Compared honestly
Quarter Past vs Timemator
Timemator is the other Mac tracker you buy once, and it costs less than this one. It watches your files and apps to build the record; Quarter Past asks you instead.
Prices and facts checked 18 September 2026 · Quarter Past 2.3.9 · They change; tell us if one has
What Timemator is
Timemator, by Catforce Studio, automatically captures what you do on your Mac — which apps you use and which files you have open — and lets you write rules so that opening a particular project file starts its timer for you. A traditional start and stop timer and manual entry are both there as well. It sets hourly rates, calculates revenue per task, imports CSV, backs up automatically, works entirely offline, and syncs to an iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch app through iCloud.
Its privacy line is plain: what happens on your computer stays on your computer. It is $39 once for the Mac app on two devices, $7.99 once for iOS, with a 30-day trial. On price shape it is the closest competitor Quarter Past has, and it is cheaper.
What Timemator does better than Quarter Past:
- $39 once, against £54 — and thirty days to decide rather than fourteen.
- Auto-tracking rules: opening a project file can start its timer without you.
- An iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch app, synced through iCloud.
- Hourly rates and revenue per task, with reports you can send a client.
Side by side
| Timemator | Quarter Past | |
|---|---|---|
| How it tracks | Automatically, from the apps you use and the files you have open, with rules that assign that activity to tasks; a manual timer and manual entry as well | Asks what you have been doing every 5 to 60 minutes; one tap logs the interval that just passed, to the minute, with a start and an end |
| Reads your screen | It reads which apps and files are in use, which is how its rules work. What it sees stays on your Mac | Never. No screen-recording or accessibility permissions |
| Where your data lives | On your Mac, with optional iCloud sync and automatic backups to a location you choose | A file on your Mac. No account, no server, no sync |
| Platforms | macOS 10.15 or later, plus iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, sold separately | macOS 10.15 or later, Apple silicon and Intel |
| Price | $39 once for the Mac app, usable on two devices; $7.99 once for iOS | £54, once |
| Cost over five years | $39, or $46.99 with the iOS app | £54 |
| Trial | 30 days | 14 days, no card |
| Says how each entry was captured | No. Auto-tracked time and time typed in afterwards read the same in the record | Yes: every entry says whether it was measured live or recalled later |
| Plan against actual | No | Yes: a weekly plan set against the record, difference shown, nothing scored |
| What an AI gets | None found on its site or in its release notes | A written brief you read before you send it: the fortnight, the plan against the record, and how much of it was measured rather than recalled. You choose the assistant and the moment |
| Export | Reports and CSV, with CSV import | CSV, and a full backup file |
| Teams | No. A teams version is on its published roadmap | No. One person, one Mac |
Prices, mechanism and privacy wording from timemator.com. Quarter Past facts from this site. Subscriptions are judged forwards: five years is what you will actually have paid.
Which one, honestly
Choose Timemator if
- You want the record built for you and you are comfortable with an app noting which files you open.
- You want to pay once, and $39 is less than £54.
- You want thirty days to decide rather than fourteen.
- You want it on your iPhone and Watch as well.
Choose Quarter Past if
- You do not want an app noting which files you open — or your clients would not want it.
- You want each entry to say whether it was measured live or reconstructed later.
- You want the week you planned beside the week you had, with nothing scored.
- You want a written brief for an AI that states its own limits before it says anything.
What Quarter Past does not do
So that this page is worth trusting:
- Mac only. No Windows, no phone, no web version yet.
- One person. No team view, no shared projects, no manager reports.
- No invoicing, no integrations, no Zapier. It exports a CSV and stops there.
- Not on the Mac App Store, by choice; it is signed and notarised with Apple and downloaded from this site.
Try it for a fortnight. Decide then.
Free for fourteen days, no card and no account. If it earns its place, it is £54 once, paid from inside the app. If not, nothing to cancel.
Version 2.3.10 · 7 MB · macOS 10.15 or later, Apple silicon and Intel · Checked by Apple