Time clock software is a useful tool to keep track of employee schedules, streamline payroll, and much more. If you run a business, consider our picks for the best time clock software now.
1. Best for Mobile Functionality: Buddy Punch
If you have employees who work remotely or have off-site job responsibilities, you’ll need a time clock software that allows employees to log their hours from anywhere. Buddy Punch offers mobile apps for both Apple and Android devices to make this possible.
Worried that employees might be falsely clocking in from unauthorized locations? Buddy Punch can handle that concern, too. It allows employers to specify a radius around authorized locations, that way an employee can only clock in and out once they are within the authorized radius. Employers can also specify time frames in which employees are allowed to clock in and out.
Buddy Punch offers additional useful features, as well. Your employees can track hours spent on specific projects or at specific locations by clocking in and out of each location or department labels that you’ve activated within the system.
Employers can also delegate by assigning specific employees to managers or supervisors within each department. The manager can then handle their assigned employees’ time-off requests, timesheets, and receive customized reports within the timesheet system. Your team can also access their schedules with Buddy Punch’s scheduling software.
Pricing: Free trial, then pricing is based on the number of employees
Pricing starts at $25.99 per month for 4 employees
Mobile app? Yes
2. Best for Free Plan: Clockify
If you’re looking for a simple and free time clock software, Clockify may be right for you. Clockify offers a free plan with an unlimited amount of users, unlimited projects, unlimited reports and unlimited tracking. You can also pay a small fee for additional features, such as project templates, bulk editing, time audits, time approval, screenshots and invoicing.
Clockify offers a little bit of something for everybody. Employees can use Clockify to keep tabs on their workweek by using the timer to monitor how much time they spend on emails, small tasks and projects. By tracking time this way, your employees can estimate how much time a certain task or project will take based on their tracking history.
Employees can also mark their time as billable or non-billable, allowing you or the employees to send reports directly to a client so the client can see exactly how their money is being spent. Employers can use the time tracking software to monitor how each employee is spending their day and to make payroll more efficient.
Pricing: $0 for a free plan with unlimited tracking
Additional features come in plans that start at $3.99 per month for each user
Mobile app? Yes
3. Best for Facial Recognition Technology: Jibble
Jibble takes time tracking one step further by using facial recognition technology to ensure that your employee is the only one clocking in and out using their name. This time clock software also uses geotagging to keep accurate records of your employees’ locations at the time that they use the software.
Employees can clock in and out of Jibble on their computer, tablet, phone, or even through MS Teams or Slack. As the employer, you’ll benefit from Jibble’s automated timesheet and automated overtime calculations.
Timesheets can even be accessed in offline mode, so you can keep track of your employees and receive real-time attendance updates on your phone no matter where you are.
Pricing: $0 for a free plan with unlimited users
Paid plans start at $1.50 per month for each user
Mobile app? Yes
4. Best for Integration Features: TimeCamp
TimeCamp makes it simple to add time clock software to your team’s productivity toolkit. It can be integrated with several other apps, such as Asana, Trello, Slack, Google Calendar, GitHub, Quickbooks and Salesforce. TimeClock can even track the usage of certain apps so you know exactly how employees are spending their time.
TimeCamp offers other useful features to make your employee’s lives easier, as well. Automatic time tracking can scan the domain names that an employee is using and sort them into predefined categories.
This allows employees to focus on their work instead of tracking each minute spent on a single task or project. All of the automated information can be pulled together into reports that you can use to keep track of project budgets, profitability and more.
Pricing: $0 for unlimited users and unlimited projects
Paid plans start at $5.25 per month for each user
Mobile app? Yes
5. Best for Scheduling Employees: Homebase
Homebase is a great all-in-1 tool for any business. Employers can create work schedules and share them with employees so that everyone knows what shifts are expected of them.
Shift trades can be easily managed and employees will receive automatic reminders about upcoming shifts. You can also use the scheduling tool to forecast your payroll costs.
Employers can use this tool for other essential business functions as well. You can use the platform to post job listings, manage applications and send onboarding paperwork to new hires.
Once your employees are onboarded, they can track their hours with the software, making payroll easier to manage. Your team can communicate within the app about availability, shift instructions and more.
Homebase can even help you handle safety and health screenings to ensure that any potential illness is reported and managed promptly.
Important Features of Time Clock Software
- Location tracking: Most time clock software comes with some form of location tracking for your employees. This doesn’t mean that it constantly monitors your employees’ locations, but it does ensure that your employees are only clocking in from authorized locations.
- Payroll integration: Your time clock software should make payroll easier. Most software can be set up to track overtime hours, PTO requests and more. You can then integrate your time clock software with your preferred payroll solution.
- Reporting: Time clock software should make it easier to track things like billable hours, project budgets and employee productivity. These measures can be exported into reports that allow you to track and manage what’s important to you.
Benefits of Time Clock Software
- Time clock software allows employers to manage and monitor work schedules, employee productivity and project budgets.
- It can make payroll much quicker and easier by integrating with Quickbooks and other payroll solutions.
- Automated tracking allows employers and employees to keep track of how much time is spent on certain tasks and projects.
- Some time clock software allows you to track billable hours and send reports to clients.
Cost of Time Clock Software
As with most types of business software, the cost of time clock software depends on the features you want included. Most companies offer a free version of their software, which includes basic time tracking features. There are also several companies that price based on the number of users that have access to the software.
Here’s an example of how much you could expect to spend on time clock software, using Buddy Punch’s pricing:
For Small Businesses: Up to $39.99 per month for 14 or fewer employees
For Mid-Size Businesses: Up to $279.99 per month for 99 or fewer employees
For Large Businesses: Up to $559.99 per month for 199 or fewer employees.
Custom pricing may be available for businesses with 200 or more employees.
Do I Need Time Clock Software?
Any business can benefit from some form of time clock software. Even if you’re self-employed, you could use time clock software to track your billable hours and monitor the time spent on each project.
Employers can use time clock software to make it easy for employees to enter their hours worked, view their schedules and request time off. With payroll integration, time clock software also streamlines the process of paying your employees.
While each software offers different features, tools and pricing, there’s likely to be one that fits the needs of your company. Most time clock software comes with a free trial, so there’s no harm in trying out a few to see which works best for you.
Best Time Clock Software Methodology
Benzinga analyzed the top time clock software by industry and winnowed down the list to include those with the best attributes. We prioritized pricing, features and scalability. We also considered the availability of a mobile app and consumer reviews.
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