The best employee time clock should have a robust system that supports multiple clock-in/out options, uses biometric or facial recognition technology, and includes mobile apps with GPS-based clock-ins. Moreover, some of the best time card machines go beyond clock-ins with scheduling and employee communications. A digital time clock for employees provides users with better time-tracking flexibility while offering more advanced features, such as customizable reports and project- or task-based time allocation.
We reviewed 20+ time clocks and condensed our list to the top seven time card machines that scored 4+ out of 5.
- Homebase: Best overall for small businesses with only one location
- OnTheClock: Best for employee communications
- Deputy: Best for seasonal businesses or those with employees on standby
- busybusy: Best for field employees like construction workers
- Buddy Punch: Best for businesses trying to control time theft from buddy-punching or unauthorized overtime
- 7shifts: Best for restaurants
- When I Work: Best for growing and multilocation businesses
A note about the time clocks on this list: We distinguished between time clocks that allow employees to clock in and out for shifts and those that simply track time spent on a project. If you need time-tracking tools, consider our list of the best time-tracking software.
Employee Time Clocks Compared
Overall Score | Free Plan | Paid Plans Monthly Fees | Hardware Types | Clock-in/Out Options | Built-in Employee Scheduling | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.56 out of 5 | 1 location; max 20 employees | $24.95–$99.95 per location | Computer, tablet, iPad | PIN code | ✓ | |
4.46 out of 5 | For 1-2 employees | $3.20–$3.50 per employee monthly | Computer, tablet, iPad (Fingerprint reader + $100) | Fingerprint (costs extra), PIN, password | ✓ | |
4.39 out of 5 | 100 shifts/month | $4.50–$6 per user monthly ($25 per month minimum) | Computer, tablet, iPad | Facial recognition and voice command clock ins/outs | ✓ | |
4.34 out of 5 | Limited tools, unlimited users | $11.99–$17.99 per user monthly | Computer, tablet, iPad | Facial recognition | ✓ | |
4.29 out of 5 | 14-day trial | $4.99–$7.99 per user monthly + $19 base fee per month | Computer, tablet, iPad | QR codes, 4-digit PIN codes, facial recognition, and username with password | w/ Pro plan | |
4.18 out of 5 | 1 location | $34.99–$150 per location monthly | Computer, tablet, iPad | Simple clock in | ✓ | |
4.13 out of 5 | 14-day trial | $4–$10 per user monthly | Computer, tablet, iPad | Facial recognition | ✓ | |
Homebase: Best Overall Employee Time Clock
Pros
- Free plan includes attendance monitoring, job posting, applicant tracking, and employee scheduling
- User-friendly interface
- Can handle unlimited employees
- POS integrations
Cons
- Free plan limited to one location and only up to 20 employees
- PIN with implementation does not always work
- Geolocation tracking, geofencing, paid time off (PTO) accrual tracking, and overtime alerts are only included in paid plans
What We Like
Homebase is the best time clock for small businesses, especially companies with one physical location needing a feature-rich online solution to help track employee time, and reduce scheduling errors. It provides free time clock software and employee time clock apps that work on computers, tablets, and smartphones. Apart from letting you create staff schedules and capture time entries, it offers team communication at no cost. Paid subscriptions include payroll integration, geofencing, overtime and late employee alerts, early clock-in prevention, and auto-scheduling.
Overall, Homebase earned a score of 4.56 out of 5 in our evaluation. It posted scores of 4 and above in most of our criteria, with perfect marks in attendance functions and reporting. It fell short in that it does not offer fingerprint or facial recognition, and had a lot of complaints about the app being glitchy and slow to load at times. However, users agreed it’s easy to use.
Homebase Overview
Looking for resources to manage your employees’ shifts? Homebase is more than just a time clock. It also helps you build schedules, track time, and manage scheduling changes. It is our top choice for free employee scheduling software. Learn more about Homebase and if it’s right for your small business by reading our full Homebase review.
OnTheClock: Best for Employee Communication
Pros
- Free plan for 1 or 2 people
- PTO tracking
- Communication tools include surveys, photo attachments, notes
- Free phone support
Cons
- No offline mode
- Slightly higher learning curve
- Basic reports only
What We Like
OnTheClock is one of the most inexpensive time clocks for employees that works with salary and hourly employees. It tracks by job, position, or location clock-ins and includes employee communications. With one of the strongest communications tools we’ve seen, it’s an excellent choice for businesses that need a “paper trail” for actions accomplished on shifts or for deliverables to customers.
With a 4.46 out of 5, it had perfect scores for pricing, time and attendance features, and security tools. It fell short in popularity only because of a few complaints of the app glitching—its user score averaged 4.52 out of 5 over multiple third-party user review sites, however. It also lost a few points for ease of use because it lacks an offline mode.
OnTheClock Overview
Deputy: Best for Seasonal Businesses
Pros
- Supports multiple locations
- International: 90+ countries
- Reduced price plan for those with only a few people on schedules
Cons
- Free plan limited to 100 shifts, US only
- Monthly minimum of $25
- Need Premium plan for geofencing tools
What We Like
Deputy ranks third for best time clock for small businesses because of its versatility of plans and international scope. We especially like the Flexi Weekly Plan for seasonal workers or businesses that have a week-on/week-off shift schedule. It’s easy to use and offers facial recognition, as well as PIN codes for clock-ins, break reminders and verification, and wage calculations on the time sheets.
Deputy earned 4.39 out of 5 on our evaluation. It lost points in pricing for requiring a minimum $25 monthly spend—but earned a perfect score for time and attendance tools and reporting, with advanced and custom report capabilities. It’s also easy to use and has a high average user review score.
Deputy Overview
Are you a restaurant or retailer in need of additional scheduling and time clock software? Deputy allows for time and availability management, auto-scheduling, forecasting, and more. Read our full Deputy review to learn more.
busybusy: Best for Employees in the Field
Pros
- Offline mode
- Limit early clock-ins
- Safety and project reports
- Job costing codes includes instructions and color-coding
Cons
- No phone support
- No overtime alerts
- Standard reports only
What We Like
For workers on the move who may go from project to project—like plumbers, landscapers, or construction workers, busybusy offers a time clock and scheduling tools to make tracking time on site and on the job easier. In addition to strong geofenced clock-in tools that can include facial recognition, it also offers excellent means for communication (similar to OnTheClock, but more industry-specific). It offers billing capability, shift reports (like safety), timecard signatures in-app, and equipment tracking.
It earned 4.34 out of 5, with perfect scores for pricing, security, and popularity. Its reports aren’t as customizable as others on our list, and it lost points for not having phone support. While we found overtime rules tracking and calculations, we did not find an alert system, costing it a few points.
busybusy Overview
Looking for an app that can handle all your time tracking needs? Learn more in our Best Employee Time Tracking Apps article.
Buddy Punch: Best for Preventing Time Theft
Pros
- Easy to use
- Multiple clock-in/out options; supports PIN code, facial recognition, QR code, and username with password time entries
- Highly rated by users on third-party user review sites
- Prevent early clock-ins
Cons
- Limited client billing capabilities
- No phone support
- Expensive for only a few users
What We Like
Buddy Punch is the best employee time clock for businesses wanting to avoid time theft—but it’s also an excellent time clock overall for features and ease of use. It lets employees clock in via QR code, and has facial recognition, passwords, and PINs to avoid buddy punching. It includes job tracking by department or customer, breaks, alerts, and more.
Buddy Punch earned 4.29 out of 5, with perfect scores for time and attendance, reporting, security, and popularity. It had the highest average user satisfaction score: 4.77 out of 5. It requires a monthly base fee of $19 plus the per-user fee, which hurt it in pricing (along with not having a free plan). Meanwhile, the lack of live phone support took it down in ease of use, which was enough to knock it down in terms of its overall score.
Buddy Punch Overview
Do you need a mobile time clock option with GPS technology? Buddy Punch allows employees to clock in and out wherever they are and will limit them to within a certain radius of their work location. Read our full Buddy Punch review to learn more.
7shifts: Best for Restaurants
Pros
- Strong compliance tools for employees that are minors
- Compliance and overtime rules
- Free plan for one location
Cons
- Plans are by location; can be expensive for small staff sizes
- Many of the features are in the higher plans
- Custom reports only in higher plans
What We Like
7shifts is the best punch clock software for restaurants because of its shift-swapping capabilities, employee health checks, forecasting, tips tracking, and more. However, its compliance tools also make it good for industries hiring minors, who have more rules concerning breaks and work hours.
It earned 4.18 out of 5 on our list, with perfect scores in time and attendance tools and in popularity. It has the second-highest user approval score after Buddy Punch, earning a 4.68 out of 5. It’s one of the few with live phone support. However, it’s also one of the more expensive options, and many of its advanced features that others provide in lower plans, are with the higher plans (like task notes and compliance tools).
7shifts Overview
Do you need online scheduling software for your restaurant? 7shifts allows for scheduling, templates, manager log books, group communications, shift swapping, and more. For more information read our full 7shifts review.
When I Work: Best for Growing Businesses & Multiple Locations
Pros
- Access to overtime alerts, POS and payroll software integrations, and mobile time clock apps with GPS enforcement cost extra
- SMS and push notifications
- Task lists; autoscheduling; custom reports
Cons
- No free plan
- No phone support
- No offline mode
What We Like
When I Work is a solid time clock app for employees. Its pricing structure makes it a good choice for growing companies and those with multiple locations, particularly with shift workers. It not only includes shift swapping and requests but allows employees to bid on popular shifts. The scheduling tool lets you optimize work schedules automatically. It offers facial recognition and can forbid early clock-in.
This time clock software earned 4.13 out of 5. Like most of the cloud-based time clocks on our list, it got a perfect 5 out of 5 on time and attendance tools, and its custom report capabilities earned it a perfect reporting score, too. However, pricing, security, and ease of use were all below 4. It’s a popular software, however, and users give it 4.52 out of 5 on average.
When I Work Overview
Are you looking for a flexible and affordable employee scheduling and time tracking tool? When I Work lets you create schedules, capture employee clock-ins/outs, and monitor attendance online. Learn more in our full When I Work review.
How We Evaluated
Aside from pricing and ease of use, we looked for essential features like time capture options, break and PTO tracking, and reporting tools. Then, we rated each based on the following criteria:
20% of Overall Score
20% of Overall Score
The best employee time clock includes basic tools, such as exportable time data, multiple time clock types, break and PTO tracking, and administrator alerts. Plus, having access to mobile apps and a self-service portal is also ideal. Most earned perfect marks.
10% of Overall Score
10% of Overall Score
Aside from having access to standard and pre-built reports, users should be able to customize reports. Earning perfect scores were Buddy Punch, Deputy, Homebase, and When I Work. However, it should be noted that busybusy does offer several reports unique to the construction and home repair industries.
20% of Overall Score
Geofencing, geolocation tracking, and multiple clock-in/out options (such as fingerprint, badge, and pin code) are just some of the essential functionalities that we looked at. We also checked whether or not the software can set up approvals and limit early time-ins. Perfect scores went to Buddy Punch, and busybusy.
20% of Overall Score
How to Choose an Employee Time Clock
Choosing the best time clock for your small business doesn’t have to be difficult. Start by understanding what you want from the time clock software. Consider your business situation and ask these questions:
- Do you have a problem with early clock-ins? Most time clocks for employees can prevent this.
- Do you want to enforce manager approval of overtime? Some notify managers when someone is late clocking out while others ping the employee with a reminder.
- Does your state enforce breaks and lunches? Some time clocks let you set these rules.
- Do your people work outside of the office? Some time clocks have mobile apps with geofencing that lets employees punch in when they are on location.
- How important is it to integrate with your payroll software? The best cloud-based time clocks for small businesses include integrations with popular software, while others create CSV files you can upload. Meanwhile, the best time card machines let you download a file to upload into your payroll software.
- Do your employees need to track time to specific projects? While time tracking software is your better bet, there are some time clock software that include project management features.
Next, consider hardware. Most time clocks for small businesses operate from tablets—usually iPads. However, some require their own hardware. These cost $200–$500, depending on features, which is less than an iPad. However, they usually have less robust software.
Naturally, price is a consideration. Most come with monthly fees, especially if they have cloud-based software or mobile apps. Keep in mind, however, that you are paying for convenience—time clock software is usually more accurate, includes rules and reports that help you with compliance to state break laws, and makes it easier to create timesheets or integrate straight to payroll software.
Employee Time Clock Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the best app for employees to clock in and out?
The best time clock app does more than just allow your employees to clock in and out from their mobile devices—it will allow you to send and approve PTO requests, create schedules, post jobs, record expenses, and track locations. Our top picks include Homebase, Clockify, and When I Work.
Do I need special equipment for a time clock?
While several time clocks have their own devices many will work using a tablet or even your employee’s mobile phone. These are usually cloud-based and come with additional software features.
How do you use a time card machine?
Each time card machine or software has a unique way for your employees to clock in and out. The oldest models used time cards that literally punch in times. These still exist, but none made our list. The most convenient allow facial recognition, thumbprints, and/or a PIN code to clock in. In those cases, the employee simply follows the directions on the pad. Some have geofencing procedures that let the employee clock in on their mobile device provided they are in a certain area of the workplace, which is great for out-of-office workers like construction or catering.
Bottom Line
All of the options we reviewed in this guide are great for helping business owners and their HR teams efficiently manage employees. They track time in and out, allow you to put that information into timecards for payroll, and prevent buddy punching. Some let you enforce breaks, communicate with employees through the clock, and more.
Our top pick for employee time clocks is Homebase, as it provides single-location businesses with a free online time clock to use that includes timekeeping, scheduling, and hiring tools. Start tracking your employees’ work time for free.