Managing employees’ working time is an essential task for HR departments. It consists not only in determining the exact working time of employees in order to calculate pay, but also in organizing the teams by determining the days of work and rest. Discover in this article a selection of free clocking software designed to help companies manage this aspect.
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Faced with the risk of errors associated with tedious traditional time management techniques, including time clocks and manual data collection, opting for a time attendance software solution is an advantage for companies to consider.
The clocking software is a computer system allowing to record the working hours of the employees and to carry out specific analyzes related to the presence at work. The data recorded by the software is automatically synchronized with payroll management applications. Now an essential tool for the efficient management of working time, the clocking software helps to streamline the processing of data related to attendance, delays, absences and overtime thanks to the automation of tasks.
We present to you the ranking of the five best clocking software with a free version. Among the selection criteria used for this ranking are the main features of online time tracking, reporting and analysis, timesheet management, and leave tracking. A complete methodology is given at the end of this article. Discover the solutions on our list below, listed here in alphabetical order:
- Buddy Punch
- Calamari
- Desktime
- Hubstaff
- Jibble
1. Buddy Punch
- Overall rating: 4.8 / 5
- Ease of use: 4.8 / 5
- Service client : 4,8 / 5
- Features: 4.7 / 5
- Value for money: 4.7 / 5
Buddy punch is a clocking software allowing structures of different sizes to manage employee time tracking. The software supports staff clocking via a browser but also via Google, IOS or Android applications offered by the publisher. The software includes geofencing functions, and gives employees the ability to clock in from their own workstation. For administrators wanting more control, Buddy Punch can provide employees with their own QR codes that they can have printed and scanned from a single designated PC.
Each employee or manager can have real-time access to their hours and reports, which can be exported to payroll software, and viewed as a spreadsheet. Employees can also track their time, request paid time off, or check their schedules. Buddy Punch has a free 14-day trial version allowing access to the various features of the software.
Some features of the free version: Mobile app, work time tracking, alerts and notifications, absence tracking, break planning
Some features of the paid version: Unlimited free admins, multi-channel support, payroll integration, GPS, approval management
2. Calamari
- Overall rating: 4.7 / 5
- Ease of use: 4.6 / 5
- Service client : 4,9 / 5
- Features: 4.4 / 5
- Value for money: 4.7 / 5
The Calamari software is designed to measure the working time of teams, whatever their size, using a specific dedicated clocking module. It facilitates personnel management, particularly with regard to the planning of working time, holidays, but also absences or even remote work. Calamari offers administrators the ability to set up workflows for different types of absences and automatically apply company-related leave policy. It includes an electronic device operating like a beacon which, once installed and connected to users’ mobile devices, automatically detects the presence of employees, as well as arrival and departure times.
This clocking solution offers the possibility of editing timesheets, and allows employees to request a modification of the latter. A free 14-day trial version is available for this software, and allows access to the different Calamari modules.
Some features of the free version: Work time tracking, alerts and notifications, absence tracking, break planning
Some features of the paid version: Absence tracking, alerts and notifications, integrations, approval management
3. DeskTime
- Overall rating: 4.6 / 5
- Ease of use: 4.5 / 5
- Service client : 4,7 / 5
- Features: 4.3 / 5
- Value for money: 4.6 / 5
DeskTime is a time attendance solution for tracking team time, managing absences and tracking productivity. This software aims to help businesses boost productivity, organize projects, keep projects organized, and automate timesheet creation and tracking. DeskTime offers the ability to generate custom reports, schedule employee vacations and time off, calculate overtime pay, and centrally store employee contact information.
DeskTime can also be used as part of project time tracking: the invoicing function makes it possible in particular to establish hourly rates and calculate costs based on timesheets. It has a free version limited to one user, and including automatic time tracking, the availability of the mobile version but also tracking via the application. A free 14-day trial version of the different plans offered is available on request from the publisher.
Some features of the free version: Up to 1 user, mobile app, time tracking via app, mobile version available
Some features of the paid version: Productivity calculation, project time tracking, idle time tracking, built-in web timer
4. Hubstaff
- Overall rating: 4.6 / 5
- Ease of use: 4.4 / 5
- Service client : 4,5 / 5
- Features: 4.4 / 5
- Value for money: 4.5 / 5
Hubstaff is an automated employee timesheet tracking software that includes features like screenshots, activity tracking, automatic payroll, advanced reporting, real-time tracking, and geolocation
Hubstaff tracks the working time of team members and allows administrators to control the working times allocated to tasks by employees. This tool is used, among other things, to track the websites and applications that team members visit. It also monitors the time each member spends on a particular project, as well as the time spent on the entire project by all team members.
Hubstaff centralizes all time-related data and creates individual reports for each employee, which are viewable by administrators and team members. This solution can also create a customer invoice based on the total number of hours spent on a project. The software has a free version including the monitoring of working time, activity levels, a limited number of screenshots or even reports.
Some features of the free version: Up to 1 user, work time tracking, activity levels, limited number of screenshots, limited number of reports
Some features of the paid version: From 2 users, unlimited screenshots, reports, integration, 24h support
5. Jibble
- Overall rating: 4.8 / 5
- Ease of use: 4.8 / 5
- Service client : 4,8 / 5
- Features: 4.5 / 5
- Value for money: 4.7 / 5
Jibble is a cloud-based time management solution that allows businesses to capture employee check-ins and check-outs and work activities for attendance tracking, payroll, and compliance. Its features include geolocation, facial recognition, automated timesheets, overtime calculation, and mobile and desktop apps. The platform offers the possibility of taking selfies to facilitate identification and registration. Clocking activities can also be done via mobile, allowing employees and team members to clock in in different ways.
Jibble offers integration with other applications used in the workflow, in order to follow the activities carried out on them. Jibble offers a free version for unlimited users, including features such as GPS time tracking from mobile or shared kiosk, biometric verification with face recognition and PIN, and timesheets and reports automated for payroll.
Some features of the free version: GPS time tracking from mobile or shared kiosk, biometric verification, automated timesheets and reports for payroll, predefined time tracking policies
Some features of the paid version: From 2 administrators, from 5 managers, creation of several workgroups with personalized restrictions, unlimited working hours