The 7 Best Employee Time Clock Apps for 2024
Looking for an employee time clock app for your construction business? We’ve reviewed 7 of the best apps on the market to help you!
Finding the right employee time clock app requires more than just software with precision. Every business has its own needs, workforce demands, and unique processes or other approaches, all of which can thrive with a perfectly-tailored time clock app or flounder with poorly-suited software.
Whether you’re running a small startup or a large enterprise with hundreds or even thousands of workers, you’ve undoubtedly encountered issues while trying to tally up each minute worked, and not a minute more.
You know the best employee time clock app can significantly enhance both operational efficiency and accuracy – but which app fits the bill for your business?
You’re in the right place. This article offers a deep dive into the best employee time clock apps of 2024, evaluated based on user feedback, adaptability across various work settings, features, and their potential impacts on your operations.
You’ll find quick links to in-depth reviews of each app below, along with their top-level scores (which are explained in more detail for each app).
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…
9.0 
14-day free trial, (no card needed)
8.0
Unlimited free trial for basic time tracking
8.0
Free trial for 30 days
6.1
Free trial for 1 location (up to 20 employees)
7.6
Free-forever Small Business plan
7.5
Free trial (no credit card needed) for 14 days
7.2
Free-forever trial for one user
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
-
Accurate GPS location tracking with geofencing boundary settings
-
Straightforward timecards for easy audits
-
Streamlined scheduling for multifaceted projects
-
Automation of compliance for key labor law (overtime and breaks)
-
In-depth task and project progress monitoring
-
Automatic calculation of job costs
-
Seamless connections with key business apps
Auto clock-in by geofence settings
Calculate job costs from worker time and pay
Works even when offline
Compliant recordkeeping
No native integrations for CRM systems
Location-tracking sometimes annoys workers
Phone app can drain battery if used too often
Highlights
Workyard has emerged as a modern solution in the realm of employee time clock apps, designed specifically to meet the broad spectrum of workforce management requirements with efficiency, precision, and user-friendliness.
Let’s take a closer look at Workyard’s key features to discover how each core aspect of this employee time clock app can simplify your management tasks and drive your business towards greater profitability…
The Most Accurate Employee Time Clock App
A standout feature of Workyard is its central time clock app, powered by one of the most accurate GPS and geofencing tools you’ll find on the market today.
This feature leverages real-time GPS tracking via your employees’ mobile devices, coupled with highly accurate geofencing rules that you and your team can configure within the Project Hub of your Workyard management dashboard.
Workyard’s real-time mobile phone-based GPS tracking, paired with the app’s highly adaptable geofencing rules, guarantees you’ll be paying your workforce only for their actual hours worked, regardless of the location(s) at which they’re working.
Workyard’s auto-clock-in and auto-clock-out feature just recently launched in the winter of 2024.
The functionality streamlines the process of clocking in and out by automating these tasks based on employees’ real-time locations — a particularly beneficial feature for businesses with employees who frequently move between various job sites.
This level of accuracy is crucial for monitoring and optimizing employee movements between various job sites. Workyard’s GPS precision also facilitates tracking worker trips to essential locations, such as supply stores or company depots.
Real-Time Location Tracking And Mileage Reimbursement
Workyard also efficiently logs travel distances for work purposes, streamlining mileage reimbursements and aiding in the accurate calculation of project costs.
User-friendly live map views of your team’s locations allows managers, supervisors, or other office personnel to easily oversee your workforce’s whereabouts and work status.
Should an employee travel off-course or miss an important update, it’s easy to reach out directly through the Workyard app to provide immediate corrections or guidance.
With intuitive map-based team views, you can always see where everyone in your workforce is while on the job. If someone’s in the wrong place, it’s a simple thing to ping them through their Workyard mobile app with corrections or updated guidance.
This precision also makes it simple and straightforward to track worker movements from site to site or worksites to other key locations, like construction supply stores or your company’s equipment and storage depots.
Workyard’s GPS tracking system automatically records distances driven while on the job to simplify mileage reimbursement and other project costing considerations.
Transparent and Easy-to-Edit Timecards
Time tracking is ultimately only as valuable as its applications for recordkeeping and reporting.
This principle is central to Workyard’s approach, where the time card system meticulously logs clock-ins and clock-outs, captures real-time employee movements with precise timestamps, and flags any discrepancies in time records for manual review and revisions (if needed).
Managers can use Workyard’s dashboard to efficiently examine individual time cards or adjust time entries for an entire team. Once these time are approved for payroll, processing wage payments becomes straightforward, ensuring timeliness and accuracy in project cost management and worker compensation.
Robust Scheduling for Large Field Workforces
If you’re managing large teams on a high-stakes projects with strict deadlines, or perhaps coordinating widespread field workforce across diverse tasks, you’ll understand how valuable an easy-to-use scheduling tool can be.
Workyard’s contractor scheduling software streamlines the process of scheduling, helping companies like yours eliminate manual methods and rigid systems not designed for modern mobile workforces.
Workyard scheduling features an intuitive interface that allows for both calendar and task-based views, accommodating various management styles.
Customizable color-coded labels enable further organization of schedule entries by criteria such as job type, priority, or any other classification relevant to your business.
Workyard scheduling allows for assignments to be made to any employee for any duration, with the ability to track completion status, link to geofencing rules, and even schedule recurring tasks. Once a task is entered into Workyard’s system, it becomes immediately accessible to assigned employees through their mobile app.
The app also facilitates the creation of detailed to-do lists for each task, helping keep employees focused and on track.
Assigned employees can also create notes, which canbe used to upload saved images or new camera shots directly to their tasks, ensuring transparent communication with the management team and maintaining a comprehensive record of work completed, which is invaluable for addressing any potential client concerns.
Streamlined Job and Project Oversight
The job tracking software included with Workyard’s employee time clock app helps organize the constant stream of information from project updates and employee activities into clear, straightforward reports.
Workyard users can uncover meaningful insights into various aspects of their business’ operations, with labor costs, employee locations, travel durations, material purchases, and task progress all meticulously tracked and tallied for supervisory review.
These details are organized into visual dashboards, offering a practical way to monitor each project’s status and ensure they remain on schedule and within budget.
Integrating accurate time tracking with these reports allows for effective oversight of your business’s financial health, employee efficiency, and resource distribution on a per-project basis.
This approach not only keeps you informed but also supports more efficient management and planning, contributing to better overall project outcomes.
Real-Time Job Costing
For any business to thrive, it’s crucial to operate profitably. This fundamental truth underscores the importance of effective cost management tools, especially when it comes to tracking project expenses.
Workyard’s employee time clock app addresses this need by consolidating worker timecards and other work entries into a clear, real-time overview of project costs, making Workyard’s construction cost tracking software a critical aspect of its benefits to construction companies.
Through the use of customizable cost codes assigned to different aspects of a project, managers can track exactly where and how budget allocations are being utilized. This granularity allows for an immediate understanding of the financial flow towards labor on each project facet.
The app’s job costing dashboard offers the flexibility to filter costs by code, employee, or date, facilitating a deep dive into the data to uncover and rectify any inefficiencies promptly.
This proactive approach means financial reviews can happen continuously, not just at a project’s conclusion, keeping cost management dynamic and responsive.
Workyard also aids in converting detailed labor cost data into precise invoices, ensuring clients are accurately charged for the work performed. This feature not only streamlines billing processes but also reinforces the integrity of financial transactions with clients.
Automated Workforce Compliance
Labor law compliance is a critical facet of modern business success, especially since regulations can vary significantly across states and even between local jurisdictions in the same state.
Manually keeping up with these varying requirements can be challenging, particularly if you’re overseeing many workers with varying schedules in varying locations.
Workyard includes built-in automations to help ensure your team’s compliance with labor laws across the United States, with specific and selectable rulesets for breaks, overtime, pay rates, and workers’ compensation in various higher-maintenance locales (such as California or Nevada).
These rules can be set when you add workers to your team, or you can edit worker rules afterwards to change their current ruleset or add a new one – a helpful way to handle employees working in locales with different overtime laws:
For unique requirements not covered by the app’s extensive database, Workyard provides the option to create custom compliance rules, ensuring your business adheres to local laws regardless of location.
Workyard also helps you maintain comprehensive and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)-compliant recordkeeping practices.
As we’ve mentioned earlier, Workyard’s meticulous tracking of all employee on-the-job data, including clock-ins and clock-outs, is all available through your admin dashboard. Workyard also log of any modifications to time cards, enabling easy verification and correction of records when necessary.
Integrations with Essential Construction Business Apps
Manually entering all the time-tracking information from Workyard into your payroll software would probably undermine a major reason you wanted to use the app in the first place – to streamline payroll!
Never fear – Workyard offers native integrations with leading payroll and financial management systems, including QuickBooks (supporting both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online versions), Gusto, Paychex, ADP, Sage, and others, ensuring compatibility with the payroll tools most construction businesses prefer.
For those who use additional applications and have the development resources, Workyard’s developer API allows for the creation of custom integrations, making it possible to connect with virtually any app or platform that supports it.
You can also export Workyard data an Excel spreadsheet, a near-universally compatible data import option for nearly all modern financial and business applications.
Reviews
You’ve heard from us – let’s see what other users have to say about Workyard. At the time this article was published, Workyard held the following scores across the three major platforms on which we track app reviews:
User SimmyLuvsChrist appreciates the simplicity of Workyard’s clock-in process:
iOS Review:
Life made easy! – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Being able to Clock-in with ease has been one less stress. The App is easy to use and I can locate the information I need without issue. There is not a delay in updates or a constant need t refresh the app.”
A recent Play Store review from Ralph Milton highlighted two important Workyard benefits – its time-tracking accuracy and its great customer service:
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“I work for a great company it’s called BM Marine construction. when there is an issue and if you need a question answered I’ve always gone to the work yard app you got any answer. they answer quick. and are very professional and do not beat around the bush they give you an answer that is accurate. so at the end of the day I love where I work and I love the things that they have in place to help us as employees to get the right information”
On Capterra, construction HR manager Cassandra B. appreciates Workyard’s simplicity for front-line employees and its customizability on her end:
Capterra Review:
Great product for our needs in Construction Time Tracking – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Overall: It’s been very simple to use for our employees, and is easy to customize for our needs.
Pros: It’s been very simple to use for our employees, and is easy to customize for our needs.
Cons: I would like to have more options on being able to require certain projects have lunch breaks each day, or disallow them from having a certain amount of overtime without prior approval.
Alternatives Considered: Paychex Flex
Reasons for Choosing Workyard: We use Paychex Flex for HR / Payroll, but we chose to stay with Workyard since it was so simple and was working well. We have had a very hard implementation with Paychex and we didn’t want to mess with something that was working well.”
Pricing
Free Trial?
14-day trial with no credit card required
Time Tracking
Annual: $6 / mo. per user + $50 base fee
Monthly: $8 / mo. per user + $50 base fee
Workforce Management
Annual: $13 / mo. per user + $50 base fee
Monthly: $16 / mo. per user + $50 base fee
Track, schedule, and manage your team with Workyard
See how it works
Clockify
Scoring
Key Features
-
Time tracker (mobile app, web-based, and kiosk)
-
Reminders, edits, and approval processes for timesheets
-
Compatibility with leading payroll and efficiency-enhancing applications
-
Insightful visual data dashboards and comprehensive reporting tools
-
Location-based tracking of employee activities
-
Management and budget oversight for projects
-
Scheduling integrated with Outlook and Google Calendar
-
Processes for managing expenses and generating invoices
Free-forever version
Syncs with popular calendar apps (Google and Microsoft)
Many project management integrations
Limited payroll connections
Synchronization issues between desktop and mobile
Not built for teams in multiple states or time zones
Depends on users for accuracy
Absence of features tailored to specific industries
Highlights
Clockify consistently emerges as a standout in searches for “free employee time clock apps,” thanks to its genuinely unlimited free version that effectively tracks employee hours.
This absence of initial costs positions Clockify as an ideal option for growing businesses in the early stages of scaling their workforce. It offers a practical period for evaluation, extending over several months, during which its utility and features can be thoroughly tested before possibly moving to a paid subscription.
Clockify’s premium tiers introduce essential functionalities like break monitoring, manual timesheet adjustments, detailed reporting, and, for more advanced plans, GPS tracking and budget management.
Larger enterprises seeking higher levels of precision and customization in an employee time clock app might find Clockify falling short.
A notable limitation is its integration capabilities specifically tailored for broader industry needs. While Clockify integrates smoothly with QuickBooks, its connectivity with other payroll and financial management systems—such as Xero or FreshBooks—requires intermediate technical skills for setup through platforms like Zapier.
Despite offering numerous project management integrations catering to office-based teams—like Jira and Trello—these tools might not align as closely with the operational needs of sectors outside of tech development and marketing organizations.
Reviews
Clockify’s commitment to offering a “free forever” tracking solution has garnered significant appreciation across various major review sites.
It not only boasts a higher number of reviews on each platform compared to other apps (with the exception of QuickBooks Time), but its ratings remain impressively strong across the board:
iOS user GratefulMomFromTX is not happy about Clockify’s recent UI updates:
iOS Review:
Why, oh why did you have to mess with the interface? – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Until yesterday, this was an awesome app. Then unexpectedly a new interface turned up. This one looks a lot like the browser interface, so it is miniature on a phone. And impossible to use. Starting a new entry used to take maybe 3-5 seconds. Now it can take a minute by the time you manage to scroll down through a miniature list and hit just the right miniature spot to select a project. And then a submenu may or may not open depending on whether you manage to hit a miniature arrow and if you do manage to get past this obstacle yet another miniature list to scroll through the task list. If the list is long and hangs off the bottom of the screen, you are out of luck. No way to hit the 1 mm wide slider.Please people, bring back the old interface! Or at least make it an option!”
Android user Dave Vanos is rather less bothered by these updates, despite posting his review a few weeks after GratefulMom’s. However, he would appreciate fewer bugs in the syncing between Android and PC:
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love this app, and have used it every day for years. The chrome extension is great, but the app suffers from some issues. If I stop a task via the PC, the mobile widget doesn’t seem to realize it and will keep counting. This leads to double entries and incorrect task durations, which could get me in a bit of hot water as I use this for work.
Angel R., a VP of Sales at a professional coaching company, likes Clockify’s simplicity, but expresses frustration over the challenges he’s faced managing any sizable number of workers:
Capterra Review:
It needs improvement – ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: Overall has been good and I keep on using it, but just for the very simple functionality.
Pros: I like the clock in and the payroll. It is easy to manage.
Cons: I have been using the tool for quite a while now. Although the overall functionality is good, it is extremely difficult to manage groups of users, different levels of users and privileges of each, and timesheets. Nothing is evident. You have to really deep dive into the tool to be able to do it. Their workspaces are not used logically, and that requires a lot of manual work to fix them.
Pricing
Free Trial?
Unlimited free tier with basic time tracking
Basic
$4.99 / mo. per user
Standard
$6.99 / mo. per user
Pro
$9.99 / mo. per user
Enterprise
$14.99 / mo. per user
QuickBooks Time
Scoring
Key Features
-
Location-based employee clock-in and clock-out
-
Streamlined scheduling for employees
-
Management and tracking of projects
-
Leave and absence management
-
Mobile application designed for team use
Can be bundled with QuickBooks Payroll
Excellent onboarding processes
Backed by one of the world’s largest software companies
Might miss some special features for certain jobs
Some updates have caused problems
Not made for construction work
Some people aren’t happy with support
Highlights
QuickBooks Time is a big deal because it works well with other QuickBooks tools. It’s a popular pick for lots of companies because it’s easy to start using it if you already use QuickBooks for other stuff.
But, QuickBooks Time might not be the best for everyone, especially for construction work. You can’t always figure out job costs well with just QuickBooks Time unless you also use QuickBooks Contractor, which is made just for construction jobs.
QuickBooks Time also might not let you set specific rules for when employees can clock in or out.
If your business doesn’t really need these special construction features, QuickBooks Time could work well, especially if you’re already using QuickBooks for your business stuff and your time tracking needs are simple.
Reviews
QuickBooks Time and its mobile app, QuickBooks Workforce, get good reviews both online and in app stores, which is not always the case for other apps.
Since Intuit, the company behind QuickBooks, is really big, it can spend more money to make its apps work better on phones than other companies can.
But being big doesn’t always mean it’s the best. Still, QuickBooks Time gets really high ratings everywhere, which is good to know if you’re already using QuickBooks for paying people or other money tasks.
QuickBooks Workforce’s iOS reviews seem to be either quite recent or rather old. However, the pros and cons seem to be rather consistent, even years apart. Thomas Landscapes offers this mediocre score:
iOS Review:
Ever since scheduling – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We have had tsheets for years. It was always great, awesome customer service. However, since scheduling our phone apps have been having issues mainly with iPhones. We have had many phone calls and tech support requests with tier two help buuut, every time someone calls or responds its the same blanket response: reset the app or delete and reload. Which granted doesn’t take that long however, every time I do it it deletes all my sheets since the last sync. Which is the problem, our phones will sync for a few hours, a few days then poof they stop. Another response was you can’t close down your app. Well that seems like a software problem not a user problem. And yes I have used WiFi for 31 hours straight with my screen saver off to see if it would sync my 91 sheets. But nope. It’s been months if not a year since this problem has been ongoing, still no fix. I wish I could come in to a location and show them the problem, or let them deal with it. I have to much time invested in this app it to me and please use it constantly to switch services however I am becoming closer and closer to that option. Tsheets also told me to turn off a bunch of the options and only view a few members of my team…
Play Store reviews are generally more recent. This one-star update from user Steady2Good popped up for QuickBooks Workforce in early June of 2024:
Google Play Review:
⭐
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE… After 3 months of troubleshooting, the app will work if I’ve recently logged in online first. Update… I deleted the app and re-downloaded it. It is still not working and still deserves a 1-star rating Nearly worthless!! It will never load my most recent paycheck. When I click the contact live chat button, that page won’t load either. I’ve tried numerous times! I kept it for a month thinking it would get better but it didn’t.
Capterra’s recent reviews are more positive. Computer networking company president Heidi L. says it’s easy but robust software for her business:
Capterra Review:
Easy, compact, and robust time management system – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: This software contains alot of time tracking tools, job site assignments, etc and is not limited to being an on-site entry only software system, but can be completed by employees across the globe. Functionality is great and varied to suit different purposes as needed.
Pros: The fixability of use for employees across the world. Having multiple types of payroll options (salary, hourly, contract, etc) Ease of integrating reports into other software platforms.
Cons: Not able to add or create a more custom tracking capability based on client/job site.
Pricing
Free Trial?
30-day trial
Premium
$8 / mo. per user + $20 monthly base fee
Elite
$10 / mo. per user + $40 monthly base fee
Homebase
Scoring
Key Features
-
GPS-enabled time tracking
-
Free employee scheduling app
-
Run and process payroll
-
Recruit, hire, and onboard new employees
-
Real-time all-in-one team communication app
-
Benefits and perks mangement
-
HR and compliance management tools
Useful HR features for employee management (extra cost)
Lots of tools in one app reduces need for integrations
Vibrant employee scheduler
May have more features than small businesses need
Time tracking is a minor part of the larger app
Better for single-location businesses
No dedicated project- or task-management tools
Highlights
Homebase is a type of app we sometimes call “business in a box” software – it’s trying to tackle as many mission-critical business functions as it can by offering everything from scheduling and employee time tracking to HR and benefits management. Its central offering, though, is employee scheduling:
For many businesses of a certain size and ambition, this approach works perfectly with their goals. A small but fast-growing company in a competitive market can make extensive use of Homebase’s range of hire-manage-grow tools to both oversee current operations and execute big plans for the future.
Ambitious companies in high-turnover industries, such as retail or restaurants (not to mention construction), also seem like the ideal users of Homebase.
When you go through dozens of employees a year in the regular course of your business, t’s probably more efficient to manage the entire employee life cycle, from application to termination, in one app.
Being able to run payroll within Homebase is also a great selling point for the same types businesses mentioned earlier. However, it seems a bit odd to include payroll but not offer payment-processing functions.
While payment processing might be harder to implement for high-traffic businesses, it seems like a lot of Homebase’s target customers – like veterinarians, home repairs, caregivers, and creative services – would have both the volume and the transaction size (bigger invoices somewhat less often) to merit needing such a feature. Maybe it’s coming!
Reviews
Homebase is one of the rare employee time clock apps we’ve found that actually seems to have better overall scores for its mobile versions than it does for the desktop interface Capterra reviewers usually grade:
Not all mobile reviews are glowing. iOS user ESlike711 expresses frustration with trying to see his schedules in a more zoomed-out view than week-by-week:
iOS Review:
Could be better – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Could be better
It’s really difficult to see the entire schedule. They don’t show a calendar view, they only show week by week, which you have to scroll through. It makes it really difficult to map out your entire schedule, especially when you plan month by month.
Also, whenever my manager adds something to an already existing schedule, or she creates a new schedule, all it says to me is that a new schedule was published. It does not show what was changed or added. It doesn’t even specify whether it was a change or an entirely new schedule. It only says “new schedule published.” So I have to come through the schedule and compare to see if it was actually a new schedule, or if it was just changes… And then I have to find those changes myself.
Overall, it’s just not very easy to read. If they could give an option for a full month’s calendar view, and specify when there’s either a new schedule or just changes, and then actually show me the changes that were made, I would give it five stars. Because those little things honestly make it such a pain to use. At this point, I feel like it would be easier to switch to paper scheduling.
A recent review from Android user Mister Piggs provides helpful guidance on Homebase’s ideal customer profile – he says it’s ideal for food service and retail establishments:
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐⭐
Decent app, many useful features. Would be most ideal for Food/Service and Retail establishments. Working in Events and Production, some features never get used. Navigation and work flow have room for improvement. Overall basic functions have been reliable. BUG: Android OS: URl Links listed under “shift notes” no longer work. Prior to a previous update(s). The URL link worked as intended.
Mister Piggs seems to be right, based on the strength of Homebase’s Capterra reviews from restaurant managers like Thomas G., who gives it five stars across the board with this to-the-point review:
Capterra Review:
Great for the money – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: it is great program and easy to use, Also try people to use it as well.
Pros: easy to deal with and figure out able to train others to be able to use it as well
Cons: there was nothing to dislike about the program
Pricing
Free Trial?
For 1 location (up to 20 employees)
Essentials
$24.95 / mo. per location (unlimited employees)
Plus
$59.95 / mo. per location (unlimited employees)
All-in-one
$99.95 / mo. per location (unlimited employees)
Payroll
Available as an add-on for $39 / mo. + $6 / mo. per employee
Connecteam
Scoring
Key Features
-
Time clock app for frontline employees
-
Employee scheduling for non-desk-based teams
-
Task and project management (also for non-desk teams)
-
Employee work chat app, surveys, knowledge base, and directory
-
Employee onboarding and training
-
Benefits and leave/PTO management
Strong task tracking features
Good for fast-growing businesses with multiple locations
HR and employee engagement tools for growing teams
Lacks payroll or payments functionality
Broad target audience (lack of industry-specific features)
Focus on HR functions not ideal for non-hiring businesses
Highlights
Like Homebase, Connecteam has been built to serve as a sort of “all-in-one” business management app, with a similar suite of features spanning both time and schedule management and employee management and engagement.
Where Connecteam diverges from Homebase is its greater focus on task-based progress trackng. Connecteam’s tasks can be created, scheduled, and organized with sub-tasks, to-do lists, file attachments, and other tools providing workers many opportunities to report on their progress or check in to find out what to do next.
The various ways Connecteam allows you to handle tasks through its app should be appreciated by managers or administrators who often have to oversee multiple workplaces – the mobile apps are, by all accounts, just as effective at creating and overseeing tasks as Connecteam’s web app.
The only real drawback Connecteam has, as compared to Homebase, appears to be a lack of built-in payroll or payment processing features.
Connecteam does offer integrations with three of the most popular apps for handling both tasks – QuickBooks, Gusto, and Xero – so many businesses shouldn’t have an issue with this absence.
Reviews
Like Homebase, Connecteam’s mobile apps both appear to be far more popular and more widely-loved than its web app:
Security professional Txkilroy gives Connecteam’s iOS app four stars, mainly due to its lack of a “dark mode” – something on Connecteam’s roadmap, according to the developer or support agent who responded to this review:
iOS Review:
Good App but needs one thing… – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Good App but needs one thing…We use this app at work as security officers abd it does things well and saves paperwork but it needsvone big option esp with some of us with vision issues but also the graveyard guys is we need to be sble to go to DARKMode euther along with phone settings or as a option in the app settings. Its very tough to look st a bright screen after vision adjusts for darkness then try n be blinded by working on paperwork then having to wait for. vision to adjust to darkness again. Hopefully the Dev’s see this n fixes it soon to help us and others out. Otherwise no complaints really elsewise.
However, Android user Dylan Ferrara gives this version of Connecteam’s app two stars due to persistent bugs with clocking in or out and tracking time accurately – two fairly critical functions you’d want to work in your employee time clock app:
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐
I wish this app was better because it is a good all-in-one for scheduling shift work and communicating on the backend, but only when it works. Recently it hasn’t been allowing people to clock in or not even showing scheduled shifts. Hasn’t been keeping track of time well either. Main complaint is it doesn’t allow for live updates when making changes. Which is something unacceptable for a corporate communication app
Construction safety officer Renee C. has nothing bad to say about Connecteam in her Capterra review, which was five stars across the board for its capabilities:
Capterra Review:
Connecteam streamlines your time tracking, and keeps your team connected! – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: Overall we are very happy to be using Connecteam and our staff all agree it has made things much easier. From time tracking, to job briefings, milage reports, and gathering documents, there is nothing you cant do on Connecteam!Pros: Connecteam’s time tracking is amazing! To be able to select from multiple jobs and sub-jobs, add notes, and even attachments such as milage, meals, hotels etc, it keeps our time tracking streamlined and simple. This helps our accounting department to be able to invoice for the exact amount of time spent at each clients facility, and gives a large overview of exactly where and what our staff was doing.
Cons: Occasionally the app crashes, and it makes it difficult for our staff to sign in/out for the day. It is rare, but when it does happen, it causes a disturbance.
Pricing
Free Trial?
Small Business plan is free for life
(All plans include support for up to 30 users.)
Basic
$35 / mo. ($0.60 / mo. per add’l user over 30)
Advanced
$59 / mo. ($1.80 / mo. per add’l user over 30)
Expert
$119/ mo. ($3.60 / mo. per add’l user over 30)
Enterprise
Must contact sales
ClockShark
Scoring
Key Features
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GPS time clock and geofencing
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Mobile, web-based, and physical kiosk-based time tracking
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Employee scheduling app
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Track employee vacation and sick leave
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Job management and job costing
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Customer management and recordkeeping
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Built-in quoting, invoicing, and payment processing
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Popular payroll integrations
Simple time and project management tools
Includes kiosk clock-in for large workforces in one place
Built-in billing and invoicing
New updates to the app might mess up GPS
You can’t always set your own rules for clock-in or -out
Putting in time or info is sometimes challenging
No free-forever plan
Highlights
ClockShark is a well-known app that helps construction and service companies keep track of their team’s time. It’s made to solve problems these kinds of companies face.
As it’s grown, ClockShark has added features that are handy for these businesses. It has a simple tool for keeping track of customers that’s not as fancy as full customer tools but helps you keep everything in one place. This makes managing jobs and projects easier.
ClockShark also lets you send bills and get paid right in the app. This is really useful for businesses that do lots of small jobs, like repair work or cleaning. These extras might not mean you can stop using other payroll or money apps completely, but they can make things quicker and help you get paid faster.
Reviews
ClockShark’s reviews swing in the opposite direction from Homebase’s and Connecteam’s – Capterra web app users are both more numerous and far more effusive in their praise than ClockShark’s iOS and Android users.
But the front-line employees more likely to use ClockShark’s mobile app are a bit more divided. Here’s what people say about the ClockShark experience across these three review platforms…
ClockShark’s middling iOS score could be due to some persistent bugs, which pop up in multiple reviews, such as this one from mid-2023:
iOS Review:
Bugging out a little – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I clocked out yesterday and it stopped pinging my location like it does throughout the day when you were clocked in. However, I noticed at the end of the day today that it said I had stayed clocked in overnight and it clocked me out automatically, but there was no location pings throughout the night. I had to do a time correction form to fix the issue with HR.
There are nearly four times as many reviews for ClockShark on the Play Store as on the App Store, but the same issues seem to occur regardless of mobile OS, as this review from A. Willis in early 2024 indicates:
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐
Tracking location when not on the clock. Clocked out around 4:30 and at 8:30 I get a notification that this app is accessing location in the background. Selecting only allow location when app is in use does not allow me to log into my jobs. It demands always on. Please fix. Samsung S23 Ultra.
Capterra reviewers are the most positive towards ClockShark. Construction accountant Svetlana G. appreciates everything but the app’s relative inflexibility – which, to be fair, is actually a complaint about the standard per-user pricing model most employee time clock apps currently use:
Capterra Review:
ClockShark is Ontime clock – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros: User-friendly application , when switching from project to another project , time will round up , no odd minutes. Great integration with accounting software using webconnector. Reports can be modified to fit criteria such as time by project , time by division,, ets.
Cons: Package not flexible, you have to pay for any additional user. Could be costly if you aren’t budgeting your needs. No other modules except time tracking
Pricing
Free Trial?
14-day trial with no credit card required
Standard
$8 / mo. per user + $40 base fee
Pro
$10 / mo. per user + $60 base fee
Hubstaff
Scoring
Key Features
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Employee time tracking for remote, hybrid, and in-office teams
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GPS and geofenced time clock app
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Timesheets, employee productivity, and overtime tracking
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Workforce management tools
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Workforce analytics, project cost management, and payroll
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Employee experience software for distributed workforces
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Habit tracking and remote employee experience (REX)
Good for distributed teams working across many locations
Includes HR-centric people management features
Expense tracker for businesses using raw materials
Mobile apps seem to be outdated
Time tracking may not be the most accurate on mobile
Support appears to be somewhat lacking
Seems better optimized for remote desk teams than field teams
Highlights
Hubstaff is one of the more popular general-purpose employee time clock apps, with an assortment of additional features placing it somewhere between ClockShark and Homebase in terms of its reach into day-to-day business operations.
Its features lack the industry specificity of ClockShark’s field-service focus, and the overall Hubstaff package doesn’t have quite as many tools as Homebase, but Hubstaff nonetheless provides a fairly diverse range of features on top of its central time-tracking app.
The screenshot below shows Hubstaff’s key features on its web dashboard, focusing on its built-in expense tracker. This particular feature is always helpful for businesses that constantly go through supplies and materials, which accurately describes most field service businesses:
Hubstaff’s mix of features might be perfectly suited to certain businesses, but it seems to lack the granularity of sector-focused apps like Workyard.
Hubstaff gets around these potential deficiencies by offering what seems to be one of the most robust integration capabilities of any app reviewed here, with extensive lists of native integrations for project management tools (Asana, ClickUp, Jira, etc.), financial tools (FreshBooks, PayPal, QuickBooks, etc.), CRMs, and helpdesk apps.
You can also integrate Hubstaff with other apps through Zapier, or inquire directly with the Hubstaff team about a custom connection.
Reviews
Hubstaff’s mix of reviews is a bit less straightforward to assess than most other apps we’ve covered in this article.
For one thing, it’s the only app with a notable discrepancy between its two main app store scores – iOS users seem to enjoy using Hubstaff, while Android users are more ambivalent:
Unfortunately, all of Hubstaff’s highlighted iOS reviews seem to be from 2019, so here’s one of those five-year-old reviews from user fireinjundev, who also wants the same sort of dark mode requested by the Connecteam review we saw earlier:
iOS Review:
It’s useful but… ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I wish for the desktop app there was a dark mode. As a developer I just don’t like it’s brightness. And I’m also a little aggravated that it checks to make sure I’m doing stuff all the time. I work on multiple machines and some days it will stop my timer and say I wasn’t working. Then I have to go to my boss and get it fixed. It’s just an unnecessary hassle. For what it gets right though, it gets really right.
While many of Hubstaff’s Android reviews also seem to be rather old, there are newer ones on display – however, many reviews complain about bugs introduced by recent updates, whether they’ve been posted in 2019 or 2023, such as this two-star review from David Dimalanta:
Google Play Review:
⭐⭐
i don’t like the new updates. no checkpoint after power is cutoff unlike the previous version. I work for five hours but instead I lost two hours after my battery died two hours ago or even while the app is running due to crash.
Hubstaff users on Capterra tend to be more positive towards recent updates. Insurance company CEO Caleb O. gave Hubstaff five stars in June 2024 with this to-the-point review:
Capterra Review:
1 year review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: Very positive experience overall, we have had some glitches but nothing I would cancel over.
Pros: Integrations with payment systems , Paypal and Wise
Cons: It was confusing to get setup when we first started
Pricing
Free Trial?
Free-forever plan for one user
Starter
$7 / mo. per user (2 user minimum)
Grow
$9 / mo. per user (2 user minimum)
Team
$12 / mo. per user (2 user minimum)
Enterprise
$25 / mo. per user (billed annually)
Add-Ons
Several are available at $2+ / mo. per user
The Bottom Line
The best employee time clock app is different for every business. However, no matter your needs, you’re probably starting with one basic non-negotiable requirement: the app has to track time accurately.
Certain apps do this well in any scenario, whether you’re on the go or in the office, working from your car or a Starbucks or anywhere else. Others excel mainly when you can sit down at a desk or table with a laptop and stay put. Your choice, of course, depends not only on what your team is doing today, but what you expect it to do in the future as you grow and adapt to new challenges.
For time-tracking accuracy, you can’t go wrong with Workyard. Its employee time clock app with GPS is often acknowledged as the most precise GPS tracker on the market – even among its numerous competitors!
Construction companies like AV Decking reported saving over $150,000 in avoidable payroll waste after switching to Workyard, in just a few weeks. You can start saving money on payroll too – just click the links above to find out more about Workyard, or click here to sign up for a 14-day free trial now!
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!
The best employee time clock apps have features that make it easy to track when and where your team works. They let you see who is working in real-time and make sure everyone gets paid right. Here are some top features:
- GPS Tracking: Know where your team is when they clock in or out.
- Scheduling: Plan who works when and where.
- Time Tracking: Keep track of work hours easily.
- Breaks and Overtime: Manage break times and extra work hours.
- Reports: See work hours and job costs in simple reports.
- Payroll Integration: Connect the app to your payroll system to pay your team.
- Mobile Access: Use the app on phones so your team can clock in from anywhere.
- Alerts: Get alerts for when it’s time to start or stop work, or if there are any issues.
These features help keep things fair and clear for everyone at work.
The best time clock app for small businesses is one that is easy to use, doesn’t cost too much, and has features that match what your business needs. A good choice for many small businesses is QuickBooks Time. It’s popular because:
- It’s Easy: You can start using it fast and it’s simple for your team.
- It Tracks Time Well: It keeps track of work hours and where your team is working.
- It Works with Payroll: You can easily pay your team with the hours tracked in the app.
- It’s Made for Small Businesses: It fits what small businesses need without being too complicated.
QuickBooks Time is well-suited for small businesses looking for a straightforward way to manage time and payroll.
However, small businesses in certain industries may want more tailored features – smaller construction companies still need to track job costs and may need to manage prevailing wage schedules, and QuickBooks Time isn’t optimized for these features. For many construction companies (large and small alike), Workyard’s GPS time clock is ideally-suited, because it was built from the ground up to support the construction industry.
Few construction companies – large or small – publicly share the software they use, which makes it difficult to accurately assess which employee time clock apps are popular in this industry.
However, based on our experience working with construction companies of all sizes, we’ve found that many large organizations with over 500 workers will opt for fairly comprehensive construction management software, of which time-tracking is one of many apps or key features available. Procore, Raken, and Fieldwire are three such apps used by many construction companies – Procore, for example, is a publicly-traded company worth about $10 billion, which we can only assume means it has quite a few large construction companies as clients!
It’s important to keep in mind that what’s good for a big company may not work for smaller organizations. A construction company that doesn’t regularly submit bids and budgets for large projects may not need the multiple features in Procore that appear designed to support the bidding-and-budgeting process for general contractors.
Employee time clock apps like ClockShark and Workyard are designed to use minimal data.
ClockShark typically uses between 5MB to 25MB per month for an employee using the app.On the other hand, Workyard’s GPS tracking feature is efficient in data usage, consuming less than 1 MB per day.
These apps are optimized to minimize data consumption while providing essential time tracking and GPS functionalities for businesses.
Employee time clock apps like ClockShark, Workyard, and OnTheClock are optimized to use minimal battery power on mobile phones.
ClockShark typically uses around 20% of a healthy, fully charged mobile battery during an 8-hour shift. Workyard’s geofence time clock app is designed to minimize battery consumption, typically using 3% or less daily, allowing employees to use it throughout their workday without excessive drain on their devices.
OnTheClock is also optimized for minimal battery usage, ensuring that employees’ phones do not power down in the middle of a shift. These apps prioritize efficiency while providing essential time tracking features for businesses.
