Sage Timeslips Alternatives in 2026: What Solo Firms Actually Switch To

If you have billed your clients with Sage Timeslips for years, you already know why you are reading this. Timeslips stopped selling perpetual licenses, moved everyone to a subscription, and the price now starts around $52 a month. Worse: if you stop paying, your own billing database goes read-only.

This guide is for solo attorneys, consultants and small firms who want a plain answer: what can replace Timeslips, what does each option really cost over the years, and what happens to your data if you ever stop paying.

Quick answer

• Timeslips is subscription-only now. New perpetual licenses ended years ago; plans run from about $52 to $145 per month depending on the tier.
• Most alternatives are also subscriptions — TimeSolv (about $58 per user per month), Bill4Time (from $39–49 per month), Clio (from about $49 per user per month).
• Options without a subscription are rare: Timeless Time & Expense (about $49 one-time, an older program), NCH Express Invoice (about $60, invoicing only), and HourAndBill (free, built for solo time and billing).
• A spreadsheet is free and fine for two or three clients — until invoice numbering and unbilled-hours tracking start eating your evenings. We made a free billable hours template if that is your path.
• Whatever you choose, check two things first: can you export your data, and what stops working if you stop paying.

What happened to Timeslips

Timeslips was the standard desktop time-and-billing program for small law firms for two decades. You bought it, installed it, and billed with it for years.

That model is gone. Sage ended new perpetual-license sales — directly in 2019, and through partners by the end of September 2020. Since then, new customers can only subscribe. According to the pricing listed in the LawNext directory, the Starter tier runs about $52 per month (roughly $541 a year), and higher tiers reach $98, $130 and $145 per month.

Two details push long-time users to leave:

1. The read-only trap. If your subscription lapses, the program keeps opening but your database becomes read-only. Your own time entries, your own clients — viewable, not editable, until you pay again.
2. Paying more for the same software. Reviews on Capterra (the product holds 3.9 out of 5 across hundreds of reviews) repeat one complaint: years of subscription fees with, as one reviewer put it, "literally zero changes to the software." Lawyerist's review scores it 2.4 out of 5 and calls the Windows-only desktop interface outdated.

So the market has split. On one side, cloud subscriptions with modern interfaces and monthly bills forever. On the other, a very short list of programs you can still buy once and own.

Timeslips alternatives compared

Program	Type	Price	If you stop paying	Best for
HourAndBill	Windows desktop	Free	Keeps working	Solo attorneys and consultants who want to own their billing
TimeSolv	Cloud	~$58/user/month	Access ends	Small law firms that want legal-specific features
Bill4Time	Cloud	$39–69/month	Access ends	Firms that want cloud billing with a mobile app
Clio	Cloud	from ~$49/user/month	Access ends	Firms that want full practice management, not just billing
Time59	Web	$199/year	Access ends	Solo attorneys on a budget who accept web-only
Timeless Time & Expense	Windows desktop	~$49 one-time	Keeps working	Basic time capture; dated interface
NCH Express Invoice	Windows desktop	~$60 one-time	Keeps working	Invoicing only — no matter-based time tracking
Toggl Track / Harvest	Cloud	free–$18/month	Free tier limits	Consultants who mainly need a timer
Spreadsheet	DIY	free	—	2–3 clients, simple billing

Prices are list prices as of late August 2026, from each vendor's public pricing page; check before you buy.

The subscription route

TimeSolv is the closest functional match for Timeslips refugees in a law practice: matters, hourly and flat fees, trust accounting, batch invoicing. At about $58 per user per month, a solo pays roughly $700 a year.

Bill4Time covers the same ground at $39–49 per month (the legal tier is higher) and has a polished mobile app. Clio is a full practice management platform — calendar, documents, client portal — starting around $49 per user per month; powerful, but a lot of subscription for someone who just needs hours and invoices.

Time59 deserves a mention for price: $199 a year, web-based, aimed squarely at solo attorneys.

The honest case for a subscription: you get access from any device, automatic backups, and in some products online card payments. The honest case against: a solo practice pays $470–700 every single year, and the day you stop paying, you are locked out of your own billing history.

The one-time purchase route

This list used to be long. Fanurio and Grindstone — two desktop stalwarts — have not shipped a release since 2017. TimeNet Law still sells an "own it" license for $479.99, but only for Mac.

What is left on Windows:

• Timeless Time & Expense (MAG Softwrx) — about $49 one-time. It works and it is genuinely yours, but the interface shows its age and invoicing is basic.
• NCH Express Invoice — about $60 one-time. It is an invoicing program, not a time-and-billing program: there is no matter-based time capture, so you assemble hours elsewhere.
• HourAndBill — our own program, so judge this paragraph accordingly. A free, modern Windows program with a timer, clients and matters, per-matter rates, PDF invoices, payment tracking and CSV export. No subscription, no account, no cloud — and your database never goes read-only, because there is nothing to lapse. The Early Access Preview shows the real screens.

How to choose in 15 minutes

1. Count your real needs. Hours by matter, an invoice your client understands, and a report of who owes what. If that is the list, you need time and billing — not practice management.
2. Do the five-year math. A $58-per-month subscription is $3,480 over five years. A $199-per-year web app is $995. A program you own outright costs its sticker price once — or nothing at all. We break this down in subscription vs one-time purchase.
3. Ask the exit question. Before you commit, find the export button. If the answer to "how do I get my data out?" is a support ticket, keep looking.
4. Check the read-only clause. Ask the vendor directly: what exactly stops working if I stop paying? Timeslips users learned this one the hard way.

Where HourAndBill fits

HourAndBill exists for one specific person: the solo professional who liked the old deal — buy the program, own the program — and wants it back with a modern interface. It does not do trust accounting, online payments or multi-user databases, and we say that plainly. If you need those, pick TimeSolv or Clio and pay the monthly price knowingly. If you need hours, matters and invoices on your own PC, that is exactly what we build. See how it works or download the free preview.