved, locked timesheets with rates for everyone at no cost	Agencies that plan, staff, and bill every project from one operating system

Why teams choose Sandtime.io instead of Productive

A closed week without Ultimate

Productive lists timesheet submission and time locking on Ultimate. In Sandtime.io, submitting, approving, rejecting, and locking are free for every member, with one-click decisions from the email.

No seats to count

Productive bills at least three seats and charges contractors like employees. Sandtime.io has no seat minimum and no per-user fee, so freelancers and part-timers can log hours at no cost.

Rates that keep their history

Each cost and revenue rate has a start date and its own currency, so a raise or a client paying in euros never rewrites last quarter. Productive's rate cards start on Professional.

MCP and REST API on the free plan

The Sandtime.io MCP server and the REST API are included for everyone. Productive lists its MCP server and webhooks on Ultimate.

Set up in an afternoon

Projects, people, and rates are all there is to configure. There are no budgets, pipelines, or resource plans to build before the first week of time can be approved.

Not a suite, on purpose

Sandtime.io has no budgets, profitability, resource planning, invoicing, CRM, docs, or time off. If those run your agency, Productive covers far more ground.

Which product should your agency choose?

Start with where the numbers are decided: in one system that plans, staffs, and bills each project, or in the timesheet that proves the hours before an invoice goes out.

Choose Sandtime.io

Pick Sandtime.io when every member has to submit hours that are approved and locked, when reports need dated or multi-currency rates, when budgets and invoices already live in a spreadsheet or an accounting tool, and when the budget for time tracking is zero.

Choose Productive

Pick Productive when you need budgets with spend warnings, profitability and revenue forecasts, resource planning, invoicing, a sales pipeline, and tasks in one place, and a per-user price is acceptable for that scope.

Consider moving the timesheet only

If Productive is mostly used for time entries, compare one month in both tools before renewal. If budgets and bookings are used every week, keep Productive; Sandtime.io does not replace them.

What Productive costs once approvals matter

Time approvals start on Productive Professional. For a team of 10 that is $250 a month billed yearly, and timesheet submission and time locking sit on Ultimate, priced through sales. Sandtime.io includes all three at $0 for any team size.

Sandtime.io

Submission, approval, and locking for everyone

Freefor unlimited users, no credit card required

5 users$0 a month
10 users$0 a month
25 users$0 a month
50 users$0 a month

Submit, approve, and reject weekly timesheets
Approved weeks lock, with unlock requests
Dated cost and revenue rates in any currency
Custom reports with Excel and CSV export
EU hosting, a REST API, and an MCP server

Productive Professional

The plan where time approvals start

$25per user per month billed yearly, or $29 billed monthly, three seats minimum

5 users$125 a month$145 billed monthly
10 users$250 a month$290 billed monthly
25 users$625 a month$725 billed monthly
50 users$1,250 a month$1,450 billed monthly

Time approvals and billable time rounding
Rate cards and expense approvals
Accounting, HRIS, Jira, and Zapier integrations
Time off approvals
Everything in Essential

Productive Essential

The entry plan, before time approvals

$10per user per month billed yearly, or $12 billed monthly, three seats minimum

5 users$50 a month
10 users$100 a month
25 users$250 a month
50 users$500 a month

Budgets and resource planning
Invoices and one sales pipeline
Tasks, docs, and time off
API access and AI time tracking

Productive pricing page with the Essential, Professional, and Ultimate plans and their per-user prices — Productive's public pricing page, captured September 30, 2026, with yearly billing and 10 users selected. Open the current pricing page.

Monthly cost at list price in US dollars. Productive offers volume discounts from 50 users and 50% off for nonprofits. Taxes and negotiated terms are excluded. Comparing another suite? See Sandtime.io vs ClickTime.

Approving an entry is not the same as closing a week

Productive's plan table separates three things. Time approvals, on Professional, let a manager review and approve submitted time entries before they are billed. Submitting a completed timesheet to a manager and locking time entries after a set period are both listed on Ultimate.

Sandtime.io treats the week as the unit. A person submits it, an administrator approves or rejects it, and the approved week locks. A past week can also lock automatically, and a member who needs to fix something sends an unlock request instead of editing quietly. The approval guide and the locking guide show each step.

If you only need entries approved before billing, Productive Professional does that inside a much larger suite. If you need every week submitted and closed, Sandtime.io does it for free.

Best time tracking software for agencies Sandtime.io for marketing agencies Sandtime.io vs ClickTime

Watch the 75-second Sandtime.io product tour

See the timer, timesheets, reporting flow, integrations, and mobile apps before creating an account. The video is served directly by Sandtime.io, so it does not contact a third-party player.

Move the timesheet first, keep Productive as the archive

Export the Productive time and budget reports you need for clients and audits and keep them. Then set up only the projects that are active today.

Export the Productive time and budget reports you need to keep
Recreate active projects in Sandtime.io, invite their members, and enter the current rates
Run one weekly cycle in both products, including approval and locking
Compare total hours, billable time, rates, and exports, then invite everyone else

Start the free pilot How to invite your team

Sandtime.io has no automated Productive importer, and this is not a managed migration service. If Productive also runs budgets, invoices, resource plans, or deals, keep it for those until each has a replacement, and keep its data until your retention requirements are satisfied.

Prices and plans checked on September 30, 2026. If Productive's pricing page disagrees, trust Productive, and see Sandtime.io pricing for ours.

What is the best Productive alternative?

It depends on what you would be replacing. If your agency runs its budgets, profitability, resource planning, invoicing, and sales pipeline in Productive, the alternative is another agency suite, and Sandtime.io covers none of that. If what you actually use is time tracking and approvals, Sandtime.io is a free alternative for unlimited users: people submit the week, an administrator approves it, and the week locks, where Productive lists timesheet submission and time locking on Ultimate.

How much does Productive cost?

Checked September 30, 2026, Productive listed Essential at $10 per user per month billed yearly or $12 billed monthly, Professional at $25 billed yearly or $29 billed monthly, and Ultimate at a price agreed with sales. Every plan requires at least three seats, contractors are charged like employees, clients are free, and the trial runs 14 days without a credit card. Nonprofits and charities get 50% off.

Which Productive plan includes timesheet approvals and locking?

Productive's plan table lists time approvals and billable time rounding from Professional, and timesheet submission for approval, time locking, automatic time tracking from bookings, and time tracking policies on Ultimate. Employee cost rates, timers, and manual entries are on every plan. In Sandtime.io, submission, approval, rejection, and locking are free for every member.

Is Sandtime.io free for unlimited users?

Yes. Sandtime.io is free for unlimited users and projects, with no per-user fee, no seat minimum, and no credit card required. Approvals, locking, roles, reports, Excel and CSV exports, historical rates, multi-currency support, the REST API, and MCP access are all included, and registered nonprofits can ask for a custom offer.

Can Sandtime.io replace Productive for an agency?

Only the time tracking part. Sandtime.io has no budgets, profitability forecasts, resource planning, task boards, invoicing, expenses, time off, CRM, or docs. It fits an agency that runs those elsewhere, or not at all yet, and needs every hour logged, approved, locked, and exported with the right rate. An agency that plans staffing and invoices clients from Productive should keep it.

Where do Productive and Sandtime.io host data?

Both host in the European Union. Productive's trust center says its servers run on Amazon Web Services in the EU, and its contracting entity is The Productive Company, Inc., a Delaware company. Sandtime.io runs on OVHcloud infrastructure in the European Union and is built in Poland. Hosting is not what separates the two products; scope and price are.

Does Productive or Sandtime.io have an MCP server for AI assistants?

Both do. Productive lists its MCP server, AI agents, and connectors on Ultimate, and its AI assistant and AI time tracking on every plan. Sandtime.io includes its MCP server and a public REST API with an OpenAPI schema on the free plan, so an assistant such as Claude can log time, read timesheets, and build reports.

Can I move from Productive to Sandtime.io?

Yes, but not automatically. Export the Productive time and budget reports you need to keep, because they make a good archive. Sandtime.io has no Productive importer, so recreate active projects, members, and current rates, then run one weekly cycle in both products. If Productive also runs your budgets, invoices, or resource plans, keep it for those jobs.

Comparing something else?

Teams weighing this one usually weigh these too.

Run one real approval cycle in Sandtime.io

Invite the whole team at no seat cost, submit, approve, and lock one week, and compare the export with the Productive time report you use for billing today.