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Y-Productive

Reviews of Y-Productive

4.4 (60)
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Pros

  • Gives me fantastic reporting and insights. Good "suite" of tools that keeps you focused on the task at hand.

  • My favorite thing about Y-Productive was the UI/UX. It has a wonderful design that makes it easy to use.

  • Overall though: stunning UI, awesome tracking, task management with time tracking against each task is awesome, and I love the analysis I'm able to do against my days with it.

  • Its interface is clean and pleasing and its feature set is accessible. The premisse of the y-productive, which tracking what you do on your computer, is a good one.

Cons

  • Keyboard shortcuts frustrated me to no end though, and it took a while for me to track down where they were customizable in the app.

  • That keyboard shortcut will start or stop your timers. Need to cut special text.

  • 3rd: Some functionalities are still missing such as changing which apps/sites are productive depending on task. 4th: At present, the price is too high given the above.

  • I personally use Powerlist instead of this. The main function for me is just focus keeper and blocking all the interproductive sites.

Showing Most Helpful

Showing 25 of 60 reviews

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Martin C. avatar
Martin C.
Head of Infrastructure
Information Technology and Services, 11-50 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Features
3.0
Value for Money
3.0
Likelihood to Recommend
7/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
October 1, 2018

"Good time tracker with plenty of space for improving"

Overall: I used Y-Productive for a couple of days to get a first-hand experience, and I liked it -- a quite. However, maybe I'm used to Timing, or indeed Y-Productive lacks some of the functionality I use every day, I felt it's not ready for me yet. Nevertheless, as I previously said, I liked what I saw, and I'm looking forward to giving it another drill once my Timing subscription ends.

Pros: Maybe the first thing you notice when you launch Y-Productive for the first time is the clean and beautiful interface. While some people may think it's 'a little too much clean,' the truth is that it fulfills its objective without flooding the screen with non-relevant information. I also absolutely love that developers underwent the effort to make the application run as a Chrome extension so even GNU+Linux users will have the chance to enjoy Y-Productive.

Cons: I'm currently using Timing.app, which excellent, and already paid for the annual subscription (not that I especially like this business model). Timing is also a more mature application, and you learn from the very first moment you run them both side by side. Said that, and judging from my experience with Y-Productive, I'm already considering switching to it once my current plan with Timing ends.

Colin M. avatar
Colin M.
Consultant
Information Technology and Services, 1-10 employees
Used the software for: Less than 6 months
Overall Rating
4.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
Likelihood to Recommend
9/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 13, 2018

"Useful tool for measuring activity and planning and allocating time"

Overall: I'm generally not a fan of 'productivity' tools - most don't work that well or they require too much time to manage. I purchased Y-Productive after using the demo version for a few days as it is a useful tool for measuring activity and that feeds into planning and allocating time to specific tasks and projects. For many users the key feature will be the 'Focus Mode' that stops you from going down the rabbit hole of distraction when you spend a lot of time in front of a connected computer, but for me it is a tool to give a reasonably accurate measure of time spent on specific tasks and projects so that in future planning and allocation of time can be more accurate and realistic. It's common for us all to underestimate the time that tasks will take; Y-Productive shows actual time expended. This can be fed back into future project plans giving more realistic timeframes and costs. Y-Productive is also good for spotting areas where efficiencies can be (or should be) introduced and to ensure that sufficient time is spent on important tasks that may not be urgent. A key factor in the purchasing decision was that customer support is responsive and suggestions do get fed back to the development team. Most 'productivity' tools get used for a few weeks before being abandoned, but Y-Productivity looks like it will be joining the select few that become an integral part of the working day and actually make a positive contribution to time management.

Pros: - Simple interface - Does a good job of tracking activity - Doesn't require much user intervention - Nice visual reporting

Cons: - Takes a bit of time to classify productive/unproductive sites/apps - A few tracked items aren't easily identifiable - A few quirks in the UI - Would be nice to track activity across desktop and laptop

Grant G.
College Student
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, Self-employed
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
3.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
2.0
Likelihood to Recommend
8/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 17, 2018

"Doesn't fit my needs"

Overall: Unfortunately, I don't think I have a use for Y-Productive. I am already using Todoist, myHomework, and Due (iOS). These have been covering all of my bases, and I couldn't find a way to fit Y-Productive into how I currently work as a college student. I did like the site blocking, and if I were more concerned about the fine details of how I spend my time, maybe it would have been easier for me to use Y-Productive. As it stands though, the most important thing for me at the moment is whether I finish something or not, not how much time I spend doing it. In short, I don't have any complaints about the app. It's just not the right fit for me. If I had encountered Y-Productive before getting invested into other productivity apps, maybe I'd be buying a subscription right now.

Pros: The site-blocking. The ability to specify projects and tasks.

Cons: The inability to set a task due date. Mainly, the fact that it doesn't fit my current needs as a student. The most important thing for me at the moment is whether I finish something or not, not how much time I spend doing it.

Verified Reviewer
Growth Engineer
Computer Software, 11-50 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
4.0
Ease of Use
3.0
Features
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
5/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 18, 2018

"Keyboard shortcut frustrations"

Overall: I liked it! Keyboard shortcuts frustrated me to no end though, and it took a while for me to track down where they were customizable in the app. If I'm looking to save time on time tracking, I don't want to fight the default configuration of the app. Overall though: stunning UI, awesome tracking, task management with time tracking against each task is awesome, and I love the analysis I'm able to do against my days with it.

Pros: Loved the automatic tracking and task tracking. This software nails that aspect like nothing else.

Cons: They made the start / stop keyboard shortcut for Focus Mode and Timer control shortcuts that many other apps use. Working in a doc and need to "Save As"? Nope. That keyboard shortcut will start or stop your timers. Need to cut special text? That will enable or disable focus mode. This is all customizable but seems really silly and shortsighted to have this be such a common keyboard shortcut by default.

Aiman Z. avatar
Aiman Z.
Business Development Executive
Internet, 11-50 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
Likelihood to Recommend
7/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 20, 2018

"Easy to use but lack the stickiness factor"

Overall: It was a good experience. I enjoyed the simplicity of it. But i cant grasp why it wont stick into my daily routine. Probably im too scared to see all the list ive made and how much I havent achieved yet. Makes me overwhelmed and miserable.

Pros: I like how simple it is to use the software! It is easy to understand and it makes sense. Several features such as subtask is needed but overall the whole experience is good.

Cons: Lack of features. I like the add project features where you can create different tab for different project but i'd like to go more in depth on that. I guess it would be really cool is I can set Goal objective and break it down to monthly goal, weekly goal and daily goal. But it depends on the direction the developer wants to take. I understand adding more features to the app can make it too bloated.

Konstantin M. avatar
Konstantin M.
.NET software developer
Information Technology and Services, 501-1,000 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
10/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
October 28, 2018

"Best productivity tool"

Pros: It allows you to find out the small things which distract you It allows you to see what triggers continuous concentration It is a tool which makes you more disciplined and better at what you do You will accomplish more for less time This will not only be for work but other stuff you do on your laptop I am a developer and maybe there is some kind of a bias to my opinion

Cons: I did not find this earlier There are disciplined cons but suggestions for future releases: - A place where people can submit ideas to the developers and vote on them for It is. I visited such a website earlier but cannot remember its name - A mobile application for distraction tracking

Verified Reviewer
School Liaison
E-Learning, 201-500 employees
Used the software for: Less than 6 months
Overall Rating
4.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
3.0
Value for Money
4.0
Likelihood to Recommend
7/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 17, 2018

"Y - Productive review"

Overall: Quite good

Pros: I thoroughly enjoy the focus mode and the way Y - productive enables you to categorise different activities into different categories of productive and unproductive. Further, the recognition of habitual switching is a nice touch

Cons: Cannot categorise different activities for different tasks as of yet. I understand this is back logged into their product road map, but personally it is a necessity. Until then, this will be a con. Next, the 'task' section and 'reporting' section is very clunky and was not intuitive enough for me to immediately understand what was going on.

Chip H. avatar
Chip H.
Owner
Publishing, Self-employed
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Features
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
Likelihood to Recommend
8/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 26, 2018

"Great promise - needs a bit more work"

Pros: I like that this software forces you to be productive and honest about what you're working on.

Cons: I'm sure it's coming, but integrations with other software. I'm using Todoist because it works with email, has a mobile app, mobile task adding. Y-Productive is best when you have broad tasks buckets, not really small tasks that you need to keep track of.

Michał S. avatar
Michał S.
Researcher / Software Engineer
51-200 employees
Used the software for: Less than 6 months
Overall Rating
4.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
4.0
Value for Money
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
March 1, 2018

"It's easy to use, very visual and gives me the knowledge about how I use my time."

Pros: - It gives the information in nice visual style - Developers listen to the feedback - I can track my time effortlessly - It's regularly updated.

Cons: That it's in the early phase and not all the features I would like to have are yet implemented. From time to time there are some bugs with new features, but they are being fixed pretty fast.

Hamza L. avatar
Hamza L.
Experience Design Consultant/ RTL Localization Expert
Information Technology and Services, 11-50 employees
Used the software for: Less than 6 months
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
10/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 5, 2018

"Tracking your workflow like never before!"

Pros: The entire user experience is flawless ! Kudos to the design team! Minimalist approach to managing daily tasks. The focus mode is fantastic :) Waiting for the smart assistant to kick in asap!

Cons: Nothing so far! Would love to have a dark UI as well, not a real con but will be great to have it.

Marco Aurelio V.
Lead Consultant
Computer Software, 5,001-10,000 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
4.0
Ease of Use
3.0
Features
2.0
Likelihood to Recommend
5/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 13, 2018

"Application use productivity is context based."

Overall: I went to y-productive with expectations created from Rescue Time (which I used long time ago). So my main goal using it was to get a sense where the my time went. After some use I felt that y-productive wasn't answering this question and was more trying define what productive means for me. Through tasks and uncategorized application uses. Another insight that drove me away from y-productive, and probably other applications with the same functionality is the definition of being productive. The mere use of an application doesn't necessarily mean I'm being productive or not. I'm a polymath so I do lots of things at once and application usage needs a context to be classified as productive use or not. When I thought about this I realized that this approach of classifying applications would not help much.

Pros: Y-Productive is easy to use and install, works with minimal effort. Its interface is clean and pleasing and its feature set is accessible. The premisse of the y-productive, which tracking what you do on your computer, is a good one. Applications like Rescue Time (which I used before) can help us to get more productive by seeing where our time is going and so Y-Productive.

Cons: The lack of pre-categories for common applications was a big deal. On the first use the uncategorized applications grow fast and the time investment to get value from the application is high. Having tasks for me is a conflicting feature which gets in the way of the time tracking. I see what the idea is, to know you're productive is good get tasks done. But I feel the application should be divided in two. There's the time tracking application and maybe a tasks application. Both in the same application brought little value for me.

Verified Reviewer
Freelance Full-Stack Web Development Engineer
Computer Software, 1-10 employees
Used the software for: Less than 6 months
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
4.0
Value for Money
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
9/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 13, 2018

"Best app to keep track of where your productivity is going!"

Overall: This software is totally unobstrusive, intuitive to use and can give you insights on how you spend your time - not just a productivity score, which other alternatives might give you. It enables more powerful habit changes and analysis and it is worth it just for that!

Pros: The real killer here is the timeline view where you can see at a glance how productive you've been for each 5-minute interval of the day, while also being capable of seeing why you got that score, drilling down app use. This is a great way to get an overview of your day but with enough detail for it to be useful.

Cons: The app allows you to setup tasks and projects to time-track them. This might work fine if you don't already have your tasks listed somewhere else, but in my case I have plenty of lists in Trello where I detail my tasks, and re-entering all my tasks and projects into Y-Productive to track them is just too cumbersome. I end up using another tool for time-tracking (which allows me to just enter the current task, and no need to have a task list).

Jessica V. avatar
Jessica V.
Software Developer
Computer Software, 11-50 employees
Used the software for: Less than 6 months
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
3.0
Features
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
10/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
February 23, 2018

"This is by far one of the best apps I've found to track small and large tasks and to keep me focused"

Overall: More efficient use of my time and ultimately, being more productive. So far the learning curve has been easy. I got the hang of it within a few minutes or so. I was confused at first about how tracking my tasks worked, since I just jumped in and downloaded the app when I saw the beautiful user interface, but other than that, and the lack of a few features I am really in need of (Hello projects!), this app has little to no issues I've detected.

Pros: I love that only one task is tracked at a time. This prevents me from switching to another browser tab and/or app because the current task is frustrating or I get sidetracked. This holds me accountable for finishing ONE task, and then only moving on to the next. Something I have always struggled with. I've found I jump around less and can actually see where my time is spent while busy with my set task. Great for someone who works on many projects at once. This allows or time spent equally on all of them.

Verified Reviewer
Application Developer
Used the software for: Less than 6 months
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
10/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
July 31, 2018

"Great app, genuinely transformative to my workflow"

Overall: Improve productivity and greater awareness of my activities.

Pros: I love pretty much everything about Y-Productive, from the UI to the great support team. The to-list functionality and reporting are great and the tracking is thorough but non-intrusive. Highly recommended.

Cons: There's not really anything I dislike but I'd like to see apps that track the same account via phone (since it's easy to get distraction on the Twitter app even in focus mode on the computer) and possibly a category for things that are neither productive or unproductive--for example, Amazon Music isn't really productive but if I mark it as unproductive, I can't use it while in focus mode. These aren't really complaints though--this is a great piece of software.

Héctor Isaac M. avatar
Héctor Isaac M.
Leader in IT Infrastructure
Building Materials, 501-1,000 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Features
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
10/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 13, 2018

"Best productivity software I've tested so far"

Overall: I'm very happy with Y-Productive, I will leave it installed on my computer and use keep using it for my projects.

Pros: It's easily the best productivity software, it doesn't even get on your face as you can just close it and keep working. The ability to track everything you're doing on the computer with this software leaves you worry free to just do what you have to do, and when you're done you can just open the window again and move the activities around to get your productivity percentage.

Cons: I really didn't find any cons when using this software, I monitored the RAM usage and it stays minimal, it isn't heavy on resources and it's easy to use with a friendly and beautiful interface.

Verified Reviewer
COO
Consumer Goods, 1-10 employees
Used the software for: Less than 6 months
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Features
4.0
Likelihood to Recommend
9/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
October 7, 2018

"Granular details at your finger tips"

Pros: How detailed and specific the reporting is makes it really easy to see where your time is going and what you need to change to be most productive. The "focus" mode helps to block distractions based on some of the more common culprits (Facebook, YouTube), but you can go as far as to lay out where you don't want your productive spent - whether that be apps or websites.

Cons: I think if it could pick up on background tasks it would take it to the next level. As an example, playing a split screen video on YouTube wouldn't log if it wasn't the active window. So even though it still is present, it doesn't get tracked. Other than that everything is great!

Octavian I.
trainer
Education Management, Self-employed
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
4.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Features
4.0
Likelihood to Recommend
8/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 13, 2018

"Very happy with the product, even if it is still in development"

Overall: My overall experience with Y-Productive was very good and pleasant at the date of the review (13th of September 2018). I am sure that they ar working on even more features that will help me, and I am expecting them with curiosity.

Pros: + I had ease in using the interface; I perceived it as being simple but effective + I enjoyed + it doesn't take my focus; just runs in the background and when I want to look at the stats I have them at a click + the ability to put activities into category with ease

Cons: - for me, a few activities could be productive on unproductive, depending on how I am using them. I would like an option to manually mark some blocks of time of any activity as being productive.

Zach H. avatar
Zach H.
Product Manager
Computer Games, 11-50 employees
Used the software for: Less than 6 months
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
4.0
Value for Money
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
10/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
November 14, 2018

"Fantastic Product, even better team"

Overall: Superb.

Pros: - Tracks time extremely well - Gives me fantastic reporting and insights - Good "suite" of tools that keeps you focused on the task at hand

Cons: This is a new product, so obviously there is still a lot of development in the pipeline. Some of these I list are likely already being worked on. - Better management of different computers and different "zones" of work (side project versus 9-5 job for example). - Better organization of tasks and filtering. Sometimes I only want to see my work project tasks, and not anything else.

Verified Reviewer
Ambassador to Europe
Civic & Social Organization, 501-1,000 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Customer Service
4.0
Features
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
9/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 17, 2018

"Y-productive from a student view"

Overall: Y-productive turned out to be the productivity tool that I needed for so long. I loved the statistics it gave me about time spent on distracting websites and social media. Over the time I was trying my best to minimize this time and it offered me a quick solution of blocking everything that might be distracting.

Pros: Productivity tips, they have really helped me.

Cons: I use Youtube a lot for watching programming tutorials, but I often fall into the trap of randomly buzzing all around the website, and by blocking Youtube I couldn't​ do much.

Verified Reviewer
Digital Marketer and Web Designer
Computer Software, Self-employed
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
4.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
4.0
Features
5.0
Value for Money
3.0
Likelihood to Recommend
2/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 13, 2018

"Great idea, one step away from good execution."

Pros: Ease of use, most functionalities are there, and a very intuitive and nice UI.

Cons: 1st: Safety. It is a huge privacy risk to have all of your usage data go to a centralised databse. Everything needs to be stored locally, and ideally open-sourced. 2nd: The software still has some bugs 3rd: Some functionalities are still missing such as changing which apps/sites are productive depending on task 4th: At present, the price is too high given the above.

Susana M.
Project Estimator
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
2.0
Ease of Use
1.0
Features
2.0
Likelihood to Recommend
3/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
February 23, 2019

"Needs more work"

Pros: The only pro I can see on this app is the idea of an app that helps you stay productive and keeps you away from the sites that distract you.

Cons: Cons, first off, it is so difficult to understand how this app works, it doesn't even give a guide on how to use it when you set it up, therefore, I couldn't use the application to my advantage. Just make it easier to use and understand because the idea is great.

Nawal A.
Student Physical Therapist
Hospital & Health Care, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Features
5.0
Likelihood to Recommend
10/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 13, 2018

"Excellent for a procrastinating graduate student!"

Pros: I liked the interface the most. It was very motivating to turn on focus mode then return to the application later on. The colors aren’t obnoxious and it’s very easy to delegate tasks.

Cons: I found that sometimes it felt like organizing tasks was wasting more time than it was saving, but I think that had more to do with the fact that I was just setting the whole week up and it needed to have time spent on it.

Nathan M.
Teacher
Higher Education, 501-1,000 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Customer Service
5.0
Features
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
Likelihood to Recommend
8/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 13, 2018

"Works where RescueTime doesn't"

Pros: It makes it super easy to track your online time and presents it in an attractive, functional, easy and quick to use interface. I am excited to see the improvements as they happen such as weekly and monthly tracking of website use.

Cons: Would enjoy being able to do more detailed tracking of my online, app and software use. I am told this is coming soon.

Monarksingh Y.
Tech Lead
Computer Software, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
4.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Features
4.0
Value for Money
2.0
Likelihood to Recommend
8/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 17, 2018

"One of the most comprehensive time tracking tool that you can find"

Pros: After trying out so many time tracking tool, I can say Y-Productive has one of the most comprehensive time tracking tool out there, which has enough feature that you can think of and fits in your workflow nicely.

Cons: Pricing is something that you can't say value for money, Sure it has a trial, but it would have been nice if there was a free tier available.

Gary T.
Marketing
Market Research, 1-10 employees
Used the software for: I used a free trial
Overall Rating
4.0
Ease of Use
2.0
Customer Service
4.0
Features
3.0
Value for Money
4.0
Likelihood to Recommend
6/10
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 21, 2018

"Should be a native mac app"

Overall: It was good overall. I feel like the reports should be more thorough and maybe email a report every week.

Pros: The design of the application is nice. It is overall smart about the productive and unproductive applications you use.

Cons: Remove the intercom in the app. It's annoying to get messages from you guys. Next, make a native mac app. Most of you're users are mac users I asumme.