When comparing Emacs Org-mode vs Desktop Task Timer, the Slant community recommends Emacs Org-mode for most people. In the question“What are the best time tracking apps for freelancers?” Emacs Org-mode is ranked 7th while Desktop Task Timer is ranked 19th. The most important reason people chose Emacs Org-mode is:
This app's flexibility is based on its minimalist approach, giving the user near-infinite freedom.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Ultimate flexibility
This app's flexibility is based on its minimalist approach, giving the user near-infinite freedom.
Pro Absolutely free
Emacs with Org-mode is free as in beer and free as in speech – that is, it costs nothing and it’s totally open source.
Pro Files are usable anywhere at anytime
Users are not tied to one service provider, program, platform, or database engine.
Pro Incredibly extensible
There are many plug-ins for Org-mode, including Org-habits and Org-notify. If Org-mode lacks some piece of functionality, it is very easy to add it.
Pro Agenda views
Pro Excellent unofficial Android app (orgzly)
Pro Offline support
Pro Efficient features for deadline organization
Pro Supports plaintext spreadsheets
Pro There are a lot of extensions, for exporting to html, bootstrap, js-reveal and much more
Pro Quickly add rich text
Pro Light version available
There is a cheaper light version available for those that don't need the full functionality of the app or would like to try it out without spending the more money on the more expensive version.
Pro Export time to CSV
Users can export CSV files from the app to use for billing, etc. Though this does require the non light version.
Pro An internet connection isn't required
Due to the app having no cloud sync there is no need to have an internet connection for the app to run. Everything it does is local to the device.
Pro Sync time across devices using a shared folder
While not necessarily the easiest of options (really more a work around to the apps limited functionality) users can sync the apps files to a shared folder or cloud storage folder in order to have sync'd time across Mac's.
Cons
Con Unintuitive user interface
The key combinations are unintuitive and difficult to remember. This is probably because there are a lot of hidden "modes" depending on where the cursor is. Actions aren't paired with reversing actions like in other todo apps. For example, hitting shift-tab does NOT reverse the effect of hitting tab.
Con Android app isn't very good
There are several user-created apps for Android, but none seem to offer the same level of functionality as other to-do apps.
Con Not really cross platform
Although it is possible to get a lot of it working, no all in one, sync included, out of the box solution is available for mobile devices.
Con By default, a hard-to-read display
The default way of writing an outline or checklist creates a very messy wall of text that's difficult to read with no vertical spacing. You can manually add vertical spacing, but the Org operations don't preserve it. There are pretty-display modes, but you need to remember how to enable them, etc. etc.
Con Only available for OSX
Can only be used on OSX devices, which is pretty limiting for those that use multiple OS's.