(650) 332-8623The 7 Best Employee Timesheet Apps for 2026
Looking for an employee timesheet app for your construction business? We’ve reviewed 7 of the best apps on the market to help you!
Employee timesheet apps help construction teams capture clean hours before payroll runs. When crews rely on paper timesheets or end-of-week guesses, payroll errors and job cost issues pile up fast.
I reviewed employee timesheet apps used by contractors and field teams to see which ones actually hold up on jobsites. This guide focuses on tools that support mobile crews, multiple jobs, and payroll review without chasing timesheets or fixing errors at the last minute.
Top Employee Timesheet Apps at a Glance
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|
|
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|---|---|---|---|
Our score |
9.3 |
8.4 |
8.2 |
Best for |
Accurate GPS-powered time tracking for field crews |
Workforce shift optimization |
Payroll-ready timesheet automation |
Pricing |
Starting at $6 / mo. per user + $50 / mo. company base fee |
Starting at $5.50 /mo. per user |
Starting at $10/mo. + $8 per user per mo. base fee |
What is an employee timesheet app?
An employee timesheet app is a modern upgrade to the old paper punch card. It records work hours automatically and keeps everything organized in one place. These apps let employees clock in from their phones or tablets, while managers get a live view of who’s working, where, and for how long.
They’re especially valuable for businesses that manage remote or mobile teams. By reducing payroll errors and simplifying compliance, these tools save hours of admin work each week. More importantly, they turn raw time data into clear insights about labor costs, attendance, and overall team performance
How employee timesheet apps work
An employee timesheet app works as a digital hub that brings time tracking, scheduling, and payroll together. A manager or admin starts by creating projects, setting pay rates, and inviting employees to join. Team members then clock in and out from a mobile or web app, often using GPS or geofencing to confirm their location on the job.
As hours are logged, the data syncs instantly, giving supervisors real-time visibility into attendance and labor costs. Automated rules calculate overtime, apply breaks, and send reminders if someone forgets to clock out.
Many apps also integrate with payroll or accounting tools like QuickBooks or ADP, so approved timesheets flow directly into payroll, reducing errors, saving time, and keeping everyone on the same page.
Benefits of employee timesheet apps
- Save hours on admin work: Automated time tracking replaces manual entry, cutting down the time spent chasing paper timesheets.
- Ensure accurate payroll: Every clock-in and clock-out is digitally recorded, minimizing errors and disputes over hours worked.
- Gain real-time visibility: Managers can instantly see who’s on the clock, where they’re working, and how projects are progressing.
- Stay compliant effortlessly: Built-in overtime and break rules help businesses follow labor laws without constant oversight.
- Prevent time theft: GPS and geofencing features verify that employees are clocking in from the right job site.
- Improve job costing: Detailed time data shows exactly how many hours go into each task.
- Streamline payroll and reporting: Seamless integrations with accounting tools turn approved timesheets into ready-to-process payroll.
How much does employee timesheet app cost?
Most employee timesheet apps follow a subscription model, where pricing scales with the number of users and available features.
Entry-level plans usually start around $5–$10 per user per month, while more advanced tiers with features like GPS tracking, integrations, and analytics cost more. Some providers also offer flat-rate options for teams up to a certain size, which can simplify budgeting. Free plans and short trials are common, giving teams a chance to test the software before upgrading.
Implementation is typically quick, though onboarding or training may add extra costs for larger or more complex setups.
What to look for in employee timesheet apps
Finding the best employee timesheet app starts with understanding what really matters day to day. The essentials should make time tracking accurate and effortless, while the extra features help you manage teams more efficiently and keep projects on budget.
First, look for the foundational features that every reliable timesheet app should offer:
- Accurate time tracking: Ensures every clock-in and clock-out is recorded precisely for payroll and compliance.
- Mobile access: Lets employees log hours from the field or remote job sites in real time.
- GPS or geofencing verification: Confirms workers are clocking in from the correct location.
- Automated payroll integration: Sends approved timesheets directly to payroll or accounting systems to save hours of manual work.
From there, the standout tools are the ones that add thoughtful touches that save time, boost visibility, and make managing multiple crews far less stressful:
- Scheduling tools: Simplify shift planning and reduce last-minute changes.
- Advanced reporting dashboards: Turn raw time data into clear insights about productivity and project costs.
- Custom rules and alerts: Automatically flag missed punches, overtime, or budget limits before they become issues.
- Third-party integrations: Sync with tools like QuickBooks, Asana, or Slack for a smoother workflow.
How to choose the best employee timesheet app
When choosing an employee timesheet app, focus on how well it supports your workflow, from tracking hours to streamlining payroll.
- Start with your team’s setup: Identify how and where your employees work (in the field, at job sites, or remotely). The best app should support your environment with GPS tracking, mobile access, or kiosk options.
- Compare key features: Use the essentials listed earlier as your checklist. Make sure the app offers accurate time tracking, project-level reporting, and automated payroll sync to avoid manual data entry.
- Test ease of use: Get a free trial or demo. A good tool should feel natural after a few minutes, whether you’re clocking in, approving time, or viewing reports.
- Check integrations and support: Confirm that it connects seamlessly with your payroll or accounting system, and that customer support is available when issues arise.
- Weigh cost against efficiency: Consider not just the monthly fee, but how much time and payroll accuracy you’ll gain in return. A slightly higher-priced app can easily pay for itself if it saves hours of admin work each week.
Final Thoughts
Timesheet apps only earn their keep when hours are clear before payroll and tied to the right work. In construction, small gaps in time tracking turn into real cost issues once crews move between jobs.
From reviewing these tools, the biggest difference came down to how well time stayed organized from the field to the office. Workyard fits teams that want consistent time entry, job context, and fewer end-of-week fixes without relying on automation claims that don’t hold up on jobsites.
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!
Paper timesheets are fading fast in construction because they’re slow, error-prone, and hard to verify. Modern digital tools offer far better accuracy, accountability, and real-time visibility across multiple job sites. Here are the top alternatives contractors are turning to today:
Digital Timesheet Apps
Mobile apps let crews clock in and out from their phones with GPS verification, making it easy to confirm who was on-site and when.
Workyard leads this category with high-accuracy location tracking and automated job-cost allocation, a major upgrade from basic time-tracking apps. Other tools like Remato also provide mobile logging, digital signatures, and photo documentation.
Construction Time Tracking Software
Platforms such as ClockShark, QuickBooks Time (TSheets), Raken, and Fieldwire combine time tracking with scheduling, project management, and payroll integrations. These options help prevent buddy punching and improve communication between the field and the office.
Workyard stands out here as well, delivering more precise GPS data and real-time labor cost insights designed specifically for construction teams.
Portable Jobsite Time Clocks
For crews that prefer a physical device, portable clocks offer a rugged, on-site alternative. They eliminate handwriting errors while still delivering digital records that supervisors can review from the office.
Custom In-House Systems
Large contractors with unique workflows may develop their own tracking tools. This offers full control but requires more time, budget, and ongoing maintenance than most teams can commit to.
The best free timesheet app offers the widest range of features with no hidden cost.
The features you need to look for depend on what you will use the timesheet app for. If it’s for a construction business, the app must have at least the following basic features: unlimited users, a user-friendly interface, an intuitive time tracker, automated timesheets, and detailed analytics and reporting.
Some of the popular timesheet apps on the market have forever-free versions or offer a free trial of their premium features within a limited time.
If you’re looking for a reliable timesheet app with no strings attached, you can also try the one offered by the U.S. Department of Labor. The free DOL timesheet app, available on both iOS and Android, can track regular work hours, break time, and overtime hours. It also calculates pay automatically and is available in English and Spanish.
Small businesses have plenty of great options for tracking time and managing payroll more efficiently, but the best choice depends on how your team works day to day.
If accuracy and job-site accountability are your priorities, Workyard is hard to beat. Its GPS-verified time tracking, geofencing, and project-level cost reporting give owners and managers a real-time view of labor hours and job performance, something most basic apps can’t match. It’s especially valuable for field teams and contractors who need proof of attendance and automated, error-free payroll.
Other solid tools include Clockify for simple time logging, QuickBooks Time for teams already using QuickBooks for accounting, and Deputy for shift-based scheduling and attendance tracking. Each offers flexibility, but Workyard stands out for combining precision tracking, scheduling, and payroll integration into one reliable platform designed specifically for small construction and trade businesses.
For subcontractors who move between several job sites a day, Workyard is the strongest all-around option. Its GPS-verified time tracking and automatic job-cost allocation make it easy to confirm where crews worked, how long they spent there, and which project the hours should be billed to, all without relying on manual notes or memory.
Unlike general time trackers, Workyard is built specifically for field-based teams, so it handles the complexities of multi-site work effortlessly. Real-time location data, geofenced clock-ins, and project-based reporting give subcontractors a level of accuracy and accountability that reduces payroll errors and keeps job costs tight.
Other timesheet apps can log hours, but Workyard is the one that consistently delivers reliable, verifiable data across multiple sites, making it the best choice for subcontractors who need precise tracking, cleaner payroll, and better visibility into how labor is spent each day.
Construction workers, especially those who are used to filling out paper timesheets or punching cards, may not welcome the idea of using a timesheet app for the following reasons:
- Lack of familiarity with technology: Older workers who are not as tech-savvy as the younger ones may find using the timesheet app a little overwhelming. Choosing a timesheet app with user-friendly features is important so workers can start using it right away. The company must also implement proper training and onboarding sessions to ensure successful adoption.
- Privacy concerns: Most field workers are used to having an “honor-based” timesheet system, so an app that tracks their location and hours may seem too intrusive. It’s important to inform the workers of the reason behind the transition and assure them that they are only tracked whenever they’re clocked in and never during non-working hours.
- Poor internet connectivity: Construction workers may be concerned that the timesheet app may not work in remote locations with poor internet connections. Therefore, having a timesheet app that still works offline and syncs data once the connection is restored is non-negotiable.
Clockify is one of the free timesheet applications available for organizations. It allows unlimited users to track time and manage projects effectively, offering essential features without any cost. Users can generate visual reports and export them for documentation purposes.
There are also low-cost options like Workyard which comes with useful features like its best-in-class GPS time-tracking function to help organizations save costs and use resources wisely.