Buddy Punch Review: Is It the Right Time Tracking Software for You?
Buddy Punch is a cloud-based time tracking software designed to streamline how you monitor employee time and attendance. It features an online time clock with apps that work on web browsers and mobile devices. In addition to capturing actual hours worked, Buddy Punch offers scheduling, paid time off (PTO) management, and GPS tracking tools. While it doesn’t have a free plan, its paid tiers are affordably priced, with fees that start at $3.49 per employee, per month, on top of its $19.99 monthly base fee.
What We Like
- Simple to learn and use
- Standalone time tracking solution that’s affordably priced
- Multiple clock-in/out options; supports PIN code, facial recognition, QR code, and username with password time entries
What's Missing
- Lacks client billing functionalities
- No online timer for easy tracking of billable hours
- Phone support unavailable
Deciding Factors
- Monthly Pricing:
- Standard ($19.99 base fee + $3.49 per user)
- Pro ($19.99 base fee + $4.49 per user)
- Offers discounts on annual billing
- Has geofencing and geolocation features
- Can customize alerts
What We Recommend Buddy Punch For
Buddy Punch earned a spot on our list of the best time and attendance software. It received a perfect score in employee time tracking, given its robust controls and efficient tools that make monitoring time easy for both employees and managers. It also earned high marks in ease of use and pricing. However, it posted low ratings in billable hours and job labor costing features, mainly because it can’t generate invoices based on tracked time and doesn’t have reports for comparing budgets versus actual time/labor cost data.
In short, Buddy Punch is best for:
- Businesses dealing with time theft and buddy punching: Aside from geofencing and geolocation tracking, Buddy Punch has IP address and device locks, including a “locations” feature that allow you to select where employees can clock in/out from.
- Companies needing to prevent overtime charges: It also has a punch limiting option in which you can specify either the exact clock-in/out times per staff or the number of minutes that employees can punch in/out before and after their shift.
- Multilocation companies looking to track time by business location: With Buddy Punch’s “locations” feature, you can create and add business site/location options. This enables employees who are clocking in to select the location where they’re authorized and scheduled to work for the day. You can then generate custom reports that show the employees’ actual hours worked per business site.
- Employers with multiple departments, (i.e., administrative employees, factory workers, and those in the field) that need multiple time clock options with secure punch-ins/outs: Buddy Punch’s time tracking apps can turn computers and mobile iOS/Android devices into online time clocks—provided an internet connection is available. This is great for employees working on a computer in the office and those in the field. It even has a time clock kiosk feature if you prefer to use only one device to capture employee attendance. Plus, it offers multiple clock-in/out options that include PIN code, QR code, facial recognition scans, and username with password time entries.
When Buddy Punch Would Not Be a Good Fit
- If you need a budget-friendly way to track time for unlimited projects, then check out Clockify. Buddy Punch doesn’t have project time tracking, while Clockify offers online timers that you can easily start and stop as you work on projects. Best of all, its time tracking tools are free to use and even come with unlimited projects and user seats.
- If you’re looking for free time tracking, expensing, and invoicing tools, then Harvest is your best choice, as Buddy Punch doesn’t offer these. With Harvest, you can track expenses, capture time spent on projects, and generate invoices based on billable hours for free—provided you only need two active project slots and one user seat.
- If you want a lower-cost standalone time and attendance solution, then Deputy is a great alternative. Compared to Buddy Punch’s time and attendance package (wherein monthly fees start at $19.99 plus $3.49 per user monthly), it offers its time tracking module for only $3.50 per user, per month. While it requires a minimum monthly spend of $25 per invoice, Deputy is more cost-effective than Buddy Punch—especially if you have a large team. For example, tracking time for 24 employees with Deputy will cost $84 per month (computed as $3.50 x 24), while Buddy Punch’s pricing for 20 to 24 active employees is $103.75 per month (calculated as $19.99 + (3.49 x 24)).
Looking for something different?
Read our guide to the best time tracking software for small businesses to find other options for your business.
Buddy Punch Top Alternatives
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
Best for | Freelance teams tracking for productivity | Businesses looking for a low-cost time and attendance solution | Freelancers and solopreneurs looking for time tracking and invoicing tools |
Monthly fees | $0–$6.99 per user | $0–$4.90 per employee | $0–$12 per user |
Buddy Punch Pricing
Buddy Punch’s pricing is based on the number of active employees you have and whether you need both its time tracking and scheduling solutions. It offers three plans, with the main differences including access to its application programming interface (API), single sign-on (SSO) option, and scheduling tools.
Standard | Pro | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|
Pricing ($/Month)* | $19.99 (base fee) plus $3.49 per user | $19.99 (base fee) plus $4.49 per user | Custom |
Includes | Time and Attendance | Time and Attendance + Scheduling | Time and Attendance + Scheduling |
Unlimited Administrators | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Time, Job, and PTO Tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Mobile Apps with GPS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Timecard Approvals | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Alerts and Reminders | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Integration Options | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Drag-and-Drop Scheduler | N/A | ✓ | ✓ |
API and SSO Access | N/A | N/A | ✓ |
* Buddy Punch offers discounts on annual billing.
Want to know how Buddy Punch will fit into your budget? Use our online calculator to compute the estimated monthly and annual fees.
Buddy Punch doesn’t charge setup or termination fees—and if you exceed your plan’s user seat limits, you can upgrade to a higher option at any time, and the provider will prorate your monthly fee. It also offers customized pricing for those with 200 and more employees.
If you want to learn more about its features, you can sign up for Buddy Punch’s 14-day free trial. You won’t be required to provide credit card details, plus you are granted access to all of its time tracking and scheduling tools.
Buddy Punch Features
Besides offering multiple time clock options to help efficiently capture employee attendance, Buddy Punch also has a wide range of solutions to make staff scheduling easy for shift planners and/or supervisors. Let’s take a look at some of its essential features.
A view of Buddy Punch’s dashboard
In addition to mobile apps that work on iOS/Android tablets and smartphones, you and your employees can access Buddy Punch’s time clock on computers or laptops via any web browser (although Buddy Punch’s recommended browser is Google Chrome). You can even turn a computer, tablet, or smartphone into a centralized time clock by activating its kiosk function.
Note that all of its online time clocks require an internet connection; it doesn’t have an offline mode that similar providers, like Homebase and Deputy, provide. Also, its webcam feature that captures facial recognition scans of clocking in employees works only on Android devices and Windows and Mac computers—provided that the device has either a webcam or built-in camera.
Unlike many software that we reviewed with just one clock-in/out option, you can enable your Buddy Punch time clocks to accept employee punch-ins/outs either through QR codes, facial recognition, a four-digit PIN code, or a username with password.
For QR codes, Buddy Punch can generate and print unique codes for your staff. However, this clock-in/out type is available only if you access Buddy Punch through the Google Chrome web browser, and your device needs to have a camera installed that can scan QR codes.
Aside from these four options, you can capture your employees’ attendance via SMS. This is great for field staff who have an unstable internet connection and need to clock-in/out. Instead of logging in through Buddy Punch, employees can simply send text messages to a specified number to punch in/out. This functionality is made possible through its integration with Zapier, in which you select an SMS message app (like ClickSend SMS) that you can connect Buddy Punch to. You may have to pay SMS messaging fees, though, depending on the provider selected.
Buddy Punch has multiple clock-in options.
Buddy Punch has a robust selection of time tracking controls to help you monitor how and where employees are clocking in and out. It has geofencing, geolocation tracking, and IP address and device locks. It also has a punch limiting functionality that allows you to limit the time transactions to scheduled shifts and the exact times per day. This punch limiting control is unique to Buddy Punch compared to other competitors in our time and attendance software guide.
If you have multiple job sites and business offices, you can use its “locations” feature to add all of your business/job site addresses to Buddy Punch. You can even specify the locations that employees can select when clocking in.
Further, supervisors and/or managers can be assigned specific employees to monitor. This enables them to view their staff’s online time cards, approve requests, edit time information, and run reports. You can create alerts to allow Buddy Punch to send automatic notifications about clock-in/out transactions, time card changes, PTO requests, and when employees are nearing overtime.
Easily set up alerts to send to employees.
Buddy Punch refers to job codes as department codes, and assigning these to employees can help you track the number of hours they spent working on specific tasks or jobs. Its time clocks even allow your staff to switch jobs within a work day by clocking in/out using different job codes. In case employees mistakenly choose the wrong location and/or job code, managers can directly edit these from their online time cards. Buddy Punch’s revision history feature will keep track of all the changes made.
This is ideal for employers who want to track the number of employee work hours that salaried employees spend on clients. Unlike Buddy Punch’s online time clocks, your salaried employees are granted access to an online time card where they can manually input the location, department code, and time duration on a daily basis. These duration entries can also be submitted to managers for approval.
Buddy Punch’s time duration entries have a “Notes” field where your employees can add short descriptions about the type of work done.
Time duration entries that have been edited by supervisors or managers in Buddy Punch will have a “Changed by Manager” status.
You can use Buddy Punch to track all types of PTO—from vacation and sick days to personal leave and holidays. It also has an accruals feature that lets you create custom rules for when each PTO’s balance can be added to and used.
Your staff can manually enter PTO requests directly on their online time cards, and you can opt to have these go through an online approval process. However, you can also choose to have your employees simply add their PTO details without needing approval.
Managing breaks and overtime is easy with Buddy Punch’s automatic breaks and overtime calculations. With its automatic breaks feature, you can set up break rules and specify the hours that employees need to work before it will automatically deduct the applicable break times from your workers’ time cards.
On the other hand, its overtime calculations allow you to choose how Buddy Punch should compute overtime hours. You can even set up each employee to have a different overtime type. In addition to its preloaded overtime types that include California overtime, 38-hour work weeks, 40-hour work weeks, and 44-hour work weeks, you can have Buddy Punch help you create a custom one.
Buddy Punch has over 50 overtime types you can choose from.
Scheduling is an important part of employee management. With Buddy Punch, you are granted access to a drag-and-drop scheduler that lets you create, edit, assign, and share work shifts with employees. Buddy Punch’s scheduler even works on mobile devices, allowing you to easily manage employee scheduling while on the go. In addition to specifying the exact time range, you can add specific locations, positions, and job codes to employee shifts.
Buddy Punch also has an automatic punch-out feature that automatically clock-outs employees when their schedules end. This is great for employers whose staff keep forgetting to punch out, or if they simply want to ensure that all of their workers clock out at the end of their shifts.
Buddy Punch has over 10 types of reports to help you monitor PTO, time cards, schedules, clock-in/out activities, and daily work hours by location, position, and job. It also has a “Deleted Time Report” that captures all time entries that have been deleted and by whom. If you need a report that you can send to your pay provider to process employee payments, you can run Buddy Punch’s “Payroll Export” report, as it contains all of your employees’ total work hours, hours by earning type (such as regular hours and overtime hours), and PTO information.
It even allows you to generate custom reports by selecting fields and data ranges that you need. On top of all that, its reports can be exported into different formats that include CSV, Excel, and PDF.
Choose from Buddy Punch’s pre-built reports.
Aside from its API access that lets you create a connection between Buddy Punch and your selected software, it integrates with several third-party solutions, most of which are popular payroll software and accounting systems. Here are some of its integration partners.
- QuickBooks
- ADP
- Gusto
- Paychex
- Paylocity
- PayPlus
- SurePayroll
- Workday
- Zapier
Buddy Punch Ease of Use
- Intuitive interface
- User-friendly controls
- Automatic breaks/overtime calculations
- Knowledge base with extensive how-to guides
- Unlimited live chat and email support
Overall, Buddy Punch is a user-friendly time tracking and scheduling software with a straightforward interface and online tools that are easy to learn and use. In addition, it has robust control settings and automated features that make time tracking and scheduling a breeze for users. If you need help on how to use its functionalities, it has an extensive knowledge base with how-to articles that tackle everything—from frequently asked questions and step-by-step instructions to video tutorials and tips on how to manage employee time.
However, Buddy Punch doesn’t offer phone support. You can only send your inquiries through email or start a chat with its support team either through its website or directly from the app.
If you’re not sure Buddy Punch is right for you, check out our recommendations for the top time tracking software of 2022.
What Users Think About Buddy Punch
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Easy to use | Lacks an offline mode |
| Tracks time well | Customization options and geofencing restrictions aren’t robust |
| Good customer support | Occasional mobile app glitches |
Many users who left Buddy Punch reviews online raved about its good customer support, intuitive interface, and user-friendly tools. Several even commented that it makes time tracking and scheduling less stressful for them. They also appreciate its GPS tracking tool, facial recognition scans, and capability to control what employees can do when clocking in/out.
Some reviewers, on the other hand, dislike that you can’t use its online time clocks if you don’t have an internet connection. They also shared that its mobile apps can be a bit glitchy at times. Others wished for more robust geo-fencing restrictions and customization options.
At the time of publication, Buddy Punch reviews earned the following scores on popular user review sites:
- Capterra: 4.8 out of 5 based on more than 600 reviews
- G2: 4.8 out of 5 based on 130+ reviews
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a time tracking software that’s reasonably priced and comes with robust control settings, then Buddy Punch is a good choice. It lets you specify the location, IP address, device, and the exact times that employees can clock-in/out. It even calculates overtime hours and track breaks automatically. Plus, it offers solid scheduling and PTO management tools to help make monitoring employee attendance easier for users.
If you want to learn more about its functionalities, then sign up for Buddy Punch’s 14-day free trial—no credit card required.
