10 Best Productivity Tracking Software Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 25 tools reviewed.
Tracking productivity is a common challenge for HR professionals. Keeping your team on track while juggling countless tasks can feel overwhelming. Productivity tracking software offers a way to manage this chaos, helping you focus on what truly matters.
I've delved into the world of productivity tracking tools to bring you an unbiased review of the best options out there. In my experience, choosing the right software can transform how your team operates, making your job easier.
In this article, I'll guide you through my top picks, highlighting features and benefits that align with your needs. You'll find insights to help you make an informed decision, ensuring your team stays efficient and productive.
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Best Productivity Tracking Software Summary
This comparison chart summarizes pricing details for my top productivity tracking software selections to help you find the best one for your budget and business needs.
| Tool | Best For | Trial Info | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best productivity tracking software for automated and simple time mapping | 7-day free trial | From $6.40/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 2 | Best for advanced user behavior analytics | Free demo available | Contact for pricing | Website | |
| 3 | Best for enterprise AI knowledge search | 30-day free trial | From $18/user/month | Website | |
| 4 | Best for refocusing teams on high-impact work | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $10/user/month | Website | |
| 5 | Best for detailed reporting | 30-day free trial | From $6/user/month | Website | |
| 6 | Best for real-time activity monitoring | Free trial available | From $6.67/user/month (billed annually) | Website | |
| 7 | Best productivity tracking software for comprehensive insights on employee efficiency levels | 21-day free trial + free plan for up to 3 users | From $7/seat/month | Website | |
| 8 | Best productivity tracking software for garnering real-time productivity analytics | Free trial available | From $6.99/user/month | Website | |
| 9 | Best productivity tracking software for charting email trends and improving email response rates | 14-day free trial | From $15/user/month | Website | |
| 10 | Best productivity tracking software for setting time-bound restrictions to applications | Free trial available | From $2.99/user/month | Website |
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Kudoboard
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8 -
Rippling
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8 -
Willo
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8
Best Productivity Tracking Software
Here’s a brief description of each productivity tracking software that showcases each system’s best use case, their noteworthy features, and some pros & cons. I’ve also included screenshots to give you a snapshot of their user interface.
Best productivity tracking software for automated and simple time mapping
Insightful lives up to its name, with the tool promising to deliver several project-related insights and employee productivity attributes. Many small businesses rely on Insightful for spiking productivity and tracking employee efficiency.
Why I picked Insightful: I like Insightful primarily because of the automated time mapping feature. By implementing automatic time data mapping, insightful delivers accurate project insights that eliminate human error. Insightful provides you with a comprehensive view of the time spent by your employees at distinct stages of a project. The tool also offers precise statistics to help you better justify your projects' budgets and billable hours.
Proof of work is another challenge for employers hiring freelancers or contractors who invoice against billable hours. Insightful implements a real-time monitoring method that gives a snapshot of employees' website and app usage. Additionally, you can personally label apps and websites that are productive for your project or organization.
Insightful Standout Features and Integrations
Features include automated screenshots, verified attendance, automated time entries mapping, attendance tracking, historical timekeeping, productivity labeling, and different logins for clients, managers, and employees.
Integrations include 5+ tools like Data Studio, IBM Cognos Analytics, Looker, Power BI, Slack, Tableau, and others.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- User-friendly user interface
- Screenshots depicting window changes
- Includes a REST-based API for custom integrations
Cons:
- Occasional automation bugs
- Can't delete users in some cases
Teramind is a user behavior analytics software platform designed for businesses across various industries, with features focusing on cybersecurity, compliance management, and employee productivity.
Why I picked Teramind: Teramind's productivity tracking software gives you detailed insights into how your team spends their time at work. With behavior analysis, you can see patterns in user actions, helping to spot inefficiencies and refine workflows. The data telemetry feature collects user activity information without being intrusive, showing where time is well-spent or wasted.
Another useful feature is AI-driven predictive analytics, which spots potential productivity bottlenecks before they become serious issues. The software also helps with insider threat monitoring, alerting you to any suspicious activities to manage risks and keep your work environment secure. For hybrid teams, Teramind supports compliance management, ensuring all activities align with company policies.
Teramind Standout Features and Integrations
Features include keystroke logging, screen recording, file transfer tracking, email monitoring, instant message tracking, social media activity monitoring, print job tracking, clipboard monitoring, network activity monitoring, application usage tracking, and website usage tracking.
Integrations include Google Cloud BigQuery, Splunk Cloud Platform, Jira, Zendesk, Redmine, Microsoft Power BI, IBM Security QRadar, LogRhythm, ArcSight, McAfee Business Protection, Microsoft Entra ID, and ServiceNow.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Detailed user behavior analytics to detect anomalies
- Real-time alerts and automated responses to policy violations
- Supports both cloud-based and on-premises deployments
Cons:
- Minimum of 5 seats
- Limited support for mobile device monitoring
Guru is a knowledge management platform that leverages artificial intelligence to provide enterprise-level search capabilities.
Why I picked Guru: I selected Guru after evaluating its extensive features, which cater to the needs of complex workflows and its compatibility with a range of existing tools. Its standout attributes include a user-friendly interface and advanced search capabilities, which are essential for managing digital projects efficiently. I believe Guru is particularly suited for enterprise AI knowledge search because it enables comprehensive searches across various platforms, delivering instant and accurate answers, which is crucial for large-scale operations where timely access to information is key to maintaining productivity.
Guru Standout Features & Integrations
Features include enterprise AI search, an employee intranet, a company wiki, AI suggest and assist, custom branding tools, collaboration and feedback tools, mobile accessibility, and access controls and permissions.
Integrations include Trello, Cognito Forms, Jira Software Cloud, Confluence Cloud, HubSpot, Google Chat, Confluence Server, and GitHub.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Improves communication with clients
- Robust search feature
- Convenient for customer-facing content
Cons:
- Potential for it to reference outdated content within the system
- Limited integrations
ActivTrak is a productivity tracking platform that helps you understand how work happens across your organization. It captures digital activity data to show where time goes, how teams perform, and where efficiency can improve.
Why I picked ActivTrak: I picked ActivTrak because it helps you see what’s driving performance without crossing privacy boundaries. It tracks productive, unproductive, and offline work so you can spot gaps and improvement opportunities. You can benchmark individual and team productivity against organizational averages to see where focus or coaching is needed.
The platform also highlights low-value activities so teams can refocus on tasks that deliver results. With its performance insights and burnout prevention tools, you can balance workloads and keep your team’s energy steady.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include productivity performance tracking that breaks down time spent on different activity types, helping you pinpoint inefficiencies and improvement areas. Another useful tool is schedule optimization, which uses attendance data to ensure consistent coverage and prevent missed shifts, keeping operations running smoothly.
Integrations include Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Slack, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Zoom, Microsoft Viva, Lattice, Qualtrics, and Jira Software.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Detailed breakdown of productive vs. unproductive time
- Helps detect burnout before it impacts output
- Benchmarking makes performance comparisons easier
Cons:
- Limited customization of dashboard layouts
- No built-in payroll or HR tools
actiTIME is a time-tracking software that helps businesses manage projects, teams, and clients in one place. It enables your team to log work hours, track leave time, and monitor project progress.
Why I picked actiTIME: One reason I chose actiTIME is its comprehensive reporting capabilities. You can generate detailed reports on time distribution across clients and assignments, monitor individual and team productivity trends, and assess project costs. These insights allow you to identify profitable projects and make data-driven decisions to enhance efficiency.
Another notable feature is actiTIME's task and project management tools. You can set task estimates, deadlines, and statuses to keep your projects on track. The Kanban board view provides a clear picture of work progress, helping your team stay organized and focused. This structured approach to task management contributes to improved productivity and timely project completion.
actiTIME Standout Features and Integrations
Features include weekly timesheet, calendar view, overtime calculation, timesheet locking, timesheet approval, email notifications, custom workflows, data export, user permissions, workload management, task assignments, and custom fields.
Integrations include actiPLANS, QuickBooks, Zapier, GitHub, Salesforce, Jira, Trello, Outlook, Evernote, Todoist, Bamboo HR, and Google Calendar.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Mobile app facilitates time tracking on the go
- Detailed reporting capabilities for productivity analysis
- Comprehensive time and project tracking features
Cons:
- Initial setup and customization can be time-consuming
- Limited integration options compared to competitors
New Product Updates from actiTIME
actiTIME's Enhanced Custom Field Imports and Timesheet Settings
actiTIME enhances project setup and daily tracking with new custom fields import and refined timesheet & calendar settings. These updates help you keep all your task data in sync and view your workday the way you want. For more information, visit actiTIME's official site.
Controlio is a cloud-based productivity tracking and employee monitoring tool designed to help organizations measure, analyze, and improve workforce performance. It captures activity data from desktops to provide detailed insights into productivity levels, app and web usage, and work habits across in-office, remote, and hybrid teams.
Why I picked Controlio: I picked Controlio because it provides real-time visibility into employee activities, helping you identify which tasks and applications contribute most to productivity. Its productivity scoring system automatically categorizes time spent on different apps and websites, allowing you to spot both productive and distracting behaviors. I also like that Controlio supports continuous screen recording and live session viewing, which makes it easier to verify work progress and maintain accountability.
For distributed teams, this combination of tracking, scoring, and surveillance offers a complete picture of how work happens day-to-day.
Controlio standout features and integrations:
Features include productivity scoring that rates users and departments based on time spent on productive and distracting activities, real-time surveillance for monitoring desktops live, and continuous screen recording that captures user screens for later review. The software also supports detailed behavior analytics, time distribution insights, and compliance with data protection standards like GDPR and HIPAA, ensuring responsible monitoring practices.
Integrations are not currently listed by Controllo.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Tracks productive and distracting activities
- Offers continuous screen recording
- Complies with GDPR and HIPAA
Cons:
- Limited search in recorded data
- Continuous video may raise privacy concerns
Traqq
Best productivity tracking software for comprehensive insights on employee efficiency levels
Traqq enables businesses to retrospect and analyze internal processes. With Traqq, your teams unlock a new dimension in understanding various aspects of work productivity. As a result, you can conduct root cause analysis of low productivity times and quickly implement a workaround to boost efficiency.
Why I picked Traqq: I love how the developers at Traqq have created a simple yet comprehensive productivity tracking software. The activity levels generated on the Traqq dashboard have an interesting algorithm. The tool tracks your employees’ keyboard clicks and mouse movements. Consequently, the activity page populates your employees’ daily activity in different coloured blocks depicting sessions of low, average, and high activity levels.
Traqq detects and reports websites and apps on which your employees spend over 10 seconds. As a result, you can get a quick overview of what distracts your employees. Traqq also takes random screenshots at 10-minute intervals and uploads them to a secure online storage space.
Traqq Standout Features and Integrations
Features include application and URL tracking, activity level generation, desktop screenshots, desktop screen recording, idle time and attendance tracking, team management, analysis and reporting, and others.
Integration details are currently not available.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Accurate employee tracking
- Screenshot-taking can be paused
- Automation of email reports (daily/weekly)
Cons:
- No support for foreign languages
- No support for third-party integrations
We360.ai
Best productivity tracking software for garnering real-time productivity analytics
We360.ai started in Q4 of 2020 and has made significant strides in productivity-tracking software. The software offers many tools, including project management, tracking productivity logs, and real-time analytics.
Why I picked We360.ai: I'm particularly interested in the real-time productivity analytics that We360.ai offers. We360.ai gives you live statistics about your employees' activities: what applications they use, their usage duration, and their availability status. It's like a live stream of your employees' online activities.
Additionally, We360.ai has a nifty leave management system that tracks employee leaves, aiding with payroll processing. As a result, you can easily track, approve, or reject leave requests. The Health360 segment of We360.ai helps you manage your employees' well-being. You can swiftly analyze which employees are overworking or underworking and then intelligently shift workloads.
We360.ai Standout Features and Integrations
Features include real-time analytics, desktop screenshots, a time tracking app, leave management, user data import, CSV report export, cross-OS compatibility, automated attendance, domain blocking, a mobile application for admins, and task & project management tools.
Integrations include 10+ tools like Asana, ClickUp, GitHub, Google Calendar, Insightly, Jira, PayPal, Slack, Trello, Zapier, Zendesk, and others.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- There is an option for a Lifetime Deal (LTD)
- Free and detailed live training
- Dedicated account manager
Cons:
- Issues with bulk downloading screenshots
- The monthly plan requires a minimum of 10 users
Best productivity tracking software for charting email trends and improving email response rates
EmailAnalytics is a very niche focussed productivity tracking software that drills down into your employees’ email habits to draw meaningful trends. EmailAnalytics claims that teams using their software can spike up response times by 42% - which is quite significant.
Why I picked EmailAnalytics: EmailAnalytics visualizes your employees’ email activity. As a result, you can measure and improve their productivity. The tool is a blessing for client management and service teams whose key responsibilities include replying to emails quickly. You can also understand how your sales teams deal with nurtured leads.
I’m impressed by the ability to monitor critical email statistics like day-to-day inbound and outbound email traffic, and typed words per minute. Additionally, you can also figure out which clients take up most of your employees’ time. These metrics will help you discover a whole new dimension of employee productivity.
EmailAnalytics Standout Features and Integrations
Features include day-to-day email traffic monitoring, top recipients & senders, labeling emails as Outlook or Gmail, email response time analysis, hourly email traffic volumes, and others.
Integrations include 5+ tools like Gmail, Hubspot, Outlook, and others.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Trigger sending of weekly or daily email reports
- Visual dashboards collate key information
- Enhanced tracking of email campaigns
Cons:
- Integrations available only with Gmail and Outlook
- Absence of goal-setting capabilities
DeskTrack
Best productivity tracking software for setting time-bound restrictions to applications
DeskTrack is a fantastic productivity tracking software that helps a wide array of industries to understand employees’ work trends better. The analytics team at DeskTrack claim that the tool allows enterprises to save 40+ working hours per week.
Why I picked DeskTrack: I’m intrigued by the intelligent application and website tracking features that DeskTrack promises. You can monitor your team’s productivity by analyzing their total time expenditure.
You can also set time limits on applications. For instance, you can set a threshold of 30 mins a day for Facebook, and if an employee exceeds this limit, the additional time gets counted as unproductive hours. Similarly, you can blacklist social media URLs to track how your employees get distracted.
Additionally, DeskTrack enables you to log sub-URLs of a primary domain. For instance, if you want to track time spent by your HR team on LinkedIn, you can assign sub URLs for messaging, profiles, etc., to get a refined view of how your employees spend time within LinkedIn.
DeskTrack Standout Features and Integrations
Features include whitelisting and blacklisting URLs, document tracking, work-from-home attendance, workforce analytics, screenshot monitoring, tracking time spent on mobile applications, and others.
Integrations include DocHub and Dropbox. DeskTrack also has a custom API for more complex integrations.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Helps easily distinguish between average and top performers
- Great customer support
- Mobile app available for Android and iOS
Cons:
- Occasional wrong tagging of apps as unproductive
- Email reporting isn’t very robust
Other Productivity Tracking Software
Here are a few other options worth mentioning that didn’t make the best productivity tracking software list:
- Height
Productivity tracking for project, task, and workflow management
- ClickUp
Productivity tracking software for automating sales processes and managing accounts
- monday.com
Productivity tracking software for codeless automation of manual and repetitive tasks
- WebWork Time Tracker
For AI-powered productivity reports
- Monitask
Productivity tracking software with activity monitoring
- Peoplebox.ai
Productivity tracking software for implementing automated engagement surveys
- Hubstaff
For visual work verification
- Wrike
Productivity tracking software for monitoring team progress and identifying potential roadblocks
- Time Doctor
Productivity tracking software for business process outsourcing and organizations with offshore functions
- Profit.co
Productivity tracking software for aligning with organization-wide objectives and key results (OKRs)
- DeskTime
Productivity tracking software to identify employees experiencing burnout
- Hive
Productivity tracking software for visualizing progress made towards pre-defined goals
- Kickidler
Productivity tracking software with keystroke logging features
- Veriato
Productivity tracking software for tracking idle time of work-from-home employees and remote teams
- Qbserve
Productivity tracking software for organizations using macOS
Productivity Tracking Software Selection Criteria
When selecting the best productivity tracking software to include in this list, I considered common buyer needs and pain points like time management and integration with existing tools. I also used the following framework to keep my evaluation structured and fair:
Core Functionality (25% of total score)
To be considered for inclusion in this list, each solution had to fulfill these common use cases:
- Time tracking
- Task management
- Reporting and analytics
- Integration with other tools
- User management
Additional Standout Features (25% of total score)
To help further narrow down the competition, I also looked for unique features, such as:
- Customizable dashboards
- Real-time collaboration
- Automated alerts and reminders
- Mobile app availability
- AI-driven insights
Usability (10% of total score)
To get a sense of the usability of each system, I considered the following:
- Intuitive interface
- Ease of navigation
- Clear instructions and help guides
- Minimal learning curve
- Aesthetic design
Onboarding (10% of total score)
To evaluate the onboarding experience for each platform, I considered the following:
- Availability of training videos
- Interactive product tours
- Access to templates
- Support through chatbots
- Webinars and live demos
Customer Support (10% of total score)
To assess each software provider’s customer support services, I considered the following:
- 24/7 support availability
- Response time to inquiries
- Access to a knowledge base
- Availability of live chat
- Personalized support options
Value For Money (10% of total score)
To evaluate the value for money of each platform, I considered the following:
- Competitive pricing
- Availability of free trial
- Flexible subscription plans
- Discounts for annual payments
- Feature set relative to price
Customer Reviews (10% of total score)
To get a sense of overall customer satisfaction, I considered the following when reading customer reviews:
- User satisfaction ratings
- Feedback on functionality
- Comments on ease of use
- Reports on customer support experiences
- Overall recommendation rate
How to Choose Productivity Tracking Software
It’s easy to get bogged down in long feature lists and complex pricing structures. To help you stay focused as you work through your unique software selection process, here’s a checklist of factors to keep in mind:
| Factor | What to Consider |
|---|---|
| Scalability | Can the software grow with your team? Consider future needs and whether the tool can handle increased users or data without a hitch. |
| Integrations | Does it connect with tools you already use? Look for seamless integration with your existing systems to avoid workflow disruptions. |
| Customizability | Can you tailor the software to fit your processes? Look for options to adjust settings, views, and reports to match your unique needs. |
| Ease of use | Will your team adopt it quickly? Consider the learning curve and how intuitive the interface is for everyday users. |
| Implementation and onboarding | How smooth is the setup process? Evaluate the time and resources needed for rollout, training, and getting your team up to speed. |
| Cost | Is it within your budget? Compare pricing plans, hidden fees, and whether features match the price. Consider long-term costs as your team grows. |
| Security safeguards | How does it protect your data? Ensure the tool meets security standards like encryption and access controls to keep information safe. |
| Support availability | Can you get help when needed? Check if there's 24/7 support, live chat, or dedicated account managers to assist your team. |
What Is Productivity Tracking Software?
Productivity tracking software is a tool that helps monitor and manage time spent on tasks and projects. Professionals like managers, remote workers, and freelancers use these tools to boost efficiency and track progress. Time tracking, task management, and reporting features help with staying organized and identifying productivity patterns. Overall, these tools offer valuable insights into work habits and help optimize daily routines.
Features
When selecting productivity tracking software, keep an eye out for the following key features:
- Time tracking: Allows users to log hours spent on tasks, helping analyze productivity and manage time effectively.
- Task management: Organizes tasks and projects in one place, making it easier to prioritize and track progress.
- Reporting and analytics: Provides insights into work patterns and productivity trends, aiding in data-driven decision-making.
- Integrations: Connects with other tools and platforms to ensure a seamless workflow across different systems.
- Customizable dashboards: Offers tailored views and reports to match individual or team preferences and needs.
- Mobile app availability: Enables users to track and manage tasks on-the-go, enhancing flexibility and accessibility.
- Automated alerts and reminders: Keeps users informed of deadlines and important tasks, reducing the risk of oversights.
- User management: Allows administrators to control access and monitor activity, ensuring secure and efficient operations.
- AI-driven insights: Uses artificial intelligence to provide personalized recommendations and productivity tips.
- Security safeguards: Ensures that data is protected with encryption and access controls, maintaining privacy and security.
Benefits
Implementing productivity tracking software provides several benefits for your team and your business. Here are a few you can look forward to:
- Improved time management: By tracking hours spent on tasks, teams can identify time sinks and optimize schedules.
- Enhanced focus: Task management features help prioritize work, reducing distractions and increasing concentration.
- Data-driven decisions: Reporting and analytics provide insights that support informed decision-making and strategic planning.
- Increased accountability: Automated alerts and reminders ensure deadlines are met, holding team members accountable.
- Better collaboration: Integrations with other tools foster a connected workflow, enhancing team coordination and communication.
- Flexibility and accessibility: Mobile app availability lets team members manage tasks from anywhere, accommodating remote or hybrid work setups.
- Secure operations: Security safeguards protect sensitive information, ensuring privacy and compliance with data regulations.
Costs & Pricing
Selecting productivity tracking software requires an understanding of the various pricing models and plans available. Costs vary based on features, team size, add-ons, and more. The table below summarizes common plans, their average prices, and typical features included in productivity tracking software solutions:
Plan Comparison Table for Productivity Tracking Software
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | $0 | Basic time tracking, task management, and limited reporting. |
| Personal Plan | $5-$15/user/month | Advanced time tracking, customizable dashboards, and mobile app access. |
| Business Plan | $20-$50/user/month | Team collaboration tools, integrations with other software, and enhanced security. |
| Enterprise Plan | $60+/user/month | Customizable features, dedicated support, and comprehensive analytics. |
FAQs
Can productivity tracking software invade privacy?
Yes, productivity tracking software can raise privacy concerns if not used responsibly. It’s important to choose tools that allow customization of privacy settings and clear communication with your team about what data is being tracked. Look for software that offers transparent data usage policies and provides options for users to control their own data. Ensuring your team understands and consents to the tracking process can help mitigate privacy issues.
Is productivity tracking software suitable for remote teams?
Yes, productivity tracking software is particularly useful for remote teams. It helps manage tasks and track time without being physically present, allowing for better coordination and accountability. With features like time tracking and task management, remote teams can stay organized and connected. Many tools offer mobile apps and cloud-based access, making it easy for remote workers to log their activities and collaborate with team members from anywhere.
What’s Next:
If you're in the process of researching productivity tracking software, connect with a SoftwareSelect advisor for free recommendations.
You fill out a form and have a quick chat where they get into the specifics of your needs. Then you'll get a shortlist of software to review. They'll even support you through the entire buying process, including price negotiations.
