Buddy Punch vs Clock Shark
Thinking about what time clock software to use for your business? Tired of managing paper timesheets? We understand that there are many employee scheduling options and functionalities out there. What’s best for your business will ultimately come down to what features each solution offers. Typically, the more features the attendance tracking software has, the more expensive it is- but that isn’t always the case. Here’s a quick summary of how we here at Buddy Punch stack up against ClockShark.
Which time and attendance tracking solution is right for you?
You can see that although there are pros and cons to every time tracking solution, only certain scheduling software like Buddy Punch provide you with large cost savings. What do those cost savings look like?
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Are you struggling with deciding between the different forms of time tracking apps for your business? Then you’re not alone. With so many options out there, it can be difficult to choose the best tool.
To determine which tool is the best fit for your business, it’s important to check the features and pricing of popular software products on the market. Buddy Punch and Clockshark are two of the top cloud-based workforce management choices in the market, but even choosing between these two can make a huge difference for you and the effectiveness of your business.
There are many reasons why Buddy Punch is more popular than Clockshark. One of those reasons is the variety of features, which will come in handy for you as a business owner (whether you manage a small business or an enterprise). Another reason that appeals to all business owners is affordable pricing. Not to mention, it’s extremely user-friendly, with an ease of use employees and managers alike can take advantage of without having to be tech-savvy.
Let’s take a look and compare those features:
Comparing Clockshark’s Features to Buddy Punch’s Features
If you have read Clockshark user reviews, you already know that it’s a popular tracking tool that companies have been using to monitor workdays for quite a while now. Buddy Punch and Clockshark share many features, but they also have some important differences.
Facial Recognition
Buddy Punch is one of the few software solutions that offer facial recognition as part of our employee time tracking app. This feature is an enormous benefit and is one of the top reasons why Buddy Punch has become as popular as it is (based on what customer have told us).
To avoid time theft and employees who punch time for other hourly employees with traditional time trackers, you can use our facial recognition feature where your employees will look into a camera and their face will be compared against a screenshot that has been associated with their profile. This will allow Buddy Punch to confirm the identity of the employee, guaranteeing that no one else is trying to punch time for them. This feature isn’t available at ClockShark.
Locations and GPS
Both programs offer GPS tracking for employees at remote job sites. In fact, Clockshark is known for their easy-to-use tracking application largely because of their GPS functionality. Both Buddy Punch and Clockshark provide the user with an opportunity to track the GPS location of employees at remote locations or working field service. Additionally, both time trackers enable you to use geofencing to designate entire zones where employees can or can’t clock in.
Management
The management system is somewhat different between Buddy Punch and Clockshark. In Buddy Punch, you can use the application to set managers and assign employees who work for them. Administrators are in charge of all settings within Buddy Punch while both managers and administrators can approve PTO, edit timecards, approve or reject timecards, and much more.
With Clockshark, the scheduling tool is more basic. Users can drag-and-drop the names of employees to a calendar and set their work schedule. This is accompanied by notifications sent to the employee who is assigned a task. Clockshark also enables users to add a supervisor user that will track the clock in or clock out of employees. This person will ensure that everyone has punched in and out when they are expected to.
Notifications
Real-time reporting is available on both systems. Users can get notifications for literally everything, including punch ins and outs, overtime hours, and vacation requests. The notification process goes both ways – managers and employees can automate notifications for when something changes in the schedule. This applies to both software programs, and helps provide control over job costs.
Overtime, PTO, Sick, Vacation, Breaks
Both programs allow users to streamline hour tracking without having to enter them manually. Team members log in at their desks, on their mobile devices, or in the case of Buddy Punch – even with the facial recognition tool. This also includes calculating overtime, paid time off (PTO) & accruals, sick leave, and vacation time. Buddy Punch has an extra feature of calculating automated breaks.
Reports
Users can get reports on both Clockshark and Buddy Punch. Buddy Punch has several reports that can be customized to your needs ensuring that you report everything required by your payroll or HR departments.
Apps
Both tools work on Windows or Mac desktops, smartphones (Android and iPhone/iOS), and tablets. The services have native mobile apps for several kinds of devices, which is useful if you need to manage your team on the go.
IP Address Locks
This feature is currently only available with Buddy Punch. It goes as follows – administrators can assign an IP address which ensures an employee is only able to punch in or out from a device associated with that IP address. This is a great way to ensure your employees are punching in or out where they’re supposed to be.
Integrations
Both software have integrations with other popular business software, like ADP or QuickBooks, which makes it easier for businesses to switch over to using them without overhauling their existing project management systems.
Payroll
Another major difference between these two software options is how they handle Payroll. While both tools have API integrations with many popular payroll providers (Zapier, Paychex, ADP for example), only Buddy Punch takes it a step further by offering a built-in solution to Payroll.
With Buddy Punch’s paid Payroll addon, you can handle all things relating to billable hours, invoicing, and payment is available in one spot. Pull over accurate employee hour data from Buddy Punch and enjoy benefits such as unlimited payroll runs, integrated timesheets, W-2s and 1099s, employee self-onboarding, and more. Click here to learn more.
Affordability of Buddy Punch and Clockshark
Even though they are similarly priced, Clockshark is more expensive than Buddy Punch. The free trial version for Clockshark only lasts 14 days, while Buddy Punch gives a free trial to its users. After the trial period, Clockshark charges a base fee of $25 and a fee of $5 per user per month. If you choose to pay annually, the rates reduce to $20 and $4.17 per user per month respectively.
The billing system for the two is completely different. Buddy Punch is one of the few companies that have set prices based on a number of users, without charging a base price. Therefore, the rate you pay here will depend solely on the number of users. For example, the total quote for using Buddy Punch with 9 users is $29 per month. If you have 99 users on board, the cost is $199 per month. But regardless of how many users you have, the total for Buddy Punch is always cheaper than Clockshark.
Considering the additional features and pricing competitiveness, it is clear why Buddy Punch is the more popular option among business owners for online time tracking.
Bottom Line: Buddy Punch vs ClockShark, Which Tool is Better?
Ultimately, choosing between Buddy Punch or ClockShark is going to depend on your business needs and the unique challenges of managing your workforce.
The fact that Buddy Punch offers facial recognition, built-in payroll, and advanced employee management (in addition to being cheaper) makes us believe that Buddy Punch is superior in most situations. However, if you’re running a business that can benefit from storing individual customer data, you might prefer ClockShark.
Buddy Punch is an All-in-One Tool for Employee Management
If you’re convinced by this showcase and want to give Buddy Punch a try, you can sign up for a 14-day free trial here. You can also view a demo video here or click here to request your own one-on-one walkthrough.
If you ever have any questions about using our software, you can refer to our 24/7 customer support or view the Buddy Punch Doc center for answers to some FAQs.
Buddy Punch vs. Others
Ultimately, to find the right desktop time clock app for you and your business needs, you will want to make sure that you research the available options. Follow the link to see Buddy Punch’s comparison with other options of popular time tracking tools available in today’s market. Selecting the best software for you will depend on your budget, preferences, and time tracking needs for your business. Just keep in mind that this software is meant to save you time and effort so that you can focus on the bigger picture – making your business as successful as possible.
Choose a time tracking software wisely – it can have a big impact on your business and the effort you expend with time tracking.