Best Employee Time Tracking Apps

In today’s fast-paced work environment, managing your team’s time efficiently is more important than ever. Finding the right time tracking software can transform the way your business operates, offering insights into employee productivity and making payroll processing smoother. With a multitude of employee time tracking options available, selecting the ideal employee tracking apps for your organization can be challenging. This article aims to highlight the best staff time tracking software, guiding you through the features that make each stand out.

As you navigate the complexities of time management in the workplace, the need for a reliable time tracking app for employees becomes clear. Whether it’s an in-depth employee time management system, simple hour tracking software, or versatile time tracking programs, the right tool can make all the difference. The following sections will introduce you to the top time tracker apps, including new entrants and established online time tracking software designed to enhance your employee time tracker software toolkit.

Best Employee Time Tracking Apps

Here, we have picked 18 apps for you. Let’s explore and find out which one will work best in 2024

Clockify emerges as a comprehensive solution for time tracking, project management, and invoicing, catering to a wide array of industries including freelancers, developers, agencies, and more. Its versatility is showcased through a range of plans from FREE to PRO and ENTERPRISE, each packed with features tailored to meet different organizational needs. The app’s robustness is further highlighted by its compatibility across various desktop and mobile platforms, ensuring accessibility for all users.

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Clockify offers a lifetime free plan for unlimited users but with limited features. Paid plans start from $3.99/user/month.

This is a new app among other time tracking apps. Although it’s new but, it has already proved its potential as one of the best time tracking tools for 2024. This SaaS-based, advanced employee monitoring software has brought some revolution in productivity and efficiency in modern organizations.

This is one of the apps with advanced AI-powered analytics and reporting to boost team productivity and decision-making. The powerful features that make Mera Monitor stand still in the competition are –

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Mera Monitor tool hasn’t been launched for long, it is currently offering a 30 days free trail with all the features of a paid plan. It also offers a free trial and the paid plan costs $3/user/month. Additionally, for larger organizations, Mera Monitor also offers customized plans.

TimeCamp positions itself as a versatile time tracking software, offering a comprehensive suite of features that cater to a wide range of industries. From lawyers and developers to small businesses and enterprises, TimeCamp provides solutions for automatic time tracking, reporting, invoicing, budgeting, timesheets, and expense tracking, making it a one-stop-shop for managing time efficiently. Its impact on productivity is notable, with increases of up to 10%, alongside significant time savings in planning and tracking, thereby reducing errors and unifying project time management. 

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This leading app is available in a lifetime free version but with limited features. The paid plans start at $2.99/user/month and go all the way to $7.99/user/month.

This is a popular software specially useful for small business owners. Although it is best for accounting, it also offers a variety of options for different businesses. Similar to TimeCamp, QuickBooks Time does some invoicing works too. 

Time kiosks, notifications, approvals, project trackers, GPS, and automated timesheets are all included in QuickBooks Time. Employee scheduling, shift scheduling, and employee alternatives are also available in it. It offers a customizable report that enables you to gain insightful business knowledge.

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QuickBooks Time is available in two paid plans- $10/month + $8/user/month and $20/month + $10/user/month. The base fee includes one admin.

With its many functions, Toggle Track provides a complete solution. Toggl Track provides facilities for payroll, reporting, invoicing and billing, project planning, and staff time tracking. Along with data syncing across platforms like the web, desktop, mobile apps, and even wearables, it also offers one-click automatic tracking. Additionally, you can filter and export data based on tasks, projects, or people.

Along with more than 100 connectors, Toggl Track offers native integrations with Jira, Asana, Google Calendar, Salesforce, Toggl Plan, and other services.

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As for pricing, Toggl Track has a free version with unlimited time tracking. However, the free plan has limited features. The Starter plan costs $9/user/month and the Premium plan costs $18/user/month.

If you have a lot of remote or deskless employees in your team, Connecteam deserves your attention. It has been created as an all-in-one team management, collaboration, and communication platform. As far as the time tracking capabilities of the software are concerned, the time click based tool facilitates task management, accomplishment, and scheduling.

For deskless teams, it has GPS which can track employees on the go. Moreover, the work hour data collected by the app is instantly converted into accurate live reports and timesheets.

Connecteam has divided its platform into three different hubs- Operations, Communications, and HR and skills. These hubs are home to various business tools. For instance, the Operations Hub includes the Time Clock, Job Scheduling, Forms and Quick Tasks.

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Connecteam offers a free plan for up to 10 users and the paid plans start at $29/month for the first 30 users and $0.5/month for every additional user. There’s also a free 14-day trial.

Timely is an AI-powered time tracking software that can save you plenty of time with its manual tracking feature. The intuitive user interface of Timely track work hours in minutes and seconds. This make it an excellent tool to automate the whole time-tracking system for the whole company.

With precise and convenient time-tracking, Timely makes reporting and invoicing more transparent and improves project budgets and rates. The AI capabilities of the platform help it to better understand user behavior based on which the interface and features are customized. 

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Timely offers overall three paid plans- Starter ($9/user/month and up to max 5 users), Premium ($16/user/month and up to max 50 users), and Unlimited ($22/user/month and unlimited users). There’s no free version available with this tool.

ClickUp is a popular project management software that comes with dynamic time tracking capabilities. It allows you to track employee time from the web browser, desktop, and mobile device, and the tracked time can be easily linked to the tasks/projects on ClickUp. The platform uses a global timer; allowing users to update time from anywhere either automatically or manually.

The tracked time data can be customized with notes, labels, filtering, sorting, and even be converted into billable time. It also comes with in-depth timesheets, time tracked, and time estimated reports to enhance productivity and put organizations in complete control of how the employees spend their work hours.

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While ClickUp offers a free plan of its project management suite, it does not include the time tracking feature. You’ll have to subscribe to one of the paid plans which starts at $7/user/month to access its time tracking capabilities.

Like ClickUp, ProofHub is not a dedicated employee time-tracking app. It is a project management and collaboration platform that has built-in time-tracking capabilities. Apart from highly efficient time-tracking features, the tool also allows you to set time-based estimates for tasks and timesheets, which can then be compared with the actual data for improved performance tracking.

The tool can also automatically create time-logged reports to uncover valuable insights into how the employees are spending their time. The reports also come in handy for payroll, invoicing, and client information purposes. It also offers advanced filtering options with the help of which the timers can be filtered by status, logged by, and date range. 

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Unlike the other tools on this list, ProofHub does not have a per-user fee. It has a flat fee structure for its project management suite which starts at $45/month for up to 40 projects. However, the time tracking feature is only available in the Ultimate Control plan which currently costs $89/month.

Next on our list of best apps is Hubstaff. The workforce management and time tracking platform can efficiently automate time tracking, helping organizations of all sizes boost in-office, hybrid, and remote team productivity.

Available in web-based, desktop, and mobile versions, the stopwatch-based tool can accurately track every minute employees spend on projects and tasks with a single click. It has automated timesheets that allow team and HR managers to instantly view a detailed breakdown of the hours spent by employees based on date, project, and client.

Hubstaff can also take screenshots of employees’ screens and track time offs, holidays, and breaks.

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This popular software does not offer any free plan. There are four paid plans and the cheapest plan costs $4.99/user/month. However, there’s a free 14-day trial.

This time tracking app is generally most useful for businesses and freelancers. With DeskTime you can precisely track work hours, breaks, and clock-in and out times in the background while the employees work on their computers. For non-desk work, there’s also an option to manually add work hours.

The app has an excellent performance evaluation feature that offers valuable insights into productive, unproductive, and neutral times. Some other noteworthy features include app and URL tracking, project tracking, productivity tracking, document title tracking, and admin dashboard.

The tool also has task and project scheduling capabilities to help managers always stay in complete control of their teams. 

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DeskTime offers DeskTime Lite, a free plan for single users. If you’re a freelancer, you can register for this free plan. Its paid plans start at $5/user/month and there’s a 14-day free trial for all plans.

If you’re looking for the best employee time tracking software, Hours TimeLord can also be a great option. It is exclusively developed for businesses and individuals who want to track work hours for their clients. Apart from tracking work hours, it also has customizable billing rates to streamline invoicing.

Many users have talked about its visualization feature which allows you to view your entire workday in the form of a timeline. TimeLord also has customizable and shareable custom reports for detailed insights into every workday, week, and even month. Another unique feature of the app is the color picker which lets you customize the UI in 100+ colors.

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Hours TimeLord offers a Free Forever plan for a single user and the paid plans start from $9.99/year. There’s a 14-day free trial available for the paid plans.

Harvest is another multifunctional employee time tracking app that can monitor project budgets and expenses too. The time reports generated by the software are divided into four categories- Projects, Teams, Tasks, and Clients for improved organization. From a single interface, you can create detailed time spent, budget, expenses, team capacity, and many other reports across all the projects.

Its cost-tracking capabilities can be used to monitor expenses for all the projects and clients. Details like billable, non-billable, travel costs, supplies, materials, etc., can be easily and accurately tracked with only a few clicks. Harvest can also be integrated with 50+ popular business tools, including Asana, Slack, Stripe, QuickBooks, Trello, and many more. 

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Harvest offers a free plan for a single user and up to two projects. There’s only one paid plan which costs $10.80/user/month when paid annually. There’s a 30-day free trial for testing the tool before purchasing.

Tick is an easy-to-use, no-extra requirements required, time-tracking software with only the necessary features. The timecard-based tool allows users to simultaneously run multiple timers as they switch between different tasks. The time is tracked against the pre-fixed budget to ensure everything stays on track.

You can also assign tasks to the team members from within the app for enhanced convenience. There’s also a recurring project feature with the help of which every month projects can be set up once and they’ll auto reset every month. Moreover, the software is available on desktop, mobile, and even smartwatches. 

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Tick offers a free plan with a single project and unlimited users. Paid plans start at $19/month for up to 10 projects and unlimited users and go all the way to $149/month for unlimited projects and users. There’s a 30-day free trial available with this tool.

Generally Beebole promotes their time-tracking app for business and for people with remote jobs. But it is a lot more than that. From time-tracking to resource planning and project management, the software lets you do all of it and more. Its easy-to-use, and the timer precisely tracks the work hours of on-site and remote teams without making the employees feel in the risk of privacy.

Beebole also offers a customizable project time-tracking feature where you can adjust user permissions and roles to ensure a complete control of team structure, data access, and approvals. It has a built-in budget tracking and custom reporting feature to prevent budget overruns and improve decision-making.

Beebole is available in 11 languages, and it can run smoothly on desktop and mobile. 

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Beebole does not offer a free plan and its only paid plan costs €6.99/user/month. There’s also a 30-day free trial available.

RescueTime is another popular time tracking tool and it combines monitoring time with intuitive activity analysis. This advanced feature helps users to boost their productivity and stay organized at the same time. This award-winning software’s AI-powered timesheets with a drag-and-drop interface simplify task and project management by automatically dividing the work hours between clients and projects. Thanks to AI, the software only gets better by customizing itself the more you use it.

RescueTime also allows users to divide websites, programs, and apps into scales ranging from very productive to very distracting to help save time and encourage more time spent on productive activities. It also has a “Focus Session” feature for blocking websites and apps that distract users. 

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RescueTime offers its Lite plan for free with limited features. The Premium plan costs $12/user/month and comes with all the advanced features, including AI timesheets, distraction blocking, offline tracking, custom work hours, and more.

This is a time-tracker that is developed only for Mac OS. The app works in the background while you work on your Mac computer and regularly offers productivity feedback. It allows you to stay more focused on work. You don’t even need to turn the app on/off as it works automatically.

Based on the tracked time data, it can also generate invoices in 18 different languages which you can share with your clients. The tool also offers productivity reports based on days, weeks, and months. As all the time data is stored locally on the computer, it also offers excellent data security and privacy. 

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Compared to all the other apps, Qbserve has a significantly simpler and cost-effective pricing structure. Qbserve offers a 15-day free plan and a single paid plan which costs $49/user for lifetime access.

Struggling to monitor employee work hours? Buddy Punch can definitely help. This leading employee-time tracking software simplifies scheduling, payroll and of course the time-tracking. It monitors and tracks working hours, offline time, overtime, and attendance in real-time.

Buddy Punch also sends notifications to the employees about their working hours and it reminds them to turn on the tracker. The time-tracking tool is available for desktop (Windows and Mac) and mobile (iOS and Android).

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Buddy Punch does not offer a free plan and the paid plans start at $2.99/user/month + a base fee of $19/month. There are also custom offerings for enterprises. Also, the payroll functionality can be purchased as an add-on with a base fee of $39/month + $6/user/month. There’s also a 14-day free trial available.

How to Choose an Employee Time tracking App?

Now that you know the top benefits of using an employee time tracking app, let’s find out what goes into making the right app selection. Here are the factors you should consider-

  1. Start with Your Business Needs
    Are you looking for a basic time tracking app or one with advanced project management and scheduling capabilities? Do you need an app to track the working hours of your remote employees?
    Understanding the time tracking needs of your business will make it easier for you to know the features you need in the app. And once you know the features, it’ll help narrow down the options for effective decision-making.
  2. Easy to Use
    A complex time tracking app might create some resistance among your team members. Thus, it is essential to look for an app that has all the features you need but is still very easy to use.
    So, look for an app that has an intuitive and user-friendly interface. For maximum flexibility, it should have a desktop and mobile version.
  3. Time-Tracking Methods
    Consider the time tracking method used by the app. It could either use manual entry, automatic tracking, GPS-based tracking, or a combination of these.
    If you also want to track employee location, choose a time-tracking app with geolocation capabilities. Another feature you can look out for is geofencing which can send alerts when an employee doesn’t clock in or out from within the designated areas.
  4. Compliance and Security
    Ensure the time tracking software complies with labor laws and regulations specific to your industry and region. It should also support features like overtime calculations, breaks, and holidays to help you stay in compliance.You should also pay attention to security and data protection measures used by the app, especially if you’re dealing with sensitive employee data. The best employee time tracking apps employ measures like data encryption, user access control, and regular security audits for enhanced protection.
  5. Compatibility and Integrations
    The app should be compatible with the platforms your team uses. Ensure it supports Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and other common operating systems.
    Similarly, it should also support direct integrations or APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) with other software your organization uses. This includes project management tools, accounting systems, and payroll software.
  6. App Pricing
    You should also carefully examine the pricing structure of the app. Many time-tracking apps are available in two versions- free and paid. With the free plan, you can only access limited features.

    If the app offers a free trial, you can register for it to see if it meets your requirements. You can go ahead and purchase a paid plan if it delivers the expected results.

  7. Offline Time Tracking
    For organizations with remote or field-based teams, it is also important for the app to have offline time tracking capabilities. With this feature, the work hours and activities of the employees can be tracked even when they’re not connected to the internet.
    The feature works by capturing time data and storing it on the employee’s device locally. Once the data regains internet connectivity, the app synchronizes the locally stored data with the central server.
  8. Analytics and Reporting
    Many of the time tracking apps also come with powerful analytical and reporting features to provide valuable insights into workforce performance.
    Some of the features you can look into are real-time monitoring, project and task tracking, workforce productivity, cost allocation, attendance and overtime reports, and leave and vacation reports.

Benefits of Time tracking Software

Before getting to our top picks, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you should consider using an employee time-tracking app-

  1. Accurate and Easier Time tracking Manual time tracking is a complex and error-prone process. Employee time tracking apps ensure accurate recording of work hours, effectively preventing the errors associated with manual tracking. The accuracy is crucial for calculating monthly and overtime pay, avoiding issues like underpayment or overpayment.
  2. Productivity Boost When employee time is being tracked, the team is more likely to stay focused and accountable. The awareness helps improve productivity and reduces the time employees spend on non-work-related activities.
  3. Efficient Payroll Processing The accurate time data from a reliable app also streamlines the payroll process. This reduces the administrative workload and payroll errors, ensuring all the employees are paid correctly and on time.
  4. Improved Project Management The best employee time-tracking software helps project management by allowing time to be allocated to specific tasks or projects. Managers can also track the progress of each project, allocate resources efficiently, and meet project deadlines.
  5. Cost Control With the help of these apps, businesses can control labor costs more effectively. Moreover, they can also help identify areas where cost savings are possible. This can result in considerable financial benefits for any organization.
  6. Insightful Reporting Many of the top employee time tracking apps also come with powerful analytics and reporting that provide valuable insights into employee performance and time allocation. The data is valuable for informed decision-making and workflow optimization.
  7. Accurate Client Billing Many businesses bill clients based on time worked. The same is true for several freelancers as well. Time-tracking apps ensure that billable hours are accurately recorded to reduce revenue leakage and disputes.
  8. Compliance with Labor Laws Time tracking apps help businesses comply with labor laws and regulations by ensuring that minimum wage requirements and overtime regulations are met. This is one of the most effective ways to avoid legal disputes and penalties.

Track Employee Time and Boost Productivity with Top Employee Time tracking Apps

So, there you have it- our exclusive list of the best employee time tracking apps for 2024 and beyond. These powerful apps provide the means to streamline operations, make informed decisions, and adapt to the demands of the ever-evolving modern workplace.

Explore these top options to revolutionize the way you manage time and work and pave the way for a more efficient and productive 2024.

FAQs
Time tracking apps monitor and record how employees spend their working hours, either through automatic tracking, timers, or manual entries.
Employee time tracking apps can be accurate, but their accuracy could significantly vary based on the app’s features and how diligently employees log their time.

Some of the most important factors you should look into are usability, reporting and analytics, integrations, compatibility, pricing, and compliance with labor laws.

The cost of an employee time tracking software could range from free to premium paid plans. Pricing is generally based on features and number of users.

Clockify, ClickUp, Harvest, DeskTime, and Mera Monitor are some of the top time-tracking apps for freelancers. Many time tracking apps offer a free plan for single users.

You can look for a time tracking app with integration for project management tools like Trello and Asana and accounting and payroll systems like QuickBooks.

Employee privacy can be a concern, especially with some time tracking apps that come with extensive tracking capabilities. Organizations should only choose apps that prioritize data security.

Yes, many of the top time tracking software, like Clockify, Toggl Track, and TimeCamp, offer a free plan. There’s also Mera Monitor which is currently offering a lifetime free subscription of its premium plan to the first 1,000 users.

Legal regulations and compliance issues vary by location. Thus, it is essential to consider labor laws, overtime rules, and data protection regulations when choosing time tracking apps for employees.

Employee Time Tracking Apps