Best Time Clock Software for Hourly Teams and Shift Work

Buddy Punch focuses on one job, which is proving that the right person clocked in at the right place and time. Staff can 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. The tool also handles PTO requests and accruals, so a small team can manage time off without a second system.

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.

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

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Website: buddypunch.com

Deputy pairs a time clock with scheduling, which suits teams that build rosters every week. Managers create schedules with labor costs shown live, 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.

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

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Website: deputy.com

Clockify works as a time clock for teams that want a simple, low cost system. Staff start a timer or log hours into a weekly timesheet, and managers approve hours from one screen. The free plan allows up to 5 users with unlimited time tracking, projects, timesheets and a calendar view. Kiosk mode lets a shared device serve as a clock in station, and GPS tracking is available on Pro.

Basic costs $3.99 per seat per month billed annually. Invoicing and timesheet approvals start on Standard at $5.49, while Pro at $7.99 adds GPS tracking, forecasting and more. Reports on the free plan cover only a 31 day range and export as PDF only. Clockify suits office and hybrid teams more than frontline teams, since its kiosk and GPS features sit behind higher tiers.

Price: $3.99 per seat/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Website: clockify.me

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. 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. Basic allows only 1 time clock and no geofencing, while up to 10 geofence sites need Advanced at $49 per month.

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

Free plan: Yes

Website: connecteam.com

When I Work suits small teams that live by a weekly roster, such as cafes, gyms and clinics. Managers build schedules in minutes, staff see shifts on a phone and can swap with a teammate, and the time clock records actual hours against the roster. Time off requests, shift reminders and team messaging sit in the same app, so a manager rarely needs a second tool for day to day staffing.

Essentials costs $2.50 per user per month, with no annual rate published on the vendor pricing page. API access, webhooks and SAML and SSO are Premium only at $8 per user per month. There is no free plan, only a 14 day trial.

Price: $2.50 per user/month

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Website: wheniwork.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.

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.

Price: quote only

Free plan: Yes

Website: jibble.io

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, and Elite adds mileage tracking and project tracking for field teams.

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

TimeClock Plus, from TCP Software, targets larger employers that need hardware time clocks and strict labor compliance. The system supports biometric readers, badge clocks and mobile clock in, with rules for overtime, rounding, meals and breaks built in. It suits hospitals, manufacturers and public sector employers with hundreds of staff and complex pay rules, where a simple app clock is not enough.

The vendor publishes no public pricing, so TimeClock Plus is quote only in this comparison. Third party listings cite figures from about $2.50 per user per month, but those figures are not from the vendor and should not be treated as a list price. Professional and Enterprise plans are custom quotes, with a separate setup fee and hardware costs on top. There is no free plan and no free trial.

Price: quote only

Free plan: No

Website: tcpsoftware.com

Rippling is a broad HR, payroll and IT platform, not a dedicated time clock, 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. Hours feed payroll without an export step.

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 time clock 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.

Price: quote only

Free plan: No

Website: rippling.com