Shopping for time and attendance software is tough! We know from our first hand experience researching trying to find the best on the market. If you’re short on time, here’s a quick takeaway: our top picks for attendance tracking software are BuddyPunch, Clockify, and ZoomShift. These three are standard-setting attendance management systems, and we’d love to tell you why.
Stick around to learn who else made our “best of” list, and how they earned it. This guide has everything you need to know: where to look, how to look, and what to avoid. Read on to research like a pro!
Hand picked by our HR Technology experts after product testing, user research, and much debate - enjoy!
Time and Attendance software enables companies to record employee working hours, often in the form of web-based punching and timesheets.
At the very least, they should accommodate all of your time-tracking needs for your business and for your employees. As a baseline, you should look for solutions that clock in and clock out, have some scheduling/payroll functionality, or integrate with a solution that provides this offering. Other areas of time and attendance that you can benefit from are generating employee schedules, managing time off requests and PTO, tracking hours for specific projects, and reporting out on the location for clocking in and out.
There are many platforms available, and there are plenty of different companies to choose from. We’ve taken the time to review some popular systems and provided some tips on what to look for when you are purchasing.
We take research seriously. To make sure we’re offering our readers the very best solutions in a given software category, we are methodical, rigorous, and expansive in our research. We consult with HR professionals, vendors, and industry experts. We cut through the noise to bring you a carefully curated list of vendors, along with other essential information, to help you find the right software platform for your business.
Here’s how we chose who makes the cut:
Product: We believe in gaining a comprehensive understanding of a product before we recommend it, so we start by getting to know the software. Whenever possible, we meet with a senior executive (CEO or Head of Product) for a demo and Q&A. We also test the product ourselves to make sure it has a solid UI, intuitive workflows, and the features to make it a best-in-class offering.
User feedback: We go straight to the source and compile feedback on user experience. Real-world input supports our commitment to diligence in our software evaluation methods and the products we recommend. Keeping up with the everyday experience of HR pros also puts new vendors on our radar, and it keeps us close to our community so we can better connect the right products to the right people.
Financial metrics: We are certified finance nerds, so we use all the data we can get our hands on to make selections for our guides. We comb through data for concrete statistics like retention rates, growth, profitability, and scalability. We evaluate the bottom line of each product because we know making a software purchase can put your reputation on the line.
Best for a use case: Software is never a one-size-fits-all product. Sometimes the best solution is free or cheap. Other times it’s the one that is best for global companies or the one that’s sized right for early-stage startups. Keeping this in mind, we include solutions across the spectrum so our readers can find the best fit for their unique needs.
Here's more detail if you want to read more about how we research vendors. Our dedicated staff writers rely on hard data, impartial experts, and user feedback to ensure our reviews are helpful, truthful, and hopefully a pleasure to read!
We track thousands of HR Tech solutions. Here are the best time and attendance platforms as of 2023.
Why we love it
:
Buddy Punch goes beyond basic time and attendance tracking; it packs advanced features that enable companies to identify and record when, how, where and by whom time is being logged.
Buddy Punch
Review:
Buddy Punch is a cloud-based software solution that digitizes how companies track their employee’s attendance, time off, and overtime. With features such as webcam photo capture, facial recognition, GPS tracking, and IP address locks, Buddy Punch not only tells you when employee hours are logged, but also where and how those hours were logged.
Buddy Punch
Customers:
The University of Michigan, The YMCA, Manpower Group, StateFarm
The University of Michigan, The YMCA, Manpower Group, StateFarm
Buddy Punch
Pricing:
You can purchase Buddy Punch’s time tracking and scheduling modules separately or combine them should you need both. Do note that employee seats cannot be purchased separately but in scales. When billed annually, here’s how much Buddy Punch costs for a company with 10-14 employees:
You can purchase Buddy Punch's time tracking and scheduling modules separately or combine them should you need both. Do note that employee seats cannot be purchased separately but in scales. When billed annually, here's how much Buddy Punch costs for a company with 10-14 employees:
Best For
Buddy Punch can be used by companies of all sizes.
Why we love it
:
Deel is most known for their global payroll system, but they've expanded their offering a ton to give HR teams a great way to manage and engage colleagues internationally.
Deel
Review:
Deel was built in a global, remote first way which shows up in many small ways throughout the product. For example, they have a feature called "connections" which enables colleagues to connect either 1:1 or in groups to get to know each other better. This is very much trying to simulate the interactions and bonds you'd experience in an office. This "connection roulette" is great for meeting new colleagues, or expanding your network within your organization.
Like any good HR tool for employees, you can work with Deel's employee engagement module right from Slack. Employees can receive pulse surveys and answer them, which drastically increases the number who actually do. You can also translate a survey into a slack group around shared interests with the click of a button. Now employees have something to connect on beyond the latest project they're working on.
Overall, it's impressive to see this level of employee experience software built our from a company that was originally started to solve a very different problem (global payroll).
Deel
Customers:
Deel serves over 10,000 customers, including big names like Nike, Shopify, Dropbox, Notion, Reddit, and Airtable. They also have a strong contingent of SMBs and start-ups in their client roster.
Deel
Pricing:
A cool thing about Deel is that you can sign up for free and play around with the tool, not being charged until you pay your first team member. Once you do, pricing for Deel will vary as follows:
Best For
Deel’s infrastructure can support businesses at any size, from one to 10,000+ employees. They even offer some free services for companies under 200 employees. While their current focus is SMBs that are growing and want to explore different global markets and talent pools, there is also a large market for mid-market and enterprise companies.
Why we love it
:
Extremely user friendly and full of HR features, Bamboo HR can help you save considerable amounts of time spent on time tracking. Automatic reminders, fast clock-in-clock-out for employees, one-click timesheet approval for managers.
BambooHR
Review:
BambooHR is a cloud-based SaaS HR platform for all types of businesses. They automate many of the HR functions, and can help make HR tasks simple and fast. As an add-on, they offer a robust time and attendance platform, which includes a clock-in/clock-out functionality, timesheets and paid time off tracking. Bamboo HR’s easy to use platform is great for those that are looking to track project hours for salaried employees, or utilize a platform for hourly workers.
BambooHR
Customers:
Among the 20,000+ companies that use BambooHR, you’d find names like Quora, Universal Group, Reddit, Asana, Change.org, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Stance, Postmates, Wistia, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ZipRecruiter.
Among the 20,000+ companies that use BambooHR, you’d find names like Quora, Universal Group, Reddit, Asana, Change.org, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Stance, Postmates, Wistia, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ZipRecruiter.
BambooHR
Pricing:
Pricing is not disclosed upfront, but they do offer a free trial of their all-in-one software and then go out of their way to find a version that will suit you. Before they come up with a personalized quote that will align with your budget, however, they are also likely to extend your free trial upon request or even give you a free demo of the advanced features.
Pricing is not disclosed upfront, but they do offer a free trial of their all-in-one software and then go out of their way to find a version that will suit you. Before they come up with a personalized quote that will align with your budget, however, they are also likely to extend your free trial upon request or even give you a free demo of the advanced features.
Best For
BambooHR is a good fit for companies looking for a very customizable HR product, with pricing that reflects their needs. It’s also popular among teams that are partially or even fully remote.
Why we love it
:
With its sleek user interface that enhances communication, When I Work focuses on decreasing labor costs and time spent on scheduling.
When I Work
Review:
When I work is a simple to use scheduling and timekeeping platform that provides an easy way for managers to manage employee time and their staff. Time can be managed from their mobile app, or their desktop application. Known for its robust scheduling product, users can manage and view the entire staff schedule, setup time for staff to clock in and out, and alert staff via notifications. Employees can clock in and out and view their hours, or trade shifts with coworkers. This is a great platform for shift based or hourly workers.
When I Work
Customers:
Ben and Jerry’s, Harvard University, CVS Pharmacy, Verizon, Taco John’s.
Ben and Jerry's, Harvard University, CVS Pharmacy, Verizon, Taco John's.
When I Work
Pricing:
The paid plans are:
The Small Business plan comes with a free trial of up to 14-days.
Best For
Companies of all sizes across different industries looking to track and manage their employee’s working hours, attendance, shifts as well as improve communication.
Why we love it
:
QuickBooks Time comes with a plethora of features; track time, build employee schedules, use geofencing technology, connect to your favorite accounting or payroll software, and gain business insights with real-time, interactive reports.
QuickBooks Time
Review:
Formally known as TSheets, QuickBooks Time is a time and attendance solution. It allows users to ducky review and employee time, process payroll, or recreate invoices in an accessible way. QuickBooks Time keeps a timesheet for each employee and allows them to clock in via a mobile device, or manually add time within the platform. QuickBooks Time is great for companies that are looking for accessibility, and those that are looking for additional time tracking features such as time-tracking and geofencing.
QuickBooks Time
Customers:
CA technologies, KICK ventures, Apex IT, Vantage Credit Union, and thousands of small businesses.
QuickBooks Time
Pricing:
Quickbooks Time offers two pricing plans. The good thing about Quickbooks pricing is they almost always give some form of discount at any given time. Usually, you will get a 50% discount for 3 months when you buy any of Quickbooks Time plans. You also get a 30-day free trial. The plans are as follows:
Best For
Any company looking for a robust time and attendance tracking solution.
Why we love it
:
UKG Ready (formerly Kronos) drives efficiencies by simplifying routine time and attendance tasks. It also helps HR professionals improve compliance and mitigate risk with its automatic updates.
UKG
Review:
UKG Ready is a full HR platform great for businesses of all sizes, offering features such as scheduling, time-off tracking, employee records, payroll, and more. The UKG Ready solution (formerly Kronos Workforce Ready) allows teams to effectively manage the entire time and attendance process. With UKG Ready, it’s easy to punch in and out, manually edit timestamps or change billing coding for different departments. This is a great solution for full comprehensive workforce management.
UKG
Customers:
Through the years, UKG has been trusted by organizations like Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Puma, Sony Music, Samsung, Mammoth, Temple University, MGM Grand, The YMCA, The Salvation Army, and Feeding America.
Through the years, UKG has been trusted by organizations like Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Puma, Sony Music, Samsung, Mammoth, Temple University, MGM Grand, The YMCA, The Salvation Army, and Feeding America.
UKG
Pricing:
Pricing for UKG Pro is not available on their website. However, it is usually on a per-employee-per-month basis, either billed annually or monthly. You’d need to contact a sales representative for an accurate quote. However, our research has shown that licenses tend to start at $600.00 per year for every 5 users.
Pricing for UKG Pro is not available on their website. However, it is usually on a per-employee-per-month basis, either billed annually or monthly. You’d need to contact a sales representative for an accurate quote. However, our research has shown that licenses tend to start at $600.00 per year for every 5 users.
Best For
Companies across different industries looking to track the hours and attendance of both salaried and hourly employees no matter where they are.
Why we love it
:
stratustime by nettime solutions integrates well with hundred of devices, payroll systems, and HR platforms. Use this simple software to scale your business in a seamless way.
nettime solutions
Review:
nettime solution’s stratustime is a time and attendance platform that is cloud based and helps companies increase efficiency and make informed workplace decisions. Employees can clock in and out, and request time off. Admins and managers can view dashboards that have labor cost, and wag requirement information. It can also be integrated with many various payroll platforms. This is a great solution for small businesses, at just $4 per month per employee.
nettime solutions
Customers:
University of Pennsylvania, HomeExchange.com, Bossier Parish Library.
University of Pennsylvania, HomeExchange.com, Bossier Parish Library.
nettime solutions
Pricing:
The pricing of nettime solutions’ plans and services isn’t listed on their website. Contact their sales team for a price quote.
The pricing of nettime solutions' plans and services isn't listed on their website. Contact their sales team for a price quote.
Best For
Companies looking for a time and attendance software with compensatory time tracking and geofencing capabilities.
Why we love it
:
Apart from providing with all the bare necessities of a time attendance software, TimeClock Plus takes it up a notch by helping you stay ahead of labor laws and ensuring that your data is secure.
TimeClock Plus
Review:
TimeClock Plus is an all in one time and attendance platform that allows businesses to streamline their process. With workforce scheduling, time off management, and a cloud based system, this is a scalable solution for all industries. Users can automate the timekeeping process with time clock hardware, real time data, dashboards and reporting. This is a great solution for those who are looking to scale their business, or for larger customers.
TimeClock Plus
Customers:
Amazon, Woot!, Texas Tech, Lowes, Maryland, Camden, Wonderful Pistachios.
Amazon, Woot!, Texas Tech, Lowes, Maryland, Camden, Wonderful Pistachios.
TimeClock Plus
Pricing:
Best For
Companies of all sizes looking for time and attendance tracking software optional workforce management features.
Why we love it
:
An all-in-one platform, Paychex Flex integrates its time attendance software with payroll and HR, giving you access to your company and employee information in one single place.
PayChex
Review:
Paychex Flex offers a time and attendance platform that helps businesses save time and improve accuracy with online timekeeping, time clocks, and integrated payroll. They have many flexible options based on how you track time, providing a solution that is easily integrated and mobile for users. This is a great all-in-one solution for very small businesses, who need guidance on the time and attendance side of things.
PayChex
Customers:
ESET, Funnelbox Inc., Smile Cafe, H.Y.P.E. Counseling Services, ASG, Pet Partners.
ESET, Funnelbox Inc., Smile Cafe, H.Y.P.E. Counseling Services, ASG, Pet Partners
PayChex
Pricing:
Paychex’s pricing isn’t listed on their website. However, you may reach out to their sales team for an estimate according to the size and scope of your operation.
PayChex's pricing is not provided on their website, but the process to get a quote is pretty quick and simple.
Best For
Companies of all sizes looking for an all-in-one solution for payroll, time and attendance, benefits, and more.
Why we love it
:
Clockify allows you to not only track hours but also apps and websites to later create time entries. Clockify's features are wide ranging – you can track time, get graphical reports, set hourly rates. And best of all, it's free.
Clockify
Review:
Clockify is a simplified, free time tracking timesheet application that allows companies to track team hours and projects. It allows users to keep track of employees timesheets, billable hours, and schedules, as well as generate reports. Clockify integrates with several different technology platforms, such as Jira and Asana, which is a great solution for those looking for a simple solution that is efficient and easy to use.
Clockify
Customers:
Atlassian, Google, Amazon, HP, Cisco, IBM, American Express.
Sony, Disney, Siemens, SAP, Altassian, Toyota, Netflix, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Google
Clockify
Pricing:
Clockify has a free plan that accommodates an unlimited number of users, as well as unlimited hour tracking, projects, and reports. Besides the free offering, Clockify also 4 paid plans that cost as follows when billed annually:
Best For
Companies of all sizes as well as individuals looking for an easy-to-use, affordable and multi-access time tracking solution.
Why we love it
:
Designed for hourly employees, ZoomShift has helped 20,000+ small businesses in saving time and money. ZoomShift is incredibly user friendly; It lets you easily make schedule, add staff, and view the summary of each hour.
ZoomShift
Review:
ZoomShift is an employee scheduling software designed for hourly employees. It allows for better time management so that milestones can be easily viewed and you schedule work in minutes. Employees can clock-in for assigned shifts using the web time clock or mobile time clock and management can edit timesheets on the fly from the free iOS and Android apps.
ZoomShift will help you to keep your team on the same page, you can invite your team to check their schedule and manage their availability. The drag and drop schedule builder makes it extremely easy for you to create your schedule. You also have the option to share the schedule via text, email to remind your team and keep them updated.
Plus, the app communication features allows for real-time discussion between team members to increase productivity, and improve the quality of work.
ZoomShift
Customers:
Ace Hardware, Amazon, Holiday Inn, Walgreens, ClearWater Outdoor.
Ace Hardware, Amazon, Holiday Inn, Walgreens, ClearWater Outdoor.
ZoomShift
Pricing:
ZoomShift has the following pricing plans:
The Starter and Premium plans come with a 14-day trial.
Best For
Companies across different industries looking to track and manage their employee’s working hours, attendance, as well as shifts.
Buying any new software takes a lot of time and energy, and we know that implementing the software and training your employees can also take quite a bit of time. This may also be true if you are transitioning from one platform to another, and need to re-train your staff or your management team. However, there are many benefits to using a time and attendance platform. We’ve listed some of these below.
Here's our best general advice when it comes to buying time and attendance platforms:
Here are the different pricing models you can expect to see from various Time and Attendance Systems. Many companies have different pricing structures depending on what the product offers. We’ve broken out some of the various options below:
Pro Tip: Know which companies charge for integrations and those that don’t. For example, some companies may charge for a direct integration or an API with a payroll platform.
Pro Tip 2: Many Time and Attendance companies offer discounts as part of their pricing model.
Pro Tip 3: Most software companies will require at least a one-year contract, although some may offer month-to-month. Ask this up front, so you know what you are committing to.
Time and Attendance systems can cost anywhere between $240 – $1,600 for a monthly subscription, depending on the number of employees and the product suite. This also varies off of the time tracking services, integrations, and any hardware associated.
Time and Attendance system can be very affordable with some of the basics.
Small companies can opt into a basic time tracking system for a small investment of $1000 or less. For companies with less than 25 employees, basic time clocks or a timekeeping platform can be implemented for around $500 to $750 (with implementation fees included). For more complex software and additional hardware, this could run from $2000 - $4000 for companies with around 25 to 150 employees.
Mid market - enterprise: For larger companies, they can expect to pay anywhere from $10,000 - $100,000 depending on the customization and need. This depends on employee count and total location count. Implementation fees can cost anywhere from $300 - $500, with hardware costing an additional $500 to $1,000 that can be purchased or rented for a monthly fee.
There are many Time and Attendance systems out there, many which have basic features, while some offer more complex features that may cater to your business. The best platforms will have all of the bells and whistles that will make it a smooth transition for you and your employees.
The following capabilities are important features to look for when vetting various companies.
Here are several questions we think every HR/Management team should should be asking vendors while on demos:
There are many different types of customization within various platforms. It’s important that you ask questions up front based on your needs. Make sure you find a software that meets your needs efficiently, whether you need something focused on time and attendance solely, or need a platform that includes this functionality, and additional HR tools.
Common Terms to Know:
Here are some common terms to know when looking for a Time and Attendance platform.
As you look to begin buying a time and attendance system, you should be asking the following questions: 1) how many employees will you be tracking 2) how many locations will you need this for 3) do you have internet functionality at these locations? 4) what features do you absolutely need? 5) how are you currently collecting data for employee time? Do you use punch clocks, swipe cards, or biometric cards?
Time and attendance software is designed to be a virtual punch card for your employees, where both employer and employees can keep track of hours worked.
You should use a time and attendance software because it increases accuracy and efficiency, improves your bottom line, automates processes, avoids compliance issues, tracks projects and tasks, improves engagement, and provides reporting and analytics.
Key features of time and attendance software include clocking in and out, timesheet creation, leave management, time accruals, reporting, mobile apps, employee profiles, manager dashboards and scheduling, alerts, and integration with calendars.
There are many trends that are on the horizon, and are good to note when looking at a time and attendance software. Some significant trends are:
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