A Timesheet Portal alternative for internal project timesheets
Timesheet Portal is a modular UK platform for timesheets, expenses, leave, client invoicing, and contractor pay, sold per module and per user in a Project edition and a Recruitment edition for staffing agencies. Sandtime.io covers one part of that: project timesheets that your own people submit, an administrator approves, and the week locks, free for unlimited users and hosted in the European Union.
Timesheet Portal is a cloud timesheet, expense, and pay-and-bill platform from Anfold Software in London, launched in 2009. Its Project edition serves project-based and in-house teams, and its Recruitment edition serves agencies with contractor timesheets, client approval, client billing, and contractor pay, each priced as monthly modules. Visit Timesheet Portal website
Sandtime.io vs Timesheet Portal: the short answer
Timesheet Portal is the better choice when timesheets feed expenses, client invoices, and contractor pay; Sandtime.io is the better choice when the job is internal project timesheets that are approved and locked, without a monthly bill per module and per user. Timesheet Portal's Timesheets module costs £20 a month for five users and £2 for each extra user, with expenses, leave, invoicing, and pay as separate modules. Sandtime.io has none of those modules, but its timesheets, approvals, locking, dated rates in any currency, and Excel or CSV exports are free for unlimited users, hosted in the EU.
Choose Sandtime.io when the timesheet stays inside your team
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 group hours by project, member, activity, or date and use the rate that applied on the day, in pounds, euros, or any other currency. Adding the 26th or the 260th person costs nothing.
Choose Timesheet Portal when time turns into invoices and pay
Timesheet Portal connects timesheets to expense claims with receipts and mileage, leave allowances, TOIL, client invoices exported to Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, and Kashflow, self-billing, payroll exports, contractor onboarding documents, and client approval by email or text message. For agencies and services firms that bill and pay from approved time, that chain is the product.
Sandtime.io vs Timesheet Portal at a glance
Where each capability sits in Timesheet Portal's modules, as of September 30, 2026.
| Decision factor | Sandtime.io | Timesheet Portal |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Internal project timesheets that are submitted, approved, locked, and reported with rates | Timesheets as the start of an expense, invoicing, and pay chain, in a Project and a Recruitment edition |
| Price | Free for unlimited users and projects | Timesheets module £20 a month including five users, plus £2 per extra user. Every other module priced separately |
| Timesheet approvals | Submit, approve, and reject by an administrator, in the app or from the email in one click, included free | Submission and approval in the Timesheets module. Recruitment clients approve online, by email, or by text message, in one or several stages |
| Locking and controls | Approved timesheets lock, and unlock requests reopen a week for a set period, included free | Timesheet rules can limit the hours entered, and tasks close automatically when their budget is reached |
| Reminders | An optional email on Friday at 6 PM, in the organization's time zone, while auto-locking is on | Automated reminders by email, and by text message with the SMS module at £5 for 50 messages |
| Rates and overtime | Dated cost and revenue rates with a currency per rate, and billable or non-billable time | Multiple rate types, overtime rules by time of day or hours worked, and time in days, hours, or other units |
| Expenses | No expense tracking | Expenses module: receipts, mileage, VAT, card statement import, and multiple currencies, from £10 a month |
| Invoicing and pay | Reports and exports for invoice preparation, without built-in invoices or payroll | Client invoicing from £10 a month with exports to Xero, Sage 50, Sage One, QuickBooks, and Kashflow. Pay and Payroll modules for self-billing and pay runs |
| Leave and TOIL | No leave management. Leave can be logged to a non-billable project | Leave bookings from £8 a month with allowances and carryover, and a TOIL module from £6 |
| Clock-in and location | No clock-in, GPS, or activity capture | Mobile clock-in with GPS recording, and Clock Point hardware with facial recognition, NFC fobs, or Bluetooth |
| Reports and exports | Custom reports, print layout, and Excel and CSV export, included free | Over 50 reports, a drag-and-drop report builder, and CSV or Excel downloads |
| API, MCP, and sign-in | A public REST API with an OpenAPI schema and an MCP server. Passwordless email links or Google, Microsoft, Apple, or Yahoo sign-in | A REST API and Google Sign In |
| Hosting | OVHcloud in the European Union, built in Poland; self-hosting arranged case by case for Enterprise | Dedicated servers in a data center run by the UK provider UKFast, plus Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services |
| Best fit | Project teams that need approved, locked timesheets with rates for everyone at no cost | UK staffing agencies and services firms that bill clients and pay workers from approved time |
Why teams choose Sandtime.io instead of Timesheet Portal
No price per user or per module
Timesheet Portal adds £2 a month for every user above five on the Timesheets module alone. Sandtime.io charges nothing for any team size.
Approval that locks the week
People submit their own week, an administrator approves or rejects it from the email in one click, and the approved week stays locked until an unlock request is granted.
Rates that stay right as they change
Each cost and revenue rate has a start date and its own currency, so a raise or a client billed in euros never rewrites last quarter's report.
An MCP server next to the API
Sandtime.io publishes a REST API with an OpenAPI schema and an MCP server, so time entries and reports are reachable from scripts, integrations, and AI assistants.
Data hosted in the European Union
Sandtime.io runs on OVHcloud in the EU and publishes its subprocessors. Timesheet Portal hosts with the UK provider UKFast and on Azure and AWS.
A narrower product, on purpose
Sandtime.io has no expenses, invoices, leave, payroll, or client approvals. If your month runs on those, Timesheet Portal covers far more ground.
Which product should your team choose?
Start with who approves the timesheet and what happens after: a manager signing off internal project time, or a client approving hours that become an invoice and a pay run.
Choose Sandtime.io
Pick Sandtime.io when the people logging time are your own staff, when an administrator inside the organization approves and locks each week, when reports need dated or multi-currency rates, and when you would rather not pay per user or per module.
Choose Timesheet Portal
Pick Timesheet Portal when clients approve contractor timesheets, when approved time must turn into client invoices, self-billing, and pay runs, or when expenses, leave, TOIL, and onboarding documents belong in the same system.
Consider moving only the Project timesheets
If the Project edition runs only timesheets and approvals for your own team, compare one month in both tools. If expenses, invoicing, or pay depend on it, keep Timesheet Portal for that chain.
What Timesheet Portal costs as the team grows
Every Timesheet Portal module has its own monthly price, with five users included and a fee for each extra user. For a team of 10, timesheets alone cost £30 a month, and £61.50 with expenses and client invoicing. Sandtime.io stays at £0 for any team size.
Sandtime.io
Approved, locked timesheets for the whole team
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
Timesheets module
Project edition timesheets and approvals
£20a month including five users, plus £2 for each extra user
- 5 users£20 a month
- 10 users£30 a month
- 25 users£60 a month
- 50 users£110 a month
- Timesheet submission and approval
- Automated reminders
- Clock-in
- Multiple rates and overtime calculations
Timesheets, Expenses, and Client invoicing
Three modules for teams that bill from approved time
£40a month including five users, plus £4.30 for each extra user
- 5 users£40 a month
- 10 users£61.50 a month
- 25 users£126 a month
- 50 users£233.50 a month
- Everything in the Timesheets module
- Expense approval with receipts, mileage, and multiple currencies
- Client invoices generated from time and expenses
- Exports to Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage
Project edition list prices in pounds sterling; confirm with Timesheet Portal whether VAT is added. SMS credits, telephone support, payroll, and document modules are extra, and negotiated terms are excluded. Weighing other timesheet tools priced per user? Compare Sandtime.io with Beebole and 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.
Prices and modules checked on September 30, 2026. If Timesheet Portal's pricing page disagrees, trust Timesheet Portal, and see Sandtime.io pricing for ours.
Timesheet Portal vs Sandtime.io: frequently asked questions
Direct answers about module prices, approvals, expenses, invoicing, agencies, hosting, and moving your data.
What is the best Timesheet Portal alternative?
It depends on which edition you run. If you are a staffing or recruitment agency that needs contractor timesheets approved by clients, client invoices, self-billing, and pay runs, stay with Timesheet Portal or another pay-and-bill system, because Sandtime.io covers none of that. If you use the Project edition mainly for internal project timesheets and approvals, Sandtime.io is a free alternative for unlimited users, with submission, approval, locking, dated rates, and Excel or CSV exports included.
How much does Timesheet Portal cost?
Checked September 30, 2026, the Project edition's Timesheets module cost £20 a month including five users, plus £2 for each additional user. Other modules are added on top, each with five users included: Expenses at £10 plus £1.30 per extra user, Leave bookings at £8 plus £0.90, Client invoicing at £10 plus £1, and Payroll at £20 plus £2. Email support is free and telephone support is paid by the hour. Confirm with Timesheet Portal whether VAT is added.
Does Timesheet Portal have a free plan or trial?
It offers a 30-day free trial with full access to all features, and pricing is pay as you go by module after that. Sandtime.io has no trial because it has no paid plan: it is free for unlimited users from the first day.
Is Sandtime.io free for unlimited users?
Yes. Sandtime.io is free for unlimited users and projects, with no per-user fee 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.
Can Sandtime.io replace Timesheet Portal for a recruitment agency?
No. Timesheet Portal's Recruitment edition is built for pay and bill: contractors submit timesheets, clients approve them online, by email, or by text message in one or several stages, and approved time flows into client invoices, self-billing invoices, payroll exports, and UK holiday accrual and AWR management. Sandtime.io approvals are made by administrators inside your own organization, and it has no invoicing, expenses, or payroll. An agency should keep a pay-and-bill system.
Does either product track location or attendance?
Timesheet Portal can. Its mobile app supports clocking in and out with GPS recording, and its Clock Point device records on-site attendance with facial recognition, NFC fobs, or Bluetooth. Sandtime.io has no clock-in, GPS, or activity capture at all: people start a timer or enter their hours against a project.
Where do Timesheet Portal and Sandtime.io host data?
Timesheet Portal's privacy policy says it hosts data in several places at once: dedicated servers in a secure data center with the UK provider UKFast, plus services from Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. Sandtime.io runs on OVHcloud infrastructure in the European Union, is built in Poland, and publishes its subprocessors. Self-hosting Sandtime.io can be arranged case by case under an Enterprise agreement.
Can I move from Timesheet Portal to Sandtime.io?
For internal project time, yes, but not automatically. Most Timesheet Portal reports download as CSV or Excel, which make a good archive. Sandtime.io has no Timesheet Portal importer, so recreate active projects, members, and current rates, then run one weekly or monthly cycle in both products. If Timesheet Portal also runs your expenses, invoices, leave, or contractor pay, keep it for those.
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 and approve one week or month of project time, and compare the export with what Timesheet Portal produces for the same period.