DeskTime vs Mural: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of DeskTime and Mural to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
DeskTime
6.8/10
DeskTime is an automatic time tracking and productivity monitoring tool for office, remote and hybrid teams, with project time costing and shift scheduling.
Mural
7/10
Mural is a visual collaboration whiteboard for teams that run workshops, brainstorms, agile planning and retrospectives, with facilitation tools and enterprise security controls.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.8/10 | 7/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Scalability | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $7/user/mo Pro | $12/user/mo Team+ |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $70/mo Pro | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| Time tracking | ||
| App integrations | ||
| Client collaboration | Not listed | |
| Collaboration tools | Not listed | |
| Dashboards | Not listed | |
| File sharing | Not listed | |
| Gantt charts | Not listed | |
| Kanban boards | Not listed | |
| Reporting | Not listed | |
| Scheduling | Not listed | |
| Task management | Not listed | |
| Whiteboards | Not listed | |
DeskTime vs Mural cost by team size
Mural costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | DeskTime | Mural |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $7/moPro | FreeFree |
| 5 users | $35/moPro | FreeFree |
| 10 users | $70/moPro | FreeFree |
| 25 users | $175/moPro | FreeFree |
| 50 users | $350/moPro | FreeFree |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose DeskTime
- Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for small business (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Includes Time tracking, which Mural lacks
Why choose Mural
- Has a free plan (DeskTime does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $70/mo
- Higher Scalability score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Integration score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (9/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
DeskTime
Pros
- Tracking runs automatically in the background, so staff do not have to start or stop timers, which reviewers on G2 cite most often.
- ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certification, plus EU-based operation, helps buyers who must comply with GDPR.
- Project time tracking calculates costs from hourly rates, which helps agencies bill clients.
- Premium combines shift scheduling and an absence calendar with time tracking, so these do not need a separate tool.
- Per-user pricing starts at about 6.42 USD a month on annual billing, which is low for this category.
Cons
- Reviewers describe the URL tracking and screenshots as intrusive, and these features may need a legal basis in some jurisdictions.
- Capterra and G2 users report instability, such as tracking stopping or activity being marked as neutral.
- It has no Kanban boards, Gantt charts or task management of its own, so it depends on tools like Jira, Asana or Trello.
- Reviewers say time spent in meetings and offline work are tracked poorly.
- Screenshots and the API are only on Premium.
Mural
Pros
- Facilitation features and LUMA frameworks make it strong for running structured workshops.
- Free visitors can view or edit individual murals, so external participants do not need a paid seat.
- Enterprise security includes SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, SCIM, audit logs, data residency and BYOK.
- Broad integrations with Teams, Zoom, Jira, Azure DevOps, Asana and Confluence.
- Reviewers on G2 and Capterra rate it highly for ease of use, with about 4.5 to 4.6 stars.
Cons
- It is not a project or task manager, so there are no Gantt charts, no time tracking and no task assignment.
- Reviewers complain that menus and functions move around often between releases.
- The Free plan caps editable murals at three.
- The Business plan is annual-only, and SSO is not available on cheaper tiers.
- Large boards with many collaborators can feel cluttered.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Mural scores higher on our Project Management criteria: 7/10 against 6.8/10 for DeskTime. The largest gap is in Analytics: 7/10 for DeskTime and 4/10 for Mural.
Mural costs less for 10 users: free on its Free plan, against about $70/mo on its Pro plan for DeskTime, billed monthly.
Mural has a free plan; DeskTime does not list one.
Mural is the better fit for enterprise: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 5/10 for DeskTime.
DeskTime has Time tracking, which Mural lacks.
