Skip to main content

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.

  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  2. 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.

Best for keeping payroll in sync

  • Free demo available
  • Flat rate user pricing, with a free version for businesses with up to 200 people
Visit Website
Rating: 4.8/5

Deel is an HR and payroll platform designed for businesses with distributed teams. It’s especially useful if you’re hiring across different countries, handling compliance, and managing international contracts. Deel covers everything from hiring and onboarding to payroll, benefits, and even expense management, giving you the tools to manage a global team in one place. 

Why I picked Deel: Deel’s time-tracking feature simplifies hour tracking for you and your team. With its clock-in and clock-out widget, available on both desktop and mobile, your team can quickly log hours and breaks, which are automatically recorded in their timesheets. Manual adjustments can be made as needed, while permissions can be set to control who edits or adds hours. This approach reduces errors and keeps payroll in sync with actual hours worked, helping you avoid surprises on payday and making your time management more accurate.

Deel Standout Features & Integrations

Features include contract templates, automated invoicing, multi-currency payments, localized tax compliance, benefits administration, worker classification, global contractor management, expense tracking, automated billing, and document storage.

Integrations include Google Workspace, Hubstaff, Brex, Personio, Sage, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Workable, UKG Ready, QuickBooks, Xero, and BambooHR.

Best for global time management

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $6/user/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.3/5

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.

Best for resource management features

  • Pricing upon request
Visit Website
Rating: 4.1/5

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.

Best for its billable time tag

  • 14-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $7/user/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.7/5

ClickUp is an all-in-one project management app that can help you schedule projects, collaborate using shared documents, and track your time while you do it.

Why I picked ClickUp: Its developers knew that time tracking is crucial for any business. This is why their native time tracking is available in all of their plans, including the free one! Tracking can be done within a specific task, or from any screen using the command center. You can access this command center by going to the left menu and clicking on the lightning icon ⚡️ next to the search bar. Once you are ready to see time tracking reports though, you will have to upgrade your plan as the timesheet dashboards are part of the business and unlimited plans.

ClickUp's time tracking allows you to add notes to your time, duplicate records and label them, and track time from any device where you are using the app.

ClickUp Standout Features & Integrations

Features include shared collaborative documents, whiteboards, in-app chat, task management, multiple views, and time tracking with labels, billable time tags, and estimates per task.

Integrations include native connections with Slack, G Suite, Dropbox, and many more tools, as well as over 1,000+ integrations through Zapier.

ClickUp is a tool that is best for teams looking to have an all-encompassing solution that tracks time but also lets them handle all other aspects of project management.

Best for visual project planning

  • 14-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $8/user/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.7/5

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.

Best for remote team monitoring

  • 7-day free trial
  • From $8/user/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.8/5

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.

Best online time clock for GPS and image tracking

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $3.99/user/month + $19/month base fee
Visit Website
Rating: 4.8/5

Buddy Punch is a web-based employee time clock software that can help simplify your employee scheduling and payroll.

Why I picked Buddy Punch: It has features to support time tracking across the organization, regardless of their work arrangement. You can see timesheets for on-site employees, use GPS and IP locking features to keep tabs on your remote workforce, and easily categorize projects using project-specific time entries and job codes. It also offers flexible time clock methods, including via web, app, kiosk, facial recognition, or QR code.

On top of the time tracking features, Buddy Punch gives you access to employee scheduling options. With the scheduler you can let your team know exactly when they need to work on something and what type of activity they're expected to work on. Finally, the drag-and-drop functionality for schedules helps you make quick shift changes in minutes.

Buddy Punch Standout Features & Integrations

Features include automatic breaks, vacation tracking, GPS tracking, and other time and attendance solutions.

Integrations include QuickBooks, ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Paylocity, PayPlus, SurePayroll, and Workday. A paid Zapier account can get you access to hundreds of other tool connections.

Best for visual resource planning

  • 14-day free trial + free demo available
  • From $7/user/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.2/5

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.

Best GPS time tracking for mobile teams

  • 14-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $29/month (for up to 30 users, billed annually) + $0.5/user/month for each additional user
Visit Website
Rating: 4.3/5

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 Paychex, Xero, Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll (online + desktop), Google Calendar and others.

Best for biometric facial recognition time clocks

  • 30-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $5/user/month
Visit Website
Rating: 3.8/5

TimeTrex is a comprehensive workforce management tool that automates time & attendance, payroll, and HR management in one easy-to-use platform. It offers features such as biometric facial recognition, geolocation and geofencing capabilities, and customizable alerts and notifications for workforce management processes. 

Why I picked TimeTrex: I like the platform's biometric facial recognition timeclocks, which ensure accurate and secure employee clock-ins and clock-outs. Additionally, TimeTrex offers geolocation and geofencing capabilities, allowing employers to verify that employees are clocking in from authorized locations. This is particularly beneficial for businesses with remote or field-based employees.

The software also provides managers with access to real-time attendance data, enabling them to make informed decisions about staffing and resource allocation. TimeTrex even has automated accruals and time banks, allowing businesses to set up and track various types of employee leave, such as vacation and sick days.

TimeTrex Standout Features & Integrations

Features include advanced scheduling, payroll features, job costing, centralized human resources management, expense tracking, invoicing, and mobile accessibility.

Integrations include ADP, Intuit QuickBooks, Sage, Paychex, Surepay, Ceridian, Meditech, Insync, Millennium, CompuPay, Tyler Technologies, Vensure Employer Services, and Accero.

Best Time Tracking Software Summary

Here is a convenient list with all the highlights you need from what we covered above.

Tools Price
Deel Flat rate user pricing, with a free version for businesses with up to 200 people
Replicon From $6/user/month
Kantata Pricing upon request
ClickUp From $7/user/month
monday.com From $8/user/month (billed annually)
Insightful From $8/user/month
Buddy Punch From $3.99/user/month + $19/month base fee
Hub Planner From $7/user/month (billed annually)
Connecteam From $29/month (for up to 30 users, billed annually) + $0.5/user/month for each additional user
TimeTrex From $5/user/month
Compare Software Specs Side by Side

Compare Software Specs Side by Side

Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.

Compare Software

Other time tracking software:

Check out the list below for additional time tracking software tools we selected but couldn’t make the best 10.

  1. TimeClock Plus

    For attendance management

  2. Beebole

    For customizable dashboards

  3. TimeCamp

    For automatic time tracking

  4. Toggl Track

    For its workload balancing

  5. TMetric

    For 7-day activity tracking storage

  6. My Hours

    For small teams and freelancers

  7. Traqq

    For a feature-rich free version

  8. BigTime

    For invoicing and billing

  9. Hubstaff

    For distributed teams

  10. Factorial

    For integrating timesheets with payroll

  11. FunctionFox

    For creative teams and agencies

  12. Apploye

    For hybrid teams

  13. GoodDay

    For its flexible folder structure with unlimited levels

  14. Bill4time

    For reporting features

  15. Actually

    Simple time tracking for companies working with projects

  16. Harvest

    For agencies

  17. Harvest

    For actionable insights

  18. Smartsheet

    For mobile time tracking

  19. ProjectManager

    For real-time monitoring of tracked time.

  20. actiTIME

    For small teams and businesses

Time Tracking Software FAQs

Find the answers to common questions about this topic.

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.

 
If you want to keep track of our workshops, tips, tricks, and all things DPM, subscribe to The Insider Membership newsletter. We will drop interesting information in your inbox every week.