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Productivity · head to head

DeskTime vs Microsoft 365

DeskTime logo

DeskTime

Productivity

Automatic computer activity tracking and productivity analytics

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft 365 logo

Microsoft 365

Productivity

Subscription bundle of the Office applications with mail, storage, meetings and organisational identity

From
$7/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only DeskTime has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: DeskTime screenshots are excluded from the Pro plan and start at Premium; Microsoft 365 business plans are capped at 300 seats, so an organisation that grows past that must move to Enterprise plans, which changes both the price per user and the feature mix at the moment it can least afford a migration project.
  • They diverge on capability: DeskTime covers Automatic activity tracking, Microsoft 365 covers Office applications.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DeskTime and Microsoft 365 actually diverge.

Attributes where DeskTime and Microsoft 365 differ
AttributeDeskTimeMicrosoft 365
Starting priceFree$7/month
Pricing modelfreemiumsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, LinuxWeb
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in DeskTime

  • Automatic activity tracking
  • Application and website tracking
  • Daily reports
  • Weekly summaries
  • Privacy-first design
  • Detailed analytics
  • Goal setting
  • Mobile apps

Only in Microsoft 365

  • Office applications
  • Hosted services
  • Teams
  • Microsoft Entra ID
  • OneDrive storage
  • Device management and endpoint protection
  • Purview compliance
  • Copilot

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

DeskTime

  • Automatic time tracking of desktop app and website usagenot Microsoft 365
  • Measuring team productivity and idle timenot Microsoft 365
  • Scheduling shifts and tracking absencesnot Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365

  • Any organisation that wants mail, documents, meetings and identity from one supplier on one bill.not DeskTime
  • A company standardising on single sign-on, where Entra ID becomes the account other services authenticate against.not DeskTime
  • Regulated work that needs retention, legal hold and eDiscovery across mail and documents, provided the tier that includes them is actually bought.not DeskTime
  • A household that needs installed Office applications on several machines rather than browser-only editing.not DeskTime

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

DeskTime

  • Screenshots are excluded from the Pro plan and start at Premium
  • Integrations and API access require the Premium plan
  • Shift scheduling requires the Premium plan
  • Enterprise is aimed at 200+ users and is priced by quote with no published rate
  • The advertised $6.42 and $9.17 per user rates require annual billing; monthly billing costs more
  • The trial lasts 14 days

Microsoft 365

  • Business plans are capped at 300 seats, so an organisation that grows past that must move to Enterprise plans, which changes both the price per user and the feature mix at the moment it can least afford a migration project.
  • The compliance capabilities most organisations eventually need, including retention, data loss prevention, advanced eDiscovery and insider risk, sit at the top tier or in add-ons, so the real cost surfaces after an audit or a customer questionnaire rather than at purchase.
  • Annual term subscriptions commit you for the year and month-to-month terms cost measurably more per seat, so the flexibility to reduce seats during a quiet period is bought at a permanently higher rate.
  • Entra ID becomes the identity for everything else the organisation uses, which is the hardest kind of lock-in to put a number on, because leaving means re-federating every connected application rather than simply replacing a word processor.
  • The licensing model is complicated enough that most organisations are either over-licensed or quietly non-compliant, and reconciling it usually requires a partner or a specialist, which is a recurring cost that never appears in the advertised per-user figure.

Pricing, plan by plan

DeskTime

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Activity tracking
    • Basic reports
    • Weekly emails
  • Pro$9/month
    • Everything in Free
    • Advanced reports
    • Detailed analytics

Microsoft 365

$7/month
  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic$7/month
    • Email and calendar with 50 GB mailbox
    • Web and mobile versions of Office apps
    • Microsoft Teams included
  • Microsoft 365 Business Standard$14/month
    • Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
    • Email and Teams
    • 1 TB cloud storage per user
  • Microsoft 365 E5$60/month
    • Comprehensive security and compliance
    • All productivity apps
    • Advanced analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose DeskTime if

  • You need automatic activity tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want application and website tracking.
DeskTime review

Choose Microsoft 365 if

  • You need office applications.
  • You also want hosted services.
Microsoft 365 review

Questions people ask

Is DeskTime or Microsoft 365 better?
Neither clearly leads. DeskTime starts at Free and Microsoft 365 at $7/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DeskTime or Microsoft 365?
DeskTime has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for DeskTime and $7/month for Microsoft 365.
Does DeskTime or Microsoft 365 run on more platforms?
DeskTime runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, Linux. Microsoft 365 runs on Web.
Can I use DeskTime for free?
Yes. DeskTime has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Microsoft 365 starts at $7/month.
What is DeskTime best used for?
DeskTime is most often used for automatic time tracking of desktop app and website usage, measuring team productivity and idle time, scheduling shifts and tracking absences. Of those, automatic time tracking of desktop app and website usage and measuring team productivity and idle time are not what Microsoft 365 is typically brought in for.
What can DeskTime do that Microsoft 365 cannot?
DeskTime covers Automatic activity tracking, Application and website tracking, Daily reports, Weekly summaries. Microsoft 365 covers Office applications, Hosted services, Teams, Microsoft Entra ID.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DeskTime: What are DeskTime's subscription tiers?

DeskTime offers Pro at $6.42/user/month (annual billing) for small teams and startups, Premium at $9.17/user/month (marked Most Popular) for hybrid and growing teams, and Enterprise with custom pricing for 200+ users.

Source
Microsoft 365: What is the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office?

Office was a one-off licence for a specific version. Microsoft 365 is a subscription covering the applications and the hosted services together, and when payment stops the applications drop to a reduced state rather than continuing as they were.

DeskTime: What features differentiate the Premium tier from Pro?

Premium adds screenshots, integrations & API, and shift scheduling compared to Pro's document title tracking and calendar integrations.

Source
Microsoft 365: Is Teams included?

Not automatically for newer customers. Microsoft unbundled Teams and now sells it alongside the suite, so check what a given quotation actually covers.

DeskTime: How long is the DeskTime free trial?

DeskTime offers a 14-day free trial. No credit card is required to start.

Source
Microsoft 365: What happens to our files if we stop paying?

The documents remain yours and can be downloaded, but access to hosted mailboxes and sites ends after a retention window, so leaving requires a planned export rather than a cancellation.

DeskTime: What billing options does DeskTime offer?

DeskTime offers monthly or annual billing. Annual subscriptions include one complimentary month compared to monthly plan pricing. You can pay by credit card or PayPal.

Source
Microsoft 365: Is Copilot part of the subscription?

No. It is a per-user add-on on top of the base licence, generally with its own term commitment, and it is priced per seat regardless of how much any individual uses it.

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