Overview

Miru connects timers and manual entries to weekly approvals, member-specific rates, invoices, expense billing, and revenue reporting. That makes it more useful than a standalone timer when a team needs recorded work to flow into client billing. Reports cover paid, pending, overdue, and projected revenue, as well as project and team analytics.

The MIT-licensed Rails app can be self-hosted, giving teams deployment control without a software subscription. That choice is best for organizations able to handle operations, backups, upgrades, and security maintenance themselves. Hosted and managed options reduce that burden, though the managed plan’s cost depends on the agreed scope and usage.

Key features

Time, approvals, and invoicing

Timer-based and manual time capture accommodate different work habits. Weekly approvals provide a review step before billing, and rates can be set per team member—a useful fit where client work is priced differently across a team. Miru can generate invoices from approved or tracked work, with support for expenses, taxes, discounts, and sending invoices. It also supports expense billing, but not recurring invoices, so teams relying on automatic repeat billing will need another workflow.

Reporting and connections

Revenue reports distinguish paid, pending, overdue, and projected amounts, while project and team analytics help managers follow work across engagements. Integrations include Stripe, Google Calendar, SMTP email, CSV and PDF export, CSV import, a REST API, CLI, Zapier, Make, and n8n. QuickBooks Online support exports clients, invoices, and recorded payments through a one-way sync; it is not a two-way accounting connection.

Desktop, mobile, and security

The local-first desktop timer is available for macOS Apple Silicon and Intel, Linux x64, and Windows x64, and syncs with Miru. The iOS and Android apps remain in beta, with early access through TestFlight and Google Play internal testing; teams that need mature mobile apps should weigh that limitation. Hosted data is encrypted at rest and in transit, with TLS 1.3 connections and AES-256 stored-data encryption. Miru says it is GDPR compliant and that SOC 2 Type II is in progress; enterprise customers can request a data processing addendum.

Pricing

Self-hosted — 0.00 USD per free. The MIT-licensed plan includes every feature, unlimited members, Docker deployment, and community support on Discord. It is the clearest fit for teams with the technical capacity to operate the service; the zero price does not remove the work of backups, upgrades, or security upkeep.

Miru Cloud — 1.00 USD per month. It includes every feature, unlimited members, priority email support, and a 14-day Pro trial with no credit card required. The billing term is also expressed as “Or $10/member/year.” Teams should account for that per-member annual option when comparing costs, particularly as headcount grows.

Managed Miru — 1.00 USD per month. This base service is plus usage, with scope agreed before commitment. It includes a dedicated deployment, upgrades, backups, monitoring, integration help, security review support, and SLA options. It suits teams seeking operational help, but the usage-based, scoped arrangement means the displayed base price alone does not establish the full cost.

Platforms

Miru supports web, API, Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted deployment, as well as Android and iOS apps currently in beta. Desktop timer builds cover Linux x64, Windows x64, and both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Self-hosted users receive community support on Discord, while the cloud plan includes priority email support and the managed plan lists monitoring and support.

Who it's for

Miru is a strong match for agencies, consultants, freelancers, startups, and service teams that bill for hours and want approvals, rates, invoices, expenses, and revenue reporting in one system. Unlimited members on both the free self-hosted plan and the cloud plan make it relevant to growing teams, but the free option is most attractive when someone can own maintenance. Teams that need recurring invoices, mature mobile apps, or bidirectional QuickBooks synchronization should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

Pros: The workflow links time capture and approvals to invoicing, expense billing, and revenue reports, reducing the need to assemble those steps across separate tools.
Pros: Both self-hosted and cloud plans include every feature and unlimited members, giving teams a choice of deployment without a stated seat cap.
Pros: The integration options span payment processing, automation, imports and exports, and developer interfaces; QuickBooks Online export adds a path for accounting handoff.
Cons: Self-hosting transfers operations, backups, upgrades, and security maintenance to the customer.
Cons: iOS and Android apps are in beta, and recurring invoices are not supported.
Cons: QuickBooks Online sync is one-way, while Managed Miru’s total cost depends on usage and agreed scope.

Alternatives

For a broader time billing software comparison, the right alternative depends on which constraint matters most:

TimeCamp is worth considering if you want a freemium option with a free plan for unlimited users and projects.
Harvest is a better fit for an individual freelancer who can work within its free plan’s one-seat and two-project limits.
Invoice Ninja may suit teams prioritizing invoicing, with a free plan capped at five clients and unlimited invoicing.
Avaza is an option for teams whose needs fit its free plan’s role-specific user limits.
solidtime is another choice for teams comparing a free solo tier with a Professional plan priced at 8.00 EUR per month, billed annually and excluding VAT.
Paymo may fit a solo user whose work stays within the free plan’s one-user, one-client, two-project, and 1 GB storage limits.
TMetric is worth comparing if a free plan for up to two seats meets your team’s needs.
Scoro is a paid alternative for teams considering its Time-billing plan at 17.00 USD per month, shown as $17 per user / month among its listed regional prices.

Verdict

Choose Miru if your agency or service team wants time tracking, approvals, expenses, invoices, and revenue reporting together, especially if unlimited members and self-hosting or a low-cost cloud option matter. Look elsewhere if recurring invoicing or mature mobile apps are essential, or if you need two-way QuickBooks synchronization. The free self-hosted plan is compelling only when your team is prepared to run and maintain it.

	FacturMe	Miru
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	Yes	Yes
Paid from	$3.99/mo	$1/mo
Platforms	self-hosted, Web	Android, api, iOS, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, Web, Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Invoice generation	Yes	Yes
Time capture	manual	mixed
Billable rates	Yes	Yes
Time approval		Yes
Expense billing		Yes
Recurring invoices		No
Client portal		Yes

FacturMe vs Miru

FacturMe

Miru