Best Attendance Tracking Software for Shift Based Teams

Deputy pairs attendance with scheduling, which suits teams that build rosters every week. Managers create schedules with labor costs shown live, staff claim open shifts from a phone, and clock in data feeds back into the same roster. The tool flags late starts, early finishes and overtime before payroll runs, and it connects with common payroll and accounting tools.

Lite costs $5 per user per month billed annually, or $5.50 billed monthly, and covers scheduling and time tracking. Core is $6.50 and Pro is $9 billed annually. There is a $30 minimum monthly spend on monthly plans and a 4 user minimum on annual plans. HR costs $2 per user per month extra, Messaging+ is $1.95 and Analytics+ is $1.50. Payroll is separate at $8 per user per month plus a $49 base fee. The trial runs up to 31 days with no card required.

Price: $5 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (31 days)

Website: deputy.com

Buddy Punch focuses on proving that the right person was present at the right place and time. Staff clock in from a phone, a computer or a kiosk, with optional photos, facial recognition and GPS location attached to each punch. Managers set overtime rules, approve timesheets and export hours to payroll. PTO requests and accruals are handled in the same tool.

Starter costs $4.99 per user per month billed annually, plus a $19 monthly base fee on every plan. Pro is $6.99 and Advanced is $12.99 billed annually. Scheduling is a $1 per user per month add-on and real time GPS is a $2 per user per month add-on on Starter and Pro. Starter allows only 1 employee group, with no geofencing or kiosk mode. There is no free plan, only a 14 day trial.

Price: $4.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Website: buddypunch.com

Jibble offers one of the most generous free plans in this list, with unlimited users, GPS tracking, facial recognition, kiosk mode and integrations at no cost. Staff clock in from a phone or a shared tablet, and managers see locations, hours and overtime in a clean dashboard. Attendance reports show who was present, late or absent each day.

The free plan is limited to 2 locations and geofences, 1 kiosk and no timesheet approvals. Live location tracking and AI liveness detection are Pro only. The vendor pricing page lists only the free plan, so upgrade prices are not published there, and the tool is quote only for this comparison. A 14 day trial of the higher tiers is available.

Price: quote only

Free plan: Yes

Website: jibble.io

Connecteam is built for staff who do not sit at a desk, such as cleaners, security guards, care workers and delivery teams. The Operations hub holds the time clock, with GPS, geofencing, job scheduling and forms. Staff clock in from a phone, managers see locations on a map, and the same app handles training, checklists and team chat.

The Small Business plan is free for up to 10 users, and a free Limited plan covers 11 to 30 users. Operations Basic costs $29 per month billed annually for the first 30 users, then $0.80 per extra user. Each hub is billed separately, so Operations plus Communications plus HR at Basic costs $87 per month. The free plan allows only 1 time clock and 1 job schedule, and there is no native payroll.

Price: $29 per month per hub (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Website: connecteam.com

Time Doctor tracks attendance and productivity together, which suits teams that want to know who worked and how that time was spent. Staff start a timer or log time by hand, and the tool records app and website use, optional screenshots and idle time. Managers see attendance, project time and productivity in one dashboard.

Basic costs $6.67 per user per month billed annually, or $8 billed monthly. Attendance, schedules, payroll and web and app usage reports start only on Standard at $11.67 per user per month billed annually. Premium is $16.70 and adds more controls. SSO, video recording and AI features are Premium or add-ons at $2 to $3 per user per month, and SSO costs $200 per account per month on Basic and Standard. There is no free plan, only a 14 day trial of Premium with no card required.

Price: $6.67 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Website: timedoctor.com

Zoho People is HR software with attendance and timesheets built in, so it suits a small team that wants one system for leave, attendance and hours. Staff log time against projects and check in from a phone, managers approve hours and leave, and the same record feeds leave balances and attendance reports.

The free edition covers up to 3 users in the US listing. Attendance, timesheets and shifts start on Workforce at $5 per user per month billed annually, not on Essential HR at $3. All higher tiers have a 5 user minimum, and over 500 users is quote only. Payroll is a separate Zoho product and is not included.

Price: $5 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Website: zoho.com

QuickBooks Time, formerly TSheets, is the natural choice for a business that already runs QuickBooks Online, because tracked time flows straight into payroll and invoicing with no export step. Staff clock in from a phone app, managers approve timesheets, and hours land in QuickBooks ready for pay runs. GPS tracking shows where staff clocked in.

Time Premium costs $10 per user per month plus a $20 monthly base fee, and Time Elite costs $12 per user per month plus a $40 base fee. Billing is monthly only, with no annual discount. A QuickBooks Online account is required and billed separately, from about $38 per month. Geofencing, mileage and project tracking are Elite only.

Price: $10 per user/month plus $20 base fee (monthly billing)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Website: quickbooks.intuit.com

BambooHR is HR software first, with time tracking as an add-on, so it suits a team that wants attendance beside employee records, hiring and onboarding. Staff records, time off balances and performance notes live in one place, and managers approve leave from the same dashboard.

Core costs $10.25 per employee per month for 26 or more employees, or $250 per month flat for 25 or fewer, with no annual contract required. Time tracking, payroll and benefits are add-ons with no published price, and they are US only. The headline price does not cover attendance, so the total cost must be quoted by the vendor.

Price: $10.25 per employee/month

Free plan: Free trial

Website: bamboohr.com

Rippling is a broad HR, payroll and IT platform, not a dedicated attendance tool, and it belongs on this list for teams that want one system for everything. Time and attendance is a module that sits beside payroll, benefits, IT device management and spend, with automation that moves data between them.

The platform floor is published as from $8 per user per month plus a $40 monthly base fee, but time and attendance is quoted separately on top of that, so the $8 figure is a floor, not the attendance price. There is no free plan and no self serve trial, and a 12 month contract is reported. Rippling suits a growing company that wants one platform, while a team that only needs attendance will find cheaper, simpler tools above.

Price: quote only

Free plan: No

Website: rippling.com