Compare Tracking Time and Weava: Which Extension is the Best?

Tracking Time logoTracking Time
Weava logoWeava
Tracking Time is a tool for managing tasks and projects with ease. It offers strong integrations and reporting with few functions and many bugs, which lowers the rating.
Time Management Productivity
Weava Highlighter was once a popular choice, but now it’s filled with ads and has a poor user experience. Better options like Web Highlights do the job better without the hassle.
Highlighter Note Taking
Key Features
  • Time Tracking: Easily track time spent on tasks with a simple interface.
  • Project Management: Organize tasks and projects efficiently.
  • Reporting: Generate detailed reports to analyze productivity.
  • Integrations: Connect with popular tools like Google Calendar and Slack.
  • Web & PDF Highlighting: Easily highlight text on web pages and PDFs using various colors.
  • Annotations: Add detailed notes to your highlights for better reference and organization.
  • Cloud Syncing: Seamlessly access your highlights and notes across multiple devices.
  • Organize with Folders: Structure your highlights with folders and sub-folders for easy retrieval.
  • Citation Creation: Automatically generate citations for your highlighted text, simplifying your research process.
Our Rating
7.6
7.0
Total users
32,223
200,000
Total ratings
156
2,728
Average rating
3.7 ⭐
4.1 ⭐
Entry Level PriceFreeFree
Chrome
Chrome Web Store logo
4.4
4.23
146 ratings
30.0K+Users
Chrome Web Store logo
4.1
3.01
2.7K+ ratings
200.0K+Users
Edge
Microsoft Edge Store logo
4.0
5.00
2 ratings
1.8K+Users
-
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox Add-ons Store logo
2.8
3.36
8 ratings
398Users
-
Safari
-
-
Features
5.5

Tracking Time offers numerous functions aimed at both individual users and teams. Projects can be created for which time tracking can then be started. Detailed reports can then be output. In our tests, all these functions also worked in the Tracking Time tool.

Tracking Time


However, the web extension considered here was disappointing. This only has the function of starting and stopping time recording. Even when beginning time tracking, the extension requires that the corresponding project has been created. It is impossible to spontaneously start time tracking for a new project; the new project must first be made on the external Tracking Time website, where the reports can also be found.

The Tracking Time extension therefore has great potential to integrate many useful Tracking Time functions. However, the functions are currently very limited in comparison to competitors.

8.5

Weava offers basic but functional features like web and PDF highlighting, annotations, and folder organization.

The basic functionalities work great but the lack of innovative or advanced functionalities, especially compared to competitors, limits its appeal.

Top 3 Features of Weava Highlighter

1. Highlight Websites and PDFs

Highlighting text with Weava

Similar to our favorite highlighter Web Highlights, you can highlight text on any website or PDF. Choose different colors to customize your highlights and make important information stand out.

2. Organize Research into Folders

Organize in folders

Weava lets you save your highlights and organize them into folders, making it simple to keep your research organized and find what you need fast.

3. Collaborate with Your Team

Share folders with your co-workers

Weava allows you to share folders with your team, making collaboration on research projects easy. Everyone can add and view highlights and notes all in one place.

Performance
8.0

In general, Tracking Time works reliably, but in reviews some users have reported occasional slowdowns, especially when processing large data sets. Regular updates and optimizations could help improve performance consistency.

7.0

Weava performs adequately when it comes to basic highlighting and syncing. However, the overall performance is marred by the intrusive ads and occasional bugs that make the experience less smooth than it should be.

Design
8.0

The design of Tracking Time is clean and modern and makes it easy to navigate. The dashboard on the website is well organized and you get an instant overview of your times. There are still improvements to be made in terms of customization options such as layouts.

6.0

The design is where Weava really struggles. The interface is cluttered with ads, making it not only visually unappealing but also frustrating to use.

Here's a screenshot showing one of their ads taking up nearly half the height of their sidebar:

Ads are covering half of the sidebar

The overall design feels outdated and lacks the intuitive flow found in other tools. This poor design significantly hampers the user experience.

Value for Money
8.0

The web extension is free of charge. However, it should be noted that it offers only a few functions. Other competitors offer considerably more functions for their free extensions. If you only use the extension in addition to Tracking Time and consider all functions in the price-performance ratio, it is competitive. In particular, the free plan already offers sufficient features for most people.
The paid plans offer advanced features and integrations with excellent value for money, making it a particularly worthwhile investment for teams looking to increase their productivity.

6.8

The free version of Weava offers basic features, and their premium plan at $3.99/month is priced similarly to competitors.

However, given the ads in the free version and the overall user experience, you can find better value in alternatives that provide more features and a cleaner interface for the same or even lower cost.

Ease of Use
7.0

Although the tool is generally easy to use on the website, there are problems with the basic functions of the extension. In the test, we started a time recording on the website and stopped it later via the extension. When we wanted to start a new task, it took us a while to understand the principle that only tasks that had already been created could be restarted. This is not an intuitive function, which is why users might be annoyed right from the start.
One positive point, however, is the tutorials and support documentation, which can help new users.

6.5

Weava’s basic highlighting functionality is straightforward, but the poor design and mandatory account creation add unnecessary friction. The ads make navigation cumbersome, and while it’s not difficult to learn, using the tool effectively can be a challenge due to these barriers.

Security & Privacy
9.0

Tracking Time uses basic security measures to protect user data. Encryption and regular updates ensure the integrity of the data. In our research, most of this could be read in the privacy policies, but a little more transparency in the handling of user data would still be an advantage, as this is stored online.

7.0

Weava does take steps to protect user data, and their privacy policy is clear about not selling personal information. However, the requirement to create an account and the potential for data collection through ads could be a concern for privacy-conscious users.

Conclusion

Tracking Time is a tool for anyone who wants to improve their time management. The design is very intuitive, but unfortunately, the extension has hardly any functions. The extension is useful for anyone who uses Tracking Time, but anyone looking for a good extension for time tracking will not find it here.
However, the price-performance ratio of the functions of the entire tool is good.

Weava Highlighter may still be a popular choice, but its current state leaves much to be desired. The overwhelming presence of ads and a clunky design significantly detract from the user experience, making it hard to justify its use when other tools offer a more polished and ad-free environment.

If you’re serious about your productivity, it’s worth exploring alternatives like Web Highlights, which delivers all the benefits of Weava without the downsides.

Install Tracking Time
Install Weava
Our Recommendation

In our comparison between Tracking Time and Weava, Tracking Time came out on top, scoring 7.6.

Weava is the most widely used, with over 200k users and 3k+ reviews, but Tracking Time outperformed it in our review. User reviews for Tracking Time reflect our findings, while we rate Weava lower than users do.

Notably, Weava has the highest user rating in the Chrome Web Store at 4.06, which is even higher than our rating of 7.0.

There are some noticeable differences between these extensions, so it's worth considering your priorities and the details below.

  • Looking for the richest feature set? Weava stands out with a rating of 8.5. On the other hand, Tracking Time lags behind in this area with a rating of 5.5.
  • Need top performance? Tracking Time stands out with a rating of 8. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.
  • Design lovers, take note: Tracking Time stands out with a rating of 8. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.
  • Want to get the most for your money? Tracking Time stands out with a rating of 8. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.8.
  • If you hate complicated tools, Tracking Time stands out with a rating of 7. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.5.
  • With privacy and security becoming ever more important, Tracking Time stands out with a rating of 9. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.

If you want a quick recommendation, Tracking Time is our top pick. But as always, the best choice depends on what matters most to you.