10 Best Time Tracking Software Shortlist
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Employee time tracking software improves the present and future of project management. Let me elaborate. Currently, you are working with your team on a project. As part of your monitoring phase, you are keeping track of activities, your plan, and hopefully the hours being invested in each activity.
Knowing where your team is investing their time is informing your client conversations over budget spending, your talks with the team over time allocation, and even resource scheduling conversations with other DPMs wanting your resources.
Once this project is done, you will surely embark on another adventure and the cycle restarts. The time you and your team tracked will now inform future estimates for project activities and overall more accurate price and time-related conversations with the client.
Therefore, using time tracking tools is an essential part of a DPMs toolbox. Whether that is a best-of-breed or an all-in-one solution is up to you.
How We Picked The Best Time Tracking Software
I evaluated and compared the most popular time tracking software on the market, both for its reviews and user interface. Then I weighed factors that make software a good option for project management, such as the ones that follow.
- User Interface: The software needs to have a nice UI and be easy to use. A good interface will make it easier for your employees to clock in their work time. In contrast, a bad UI will deter them from it.
- Online time tracking variety: I look at all the ways in which a team can track accurate time. This could mean importing Excel timesheets, using a time clock or creating templates.
- Integrations: I looked at how you can expand the software's functionality. On the one hand, maybe some of these time tracking tools can be embedded into your existing tools. On the other hand, maybe the software can integrate other tools that enable invoicing like Quickbooks and Xero.
- Pricing: Your time tracking app should be a cheap addition to your current tech stack, especially if you are part of a small business. Therefore, I’ll point out the price and if there are available free versions or free trials.
Best Time Tracking Software Overviews
Here’s a brief overview of each tool.
monday.com
Best for its customization capabilities
monday.com is a project management software with time tracking features that has done away with a lot of the trimmings of typical management tools and focused on simple, visually intuitive layouts that help clarify the sequence of work.
Why I picked monday.com: I think monday.com is great tool. You can use it to track project billable hours, employee productivity, and invoicing. More than being a time-tracking solution, you can also use it for your employee productivity needs. You can easily assign owners to new tasks, prioritize each item, set due dates and know exactly how every working hour is spent on each project and task. You can also keep track of time on their mobile app.
Overall, monday.com is a highly customizable software that I would definitely recommend using to help handle your projects, collaborate in real time, and track time so you can provide more accurate information to the client.
According to my research, time tracking is available on monday.com's Pro and Enterprise plans and has to be added to each board as a column.
monday.com Standout Features & Integrations
Features include dashboards, automation, file management, collaborative documents, resource management, forms, time-tracking, in-app chat, and reporting.
Integrations include business apps like Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Harvest, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform, and many more, accessible via Zapier.
Insightful
Best time tracking software to measure team productivity
Insightful is a workforce analytics suite focused on time tracking. It's both easy to navigate and pretty advanced, with remote team monitoring features like auto-grab screenshots and web usage tracking. For this reason, I think it's a useful tool for remote businesses that are scaling quickly—you can start with something relatively basic and adopt more advanced plans as you scale.
Why I picked Insightful: I chose Insightful as one of the best time-tracking tools because of its user-friendly interface and integration with various project management tools. The platform is well-designed and easy to navigate, making it a great choice for anyone who is new to time-tracking software in my opinion.
Insightful Standout Features & Integrations
Features include project-specific and task-specific time tracking, real-time monitoring, productivity tracking, productivity labels for tasks, time & labor budgeting tools, and detailed reports to help managers understand how much time their team spends on different projects. This allows project leaders to identify areas where they can improve their team's productivity and optimize their workflow. Additionally, Insightful can track billable hours, non-billable hours, and hourly rates, making it easier to invoice clients accurately.
Integrations include various project management tools like Asana, Jira, Slack, Trello, and others.
ClickTime
Best time tracking for customizable timesheets
ClickTime is a project time tracking software used by organizations that need to accurately account for employee costs. It has the ability to create project budgets, employee cost rates, and custom billing rates
Why I picked ClickTime: What I find to be unique about ClickTime is its timesheet customizability. Rather than providing a one-size-fit-all timesheet, ClickTime allows customers to configure timesheets in a way that best serves their needs. Each timesheet comes with three levels of hierarchy (such as “Client | Project | Task”) that customers can name anything they like. For example: a nonprofit - who doesn’t need to bill clients - might choose to track time against “Grants | Programs | Activities.” Additionally, ClickTime customers can create custom fields for specialized tracking and reporting, as well as add notes to any time entry to provide context and detail to ensure accurate reporting and billing.
ClickTime Standout Features & Integrations
Features include standard and custom reminders that are conveniently scheduled to automatically send, or send as needed, so that customers can stay on top of staff timesheet completion. The ClickTime mobile app gives teams the ability to manage time, expenses, and time off anytime, anywhere to stay connected and in control.
Integrations include Sage, NetSuite, QuickBooks, Jira, BambooHR, HiBob, ADP, Zenefits, Salesforce, Hubspot, Zoho, Box, Google Drive, Slack, and task management tools like ClickUp. ClickTime also boasts an award-winning API that makes any connection possible. And if you don’t have the resources on hand to build your own custom integrations, they have a Professional Services team who can do all the heavy lifting for you.
Replicon
Best time tracking software for projects, tasks, attendance & pay
Replicon is a time tracking and timesheet software with a project time tracking product suite. This suite can help you manage project hours and costs, paid time off, and track billable hours and project expenses.
Why I picked Replicon: I chose this tool for the list because of its intelligent time tracking feature, which leverages AI and machine learning to help populate timesheets for employees based on the apps they use. The app will track employee activity across different platforms and pre-fill timesheets for them. Additionally, it will reconstruct the work week across multiple projects. Based on my research, it seems like all your people will have to do is review and submit, which will save you both hours of administrative tasks and money.
Replicon also has a mobile app that you can use to track time from any device. This makes it easy to track time while you are away from your computer, but also makes use of mobile device capabilities to expand its functionality. For example, you can take a pic and add it to your expense report using the phone's camera. I think that this feature makes Replicon perfect for employees on-the-go, since it can help them track their time quickly, easily, and without needing access to a computer.
Replicon Standout Features & Integrations
Features include approval workflows and intelligent routing for time off requests. This ensures that employee requests get handled by the appropriate people and expedites the approval process. Another feature I like, especially for teams that work on the field, is its real-time GPS tracking and geofencing capabilities.
Integrations include SAP, ADP, Salesforce, Slack, Quickbooks, Jira, ServiceNow, Xero, Workday, Myob, Adobe XD, and Bamboo HR.
Kantata
Best time tracking software for its billable utilization breakdown within timesheets
Kantata time tracking software is designed to help individuals and businesses efficiently manage and monitor their time and workload. The software can help users understand how their team's time is being utilized. These insights can be invaluable for optimizing workflows, identifying time-wasting activities, and improving overall efficiency.
Why I picked Kantata: I chose Kantata for this list because it goes beyond simple time tracking by offering time budgeting and forecasting capabilities. Users can set time budgets for specific tasks or projects, allowing them to allocate time and resources effectively. I also love how the software provides real-time updates on time spent, remaining time, and progress towards budgeted goals. In my experience, these types of features enable users to proactively manage their time, prioritize tasks, and more accurately meet deadlines.
Kantata Standout Features & Integrations
Features include intelligent time tracking, productivity analytics, focus mode, GPS tracking, and customizable privacy settings.
Integrations include Slack, Trello, Salesforce, Sage, Jira, Quickbooks, Xero, NetSuite, Genpact, and Google Calendar.
Connecteam
Best for its digital geofencing options and timesheet conflict alerts
Connecteam is a workplace software company that offers products for operational, communication, and skills management. The operational platform facilitates time tracking and employee scheduling.
Why I picked Connecteam: I am particularly impressed by Connecteam's operations management software, which offers a unique approach to time tracking, scheduling, and task management features. Employees can log their time in the system and it even provides GPS tracking to keep managers updated on the whereabouts of staff. You can also assign shifts and tasks to employees, and oversee their work with forms and checklists.
I also admire how the Connecteam's software can be connected with a payroll platform so you can easily use schedules and timesheets for pay administration. Additionally, I'm always on the lookout for customizable features, and Connecteam offers several customization tools for your team's unique tasks and timesheet needs.
Connecteam Standout Features & Integrations
Features include time tracking, scheduling, GPS tracking, Geo-fencing, schedule templates, shortcuts, task management, forms, and checklists.
Integrations include Google Calendar, Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, and others.
Smartsheet
Best for mobile time tracking
Resource Management by Smartsheet, a high-level project and resource management software, helps modern teams make confident decisions about project planning, team capacity, budget forecasting, team utilization, and hiring needs in real time.
Why I picked Smartsheet: I selected Smartsheet for this list because its built-in timesheets, mobile time tracking, and expense tracking features enable you to create rich project reports by filtering project data with just a few clicks. This makes it the best time-tracking solution for a workforce with diverse operational setups in my opinion. For example, Smartsheet can provide detailed reports that can give insight into historical data or offer a forecasted view of team utilization, actual vs. planned time reports, budget tracking, expense reports, and projects in the pipeline.
Another standout feature I noticed was the Resource Management by Smartsheet's unique project and resource matching feature, which helps match team members to the project’s requirements according to different criteria like disciplines, skills, availability, and more.
Smartsheet Standout Features & Integrations
Features include predictive timesheets, real-time budget updates according to spreadsheets, planned vs actual time tracking, and mobile time tracking.
Integrations include 80+ software applications, such as Slack, MS Teams, Brandfolder, serviceNOW, Okta, Salesforce, and Google Calendar. Additionally, it provides a flexible API and Zapier integration that can connect with top operational tools for analytics, communications, PM, ERP, and finance.
Hub Planner
Best for comparing scheduled time to actual time worked
Hub Planner is a cloud-based, customizable software tailored for project planning, resource scheduling, and time tracking. It provides companies with tools that allow them to create and implement effective blueprints for project development teams and other employees.
Why I picked Hub Planner: In my opinion, Hub Planner is best suited for SMBs and large enterprises that want to move on from traditional spreadsheets when managing teams, resources, and schedules in various geographically distributed locations. The software features smart timesheets that provide robust time tracking and dynamic reporting modules. The smart timesheet tool is designed with intuitive usability in mind, offering users a user-friendly and efficient employee time tracking solution.
Hub Planner’s Timesheets module has a smart design that ensures better visibility for project managers, as it delivers a detailed picture of both the actual time and scheduled time worked by staff members. It also has charts and graphs that I believe managers and team leaders could use to provide a visually interactive overview of team performance and available resources.
Hub Planner Standout Features & Integrations
Features include project planning, resource scheduling, timesheets and approvals, as well as advanced reporting and analytics. In addition, the software provides users with a complete overview and control over their active projects and resources within a unified system.
Integrations are available by connecting Hub Planner to a paid Zapier or Zoho Flow account.
Hub Planner offers an excellent free trial version you can test out before fully investing in it.
actiTIME
Best for small teams and businesses
actiTIME is a time tracking software designed to keep track of hours spent on projects, and it also allows project managers to analyze hours and timesheets to make informed decisions about estimates, invoices, and more.
actiTIME allows you to create projects and allocate tasks to team members so you can keep track of time per project and per task. Project managers can collect data on employee performance, as well as project costs and revenues, and review it in reports and charts.
This tool also offers the ability to compare estimated vs. actual time, as well as the ability to use that information to create invoices and adjust estimates as needed. These features foster a comprehensive and objective analysis of individual and team performance.
actiTIME is highly flexible and configurable to a diverse set of needs and preferences. It can also be integrated with other project management apps through Zapier or their API.
actiTIME offers free plans for teams of up to three members. Paid plans start at $5/user/month, and a free trial is offered.
TimeClock Plus
Best for its multi-platform accessibility
TimeClock Plus is a time and attendance software that's designed to help you manage your employees' time and attendance, leave and absence, and a whole lot more. It's a comprehensive solution that's designed to make your life easier, whether you're a small business owner or a manager in a large corporation.
Why I picked TimeClock Plus: This tool stood out to me because it's not just about tracking time, it's about managing your workforce in a way that's efficient and effective. I particularly admire how the tool lets you monitor time tracking, and attendance, see exactly where your employees are using geolocation, and handle time off requests such as vacation, sick time, FMLA, and others.
TimeClock Plus Standout Features & Integrations
Features include its advanced leave module that lets you enforce leave policies while automatically handling your processes with a fair and optimized system. Additionally, the overtime management module stands out to me because of the many customizations you can make to the conditions around overtime, including varied overtime thresholds and weighted overtime.
Integrations include over a hundred payroll solutions like ADP, BAI, Ascentis, Accra, Casamba, Cayenne, Ceridian, and Epicure. Also Quickbooks, Paychex, or even payroll modules from ERP systems like SAP, Sage, and NetSuite.
Best Time Tracking Software Summary
Here is a convenient list with all the highlights you need from what we covered above.
Tool | Trial Info | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | monday.com Best for its customization capabilities | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) | Website |
2 | Insightful Best time tracking software to measure team productivity | 7-day free trial | From $8/employee/month | Website |
3 | ClickTime Best time tracking for customizable timesheets | 14-day free trial | From $10/user/month | Website |
4 | Replicon Best time tracking software for projects, tasks, attendance & pay | 14-day free trial | From $6/user/month | Website |
5 | Kantata Best time tracking software for its billable utilization breakdown within timesheets | Free demo | Pricing upon request | Website |
6 | Connecteam Best for its digital geofencing options and timesheet conflict alerts | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $29/month for 30 users (paid annually) | Website |
7 | Smartsheet Best for mobile time tracking | Freemium version available | From $7/user/month | Website |
8 | Hub Planner Best for comparing scheduled time to actual time worked | 30-day free trial | From $7/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
9 | actiTIME Best for small teams and businesses | 30 days free trial | From $5/user/month | Website |
10 | TimeClock Plus Best for its multi-platform accessibility | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website |
Other time tracking software:
Check out the list below for additional time tracking software tools we selected but couldn’t make the best 10.
- BigTime
Best time tracking software with expense budgeting
- Beebole
Powerful and flexible time tracking that's easy to learn and use.
- TimeCamp
Best for its free version with unlimited users and projects
- Toggl Track
Best for its workload balancing
- Paymo
Best time tracking software for small & medium teams
- Forecast
Best for its AI capabilities
- TMetric
Best for its 7-day activity tracking storage
- My Hours
Best for small teams and freelancers
- Traqq
Best for its free version with premium features
- ProjectManager.com
Best for real-time monitoring of tracked time.
- Hubstaff
Best employee time tracking for managing remote and field teams
- FunctionFox
Best time tracking software for creative teams and agencies
- Apploye
Best Time Tracking for Remote teams and Freelancers
- Projectworks
Best for professional service providers
- GoodDay
Best for its flexible folder structure with unlimited levels
- Monitask
Simple employee time and task monitoring well-suite to remote and distributed teams.
- Harvest
Best for agencies
- Actually
Simple time tracking for companies working with projects
- Bill4time
Best for reporting features
- ClickUp
Best for its billable time tag
Time Tracking Software FAQs
Find the answers to common questions about this topic.
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Which features should I look for when selecting time tracking software?
Time tracking software – why is it important?
Are timesheets important?
What's Next?
Since we are on the subject of time tracking, here's a useful article on project budgeting that explains what analogous estimation is and other estimation techniques used in project management.
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