Traditional timesheet entries are known to record job hours accurately. However, they require manual and time-consuming data entry for payroll and are vulnerable to time theft. With time keeping software, you can leverage automated geofenced time recording to simplify these tasks.
Besides enhancing flexibility to capture time, the time keeping solutions help with task and project management. If you’re new to using time keeping tools, start with a free tool to evaluate its usability before investing in it.
To help you make the right choice, this article highlights, in alphabetical order, seven top-rated free time keeping software based on verified software reviews.
All the tools listed in this article are dedicated time keeping software offering online time tracking and billable/non-billable hours as core features.
We selected products for this article based on their average ratings between February 2022 - February 2024, which may differ from their current overall average ratings.
What is free software?
Free software refers to software that users can access without incurring any costs. To meet this criterion, a software solution should grant users free access to either all or some of its features. Software requiring payment after a specific time frame does not qualify as free software.
1. busybusy
busybusy is a mobile time card app for field employees that leverages GPS technologyThe free version of the app includes an offline mode that allows employees to record times without an internet connection. Besides, they get notified as and when their timecards are ready to be signed for payroll processing. You may need to upgrade to the software’s paid plan if you need features that allow employees to clock in with photo verification or via a kiosk.
Free featuresOvertime calculations: Automatically calculates overtime hours, ensuring precise employee compensation and minimizing payroll discrepancies. This feature helps maintain compliance with labor regulations, safeguarding against potential legal issues.
Mobile reports: Track workforce productivity, time on site, and project progress via mobile-accessible reports. It allows you to monitor business operations at your convenience and analyze data to make informed decisions about workforce improvements.
Job costing: Assign and monitor labor costs to specific jobs or projects accurately by recording the hours employees spend on tasks. This feature supports detailed financial management and aids in accurate billing.
Customer support options: Knowledge base, FAQs, chats, emails, and phone support
Who should consider busybusy?
Construction businesses, contractors, and field service providers can leverage busybusy's real-time tracking capabilities to monitor employees and equipment remotely, observing both location and time allocated to projects. The offline mode also allows for precise in-time tracking without internet access, making it particularly beneficial for operations in areas with limited connectivity. This feature ensures uninterrupted data capture for accurate workforce and equipment management.
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2. Elorus
Elorus is a desktop-based time tracker that allows employees to start and stop the timer to automatically track their time or fill out timesheets for manual time tracking. This tool will enable you to set hourly rates for a project and record the time spent working on it. It then automatically generates invoices according to the fixed price and recorded time.
You can manage unlimited projects and generate unlimited invoices for up to five clients through Elorus. However, you will have to invest in the paid version of the tool as your client base increases.
Free featuresTeam management: Facilitates employee tasks, schedules, and performance management. It allows you to assign projects, track progress in real time, and adjust workloads as necessary. It also generates reports giving insights into the performance and workload of employees.
Browser extension: Integrates into Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers, allowing employees to start, pause, and stop tracking their work hours with a single click. It simplifies the process of recording time spent on different tasks or projects without leaving the browser and synchronizes the data across the system.
Billable hours: Allows users to accurately track and categorize hours worked as billable or non-billable to clients. This distinction aids invoicing by ensuring all chargeable work is accounted for, facilitating transparent and accurate billing processes.
Customer support options: Knowledge base, FAQs, emails, and live chat
Who should consider Elorus?
Small businesses aiming to optimize employee productivity can consider Elorus. Its browser extension simplifies employee time tracking and offers managers real-time visibility into work hours, ongoing projects, and workload distribution. Additionally, this feature presents real-time calculations of project costs or employee compensation based on predetermined rates, providing clear insights into financial expenditures.
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/ Pro tip
Evaluate your business needs before adopting any time tracking software to ensure the tool aligns with your operational requirements. This will help prevent potential issues related to functionality limitations.
3. Everhour
Similar to Elorus, Everhour time tracking tool also supports manual or automatic time entry and comes with a browser for convenient time tracking. This tool also allows you to attach notes to your recorded time entry specifying the details of the tasks performed during that time. Additionally, you can generate reports on tracked time, team productivity, project costs, and more.
Everhour is free for up to five users and offers limited time tracking features. If you have a larger user base, you can upgrade to the paid plan, which supports unlimited users. The paid plan also provides advanced features, including invoicing, budgeting, expense tracking, and integrations.
Free featuresData export: Transfer your time records and related data from the software to other formats, such as spreadsheets or PDFs. This function allows efficient payroll management, work-hour analysis, and report generation.
Project templates: Create and reuse predefined templates for common projects. This saves time by eliminating the need to set up similar projects from scratch. Templates can include task lists, deadlines, team roles, and other relevant details.
Timer button on popular websites: Integrate a start/stop timer directly into web-based project management tools and other frequently used platforms. This allows you to track the time spent on specific tasks or projects without leaving the website you are working on.
Customer support options: Knowledge base and email support
Who should consider Everhour?
Managers leading teams of up to five members can consider Everhour for tracking each member's working hours. They can either manually log time entries or let team members use individual timers to automatically track their hours. Managers can also view active timers in real time, obtaining insight into ongoing work. Additionally, they can oversee and organize team tasks and projects, arranging them in either a list or board format for easy access. They can also leverage the project templates to quickly start new projects with a consistent structure.
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4. My Hours
My Hours time tracker comes with a timesheet chatbot, named Andrew, which is powered by OpenAI’s GPT. This bot is capable of performing several functions to enhance time tracking efficiency. It allows you to describe your work in natural language or through voice recording, automatically generating time logs with descriptions and durations. These logs are then organized into corresponding projects, clients, and tasks. You can preview the created time logs for accuracy and make adjustments as necessary.
Similar to Everhour, My Hours is also free for up to five users but offers limited time tracking features. Consider investing in the tool's paid version if you need to edit or delete time logs in bulk or manage a monthly budget. It also supports invoicing and offers priority technical support.
Free featuresReports to email: Schedule and automatically send time reports directly to your email or others'. This feature is designed to simplify sharing and reviewing time tracking data, such as hours worked, project progress, and team productivity, without manually generating and sending these reports.
Expense management: Track and manage expenses related to projects or tasks. This includes logging expenses, attaching receipts, and categorizing spending. It allows for a consolidated view of both time and money spent on activities, making it easier to monitor project costs, adhere to budgets, and manage financial reporting.
Zapier integration: Integrate My Hours with over 3,000 apps via Zapier to automate workflows and simplify data sharing. This integration allows you to create custom connections, triggering actions in other apps based on time tracking activities, such as creating tasks, sending reminders, or updating project statuses.
Customer support options: Knowledge base, inquiry form, chat, and email support
Who should consider My Hours?
Small teams aiming for automation can consider adopting My Hours for its AI chatbot and Zapier integration feature. The AI chatbot automates the creation and management of time logs, eliminating manual processes. The Zapier integration, supporting integration with over 3,000 apps, offers various opportunities to automate tasks and workflows. It also allows the users to connect the time tracking app with their existing tech stack, which may include Microsoft Teams, Jira, and Asana.
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/ Pro tip
Opt for a time keeping tool that comes with a time tracking app, as it enhances flexibility and convenience for users to track time, manage tasks, and access reports from anywhere.
5. Timesheet
Timesheet utilizes geofencing technology to track the time of the users based on their current locations. It automatically tracks the time when a user enters a specific location and stops when they leave. You can log your expenses, mileage, or breaks into the app so that they are accounted for in the time and expense reports.
In the free plan of Timesheet, you get access to the Timesheet mobile app. You will need to invest in the tool’s paid plan to get your hands on the desktop-based time keeping tool that leverages Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) to track time.
Free featuresProject management: Manage unlimited projects without any restrictions. This includes organizing and tracking project details, monitoring hours spent on tasks, and managing workflows.
Excel and CSV report: Export your time tracking data into Excel and CSV formats. This makes analyzing, sharing, or integrating time data with other systems easier. You can also customize reports to include specific data points such as hours worked, projects, tasks, and team performance.
Geofencing: Set virtual boundaries for where employees can clock in and out. The system automatically records the time when employees enter or leave these defined areas. This ensures accurate tracking of work hours, particularly for field or remote teams.
Customer support options: Knowledge base, FAQs, and email support
Who should consider Timesheet?
Field team managers can adopt Timesheet to track their team members' time accurately based on location. They can create virtual boundaries for their team so that they can only log their hours within that boundary, preventing time theft. With Timesheet, they can also manage unlimited projects in one place, allowing them to assign tasks and specify locations, simplifying project oversight and team coordination.
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6. Timesheets.com
Timesheets.com allows you to track time for billing, payroll processing, and project management. It offers features to track project hours across different clients, monitor employee attendance, including late arrivals and active project participation, and utilize GPS for accurate location tracking when employees clock in or out. It also supports scheduling, allowing managers to create employee schedules by dragging and dropping shifts across the board.
However, the free plan of the tool is only available for one user and supports basic time tracking and expense management. If you want to manage the time of your team and get access to advanced features such as an integrated human resources system, employee signature, and accruals management, you’ll have to invest in the paid version of the tool.
Free featuresIP locking: Restricts clock-ins and clock-outs to specific IP addresses, ensuring employees can only record their work hours when connected to an approved network. This feature enhances security and accuracy, preventing employees from logging time when they are not physically present at the workplace or an authorized location.
Billing and job costing: Calculate the cost of projects and track expenses against budgets. It enables the creation of detailed invoices based on the actual time spent on tasks or projects, ensuring accurate billing for clients.
Flexible time entry options: Log work hours in various ways to accommodate different work styles and needs. This feature supports manual entry, timer-based tracking, and bulk uploads, providing versatility for how and when hours are recorded.
Customer support options: Knowledge base, email, live chat, and phone support
Who should consider Timesheets.com?
The free version of Timesheets.com is suitable for freelancers who only track their time, tasks, and expenses. With this tool, they can create their projects, assign tasks, and track time spent working on those tasks. They can also track any expenses they may incur while completing their tasks. This helps them stay organized, monitor the progress of their projects, and accurately bill their clients.
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/ Pro tip
Consider a time tracking system that supports integration with accounting software, as it simplifies financial processes by automatically syncing time data with accounting systems.
7. Traqq
Traqq lets you see your teams' active timers and which applications and websites they are using when working. It registers the team’s activity levels by tracking mouse and keyboard clicks and capturing screenshots regularly throughout the day. These screenshots are blurred to protect privacy but still give you insight into what your team is working on.
While the free version of Traqq is only available for a maximum of three users, the paid version supports over 100 users. Nevertheless, you get access to tracking features all the time even if you stick with the tool's free version.
Free featuresScreen video recording: Capture screen video recording during employee work hours to track project progress, verify task completion, and provide visual evidence of work being done. It supports accountability and transparency within remote teams by allowing managers to review work processes and outcomes.
User groups: Organize employees into specific groups based on department, project, or any other relevant criteria. This facilitates targeted management and reporting, enabling customized tracking and analysis of work hours, productivity, and project progress for distinct teams.
Roles and access levels: Assign specific permissions and responsibilities to users based on their role within the organization. This ensures that employees can only access and perform functions relevant to their position, enhancing security and operational efficiency.
Customer support options: Knowledge base and inquiry form
Who should consider Traqq?
Traqq is another tool useful for freelancers or managers leading a small team. However, this tool comes with advanced employee time tracking capabilities. It captures keyboard activity, mouse clicks, screenshots, and video recordings to provide work evidence, boosting accountability. Additionally, it respects employee privacy by blurring screenshots. This tool combines detailed monitoring with privacy considerations to support ethical time tracking practices.
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What is the cost to upgrade from free time keeping software to paid software?
Time keeping tool upgrades can be as low as $2.49 per user, per month, or up to $18+ per user, per month, depending on various factors—number of users, time tracking features, integration options, and more. Most time keeping software tools typically include the following subscription plans:
Free trials: Range from seven to 30 days and give users access to all or limited software features. These no-cost trial plans are ideal for businesses that wish to try out a tool before purchasing it.
Free versions: Offer perpetual access to limited software features. These free plans are ideal for small businesses or individuals on a budget.
Entry-level plans: Start at $2.49 per user per month and offer access to standard features. These are recommended for small businesses or teams with basic feature requirements, such as manual time entry, automatic time tracking, and timesheets.
Mid-tier plans: Range from $4.99 to $18 per user per month and offer advanced features such as client management, project management, and employee time tracking. These are suitable for businesses that have outgrown basic time keeping solutions but don’t require the full range of functionality offered by enterprise-level tools.
High-end plans: Cost over $18 per user per month and offer a range of advanced capabilities, including unlimited access to entry-level and mid-tier features, advanced analytics, ethical tracking, and premium support. These are suitable for large businesses with multiple teams or departments that need a customized time keeping solution to manage a large number of users.
Hidden costs associated with time keeping software
Besides the software license, additional costs may include:
Implementation costs: Setting up the software, customizing features to fit specific business needs, and integrating it with existing systems may require additional resources.
Data migration costs: Transferring existing data into a new time keeping system can be complex and may require specialized services.
Support fees: Beyond basic support, premium support services such as 24/7 assistance, dedicated account management, or faster response times may incur additional fees.
Frequently asked questions when selecting free time keeping software
Here are some questions to ask online time keeping software providers before making a final purchase:
Does time tracking software use biometrics to clock workers in and out?
When considering time keeping software, opting for a biometrics feature will help eliminate the risk of buddy punching or time theft. This technology reads the face or fingerprint to clock employees in/out, ensuring accurate identification and enhancing accountability. For your business, this means reliable attendance data, reduced payroll errors, and a straightforward process for managing work hours, ultimately supporting your operational efficiency.
What are the data privacy options in the time keeping tool?
Prioritizing data privacy options such as encryption, access controls, and audit trails protects sensitive data, including employee personal details and work hours, from unauthorized access. Keeping this information safe ensures compliance with legal standards, builds team trust, and offers employees peace of mind.
Is the time clock app customizable?
Ensuring that the time keeper software is customizable allows you to configure the tool per your business's needs, including specific payroll cycles and diverse employee shift patterns. A customizable tool also allows you to change user permissions and supports integration with other tools. This flexibility means the software grows with your business, providing exactly what you need to manage employee hours effectively without forcing you to adjust your operations to fit the software.