Use case
Track your own hours, not just the billable ones.
Build Mode is a private, one button time tracker for Mac, made for freelancers and independent creatives who want a record of their own work. That means the portfolio site, the product taking shape between contracts, the skill they are learning. It is not an invoicing or billing tool. It runs on macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon or Intel, keeps every hour in a local file on your Mac, and is a one time purchase.
Press ⌘⌥B
Do your own work
Press again
Watch it add up
The billable side
Client hours already have a home.
If you bill by the hour, you already run a tool for that side of the desk: timesheets, rates, invoices, reports a client can read. That side is covered, and Build Mode does not compete with it. It never generates an invoice and never bills anyone.
The side that is yours
The other side of the desk has no record at all.
The portfolio you keep meaning to redesign. The product you build between contracts. The craft you practice before the day starts. Those hours produce no invoice, so they are the easiest ones to lose. Build Mode counts them: press ⌘⌥B to start a focused session, watch the small clock in the MacBook notch, press again to stop and jot a one line note.
What it does
Four things, none of them billing.
One shortcut, on purpose
Nothing records until you start. Press ⌘⌥B when your own work begins, and a small clock shows in the MacBook notch while the session runs. Press again to stop. No timer to forget, no background process.
Modes you define
Modes, called skills in the app, are yours to name: Build, Design, Writing, or your own. Some freelancers keep Client A next to Own Product just to see the split; others use a single Own Work. Auto Mode suggests a mode from the name of the frontmost app, browsers stay unassigned by default, and you can turn it off.
Active time only
Build Mode pauses when you step away or the display sleeps, and resumes when you return. The totals are hours you actually worked, which is what makes them worth believing.
A record that adds up
Hours accumulate into a dashboard and an hour wall, and each week becomes Wrapped, a visual recap you can keep private or share as an image. Every session can carry a one line note, so you remember what the hour built.
Private by structure
No account your clients could ever appear in.
A session note might name a client or an unannounced product. In Build Mode, those notes live in a local file on your Mac. There is no account, no cloud, and no networking code in the app at all, and it asks for zero macOS permissions. Nothing about your work, or the people you work with, can leave the machine, because nothing in the app can transmit.
That is a structure you can check yourself, not a promise you take on trust.
How a fully private time tracker worksWhat it is not
Keep your billing stack.
Build Mode does not generate invoices or timesheets, does not bill clients, does not sync between devices, and has no mobile app and no free trial. If a client relationship needs paperwork, that stays in the tool you already use. The private time trackers roundup compares more tools if you are still choosing.
What it is
A quiet total for your own name.
Build Mode counts active time only and turns it into proof that the work under your own name is moving. The download is free, and a license, paid once, unlocks it with a key sent by email and verified on your Mac. The product page shows the whole loop.
Common questions
Freelancer questions, answered plainly.
Can Build Mode generate invoices or timesheets?
No. Build Mode is a private record of your own hours, not a billing tool. Sessions accumulate into a dashboard, an hour wall, and a weekly recap called Wrapped. If you invoice clients by the hour, keep the tool you use for that. Build Mode is for the work that has no invoice.
Can I still note what a session was for?
Yes. Every session can carry a one line note, jotted when you stop. Over months those lines become a log of what your own hours actually built.
Is there a team or agency plan?
No. Build Mode is one person, one Mac. You buy a license once, the key arrives by email, and it is verified on your Mac. The download itself is free; the key unlocks it.
What does Build Mode never record?
Your screen, your keystrokes, your browser history, and your websites. It asks for zero macOS permissions and contains no networking code, so everything stays in a local file on your Mac.
What are the requirements?
macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon or Intel. License details live in the terms.
Client work pays. Your work compounds.