Best Payroll Time Clock Software for Small Teams

Website: https://www.joinhomebase.com

Best for: Free scheduling and time clock for one site

Starting price: $24 per location/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free Basic plan covers scheduling and time tracking for one location with up to 10 employees; per-location pricing keeps the bill flat as headcount grows

Cons: Payroll is a separate add-on at $49 a month plus $6 per employee, and the free plan is limited to one location and 10 employees

Homebase combines scheduling, time tracking, and team messaging in one app built for hourly teams at restaurants, shops, and salons. Staff clock in from a tablet, computer, or point of sale device, and managers can add photo verification and location checks on the Essentials plan and above. Hours flow into timesheets that managers review before payroll runs.

The pricing shape is the main thing to grasp. Plans are priced per location, not per person, so adding staff does not raise the subscription. Essentials costs $24 per location a month billed annually, or $30 billed monthly. Payroll is an add-on on every plan at $49 a month plus $6 per employee, with unlimited runs, direct deposit, and tax filing across states. A single busy site with 20 staff can therefore run scheduling and time tracking for $24 a month, then add payroll for $169 a month.

Website: https://www.deputy.com

Best for: Shift teams that need labor law tools

Starting price: $5 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Labor law compliance tools and biometric kiosk clock-ins; payroll add-on sends approved timesheets to Paycor

Cons: No free plan, and every user, including admins and managers, counts toward the bill

Deputy is built for shift-based teams in retail, hospitality, health care, and logistics. The Lite plan covers basic scheduling, timesheets, time clocking, and leave management, while Core adds auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, wage budgets, and biometric clock-ins. Managers set break and overtime rules that match local labor law, and the app flags shifts that break those rules before they are published.

Pricing is per user, and the vendor counts every login, so owners, managers, and supervisors all add to the monthly total. Lite costs $5 per user a month billed annually, or $5.50 billed monthly, and monthly plans carry a $30 minimum spend per invoice. Payroll is an add-on at $8 per user a month plus a $49 monthly base fee, delivered through Paycor in the US, so a 10-person team on Lite with payroll runs about $179 a month on annual billing.

Website: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/time-tracking/

Best for: Teams already using QuickBooks

Starting price: $20/month plus $10 per user/month

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Timesheets sync directly with QuickBooks Payroll and accounting; GPS tracking and geofencing verify field staff locations

Cons: Requires a separate QuickBooks Online subscription, and there is no free plan

QuickBooks Time, formerly TSheets, is the time tracking add-on for businesses that already run QuickBooks Online. Staff clock in from the Workforce app, and managers see who is working, where they are, and which job they are on. GPS tracking, scheduling, time off, and alerts come with Premium, while Elite adds geofencing, mileage tracking, project tracking, and timesheet signatures for teams that need sign-off on hours.

The cost stacks in layers, so read the full bill before you commit. Premium costs $20 a month plus $10 per user a month, and Elite costs $40 a month plus $12 per user a month, after a price rise on July 1, 2026. A QuickBooks Online account is required on top, with subscription plans starting at $38 a month, so the real monthly total is higher than the time tracking price alone. There is a 30-day free trial, no free plan, and no annual billing discount.

Website: https://buddypunch.com

Best for: Stopping buddy punching with photo checks

Starting price: $19/month plus $4.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Photo, face, QR, and PIN verification stop buddy punching; unlimited admin users are free

Cons: No free plan, and scheduling costs an extra $1 per user a month on the Starter plan

Buddy Punch is a focused time clock for small and mid-size employers whose main problem is verifying who actually clocked in. Staff punch in from a phone, computer, or kiosk, and managers can require webcam photos, QR codes, or PINs at the door. GPS coordinates attach to each punch, and overtime, breaks, and job codes are tracked automatically.

Pricing is a $19 monthly base fee plus a per-user rate on every plan. Starter costs $4.99 per user a month billed annually, or $5.99 billed monthly, and includes time off tracking, alerts, and payroll integrations. Scheduling is a $1 per user add-on on Starter and is included from Pro at $6.99 per user a month. The payroll add-on costs $8 per user a month plus a $49 base fee, so a 10-person team on Starter with payroll runs about $198 a month.

Website: https://clockify.me

Best for: Small teams on a tight budget

Starting price: $3.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan for up to 5 users with unlimited tracking and projects; the cheapest subscription seats in this list

Cons: GPS tracking and scheduling need the Pro plan at $7.99 per user a month, and there is no built-in payroll

Clockify is the budget pick for teams that mainly need clean hours for payroll. The free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited tracking, projects, timesheets, and reports, plus a kiosk mode for a shared tablet at the door. Basic adds billable rates, bulk edits, CSV and Excel export, and admin controls at $3.99 per user a month billed annually.

The limits show up fast for larger teams. Once a workspace upgrades, every active user needs a subscription seat, and the free allowance does not carry over, so a team of six buys six seats rather than one. GPS tracking, scheduling, forecasting, and labor cost reporting sit on the Pro plan at $7.99 per user a month billed annually. Clockify does not run payroll, so hours are exported to QuickBooks, Gusto, or another payroll provider instead.

Website: https://www.rippling.com

Best for: Payroll, HR, and IT in one system

Starting price: $8 per user/month plus $40 monthly base fee

Free plan: No

Pros: Payroll, HR, IT, and time tracking share one employee record; strong automation for onboarding and offboarding

Cons: No free plan and no self-serve trial, and the final price comes from a custom quote

Rippling is the all-in-one option for teams that want payroll, HR, IT, and time tracking to share a single employee record. Time entries feed payroll directly, and changes to pay rates, roles, or locations update everywhere at once. Onboarding workflows can provision accounts, order devices, and enroll staff in benefits from the same record, which removes the duplicate data entry that comes with running separate systems.

The pricing model is modular, so the headline figure is only a starting point. Rippling states that plans start at $8 per employee a month, with a monthly base fee, and its small business page lists that base fee at $40 a month. Payroll starts at another $8 per employee a month billed annually, and benefits, time tracking, IT, and spend tools are each quoted separately. There is no free plan, and the standard route is a custom quote rather than a self-serve checkout.

Website: https://wheniwork.com

Best for: Low-cost scheduling with a time clock

Starting price: $2.50 per user/month

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: The lowest entry price in this list at $2.50 per user a month, with auto-scheduling on every plan

Cons: No free plan, and payroll runs through partner integrations rather than a built-in service

When I Work pairs drag and drop scheduling with a GPS-aware time clock and team messaging, all aimed at hourly teams in restaurants, retail, and health care. Managers build schedules from templates, staff swap shifts with approval, and the time clock records punches with location checks. Every plan includes scheduling, time and attendance, and messaging, according to the vendor pricing page, so the entry tier already covers the core workflow.

Essentials costs $2.50 per user a month for a single location or schedule, and $5 per user a month for multiple locations or schedules. Pro and Premium tiers, at $5 and $8 per user a month, add scheduling rules, labor sharing, custom reporting, API access, and single sign-on. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and payroll is handled through partner integrations rather than a built-in service.

Website: https://www.tcpsoftware.com

Best for: Large employers with complex pay rules

Starting price: Quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Built for complex pay rules, leave accruals, and large frontline workforces; hardware time clocks for on-site teams

Cons: No free trial and no published price, so you must contact sales for a quote

TimeClock Plus, from TCP Software, is the enterprise option in this list, aimed at employers with complex pay rules, large frontline teams, and strict compliance needs. It handles overtime, breaks, leave accruals, FMLA tracking, and job codes, and it connects with major ERP, HCM, and payroll systems. Hardware time clocks, including biometric readers, are available for sites where a shared device at the door works better than a phone app.

The trade-off is transparency. TCP does not publish prices, and there is no free trial, so every buyer starts with a sales conversation. Third-party guides list starting figures that disagree with each other, so treat those numbers as rough guides rather than list prices. Setup can also take more time than the simpler tools here, which suits large employers with dedicated payroll staff more than small teams.