The 9 Best Employee Location Tracking Apps

Employee location tracking apps use GPS and geofencing technologies to help you validate that field employees are clocking in and out of work from the correct location (or to prevent them from clocking in/out before they’re at work or after they’ve left).

We’ve researched dozens of employee tracking apps to identify which are the best at helping businesses keep employees accountable and prevent time theft.

1. Buddy Punch – Best for affordability

When we were running our previous business, we struggled with time theft in a few different ways: employees would clock in before they arrived at work, clock out after they left work, or clock in from the parking lot and then leave.

So when we built Buddy Punch, we set out to build features to help business owners prevent these types of time theft. In particular, we built three location-tracking features that would help business owners either prevent time theft entirely or easily identify when it’s occurring: GPS tracking, geofencing, and real-time GPS.

GPS tracking

With GPS tracking, you can capture your teams’ GPS coordinates whenever they clock in/out of work. That data is then added to each employee’s timesheet, which you can review to determine if the punch took place on the job site or away from it.

And as you can see in the screenshot above, you don’t have to turn GPS tracking on for all employees. Buddy Punch is incredibly flexible, so you can make GPS tracking required for all employees, required for only a selection of employees, or optional for all or a selection.

GPS tracking on punch is best for businesses where employees and supervisors work together at the same location. 

Since supervisors would likely notice employees disappearing for long periods of time in the middle of the day, it helps prevent time theft in the moments where supervisors would be least likely to notice it — at the beginning and end of an employee’s shift.

Geofencing

A geofence is a digital border you can create around one or more job sites. It works together with the GPS data on employees’ mobile phones to identify when employees are at job sites and when they’re not.

Geofences can be used to prevent employees from clocking in or out when they’re not on site (when they’re outside of the specified geofence). If employees attempt to clock in/out when they’re outside of the geofence, they get an error notification in the Buddy Punch mobile app.

Like GPS on punch, geofencing in Buddy Punch is flexible and can be made optional, required, or turned off for specific employees, specific departments/teams, or the entire company.

Geofencing works best when time theft is such a big problem that it’s difficult to monitor GPS punch data on an individual basis. Rather than having to check the GPS location data on individual timesheets, you can rest assured that employees didn’t clock in or out offsite because they simply can’t do so.

Real-time GPS

Buddy Punch’s final location-tracking feature is real-time GPS, which tracks employee locations the entire time they’re on the clock and provides you with:

• GPS breadcrumbs that allow you to see an employee’s movements throughout the course of the workday.
• An interactive map showing every clocked-in employee’s location and movements at any given moment of the day.

Real-time GPS is best used in two circumstances.

First, it’s a helpful feature if you believe employees are leaving work while on the clock. With real-time GPS, you will be able to tell if they’re leaving work to do other things while they’re still on the clock.

Second, real-time GPS is great for traveling employees like salespeople, plumbers, electricians, delivery drivers, truck drivers, and other types of logistics and service industry employees who travel from site to site over the course of a single day.

Like with GPS on punch and geofencing, real-time GPS can be enabled only for the team members you need it for. And Buddy Punch is also a privacy-first application, meaning it only tracks employees’ location when they’re on the clock and never when they’re clocked out.

Additional employee accountability features

Beyond location-tracking, Buddy Punch has a number of additional features that help business owners and administrators keep employees accountable:

• IP Address Locking: Great for office workers, IP address locking only allows employees to clock in when the device they’re using to punch is using your office’s IP address or connected to your company’s Wi-Fi network.

• Photos on Punch: If buddy punching — when an employee clocks in/out for another employee — is a problem for your business, you can use Photos on Punch to require employees to take a picture of themselves when clocking in and out.

• Facial Recognition: Another feature to prevent buddy punching is facial recognition, which uses Face ID to validate that the person clocking in is the correct employee.

Additional workforce management features

In addition to Buddy Punch’s time- and location-tracking capabilities, it’s also a complete workforce management app that lets you track employee time, calculate overtime, run payroll, create employee schedules, and manage PTO accruals:

• Payroll integrations: Buddy Punch integrates with most top payroll providers to automate your payroll processing, including QuickBooks, Paychex, and Workday.

• Payroll reports: Buddy Punch calculates everything needed to run payroll automatically and lets you export it as an Excel or CSV file with just a few clicks.

• PTO accruals: Set up rules for how employee PTO is accrued, and Buddy Punch will automatically calculate available PTO hours for your entire company.

• Time off tracking: Employees can submit time-off requests in Buddy Punch, which are sent to their managers for approval.

• Track hours by jobs, projects, or locations: Generate reports segmented by locations, positions, or departments — perfect for businesses that need to track hours spent on specific customer projects or client jobs.

• Employee scheduling: Create and distribute schedules for your team using Buddy Punch’s drag-and-drop employee scheduler.
• Recurring shifts: Have Buddy Punch automatically repeat schedules to avoid having to recreate them from scratch every time a new work period comes around.

• Employee availability: Allow your employees to submit their availability to make it easy to see who’s available when while creating your schedules.

• Punch limiting: Tie your employees’ ability to punch to their schedule, or set up rules to limit their punches to, for example, 15 minutes before or after a scheduled shift.

Want to learn more? Check out this comprehensive list of Buddy Punch’s features.

Customer reviews

At the time of writing this post, Buddy Punch has an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars across almost 1,000 user reviews. Here’s what some specific customers have to say about its location-tracking features:

• “Buddy Punch provides us with concrete times when our team was present in stores. Not only does it help with time tracking, but it also helps with COVID-19 contact tracing and workplace incident investigations.” Read the full review.
• “We have over 20 jobs going at one time All the guys can easily punch in and out on their phone. If they are in the field, they use GPS, and we know where they are — at the supply store, on the job site, etc. You can’t lose with this software.” Read the full review.
• “The use of the mobile app allows employees to clock in at multiple locations but can also show GPS coordinates if you’re questioning an employee’s whereabouts at the time the punch was entered. Compared to other systems, this is a simple solution offering the same functionality but much easier to use!” Read the full review.

Pricing

Buddy Punch offers a free 14-day trial. Its base plan starts at $4.49 per user per month plus a $19 base fee, making it one of the most affordable employee location-tracking apps on this list.

Want to learn more about Buddy Punch? Start a free trial, watch a recorded demo, or request a personalized demo.

2. Hellotracks – Best for transportation companies

Hellotracks is specifically built for logistics, delivery, and transportation companies. It uses same-second GPS technology to capture employees’ routes across their entire shifts and log exactly when they arrive at and leave locations.

Hellotracks also comes with route scheduling and dispatching capabilities. You can create routes for your employees, ensure they’re optimized, and then send them to employees. Employees then use the Hellotracks app to guide them on their routes.

When an employee arrives at their destination, the dispatcher receives a notification, and another notification is sent when they leave the location. Hellotracks also logs the employee hours spent at specific locations.

Additionally, the app can collect signatures from customers when deliveries are completed, consolidating all of your data into a single platform.

As far as geofencing, Hellotracks has the most customizable options of all of the apps on this list. It lets you create any geofence shape you’d like — circles, squares, triangles, etc. — so you can be really specific about which areas employees can be in while billing time to your business.

Unique features

• Same-second GPS tracking: Hellotracks pings your employees’ devices every 20 seconds, letting you see exactly where your fleet is located on a map at any moment.
• Route scheduling and dispatching: Use a drag-and-drop tool to create routes and assign them to employees, then dispatch those routes to employees through the app.
• Route optimization: Hellotracks’ technology automatically optimizes your routes for you so you can avoid backtracking and wasted time/hours.
• Customizable geofencing: Create highly specific zones around your delivery areas or locations to make sure employees can’t log time when they’re outside of those areas.

Customer reviews

Hellotracks has an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars across 14 user reviews. Here’s what customers have to say about its location-tracking features:

• “Amazing experience! I can get a perfect overview of field staff activities in real-time and at a glance. It’s so easy to dispatch and track the work in the field.” Read the full review.
• “GPS tracking of employees in the field allows you to know where they are and track their progress. Also good for uploading jobs to field employees so they get the info right to their phones.” Read the full review.
• “Hellotracks changed the way we control our fleet for deliveries of goods and services. The system as a whole offers all the resources we need to get in control of the jobs and people working on them.” Read the full review.

Pricing

Hellotracks’ base plan starts at $10 per user per month and includes real-time GPS location tracking, geofencing, on-site time recording, and unlimited location history.

3. QuickBooks Time – Best for mileage tracking

QuickBooks Time offers both real-time GPS location tracking and geofencing. These features can be used separately or together.

In terms of GPS tracking, QuickBooks Time captures employees’ locations when clocking in and out. You can see this data in employee timesheets or view all employees’ locations on a map. 

The geofencing feature offers some more advanced functionality. Use geofences to automatically clock employees in and out when they arrive at or leave a worksite, or send them notifications when they arrive within or leave a geofence to remind them to clock in/out.

With QuickBooks Time, you can also automate the process of creating geofences using the QuickBooks Time API. If your company needs to create geofences in bulk, the API is a great way to save time, improve productivity, and avoid manual work.

Once a geofence is set up, employees will receive alerts when entering and leaving the radius. This helps them remember to start or stop tracking time when arriving at or leaving a worksite. 

Additionally, you can set up workflows to automatically clock employees in and out when entering and exiting the geofence. On the employee’s side, notifications prompt them to specify why they’re leaving work locations, letting them select between options like taking a break, clocking out, or switching jobs.

Finally, QuickBooks Time also offers mileage tracking, so if you need to reimburse employees for mileage traveled, it’s a great option for automating that process as part of payroll.

Unique features

• Mileage tracking: Track mileage traveled while employees are on the clock so you can file taxes and reimburse expenses.
• Clock-in/out reminders: Send notifications to employees reminding them to clock in or out when entering or exiting a geofence.
• API: Large businesses with lots of locations can automate the process of creating geofences using QuickBooks Time’s API.
• QuickBooks Payroll syncing: Since QuickBooks Time and QuickBooks Payroll are both QuickBooks products, syncing data between the two products is simple and seamless with no additional integrations required. 

Customer reviews

At the time of writing this post, QuickBooks Time has an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars across almost 7,000 user reviews. Here’s what some specific customers have to say about its location-tracking features:

• “There are several options for field workers to clock in and out with QuickBooks Time, including a web interface and a mobile app, as well as a location to save client notes and maps. Additionally, the cloud-based system includes GPS monitoring and geofencing.” Read the full review.
• “The GPS tracking system has generally been a positive thing to know the whereabouts of personnel. The system also keeps people honest on actual times of arrival and departure.” Read the full review.
• “Great GPS tracking. Great for job costing and helping employees track their time to jobs accurately as they switch between jobs throughout the day.” Read the full review.

Pricing

QuickBooks Time is a great option for companies that are already paying for QuickBooks Payroll’s Premium or Elite plans. If you subscribe to one of those plans, you get access to all of QuickBooks Time’s geofencing and GPS tracking functionality at no additional cost.

If you’re not already subscribed to one of QuickBooks Payroll’s premium plans, individual QuickBooks Time plans that include mileage tracking and geofencing start at $10 per user per month plus a $40 per month base fee.

4. Timeero – Best for rural worksites

Like many of the other apps on this list, Timeero offers GPS on punch, geofencing, real-time GPS, and mileage tracking features. However, its flexible geofencing features are what encouraged us to include it on this list. 

To enable geofencing in Timeero, you simply select the “require geofencing” checkbox when creating a location in the software. After that, you can set the geofence’s radius, which can be as small as 100 meters in diameter or as large as 1,000 meters.

After that, you can choose how your geofence behaves. You can:

• Require employees to be within the geofence to clock in/out.
• Automatically clock employees in and out when entering/exiting the geofence.
• Send employees notifications when entering and/or leaving the geofence’s boundaries to remind them to clock in or out.

The ability to clock employees in and out automatically is great for limiting the amount of work administrators have to do to edit timecards when employees forget to punch.

Additionally, you can set Timeero up so that employees can clock in and out outside of the geofence even if being within the geofence is required. When this happens, the action is flagged so an administrator can look into it.

This feature is helpful if your employees are working in a location where mobile phone service isn’t available or is unreliable. Instead of being prevented from clocking in or out and having to contact someone in the office for help, they can clock in and out anyway.

Unique features

• Geofence overrides: Allow employees to clock in and out even when their phone data says they’re not within the geofence so employees can still log their hours in rural areas with poor/nonexistent phone service.
• Auto clocking in/out: Instead of having employees clock in manually, set your geofence rules up to automatically clock employees in when entering a geofence and clock them out when exiting it.

Customer reviews

At the time of writing this post, Timeero has an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars across almost 75 user reviews. Here’s what some specific customers have to say about its location-tracking features:

• “The geofencing feature allows us to track progress and employee locations for safety, time management, and tracking mileage. Such a great product!” Read the full review.
• “The GPS tracking and geofencing is what really set this app apart from others we’ve tried. Having traveling technicians, it is critical that we are able to track our employees’ time away from the office to ensure they are compensated appropriately.” Read the full review.
• “Easy to use, straightforward for people to follow, simple layout, GPS location is a plus! Allows me to see where my employees are and if they are in the right location when they say they are. Our business is a hire business so there are always different locations.” Read the full review.

Pricing

Timeero’s plans start at $4 per user per month for GPS and mileage tracking, $8 per user per month for geofencing, and $11 per user per month for clocking out when GPS is unavailable.

5. Jibble – Best for small businesses

For small businesses with very basic needs, Jibble’s free-forever plan could provide everything you’re looking for. You can use it to log employees’ GPS locations upon clock in and out, as well as to create up to two geofences.

Jibble also offers offline functionality through its mobile time and location tracking apps. If employees don’t have an internet connection through their mobile phones or Wi-Fi, Jibble will simply log the data and then sync it to your system later when a connection is re-established.

Customer reviews

Jibble has an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars across almost 1,000 user reviews. Here’s what customers have to say about its location-tracking features:

• “I love how it’s so easy to use and the feature which allows me to track location as my work requires tracking the employees who work outside.” Read the full review.
• “The mobile attendance app is excellent and combined with the geolocation and login metering are excellent.” Read the full review.
• “We benefit the most from our remote team management making different working schedule templates and assigning to teams; plus the tool reinforces policies such as working from authorized locations.” Read the full review.

Pricing

Jibble’s free-forever plan includes GPS on punch for unlimited employees and up to two geofences.

6. Hubstaff – Best for location and productivity tracking

Hubstaff is unique on this list because it offers both location- and activity-tracking features. You can use it — like the other apps we’ve reviewed so far — to log GPS on punch, create geofences, and capture real-time GPS breadcrumbs. You can also upload a spreadsheet to Hubstaff to create geofences in bulk.

But Hubstaff also allows you to track employee activity to monitor productivity as well. You can see which websites and apps your employees are using while working, detect when employees are idle while on the clock, and capture screenshots of what they’re working on at regular intervals throughout the day.

This makes it a great option for businesses that have both field and office employees. It provides you with all of the tools you need to prevent time theft of all types — whether employees are working on jobs in the field or working in the office on computers.

Unique features

• Keyboard and mouse activity: Hubstaff monitors keyboard strokes and mouse movements to gauge activity levels during employee work hours. This data is used to generate activity reports that show how active an employee is during their logged time.
• Idle time detection: Hubstaff can detect periods of inactivity and prompt employees to confirm if they are still working — or to adjust their work hours accordingly.
• Automatic screenshots: The app captures random screenshots showing what employees are working on at set intervals (e.g., every 10 minutes) during working hours.
• App and website tracking: Hubstaff tracks the applications and websites employees visit while working.

Customer reviews

At the time of writing, Hubstaff has an overall rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars across nearly 1,500 customer reviews. Here’s what customers have to say about its location- and activity-tracking features:

• “Time tracking, HR features, URL/app tracking, project management, good GPS tracking, great one-on-one customer service.” Read the full review.
• “Whenever my team goes out for fieldwork, this tool provides me a clear picture about their field location, thus I can manage the workload by assigning the task to the nearest team member to visit certain clients.” Read the full review.
• “I like the wide variety of tracking features included that not only let employees register work time but also allow us to see activity such as screenshots and location trackers.” Read the full review.

Pricing

Hubstaff’s plans start at $4.99 per seat per month with a two-seat minimum. That plan includes activity levels, limited screenshots, and limited app and URL tracking. Its location-tracking and geofencing features are only available in a separate add-on package that costs an additional $4 per seat per month.

7. Clockify – Best for agencies

Clockify is primarily designed for agencies and consulting companies that do online work for multiple clients. It’s combined project management and time tracking software that lets you create projects, estimate project hours, assign tasks to employees, and capture accurate time spent on clients and projects.

It isn’t terribly robust in terms of its location-tracking features, but it has basic GPS tracking that logs location data when employees clock in and again when they clock out. 

Additionally, if employees leave the office while clocked in, Clockify will add the time and new location to the timesheet, letting you easily identify when employees took breaks or forgot to clock out when leaving work.

Pricing

Clockify’s plans that include GPS time tracking start at $7.99 per user per month.

8. TimeTrakGO – Best businesses with simple needs

TimeTrakGo is a basic employee time clock with a unique graphical interface and only the most essential features. As far as GPS tracking, you can capture employees’ locations on clock in and out, and you can create geofences. Unlike the other apps on this list, TimeTrakGo doesn’t offer real-time GPS tracking.

Its graphical interface makes it easy to use for both employees and administrators and can be a good option if your administrators aren’t very tech-savvy. It relies heavily on pictures and big buttons to make the right action to take clear and doesn’t provide too many details in terms of data or reports.

This makes it a great, low-cost option for small businesses with employees who might struggle to use a more robust, feature-rich system. You can track time, view locations, create schedules, integrate with your payroll provider, and track PTO simply without any of the bells and whistles of the other apps on this list.

Pricing

For GPS tracking, plans start at $2.40 per user per month.

9. Workyard – Best for contractors

Workyard, like busybusy above, is fully focused on time tracking for construction companies and contractors. It comes with precise, real-time GPS tracking that tracks your crews’ locations every minute. Because of this, the app can automate many different things: time tracking, clocking in and out, project time, and mileage capture.

Additionally, Workday has a feature that reports on exactly what your project costs are — and see if you’re over- or under-budget, which can help you create more accurate estimates for future projects.

Pricing

Plans that include GPS tracking start at $6 per user per month plus a $50/month base fe

Choosing the right employee tracking app for your business

Choosing the right employee tracking app can significantly enhance your team’s productivity and accountability. Whether you need GPS tracking for field employees or activity monitoring for office staff, the nine apps above offer a variety of features to suit your specific needs. 

By implementing the right tool, you can prevent time theft, improve team efficiency, and ensure that your employees are focused on the tasks that matter most.