(650) 332-8623The 7 Best Automated Time Trackers for 2025
Looking for an automated time tracker for your construction business? We’ve reviewed 7 of the best options on the market to help you!
Suppose you’re working on an important task, and there’s an incoming call from your manager. While handling their urgent request, your work chat app pings again: a co-worker wants to clarify something about another task.
So, you answer their questions, then attend to your manager’s request, and finally return to your task. You enjoy a few more minutes of uninterrupted work until you get distracted again by a new email or message notification.
If this is what your workdays look like, an automated time tracker should be part of your work arsenal. When you get distracted and interrupted by a hundred different things, you need this tool to help you achieve order amidst the digital chaos.
But which one is right for your construction business? To help you narrow down your choices, we handpicked seven of the best automatic time trackers suited for your business. Check them out below.
Top Picks
Below, you’ll find a summary of each app we’ve reviewed, with our scores, each app’s ideal use cases, its pricing, the availability of any free trials or free tiers, and the platforms on which the app is available. Each app has been thoroughly investigated and analyzed for users like you, with pros and cons, key features, integrations, and real user reviews.
Let’s take a look…
9.3 
14-day free trial, (no card needed)
8.2
14-day free trial with no credit card required
8.2
14-day free trial with no credit card required
8.1
30-day trial with no credit card required
7.8
14-day free trial with no credit card required
7.9
30-day free trial with no credit card required
7.9
14-day free trial with no credit card required
EDITOR’S NOTE: We created Workyard – the first app reviewed here – to address issues we encountered while struggling to track and manage construction payrolls for over 700 workers in over 50 construction businesses. We built the Workyard app from the ground up to support construction companies like yours, with industry-essential features like the industry’s most accurate time clock app with GPS and geofencing, intuitive contractor scheduling, construction cost tracking tools, and more.
Learn more about how Workyard works on our main website, or sign up for a 14-day free trial today to see what Workyard can do for your business.
Workyard
Scoring
Key Features
-
Automatic geofencing-based clock-ins and clock-outs for workers
-
Manual clock-in and clock-out via the Workyard mobile app
-
Supervisor log-in for multiple team members
-
Automatic travel log and mileage tracking
-
Real-time location monitoring and job tracking
-
Workyard dashboard for real-time updates
-
Comprehensive time and cost reporting
Precise GPS time clock app
Live team activity feed
Custom labels and notes on tasks and activity reports
Limited features for advanced project management
Deactivation and reactivation of employees can be tricky
Highlights
Workyard is a GPS time tracking app built for the field.
Construction and field service companies can benefit from its accurate time, location, mileage, and job cost tracking features. It also has an easy drag-and-drop scheduling capability to optimize your team’s schedules.
Aside from getting a clear overview of hours worked and real-time job costs, you can eliminate manual payroll data entry and replace it with automated payroll with only a few clicks.
Accurate GPS Time Clock
Workyard makes it easy for your team to punch in and out via the GPS time clock app. It’s quick to learn and easy to use for admins and teams.
Employees can manually clock in when they get to the job site and then clock out the same way at the end of the day. In case they forget to log out, Workyard automatically detects the last visited job site and trims the hours as needed.
Another way of conveniently logging workers in is by setting up geofences. The Workyard app will automatically log them in once they enter the job site or geofence. No need to clock out on the Workyard app ― they will be automatically clocked out once they exit the geofence boundary.
You can also give team members supervisory or administrator permissions so they can log in multiple team members at once for faster and more efficient clock-ins at busy job sites.
Real-Time Job Tracking
Workyard’s suite of tools allows you to oversee your team while they’re working. With its accurate GPS time tracking capabilities, you can see exactly where your employees are and what tasks they’re working on.
They can also share real-time job progress and updates via the Workyard app by attaching notes, photos, and receipts to their time cards.
Meanwhile, you can review all their time cards, track job progress, and monitor travel logs and mileage on the Workyard dashboard. You can break down captured hours by project and get insights into where time is allocated and money is spent.
Insights and Reports
With Workyard’s detailed reports, you can quickly identify inefficiencies. For instance, if a project’s labor costs are trending higher than expected, you’ll catch it in real time and make adjustments before it impacts your bottom line.
Download reports for employee hours, miles and travel time, and project costs by summary, period, or cumulative view.
All employee time, job progress, project, and task reports can also be exported in different formats.
Digital Team Scheduling
Workyard’s shared digital team calendar allows you to schedule jobs, organize tasks, and communicate with your team in real time on what else needs to be done. With its easy drag-and-drop functionality, you can build your teams’ weekly or monthly schedules in minutes and send them out immediately when you’re done.
You can add labels, due dates, and customizable checklists to make job assignments clearer and more detailed. You can also schedule recurring tasks on your team calendar. All tasks and jobs are updated and easily accessible via the Workyard app.
Workyard also makes it easy to make changes to schedules, from start and end times to task labels. With the bulk edit feature, you can simply select options you need to update, such as task status, start date and time, due date and time, assignees, and color labels.
Integrations
Workyard also ensures your data flows effortlessly into your current payroll, billing, and accounting systems. It connects to various native integrations and cloud and on-premise apps.
Some of Workyard’s native integrations include QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, ADP Run, ADP Workforce Now, Foundation Software, Sage 100 Contractor, Gusto, Rippling, and Paylocity.
Labor Compliance
Workyard ensures your business stays labor compliant with its simplified, built-in labor compliance to local, state, and federal labor regulations. It’s also FLSA-compliant with an up-to-date, accurate online repository.
Employees also have easy access to their historical time cards on the mobile app. They can view timelines and attachments on their time cards and change notification logs on their time logs.
Ensuring labor compliance is crucial for companies working in high-cost areas. For state-specific requirements, refer to our labor laws guides below:
- Texas Labor Laws
- New York Labor Laws
- Idaho Labor Laws
- Massachusetts Labor Laws
- Mississippi Labor Laws
Reviews
Workyard has consistently solid scores and hundreds of user reviews across three major platforms. See what Workyard users have to say from their reviews below.
For iOS user RHEC615, Workyard is the best work app because it’s easy to use, consistent, and accurate.
iOS Review:
Best app⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“By far the best app I’ve ever used for work. Most consistent and accurate app hands down. Haven’t had any difficulties at all, was very easy to use. I will never use another app for clocking my hours at work.”
Android user Casey Reeves has trouble with the filters not updating their employee list, resulting in lots of scrolling just to approve a few time cards.
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐
“The filter option resets regularly requiring a repeat of the process. Lately the filter does not update the list of workers, requiring scrolling through hundreds of employees to approve only a few timecards. If my company did not mandate it, I would not use this app.”
Cassandra B. gave it five stars for how easy it is to use and customize for their business needs.
Capterra Review:
“Great product for our needs in construction time tracking ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It’s been very simple to use for our employees, and is easy to customize for our needs.”
Pricing
Free Trial?
14-day trial with no credit card required
Time Tracking
Annual: $6 / month per user + $50 base fee
Monthly: $8 / month per user + $50 base fee
Workforce Monitoring
Annual: $13 / month per user + $50 base fee
Monthly: $16 / month per user + $50 base fee
Boost your profit with Workyard’s accurate time tracker
Find out how
RescueTime
Scoring
Key Features
-
Automatic time tracking on apps, websites, and documents
-
Offline time tracking
-
Detailed insights, reports, and trends on working habits, time sinks, etc.
-
RescueTime Assistant for meeting schedules, alerts, etc.
-
Integration with apps such as Asana, Slack, etc.
-
Drag-and-drop AI timesheets
Distraction alerts
Free guided focus sessions
Website and app blocking
Does not always record all offline activities
No option to switch to other languages
Some user concerns about privacy and collected data
Highlights
RescueTime’s automated time tracker gives you visibility over where you spend most of your time when working online and what usually distracts you from being more productive.
It tracks all websites you visit, apps you use, and even documents you open and read without timers or manual entries. It also integrates with your favorite apps and tools, such as calendars, Asana, and Slack.
Because not all work-related tasks are performed online, RescueTime also has offline time tracking, giving you a complete picture of your work day.
Using Focus Sessions, you can block apps and websites and check real-time alerts and meeting schedules via the RescueTime Assistant.
All insights and trends on your working habits are presented in detailed reports so you can correct time-wasting activities and set smarter goals.
Reviews
There are few reviews for RescueTime on the iOS App Store, and it only registered a 2.0 rating. However, it does have over 3,000 published user reviews from Android users, receiving a decent score of 3.3.
But if you check on Capterra, you will find it received its highest rating of 4.6 from 139 reviews.
EricRhysTaylor’s one-star review for the iOS app concerns tracking offline activities, for which the app prompts him to set up a focus time. He also mentioned bugs when setting focus times.
iOS Review:
“Poor design lacking features ⭐
Why can’t I record an offline activity that’s already completed? Instead, all I can do is set up a focus time, which I don’t want to do. There is some sort of bug with the seconds setting for a focus time that keeps causing the counter to reset.”
For Android user Vivek Nair, it’s only a three-star rating because of the basic insights it provides and the difficulties encountered with tiers and when setting up time.
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐⭐
“It does what it says. But the insights are no different from what I can find from the dashboard that Google provides. Also, the setup time and tiers were difficult to figure out.”
A verified reviewer on Capterra gave it four stars because it has helped them spend more time on high-value activities. However, the user also expressed concern over the data collected using the tracker.
Capterra Review:
Good automatic tracking capacity ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I use the reports to adjust my work habits, making sure I spend most of my time on high-value activities, such as software design and development and work-life balance. RescueTime helps me maintain a healthy work balance and rest, which is crucial to avoid burnout. I establish limits regarding work time and make sure to reserve time for breaks and personal activities Simply fantastic, except for what was previously mentioned, such as more information about the data collected by your company.”
Pricing
Free Trial?
14-day free trial with no credit card required
No Tier
Starts at $6.50 / month
Timely
Scoring
Key Features
-
Multi-device time tracking
-
Digital task tracking through Memory Tracker
-
Timely project dashboard for real-time insights
-
Integrates with project management tools, calendars, and email
-
Tags for organizing work activities
-
Team workload/workspace capacity management
Easy and simple to use
Clean and uncomplicated user interface
Secure connection
Not very flexible pricing model
Unreliable AI feature
Some glitches when saving changes
Highlights
Timely is an auto time tracker that lets you focus on work while it runs quietly and accurately in the background.
The Memory Tracker, Timely’s automatic time tracking feature, tracks tasks, meetings, apps, and everything you work on throughout the day, helping you account for every billable minute.
Timely works across multiple platforms and devices. Your data stays in sync whether you’re tracking time from your tablet, smartphone, or computer.
You can also sync the Memory Tracker with tasks, schedules, email, and other communication, collaboration, design, project management, and accounting tools you already use.
Timely lets you use custom tags to improve your workflows and manage your projects. Add tags to tasks or projects you’re working on to categorize and centralize your activities, making it easier to locate them when needed.
Reviews
Timely has earned pretty solid scores across three major review platforms, the highest of which is a 4.7 rating on Capterra. While the overall scores are good, it’s best to read some of these user reviews and see what people say about this automatic time tracker.
iOS user GeKaram thinks it’s a nifty app with good service but said it’s ‘outrageously priced.’
iOS Review:
Outrageously priced ⭐
Nifty app and service. However, the subscription price is downright offensive. To put into perspective, premium productivity software subscription services (e.g., Office 365, MS Exchange, Adobe Creative Cloud, etc.) cost a fraction of this, and those are need-to-have tools to get the job done (unlike Timely).”
Michael Wilson gave the Timely Android app five stars for its functionality and ease of use.
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Easy to use, functional app for my business.”
A verified user rated it four stars for its time tracking features and clean overview. The downside is Timely doesn’t offer a free plan.
Capterra Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
“It is satisfactory. As a freelancer who likes to keep a record of daily commitment to projects and have a clean overview of it, Timely is great. Not recommended for someone who is just starting, as one has to purchase a basic plan to get started. Does not provide an option of a free plan. It does have a 14-day free trial, but then eventually has to shift to a paid plan.
Pricing
Free Trial?
14-day free trial with no credit card required
Starter
$11 / user per month (20 projects)
Premium
$20 / user per month (unlimited projects)
Unlimited
$28 / user per month (unlimited projects)
actiTIME
Scoring
Key Features
-
Flexible time tracking on mobile app or browser
-
Fully automated Time Management Assistant for all online activities
-
One-click actiTIME Timer for offline tracking
-
Project estimates, tracking, and management
-
actiPLANS for work scheduling
-
Time and financial reporting
-
Integrations with Zapier, QuickBooks, and more
Customization options
Feature turn-on/off according to your business needs
Colorful reports and real-time widgets
Can be difficult to navigate
Not a very user-friendly interface
Glitches and bugs on mobile app
Highlights
actiTIME lets you track time through the mobile app, Chrome extension, web timesheet, or online calendar. It can automatically or manually capture time, depending on your preferences.
When using the online timesheet, your employees can record their time against tasks on the list. If tracking time on the online calendar, they must select a task and enter the “from” and “to” times.
On the actiTIME mobile app, employees can track time, record hours spent on tasks, view current assignments, create tasks, submit timesheets, and more.
The Chrome extension records online activities via the Time Management Assistant. You can also integrate apps with actiTIME Timer to track hours on the web or offline.
actiTIME gives you access to project, task, and team management tools and time and financial reports. It also has billing, cost calculation, and invoicing features to help you stay on top of all costs and profits.
If you’re exploring time and cost management options, Contractor Foreman provides valuable insights to help you manage labor and project expenses effectively.
Reviews
Compared to its App Store and Play Store ratings of 3.1 and 3.6, actiTIME has a far higher rating on Capterra, with a 4.6 score and 91 user reviews. Read the reviews below to find out what some actiTIME users have to say.
For iOS user L&L Concrete, it only received three stars. Although they love the browser version, the mobile app needs to be improved.
iOS Review:
Needs more ⭐⭐⭐
We love the browser version. But the app needs more. An admin should be able to enter time for all employees on the mobile app.”
Joseph Sherburne, who uses this app daily, gave it a five-star rating. According to his review, actiTIME’s customer support team helped rectify the issue when the app became unavailable for his Samsung Galaxy device.
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Excellent customer support! I use this app daily, and this app was recently unavailable for new Galaxy devices (S23). But the developers rectified the issue within 24 hours. Is the best time tracker I have used and enjoy the ability to self-host my own data.
Arch C., owner of an architecture and planning company, gives actiTIME four stars for being the perfect solution for recordkeeping and client billing.
The BEST for sole proprietor consultant! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’m a sole proprietor who needs records for billing clients. actiTIME has been the perfect solution. I recommend it highly. But it used to be that I had some control over the colors on my interface page. No longer true. Too bad.”
Pricing
Free Trial?
30-day trial with no credit card required
actiTIME Online
$7 / user per month for up to 40 users
$6 / user per month for up to 41 to 200 users
Fixed cost for 200+ users
actiTIME Self-Hosted
$120 per user ($1,200 one-time payment for 10 users)
TrackingTime
Scoring
Key Features
-
Automated time tracker for accurate time records
-
Time tracking on browser, mobile, and desktop app
-
Time blocks for staying productive
-
Dashboard for viewing worked hours
-
Real-time data on task and project progress
-
Attendance tracking and work scheduling
-
Online timesheets
Syncs with your favorite work tools and apps
Employee time card management
User productivity reports
Some onboarding challenges
Mobile app performance can be improved
No offline mode
Highlights
TrackingTime is an automatic time tracker providing time reports from everyone on your team, allowing you to see the hours worked by employee, client, or project on the dashboard.
The app’s AutoTrack feature automatically records all computer activities for reporting and is fully private.
Wherever your team is located, they can track their time and receive real-time updates on tasks and project progress. They can use the TrackingTime desktop app or track hours on the go via the mobile app. With the TrackingTime button, they can also track time directly from the browser.
Employees can also break their workday into time blocks for enhanced productivity.
Time cards are automatically generated from time entries. TrackingTime also automates attendance tracking and gives you a clear overview of their productivity via user and project reports.
For businesses that require detailed field reporting and project management, Autodesk Build offers robust tools for keeping projects on track.
Reviews
When you look up TrackingTime reviews online, you will see a decent rating of 3.1 on the App Store and fairly good scores of 4.1 and 4.6 on the Play Store and Capterra, respectively.
Although there aren’t a lot of published user reviews online, we’ve collected some of them for you below.
For iOS user Lmorris939, the app is only worth two stars because it’s buggy, which doesn’t allow him to switch tasks effectively.
iOS Review:
Good app, poor performance ⭐⭐
This app works very well, when it works. That being said, it is extremely buggy. And I have to routinely go into my past hours and fix things because of bugs that stop a task immediately after starting, doesn’t switch tasks effectively, etc. If they update and fix all the bugs, this would be a five-star app. As is, it’s mediocre at best.”
Android user Ken Ume has similar complaints about the mobile app, saying it’s a hit-or-miss when performing tasks like importing events and tasks or bulk editing.
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐⭐
“Good idea, clunky and inconsistent execution. Importing tasks or events is a bit hit-and-miss. It’s not possible to bulk edit unless you want to delete things. Sync is random at best, hours after events change without warning. The Android app seems very limited – no widget and is only marginally better than the desktop app. My implementation never seems to refresh or update without a force stop and clear of the cache.”
But for Ciro R., the app is worth a five-star rating because of its time management solutions, progress tracking, and reporting capabilities.
Capterra Review:
Unmatched tool for time and task progress tracking ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It really came in handy in solving team time management, more so when a team has an ongoing project that has strict deadlines. It has reporting capabilities coupled with task progress tracking using a timesheet workflow that enables our firm to stay compliant with all the internal processes.
Pricing
Free Trial?
14-day free trial with no credit card required
Free
$0 (up to 3 users)
Freelancer
$10 / user per month
Pro
$7 / user per month (starting at 3 users)
Business
$12 / user per month (starting at 3 users)
Timeular
Scoring
Key Features
-
Automated time tracking for app usage, calendar events, and websites
-
Tailored tracking preferences by app and URL
-
Private tracking on local device
-
Manual tracking with physical devices, calendars, and keyboard shortcuts
-
QuickTrack pop-up shortcut for quick tracking of previous or new tasks
-
Manual addition of time entries to calendars
-
Customizable physical Timeular Tracker (stickers, colors, or notes)
-
Integrations with payroll and invoicing tools
Data is private and stored securely on device
Apps you don’t want tracked can be blacklisted
Uncluttered dashboard
Physical device doesn’t have a premium feel
User interface can be improved
Slow and glitchy mobile app
Highlights
Timeular offers a physical time tracker and automatic time tracking features. The app is General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)- and privacy-compliant to protect the privacy of your employees and your company.
It lets you track hours based on your app usage, scheduled calendar events, and visited websites. Before approving and forwarding automatic time entries to clients or managers, you can review everything tracked at a specific time and decide which will be included in the time reports.
Timeular’s hardware time tracker has eight sides you can personalize with your tasks and can be connected to the mobile app via Bluetooth. You can also create a shortcut for a time tracking pop-up window on your computer.
Its time management tools allow you to track team productivity, bill clients, monitor job progress, and send your time tracking data to over 3,000 project management tools or task management apps.
Reviews
The online reviews for Timeular are mostly positive, with high scores of 4.5 and 4.6 on the App Store and Capterra and a solid score of 3.7 on the Play Store. Check out some user reviews below.
Alyxana has been using Timeular for years and loves the physical tracker. But since she’s often not at her desk anymore, she also uses the app, which she thinks could use some improvements.
iOS Review:
Good, but could be better ⭐⭐⭐
I got my physical tracker almost 5 years ago and I love it. I have fallen out of the habit of using mine though because I’m not often at my desk anymore. And so I looked to the app. I love that there is an app. But it’s missing some very key features.”
Meanwhile, Android user Taylor Cardon prefers the desktop and web browser versions because the app is just laggy and often freezes or crashes.
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐
This app lately has been horrendous. Laggy, freezes, shuts down. Doesn’t seem like it’s been updated in months. Doesn’t hold a candle to the desktop/browser app. Wish more time and effort would be put into it.
Heather M., a senior graphic designer for an education management company, finds Timeular easy and intuitive. Using a physical device is also a novel idea to help her stay productive.
Capterra Review:
An intuitive and easy way to track a large variety of projects ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Timeular has helped my workflow and given me great data for how much time I spend on each type of project. I love how simple it is to use, and the novel idea to include a physical item that sits in front of you that you can design and name however you want. For example, I use the die to divide up all the different aspects of my work, as opposed to specific projects. Then I can see the data on how much time I spend on design vs. animation, prep and research, organization, and break time.”
Pricing
Free Trial?
30-day free trial with no credit card required
Personal
$9 per month
Personal Pro
$14 per month
Team
$19 / seat per month
Enterprise
Custom pricing for unlimited users
Boost your profit with Workyard’s accurate time tracker
Find out how
Key Features
-
Time tracking for all programs used in a workday
-
Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux
-
Time entries for projects
-
Create your own or import projects from your project software
-
Time entries to Excel spreadsheets, CSV, or PDF
-
Offline Memory Aid feature
-
Reports using selected date ranges
Easy to install and use
Works even in offline mode
No reminders or buttons to distract
Expensive for the features it offers
Some syncing and integration issues
Time-consuming when switching tasks for different clients
Highlights
Memtime is an automatic time tracker for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It captures all your computer activities, including program and file usage, calendar entries, browser tabs, and emails, so you can focus completely and work uninterrupted.
You can view all recorded activities in a timeline view and see the time spent on projects down to the minute. After reviewing your time entries or making annotations and edits, you can export the timesheets or sync them with your project software.
Meantime offers integration with over 100 project management tools, making it an easy fit into your workflows. Your data is also secure as it is stored only on your device.
Reviews
Memtime has over a hundred user reviews on Capterra, with a solid overall rating of 4.6. You can also find more published reviews on similar sites like Software Advice, G2, and Get App.
Claire R., a freelance writer and editor, likes Memtime’s simple time tracking features. It simply tracks all her activities throughout the day.
Capterra Review:
Greatly simplifies time tracking ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My overall experience has been excellent. Customer service is particularly impressive: highly responsive and extremely helpful. It makes time tracking much simpler. Rather than needing to remember to manually shift between activities, it magically tracks precisely what you have been doing when. That means no risk of forgetting activity.
Megan E., a travel journalist and communication manager, gave it a four-star rating for its ability to track her hours, customize projects, and invoice clients. However, she mentioned the calendar can be fiddly and buggy.
Capterra Review:
Automatic time tracking saved me ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Good product, does what it says on the tin. Time tracking and customizable projects and activities are useful for invoicing multiple clients. But the calendar function is fiddly, and if you want to pull an activity to a longer timeslot, it is a little buggy.
Pricing
Free Trial?
14-day free trial with no credit card required
Basic
$14 / user per month (one-year subscription)
Connect
$21 / user per month (one-year subscription)
Premium
$30 / user per month (-year subscription)
Enterprise
Custom pricing
The Bottom Line
Automatic time tracking is great for freelancers or employees working in-office, on-site, or remotely. Individuals and teams handling multiple projects can save invaluable time by using automatic time trackers.
The beauty of an automated time tracker is it records everything you work on, creating a timeline from which you pick the timestamps to convert into timesheet entries. This allows you to spend less time on manual timesheets and more time on your work.
With so many automated time tracker options, you need one easy enough for your construction team and field workers to use. This is where Workyard comes in.
Thousands of contractors and field workers trust Workyard because of how it helps measure and manage their labor.
See how it can improve your scheduling efficiency, payroll costs, and billing accuracy. Sign up for a free 14-day trial today!
Our Scoring System Explained
Our 8-part scoring system was created to help you understand the potential value of any software we review simply and fairly.
We created it after reviewing dozens of software products, which we covered in depth, but without providing a direct and simple way for readers to compare products on their merits – without spending a lot of time looking through our articles for the information they needed to make an informed decision.
Every app we review will include Customer Support and Company scores, which we’ll explain in more detail below. Many of the factors reviewed in this article will also be consistent across most (or all) of our software reviews, with some differences:
The 8 factors assessed and their contribution to a product’s overall score may differ slightly from product to product based on various factors, such as the use case we’re reviewing for, the type of business these products are tailored to, and other considerations. However, all reviews will feature an 8-part score, weighted and combined to calculate each product’s overall score.
How We Score Software
All factors in our reviews are scored on a 10-point scale – technically 11 points – from 0-10. However, we only give products a score of 0 if it does not include an essential feature at all, and we try to avoid giving out 0 scores if a product can demonstrate any functionality in line with the specific factor being reviewed.
In general, the 0-10 range translates as:
- 9.0 – 10 – One of the absolute best in its category (amazing).
- 7.5 – 8.9 – Very good, but with some minor issues (very good).
- 6.0 – 7.4 – Mediocre performance with notable shortcomings (average).
- 3.0 – 5.9 – This feature is not ready for prime time (borderline).
- 1.0 – 2.9 – This feature actually makes its product worse (unacceptable).
- 0 – The product doesn’t include this important feature at all.
How We Calculate Overall Scores
The 8 factors reviewed are weighted based on an overall total of 100%:
- Ease of Use: 20%
- Time Tracking Accuracy: 20%
- Scheduling Features: 15%
- Job Tracking: 15%
- Integrations: 10%
- Customer Support: 15%
- Company: 5%
Methodology for Each Factor
Ease of Use
We evaluate a product’s ease of use based on three main considerations:
- How easy is it to set up this app?
- How easy is it for managers to use the backend dashboard?
- How easy is it for frontline workers to use the (mobile) app?
These three considerations cover the main ways you and your team would use the software being reviewed – when you first obtain it, when someone (a manager, executive, team leader, or similar role) needs to use it to manage people, money, data, and other things, and when workers you’re tracking use the app (usually a mobile version of the software designed for frontline and/or field team members) to clock in, clock out, record time worked, or address other day-to-day needs.
Time Tracking Accuracy
Every minute matters when you’re trying to control payroll costs. This factor accounts for various features and common needs in time-tracking apps, such as…
- How accurate or precise is its GPS tracking capability?
- How accurate – and how customizable – is its geofencing feature?
- How accurate is its travel and mileage tracking (if available)?
- Can it automatically clock workers in and out based on the above?
- Can you set and/or restrict rules for clocking in and out?
- Can the app continue tracking workers while offline?
- How easy is its mobile app and/or kiosk for frontline workers?
Scheduling Features
Many construction businesses prefer to manage as many aspects of employee labor activity as possible in a single app, which is why many time-tracking apps also include worker scheduling as a core feature.
When we consider a product’s scheduling features, we look at:
- Its dashboard customizability (daily, weekly, or monthly views).
- Its project-based scheduling and visibility.
- Its real-time updates and notifications for workers.
- Its real-time map views of worker locations for best-fit scheduling.
- Its recurring schedule (copies to subsequent weeks, etc.) functionality.
Job Tracking
This factor helps you understand if the software can also provide insight into specific projects, which is particularly handy when your business deals with many customers or clients who generally need shorter-term work. Effective job tracking typically also includes accurate job costing functionality for construction companies.
We assess several things when calculating a product’s job tracking score:
- Its project-based tracking for multiple projects per day/week/etc.
- Its ability to track multiple / many projects simultaneously.
- Its use of (and your ability to customize) construction cost codes.
- Any built-in job costing views.
- Any integrations for cost coding (QuickBooks etc.)
Integrations
No business can operate on a single app, which is why integrations with other apps and tools are such important aspects of modern business software.
To calculate a product’s integration score, we’ll examine:
- How many native integrations (the simplest connection) does it offer?
- How effective and easy-to-use are its integrations with payroll software?
- Does it have robust data import and export features?
Customer Support
Learning how to use a new app can be frustrating, even if it’s meant to be the most user-friendly app around. That’s why great customer support is so essential when considering which time-tracking app to use.
Customer support scores are calculated based on:
- Live support channels available (phone, email, chat, etc.).
- Live support hours (business hours only, 24/7, etc.).
- The strength of the product’s online help center and/or FAQs.
- What other users say about support in online reviews.
Company
A great company with a highly customer-friendly approach can often make up for shortcomings in their software products – at least up to a point.
When assessing this score, we’ll examine:
- Transparency (easy-to-find pricing, etc.)
- Trial period (duration, feature availability, credit card requirements, etc.).
- Subscription flexibility (contracts, required durations, etc.).
- Ease of cancellation or pausing subscriptions.
- Customer perceptions (online product reviews).
- Website (a minor consideration, but great companies tend to have great websites).
Any questions about our scoring system? Have any suggestions on how we could make it even better? Click here to send us your feedback – we’d love to hear from you!
An automated time tracker automatically tracks what you do on your computer and for how long. It is used to help you bill your time accurately and gain productivity insights. These tools typically require installing one or more trackers on your computer running in the background and recording the time spent using different apps and websites. The trackers report your activities to an app, which analyzes the data using pattern recognition or AI and presents a visualization of your day.
Automated time trackers capture what you do on your computer and for how long. They are designed to help you bill your time accurately and gain productivity insights. Here’s how they typically work:
- Installation and setup: Automated time trackers require you to install one or more trackers on your computer. These trackers record the time you spend using different apps and websites. They report your activities to an app, which can run on your computer or in the cloud.
- Tracking activities: The trackers monitor which apps you’re using and report information to the app. They track your time on each app, including web apps run inside a browser. Some automated time trackers can also track specific documents or projects within an app, especially those supporting multiple projects or clients.
- Pattern recognition and AI: The app uses pattern recognition or AI to analyze the tracked activities and present a visualization of your day. This helps you see where you spend your time and identify productive moments.
- Data analysis and reporting: The app provides detailed reports on your activities, which you can use to create timesheets and bill clients accurately. You can customize it to show data by project, client, or date and export it in various formats.
- Integration and accessibility: Automated time trackers often integrate with project management tools, calendars, and other apps to streamline workflows.
Essential features of automated time trackers include:
- Automatic time tracking: Tracking time efficiently without manual intervention, accurately representing work completed and hours spent on different tasks.
- In-app notifications and quick reports: Providing real-time updates and quick reports to managers, ensuring transparency and accountability within remote teams.
- Project management: Integrating with project management tools to assign tasks, monitor work rates, and track project statuses, enhancing overall productivity and efficiency.
- Pattern recognition and AI: Using AI to analyze tracked activities and present visualizations of the day, helping users identify productive moments and optimize their workflow.
- Timesheet automation: Automating the process of timesheet calculation, eliminating manual errors, and ensuring accurate billing and invoicing.
- Integration with other tools: Integrating different tools and apps to streamline workflows, such as project management software, calendars, and other productivity tools.
- Reporting and insights: Providing detailed reports and insights on time usage, helping users identify areas for improvement, and optimizing their productivity.
- User-friendly interface: Offering a user-friendly interface allowing users to focus on their work without interruptions.
- Exceptional accuracy: Ensuring reduced errors and providing a clear picture of work completed and hours spent.
- Accountability and transparency: Enhancing accountability and transparency within teams by providing real-time updates and detailed reports on time usage.
Automated time trackers provide real-time data on how employees spend their work hours, highlighting inefficiencies and time-wasting activities. With detailed reports, managers can identify bottlenecks, optimize workflows, and set realistic deadlines. Employees benefit from better time management as they can see how their time is distributed. This transparency fosters accountability, leading to improved productivity and more focused work.
Yes, most automated time trackers prioritize data security by using encryption and compliance standards like GDPR or HIPAA. They typically allow administrators to customize privacy settings, ensuring sensitive data remains protected. Some tools anonymize user data or offer options to track time without capturing detailed activity, balancing productivity monitoring with employee privacy. Always review a tool’s security features before implementation.
Many automated time trackers offer integrations with popular business tools like project management software (e.g., Asana, Trello), accounting platforms (e.g., QuickBooks, Xero), and communication apps (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams). These integrations streamline workflows by syncing time-tracking data with other essential functions, such as task management, invoicing, and payroll, making it easier to manage projects and finances in one ecosystem.
