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The Best Clock-In Clock-Out App

Track employee hours automatically, run payroll in minutes, and streamline employee scheduling with Buddy Punch’s award-winning time clock app.

There are hundreds of different time clock apps on the market, but not all are best for all use cases and business types.

Some are good for freelancers. Some are great for enterprises. And some are perfect for small businesses looking for an effective way to track employee hours, connect those work hours to payroll, manage labor costs, and keep employees accountable.

That’s the subject matter of this post: the best clock-in clock-out apps for small businesses.

After reviewing dozens of options, we narrowed our picks for the best clock-in and clock-out apps down to 10 platforms that all offer unique features, are user-friendly and highly rated by their existing customers, and are priced at rates small businesses can afford.

We started by looking for the apps with the highest ratings on Capterra. After that, we considered pricing. Most small businesses can’t afford enterprise-priced tools, so we wanted to avoid including apps that would be out of most small business’s price ranges.

Next, we looked at each tool’s features. We wanted to make sure that each app offered the time-tracking features that small businesses need. Finally, we narrowed our list down to the most unique to provide a range of time clock apps for different types of businesses.

The 10 Best Clock-In Clock-Out Apps for Small Businesses

1. Buddy Punch

2. Connecteam

3. Hubstaff

4. QuickBooks Time

5. Clockify

6. Timely

7. TimeCamp

8. ADP

9. Homebase

10. Insightful


1. Buddy Punch

Best for affordability and range of features.

Buddy Punch tops our list of the best clock-in and out apps for small businesses because of its wide range of features, low costs, simplicity of use, and high customer ratings.

Buddy Punch’s interface is intuitive and simple to use, as evidenced by its 4.8 out of 5-star rating on Capterra for ease of use across nearly 1,000 customer reviews. Even your least technically inclined employees won’t struggle to use it.

When your staff logs into the Buddy Punch platform, they are presented with the option to clock in, clock out, or view their current time card. This hides unnecessary distractions and prioritizes simpler everyday use.

For administrators, setting Buddy Punch up is also as easy as possible. You can add employees manually if you have a small team, or you can simply send Buddy Punch an Excel file to have them onboard your entire team for you.

If you do run into issues, Buddy Punch is there to help with excellent live chat customer support. Their customer support is also rated 4.8 out of 5 stars, with customers citing quick response times and personalized support.

And when it comes to features, Buddy Punch’s is a truly all-in-one app.

In addition to basic features like clocking in and out, timecard approval workflows, overtime calculations, punch editing, and alerts/notifications, Buddy Punch has dozens of additional features. Let’s take a look:

GPS and Geofencing: Type and Device
Geofencing Map
IP Address Lock: Restrict clock in behavior based on IP address

If you want to see everything you can do with Buddy Punch, you can view all of its features here.

Pricing

Buddy Punch is one of the lowest-cost apps on this list given its breadth of features, with pricing starting at $3.99 per user per month plus a $19 base fee.

Try Buddy Punch for free

Simplify employee scheduling, time tracking, and payroll. Easily track employee time, no matter where they’re working.

2. Connecteam

Best for companies looking for a combined timekeeping and HR platform.

While Connecteam can be used solely as a time clock app, the platform really shines when you need those features and human resources management tools in one combined platform.

Connecteam’s time clock includes GPS tracking and geofencing, and it automatically generates timesheets from clock-in and clock-out data.

Managers can create and assign shifts, send notifications to employees, and handle shift swaps. The system also supports overtime calculations, break management, and custom workweeks.

Unique features

  • Employers can upload and store important documents like contracts, certifications, and performance reviews.
  • Create structured onboarding checklists to ensure that new hires complete all necessary tasks and receive all required information.
  • Create custom training programs and courses within the app that can include text, images, videos, and quizzes.
  • Track certifications and ensure employees complete required training and renew their credentials.
  • The app supports regular performance reviews that can be stored within the employee’s profile.

Pros

  • Has a functioning news-like system where you can keep track of everything and get updates
  • Has multi-channel messaging that allows you to connect to users and customers through text, email, and in-app notifications

Cons

  • Customers report having some issues with customization, with Connecteam lacking certain features that are needed
  • Can be complicated to set up and use for some businesses

Pricing

While all of the time clock, communications, and HR tools are part of the Connecteam platform, the different features are packaged into three different suites that all have their own pricing. A free plan is available on each package for up to 10 employees, then paid plans start at $29 per user, per month, per suite for up to 30 users.

3. Hubstaff

Best for productivity tracking.

As far as a time clock app, Hubstaff has all of the basic and more advanced time clock features you need, but where it stands out is with its productivity-tracking features for remote teams.

Hubstaff’s time clock includes automatic time tracking, which starts and stops based on computer activity, eliminating the need for manual clock-ins. It also supports project-based time tracking, allowing employees to allocate their billable hours to specific projects or tasks.

The platform integrates with various tools, including project management systems like Asana, ClickUp, Jira, Monday.com, and Trello; payroll and invoicing tools such as PayPal, QuickBooks, Gusto, Freshbooks, and Payoneer; and communication and CRM tools like Slack, Salesforce, and Zendesk.

Unique features

  • 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.
  • Hubstaff can detect periods of inactivity and prompt employees to confirm if they are still working — or to adjust their work hours accordingly.
  • The app captures random screenshots showing what employees are working on at set intervals (e.g., every 10 minutes) during working hours.
  • Hubstaff tracks the applications and websites employees visit while working.

Pros

  • Easily monitor employee productivity
  • See if employees are using software to create artificial activity

Cons

  • Only tracks keyboard and mouse movement, so reported productivity rates may have to be adjusted to match certain types of work

Pricing

Hubstaff’s base plan starts at $4.99 per user seat per month — with a minimum two-user requirement — but it has limits on automatic screenshots, app/website tracking, and reports. To get all of these features without limits, you’ll need to subscribe to Hubstaff’s $10 per user per month plan.

4. QuickBooks Time

Best for companies using QuickBooks Payroll Premium or Elite.

If you’re already using QuickBooks Payroll and pay for either the Premium or Elite package, QuickBooks Time could be the perfect choice for your business — it’s included as a free add-on product for those plans.

QuickBooks Time supports automatic time tracking based on work schedules or geofencing, where clocking in and out can be triggered by location-based boundaries. Its mobile app can record time entries even when employees are offline, syncing the data once reconnected.

The platform also provides reminders for employees to clock in and out, reducing the chance of missed entries. And employees can allocate their billable hours to specific jobs or projects.

Unique features

  • Kiosk mode can be set up on a tablet as a central time clock station for employees to clock in and out.
  • The kiosk mode can include biometric authentication, such as fingerprint scanning or facial recognition.
  • Track mileage traveled while employees are on the clock so you can file taxes and reimburse expenses.
  • 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.

Pros

  • The audit log feature allows you to see all changes made
  • Made to integrate well with Intuit’s other products such as QuickBooks Payroll and Online
  • Offers an online app, a mobile app, and a kiosk

Cons

  • Many people have reported issues with their customer support
  • Expensive when compared to other products 
  • Not many integrations when compared to other products

Pricing

QuickBooks Time is available for free to QuickBooks Payroll customers on the Premium and Elite plans. For other customers, plans start at $8 per user per month plus a $20 per month base fee.

5. Clockify

Best free app for basic employee attendance tracking.

If you’re just looking for a simple, free time-tracking app, Clockify might be the right option.

Clockify’s free time clock supports unlimited users, and you can create an unlimited number of projects and tasks. You can export your time card data in CSV, PDF, or XLS formats, and you can set custom hourly rates for different projects and tasks.

However, many of the platform’s more advanced features are locked behind Clockify’s paywall.

Paid plan features

  • Import data from other time-tracking tools.
  • Kiosk mode can be set up on a tablet as a central time clock station for employees to clock in and out.
  • Track where employees are located when they clock in and out.
  • Integrate your time clock data with QuickBooks.
  • Track and manage overtime based on labor laws or your company policies.
  • Create estimates for client work, then track how projects are trending toward budgets.

Pros

  • Has a free-forever plan for those who don’t need too many features
  • Can also be useful for project management, removing the need to spend on other software

Cons

  • Customers report occasional issues with buggy interfaces and time-tracking
  • Cost is hard to predict with the pricing system for Clockify’s paid features

Pricing

If you need features beyond what’s in Clockify’s free plan, the pricing starts to get complex, with key features being spread across a variety of different plans:

  • Importing and kiosks are available in a plan that starts at $3.99 per user per month.
  • Time-off tracking and the QuickBooks integration are available on a plan that starts at $5.49 per user per month.
  • Budgets, estimates, and GPS tracking are available on a plan that starts at $7.99 per user per month.
  • Single sign-on is available on a plan that starts at $11.99 per user per month.

This makes Clockify’s free plan a great option if all you’ll ever need is its basic time-tracking features. If you think you’ll want to adopt more advanced features in the future, the cost of Clockify can become much higher than what you would pay for other tools with equivalent features.

6. Timely

Best for agencies and consulting businesses.

If you run an agency or consulting business where you have employees working on tasks for multiple clients over the course of the week, Timely might be the right option for you. It captures every second of your employees’ work days, ensuring no billable time goes unbilled.

While Timely excels in automatic tracking, it also supports manual time entries. Employees can track time by project, client, or task, and the platform automatically prompts employees to complete their timesheets when needed.

The platform also supports billing and invoicing so you can quickly create invoices based on the hours your employees spent on client work. It integrates with a wide range of tools, including Asana, GitHub, QuickBooks, Gmail, Office 365, Photoshop, Salesforce, and Stripe.

Unique features

  • Timely runs in the background on your employees’ devices and captures all of their digital activities. Then, its AI categorizes and organizes these activities into projects and tasks automatically, letting your employees track their time without manual input.
  • Employees can see what apps/URLs they were viewing at different times of the day, allowing them to go back and figure out what they were working on during periods when they forgot to log their time.
  • Set budgets and timelines for projects. You can track how much time has been spent relative to the budget and receive alerts if you are close to exceeding these limits.
  • See the available capacity of each team member to balance workloads, see who’s free, and prevent burnout.
  • Timely’s AI analyzes user behavior to provide insights into productivity trends and potential areas for improvement.

Pros

  • Features an anti-surveillance message, which can reassure employees of their privacy
  • Features both automatic time tracking and automatic scheduling

Cons

  • Customers report that it has a very steep learning curve for its users
  • Somewhat pricey in comparison to some of the other options on this list

Pricing

Timely’s pricing starts at $9 per user per month for a max of five users and 20 projects.

7. TimeCamp

Best for combined time and task management.

TimeCamp is another option that’s great for agencies and consulting business owners with features that are helpful when you’re running a client-facing business.

It can be used as a combined time clock, project management, and team communication system when paired with its TimeCamp Planner product.

TimeCamp’s time clock offers both automated and manual options to track time. Its automatic tracking feature monitors applications, websites, and documents used by employees, providing detailed time logs without requiring manual input.

Employees can log hours as either billable or non-billable, custom hourly rates can be assigned to different projects and tasks, and TimeCamp can generate invoices based on the billable hours tracked.

TimeCamp also offers browser extensions for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge; it’s one of the only apps on this list with a specific Edge extension.

TimeCamp Planner features

  • Use features like Kanban boards, to-do lists, Gantt charts, and burndown/velocity charts to plan projects and track project progress.
  • Create tasks that are assigned to employees on an ongoing basis based on a set frequency.
  • Employees can collaborate on tasks and projects by leaving comments/tagging others.
  • See all of the changes made to different files, including who made the changes and what changes were made.
  • Assign dependencies to tasks to flag when one task is dependent on the completion of another task.

Pros

  • Simple and easy to use
  • Offers a free version
  • Works especially well with Trello
  • Clear and transparent pricing

Cons

  • Customers report issues with some integrations being non-functional
  • Not all integrations are available on the lower-cost plans

Pricing

TimeCamp does have a free plan for both of its products. TimeCamp’s free plan includes timesheets for unlimited users, and TimeCamp Planner’s free plan includes unlimited users, tasks, and projects.

For more advanced features, you’ll need to update to paid plans, which start at $2.99 per user per month for TimeCamp and $2.99 per user per month for TimeCamp Planner.

8. ADP

Best for face, fingerprint, and voice recognition.

If what you need is a time clock with advanced biometric login features like facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, or voice recognition, ADP is worth considering.

ADP is one of the only tools on this list that offers biometric features natively — most others only offer facial recognition, and even at that, it’s usually done via integration with another app. Additionally, employees can use ID badges to clock in and out on compatible ADP devices.

Other ADP time clock features include GPS tracking and geofencing, employee scheduling, and overtime calculations. The platform also integrates seamlessly with ADP’s payroll services for efficient payroll processing.

But ADP is not just a time clock system. It’s a full workforce management platform that includes fully functional payroll and HR suites as well.

Unique features

  • Payroll management, including automated payroll processing, direct deposit, and multi-country payroll. ADP also handles payroll tax calculations, filings, and payments.
  • Human resources management, including onboarding, offboarding, an employee database, and performance management tools.
  • Benefits administration, including enrollment and employee benefits management. ADP also manages COBRA for your company.
  • Talent management, including an applicant tracking system, learning management system, succession planning, and employee engagement surveys and reports.
  • International compliance, including tools to help businesses navigate international labor laws, data protection regulations, and reporting requirements.

Pros

  • Integrates quickly with ADP’s other HR and payroll services
  • Offers features like cost predictions and skill-based scheduling for your employees

Cons

  • ADP does not have public pricing information, but considering it’s aimed more towards bigger businesses, it is likely fairly expensive

Pricing

No public pricing is available for ADP. Generally, that means the price is likely steep for a small business. However, if you need a biometric time clock, it’s worth having a conversation with them.

9. Homebase

Best for businesses with few employees and locations.

If you have just a handful of employees working at one location and need only basic scheduling and time-tracking features, Homebase is another good option to consider.

Homebase offers a free plan that lets employees track time using Homebase’s web or Apple desktop app. Managers can view this data on timesheets — but only up to 90 days in the past.

Other free plan features include employee scheduling, communication tools that support direct messaging through the app and full-team announcements, and point-of-sale (POS) integrations with providers like Square, Toast, Clover, and Shopify. You can also use your POS system as a time clock.

With Homebase’s premium plan, you get more features. Plus, if you only have one or two locations, its location-based pricing makes it an affordable option.

Paid plan features

  • Calculate overtime based on predefined rules, including federal, state, and custom regulations.
  • Manage break times by setting up paid or unpaid break policies.
  • Require employees to take a photo of themselves when they clock in.
  • Integrate with payroll providers like Wells Fargo, Rippling, ADP, Square Payroll, QuickBooks, and more.

Pros

  • One of the most cost-effective time clock systems for businesses with few locations
  • Offers a free version

Cons

  • Many customers report issues with bugs and lag with the software; an example of this is employees not getting notifications for messages

Pricing

Homebase’s free plan can be used for one location and up to 20 employees. If you have more than 20 employees, you can upgrade to the Essentials plan. At $20 per location per month for unlimited employees, this can also be an inexpensive option if you all work at the same location.

10. Insightful

Best for fully remote companies.

Insightful is another time clock app that combines time and productivity tracking. The platform captures real-time data on remote workers’ activities, including active and idle times, applications used, and websites visited so you can see how employees spend their time and identify potential productivity issues.

As far as its time clock, employees can track time manually or automatically, and they can allocate their hours to specific projects and tasks. Managers and administrators can also create custom rules to dictate what specific activities are tracked for each employee.

Insightful also has some of the most varied integrations of all of the tools on this list, offering native integrations with project management, HR, and business intelligence tools like Asana, Trello, Workday, ADP, and BigQuery.

Unique features

  • Identify periods of intense employee focus to optimize employee schedules and allocate tasks during peak productivity times.
  • Identify top performers, track work habits, and spot areas for improvement.
  • Review Insightful’s productivity data on dashboards that provide an overview of productivity trends, time usage, and application activity.
  • View benchmark data to compare your company’s productivity against industry standards.

Pros

  • Easy to set up and use
  • Allows you to track the time your employees spend on certain websites and applications
  • You can see into every aspect of the workday for each of your employees

Cons

  • Some customers report bugs related to time clock information being lost
  • Lacks some features that other apps provide for similar or lower costs

Pricing

Customers get all of Insightful’s time clock and productivity features on its Productivity Management plan, which starts at $6.40 per user per month.

Is a free time clock app right for your business?

Free time clock apps can be a great fit for small businesses with small budgets.

They generally provide basic features like clock-in and clock-out functionality, reporting, and payroll integrations, making them a good option if all you need are online timesheets.

However, before you decide to opt for a free option, there are some things you should consider that could become problems down the line.

Most time clock apps with a free plan are designed solely to get people integrated into the system so it’s difficult to migrate to another system. Time clock apps are so intertwined with your business operations that migrating to another system is often exceedingly complex.

This can become a problem down the line if you end up needing more advanced features. You may end up paying a much higher per-user per-month cost on the app that was previously free than you would on another tool with the same set of features.

Additionally, most free options have limited customer support. You may only have access to a chatbot or the company’s knowledge base to get help when you need it.

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