Automatic time tracking for Adobe Premiere Pro. See how long every edit, revision, and client turnaround really took — without a plugin or a panel.
For agency editors, wedding filmmakers, YouTube creators, and broadcast post teams cutting in Premiere.
Free forever for individuals · 30-day trial for studios · no card required
How it works with Premiere
Cut Time uses lsof to detect which .prproj file Premiere has open, and parses Premiere's window title for additional project context. There's no ExtendScript panel to install, no Premiere extension to approve, no Creative Cloud integration to maintain. It reads what macOS already knows about the open file, so nothing changes about your Premiere workflow.
What you get
No timesheets. No guessing. Just honest numbers for every project you edit.
Zero-effort tracking
Cut Time runs in your menu bar. Open a Premiere project and time starts counting automatically — no timers, no buttons.
Active vs idle detection
Distinguishes real editing time from time the app was open but idle. Your billable hours reflect actual work.
Per-project breakdown
Every Premiere project is tracked separately. See exactly how many hours went into each cut.
Private by default
Cut Time only reads the project name from Premiere. Not your footage, not your timeline, not your files.
No habit change
Install once. Open Premiere like you always do. The data builds itself.
Works across all four
If you switch between Resolve, Premiere, After Effects, and Final Cut during a week, Cut Time tracks all four.
Freelancers figuring out what to charge. Studios tracking what projects actually cost.
Agency editors
Juggling 4 client projects in Premiere? Cut Time keeps each project's hours separate so you can bill back to the right client with receipts.
Wedding filmmakers
Delivering a wedding takes weeks. Know your real hours from footage import to final export, not just what you guess after the fact.
YouTube creators
Track your weekly upload time in Premiere. See which videos take the longest — the data usually surprises you.
Post studios
Your whole team's Premiere hours across every project, rolled up on one dashboard. Spot unprofitable clients faster.
Pricing
Track your own Premiere hours on the free plan forever. Studios start with a 30-day free trial — no card required, invite your whole team.
Do I need to install a Premiere plugin or extension?
+No. Cut Time is a standalone desktop app (Mac and Windows) that runs in your menu bar or system tray. It reads from the OS, not from inside Premiere, so there's nothing to install in Creative Cloud or ExtendScript.
Does it work with Premiere Pro CC?
+Yes. Cut Time works with every modern version of Premiere Pro (2020 onwards). Detection is based on .prproj file handles, which are consistent across versions.
What if I have multiple Premiere projects open at once?
+Cut Time tracks the project that currently has focus. When you switch projects, it automatically starts counting time against the new one.
Does it track individual sequences within a project?
+No — time is logged per project. A project with 30 sequences rolls up into one set of hours. This matches how most editors actually bill.
Does it work with Premiere Pro on Windows?
+Yes. Cut Time supports Premiere Pro on both macOS and Windows. The Windows installer is on the download page; detection uses the same .prproj-based approach across both platforms.
Will Adobe updates break it?
+Unlikely. Cut Time doesn't depend on Adobe's internal APIs or panel extensions — it reads file handles from the OS. Adobe would have to stop using .prproj files entirely, which they haven't in 20 years.
More questions? See the full FAQ or email [email protected].
Use a different editing app?
Install the tracker (Mac or Windows), open Premiere, keep editing. Your first session shows up on your dashboard in under a minute.
Get Cut Time free