Timesheet Software: 10 Compared for Small Business
Timesheet software compared: total monthly cost at 15 employees, where each free tier actually stops, and the FLSA records you must keep.
Recording hours is the commodity part of timesheet software: every tool on this page does it competently, and most do it free. What separates them, and what should decide your pick, is the step after. Can a manager review and approve those hours inside the product, or are you handed a raw export and left to sort it out in a spreadsheet?
The second thing that separates them is how they meter. Some charge per user, one per location, one a flat fee per feature hub, and two add a fixed base fee on top of per-seat pricing. Run the same 15-person company through all of them and the monthly bill ranges from nothing to about $170, for products that all record the same hours.
This comparison covers ten tools a US small business can realistically buy, states exactly where each free tier stops, models cost at a concrete headcount, and covers the part most comparisons skip: what federal law requires you to keep whichever tool you pick.
What timesheet software actually does
A timesheet system runs one loop: capture hours, total them, get them approved, send them to payroll. The capture step is where the marketing goes and the approval step is where the money goes, which is worth knowing before you compare anything.
| Capability | What it does | How products differ |
|---|---|---|
| Clock in and out | Employee starts and stops a timer, or enters hours after the fact | The commodity core; free almost everywhere |
| Automatic totals | Hours summed by day and by workweek | Included everywhere; workweek totals matter for overtime |
| Timesheet approval | A manager reviews and signs off before payroll | The most common paid gate, including on Clockify |
| Overtime calculation | Applies overtime rules to hours over the threshold | Varies; some tools total hours and leave the rules to you |
| Payroll export | Approved hours out to your payroll system | CSV on most plans, though not on the Clockify or Toggl free tiers; direct integrations vary widely |
| Mobile clock in | Punching from a phone rather than a shared terminal | Every tool has an app; quality and offline behavior differ |
| GPS and geofencing | Location stamped on the punch, or restricted to a site | Usually paid; free on Jibble and on Connecteam within its cap |
| Scheduling | Planning shifts and publishing them to staff | Core on shift platforms, absent on project trackers |
Two of those decide most purchases. Approval is what turns tracked time into a record you can defend, and it is priced accordingly. Scheduling is what splits the field into project-hours tools and shift-work platforms, which are different products sold under the same name.
Timecard software, timesheet software, and time clock apps
Three names, one category, and the difference is heritage rather than function. Timecard software comes from the punch clock and points at hourly and shift teams. Timesheet software comes from professional services and points at hours booked against projects and clients. A time clock app is the phone or tablet version of the first.
The label still tells you something, because it usually predicts where a vendor spent its effort. Products using the timecard and time clock language put it into punch restrictions, rounding rules, and identity checks. Products using the timesheet language put it into projects, billable rates, and approvals. Buy for the shape of your week rather than for the word on the pricing page.
Where every free tier actually stops
Several of these tools are genuinely free forever and several are trials wearing the word. Even among the genuine ones, the ceiling is rarely the user count people expect it to be.
| Product | Free cap | What free actually gives you | Where free stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jibble | Unlimited users, no expiry | Clock in and out, automatic timesheets, mobile and web, Slack, Teams and QuickBooks integrations | Jibble publishes no paid-tier prices, and it markets GPS, geofencing, and face recognition as free |
| Clockify | 5 users | Time tracking, timesheet view, basic reports, PDF export | Billable rates and spreadsheet export start on Basic; timesheet approvals and invoicing sit on Standard |
| TimeCamp | Unlimited users | Timesheets, unlimited projects, web, desktop and mobile apps | Invoicing starts on Starter; timesheet approvals and billing rates sit on Ultimate |
| Toggl | 3 users | Timers, calendar integrations, and personal reports | Billable rates and team reports start on Starter; timesheet approvals sit on Premium |
| Connecteam | 10 users | Every hub, with a few exclusions such as payroll integration | Past 10 users you move to the essentials-only Limited plan or buy per hub, so scheduling plus comms plus HR is three subscriptions |
| Homebase | 10 employees at one location | Scheduling, time clock, timesheets, team messaging | A second location or the HR feature set moves you to a paid per-location tier |
| When I Work | No free plan, 14-day trial | Nothing permanent | Its pricing FAQ says every plan includes time and attendance, while the plan cards price it as a toggle that lifts Essentials to $4 per user |
10 timesheet tools at a glance
The table below covers free type, pricing model, and the capabilities that genuinely differ. Pricing model is the column to read first, because it decides your bill more than any feature does.
| Product | Free type | Pricing model | Free plan | Mobile app | GPS or geofence | Free cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jibble | Free forever | Not published | Unlimited users | |||
| Clockify | Free forever | Per user | 5 users | |||
| TimeCamp | Free forever | Per user | Unlimited users | |||
| Toggl | Free forever | Per user | 3 users | |||
| Connecteam | Free forever | Flat per hub | 10 users | |||
| Homebase | Free forever | Per location | 10 employees, 1 site | |||
| When I Work | Trial only | Per user | 14-day trial | |||
| QuickBooks Time | Trial only | Per user plus base fee | 30-day trial | |||
| Deputy | Trial only | Per user | Trial only | |||
| Buddy Punch | Trial only | Per user plus base fee | Trial only |
How we evaluated these tools
We evaluated for a US small business at one or two locations, where whoever approves timesheets also does several other jobs. Four tests, applied identically to all ten.
Tools with permanent free plans
Four options you can run indefinitely without paying, within their caps. For a small team that needs hours recorded rather than a workforce platform, the answer is probably here. Connecteam and Homebase have free plans too, and they sit with the shift platforms below because that is the work they are built for.
Jibble has the most generous free plan in this comparison, and it is not a stripped demo: unlimited users, clock in and out from a phone or browser, automatic timesheets, and integrations that get hours into QuickBooks. For a shop, cafe, office, or any team where the question is simply who worked and when, that answers it at any headcount for nothing. Only TimeCamp also stays free at unlimited users here.
The catch is that Jibble's paywall is hard to read. It no longer publishes paid-tier prices or a plan comparison, and its own feature pages describe GPS tracking, geofencing, and face recognition as free for unlimited users. If you need location compliance or client billing, confirm what your free account actually includes before you build a process on it, and ask Jibble directly what anything beyond it costs.
Clockify is the best-known name in free time tracking, and its paid ladder is genuinely well constructed. Basic adds billable rates, kiosk mode, and administrative controls such as bulk editing and adding time for others; Standard adds timesheet approvals, time off, and invoicing; Pro adds GPS and scheduling. For an agency that tracks hours against projects and bills clients from the same data, Standard at $5.49 per user is reasonable value.
Two cautions for a timesheet buyer specifically. Timesheet approvals are not on the free plan, so if approval is the reason you are shopping, the free tier does not solve your problem, whatever the user cap. And the cap itself is tight: Clockify's pricing page limits free use to five users, so a 15-person team on Clockify is a paying team from day one.
TimeCamp is the other genuinely unlimited-user free plan here, and it leans project-first: timesheets, unlimited projects, and web, desktop, and mobile apps at no cost. For a small agency or consultancy that needs to know where hours went rather than who was on site, it covers more at zero than most competitors cover at their first paid tier.
The paid ladder climbs quickly once you want billing rates, approvals, and the wider integration set, and the product is built around project accounting rather than workforce attendance. If your staff are hourly and deskless, the shift platforms below will fit better even though TimeCamp is cheaper on paper. Its brand recognition is also lower than Clockify or Toggl, which matters mainly for the confidence of whoever has to adopt it.
Toggl has the best tracking experience in this comparison by a clear margin: the timer is fast, the browser extension works in dozens of tools, and reporting is genuinely pleasant to use. For a three-person team of designers, developers, or consultants tracking billable hours, that quality difference shows up daily, and the free plan covers exactly that size. Billable rates and team reports still need Starter.
Toggl is also the priciest project tracker here once you pass three people. Starter at $9 per user costs about 64 percent more than Clockify Standard for a comparable job, and at 15 employees that is about $135 a month against $82. It is priced for teams that value the experience and bill their time; for a company that simply needs hours recorded for payroll, you are paying a premium for polish.
One naming note: older reviews call the product Toggl Track. Toggl now sells time tracking together with capacity management and project planning on one price list, and its pricing page says Toggl Track remains available and supported for existing users.
Shift and deskless platforms
Three products where timesheets are one part of a workforce platform. If your staff work shifts at a site, these fit the shape of the problem better than a project timer does.
Connecteam is one of the cheapest structures on this page at mid headcount. Basic is $29 a month flat for up to 30 users, which at 15 employees works out under $2 a seat, and it includes GPS clock-ins rather than gating them.
Connecteam's free plan for up to 10 users opens every hub, with a short list of exclusions such as payroll integration, and the mobile app is built for people without a company email address.
The structure to understand is per hub. Time tracking and scheduling live in the Operations hub; team messaging is Communications; training and HR is a third. A company wanting two of them pays two subscriptions, so $29 becomes $58, and the flat-fee advantage narrows. It is also a workforce platform rather than a timesheet tool, so a desk-based salaried team adopts a great deal it will not use.
Homebase is the only product here that charges per location rather than per person, and at a single site with a lot of staff that is decisively cheaper. Essentials at $24 a month on annual billing covers unlimited employees at one location, against about $82 for a per-user tool at 15 people and considerably more at 40.
The model inverts with multiple sites. Three locations with eight people each means paying the full location fee three times for 24 employees, which per-user pricing would handle for less. The free Basic plan has the same single-site shape: it covers up to 10 employees at one site, which is a useful free ceiling for a small shift business.
HR features and the deeper feature set also sit on the higher tiers, so the entry price does not describe the product you may end up wanting. Scheduling is the center of the product, and timesheets follow from it.
When I Work has the lowest per-user rate on this page at around $2.50 for Essentials, and it is a well-built scheduling product for shift businesses: shift swaps, availability, and coverage alerts all work the way managers expect. At 15 employees, $38 a month for scheduling is competitive with anything here.
Two things to check before you budget on that number. First, it has no free plan: older sources describing a free tier are stale, and its pricing page offers a 14-day trial only.
Second, When I Work's own pricing page is unclear on what time and attendance, the timesheet capability you came here for, actually costs. Its pricing FAQ says every plan includes it, while the plan cards on the same page sell it as a toggle that lifts Essentials to $4 per user, or $60 a month at 15. Confirm which applies before you commit.
Paid and payroll-first options
Three products with no permanent free plan. Each earns its price in a specific situation rather than generally.
Deputy is the most capable shift platform in this comparison. It handles break compliance, labor cost forecasting against sales, and rule engines that apply award (pay-rate) and overtime rules automatically, which most competitors only approximate. For a restaurant group or a clinic where scheduling rules and labor percentages are managed actively rather than after the fact, that depth is the reason to pay.
For a simpler business it is more product than the problem needs. At 15 employees Core is about $98 a month against $29 on Connecteam Basic, and the features driving that difference only pay back if someone is using them weekly. HR and analytics are separately priced add-ons, so the entry rate understates a full configuration.
Formerly TSheets, QuickBooks Time exists to close one gap completely: hours approved here land in QuickBooks payroll without an export, a file, or a reconciliation. For a business already running QuickBooks, that removes the step where timesheet data most often goes wrong, and the 30-day trial on the base fee is twice the 14-day trials at When I Work and Buddy Punch.
It is the most expensive option in the cost table below, at about $170 a month for 15 people on Time Premium, and it requires a QuickBooks Online account on top. Inside the QuickBooks ecosystem it is still good value, because it removes the export step entirely. Outside it the comparison is poor, since a business not on QuickBooks would be adopting an accounting platform to get a timesheet tool.
Buddy Punch is built narrowly and well around the hourly punch: GPS and IP address locking on every plan, photo capture from the Pro plan, rounding rules, and controls against buddy punching that the name refers to directly.
Payroll integrations are broad and the approval workflow is straightforward, which is more than several cheaper tools manage. The integrations sit on the entry Starter plan rather than a higher tier, so approved hours sync straight to your payroll provider from the first month.
The base fee is the structural detail. A $19 monthly charge sits on top of per-user pricing: at 15 employees it adds about $1.27 a seat and is barely noticeable, but at five employees it adds $3.80 a seat and lifts the effective Starter rate by about three-quarters. Buddy Punch suits a team large enough to spread that fee and fits poorly below ten, which is the opposite of how the per-user headline rate reads.
Dwight SchruteSales3 people
Darryl PhilbinWarehouse1 person
Kelly KapoorCustomer Service1 personMonthly cost at 15 employees
The table below prices every option for the same company: fifteen people, one location, annual billing. This is the calculation the listicles in this category leave out, and it reorders the field.
| Option | Pricing model | Monthly at 15 employees | What the number hides |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jibble Free | Free, unlimited users | $0 | Jibble publishes no paid-tier prices, so anything beyond free has no list price |
| Homebase Essentials | Per location, unlimited staff | $24 | One location, $30 on monthly billing. A second site repeats the whole fee |
| Connecteam Basic | $29 a month flat per hub | $29 | Covers up to 30 users in one hub; a second hub doubles it |
| When I Work Essentials | $2.50 per user per month | $38 | The plan cards price time and attendance as a toggle to $4 per user, or $60, though the pricing FAQ says every plan includes it |
| Clockify Standard | $5.49 per user per month annual | $82 | The tier where timesheet approvals and invoicing actually live |
| Buddy Punch Starter | $4.99 per user plus a $19 base fee | $94 | The base fee adds about $1.27 per seat at 15 people |
| Deputy Core | $6.50 per user per month | $98 | Lite is $5 and Pro is $9; HR and analytics are add-ons |
| Toggl Starter | $9 per user per month annual | $135 | Priced for project billing rather than workforce attendance |
| QuickBooks Time Premium | $20 base plus $10 per user | $170 | Requires a QuickBooks Online subscription on top; geofencing needs Elite |
The pattern is that pricing model beats headline rate. When I Work has the lowest per-user figure on this page and still lands mid-table once you count fifteen of them: $38, or $60 if the time and attendance toggle on its plan cards applies.
Homebase looks unremarkable per location and is second cheapest here, because the location fee does not care how many people you employ. Connecteam at $29 flat is under $2 a seat at this size, which no per-user tool approaches.
What federal law requires either way
Software is a convenience, not a legal requirement, and knowing what the law actually asks of you changes how you evaluate one. The Department of Labor states plainly in Fact Sheet 21 that employers may use any timekeeping method they choose: a time clock, a timekeeper, or workers writing their own hours.
What is not optional is the record. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, every covered employer must keep specified records for each non-exempt worker, including hours worked each day and total hours each workweek.
Under 29 CFR 516.5 and 516.6, payroll records must be preserved for at least three years, and the records on which wage computations are based, including time cards, wage rate tables, and records of additions to or deductions from wages, for two years.
| Requirement | What it means | What to check in the software |
|---|---|---|
| Hours worked each day | Daily totals, not just a weekly figure | That the export shows per-day hours rather than a weekly sum |
| Total hours each workweek | A fixed, recurring seven-day period you define | That the workweek boundary matches the one you use for overtime |
| Three-year payroll retention | Payroll records kept at least three years | How long data stays accessible after you stop paying |
| Two-year retention of source records | Time cards and schedules kept two years | Whether you can export a full historical archive on exit |
| Records open to inspection | Available to the Wage and Hour Division on request | That you can produce a readable per-employee record quickly |
| Any timekeeping method allowed | No obligation to buy software at all | Whether the tool solves a real problem or just looks tidier |
When you actually need a mobile timesheet app
You need a mobile app when your staff work away from a desk. For salaried desk staff, a weekly web timesheet is usually enough and the app is a convenience; for deskless and field staff, mobile is the entire product, because there is no desk to put a terminal on. Every tool here has a mobile app, so the question is which of those two needs you have.
| Your situation | What the mobile app has to do | What that costs |
|---|---|---|
| Office staff entering weekly hours | Nothing much; a web timesheet covers it | Free on almost every tool here |
| Hourly staff at one site | Kiosk or shared device punch with identity verification | Free on Jibble and Connecteam within their caps |
| Field staff moving between sites | GPS stamped on the punch | Free on Jibble; Pro tier on Clockify; included on Connecteam Basic |
| Sites where punches must be restricted | Geofencing that blocks clock in outside the zone | Free on Jibble and on Connecteam within its cap; paid on most others |
| Teams with buddy punching problems | Photo or face verification at punch | Free on Jibble; a paid feature on most others |
| Areas with poor connectivity | Offline punching that syncs later | Varies; test it before committing |
On most tools, the free mobile app handles punching and the paid tiers handle proving where and by whom the punch happened. If your reason for wanting an app is convenience, free covers it. If your reason is a dispute about hours you cannot verify, you are buying location and identity features. Jibble includes both free, and Connecteam's free plan covers geofencing; nearly everywhere else they are paid.
Before you choose
FirstHR does not currently include time tracking or scheduling, so for a time clock, timesheets, and an approval workflow you need one of the tools above. What it does is the employment record around them: an HR platform for small and growing US teams covering onboarding, employee files, e-signature, and document management at a flat $98 to $198 a month.
The overlap worth naming is retention. Timesheet tools hold hours; the two-year and three-year obligations above sit alongside employee records that carry their own retention rules, and in most small companies those live in two different places with nobody owning either. Whichever timesheet tool you pick, decide now where the exported record lands and who can produce it in three years.
How to choose timesheet software
Five questions settle this, and the first two remove most of the field before you open a trial.
Once you have two finalists, run one full pay period through both before deciding, on a free plan or a trial long enough to cover it. A real cycle surfaces what a feature list cannot: whether your staff actually clock in, and whether the approval step takes five minutes or an afternoon.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is timesheet software?
Software that records hours worked, totals them by day and workweek, routes them for manager approval, and exports the result to payroll. Also called time tracking software, a timesheet management system, an online timesheet, or a timesheet app. What separates products is not the tracking, which is a commodity, but whether approvals are included, whether it works for deskless staff, and how it prices.
How much does timesheet software cost for a small business?
At 15 employees on one site, from nothing to about $170 a month. Jibble is free at unlimited users, Homebase Essentials is $24 per location on annual billing, and Connecteam Basic is $29 flat.
The per-user tools cost more: When I Work Essentials about $38 (or $60 with its time and attendance toggle), Clockify Standard about $82, Buddy Punch Starter about $94 with its base fee, Deputy Core about $98, Toggl Starter about $135, and QuickBooks Time Premium about $170. The spread comes from the pricing model rather than capability.
Is there genuinely free timesheet software?
Yes. Jibble is free for unlimited users with automatic timesheets, TimeCamp is free for unlimited users and projects, Connecteam opens every hub free up to 10 users, Homebase is free for up to 10 employees at one location, Clockify is free up to 5, and Toggl up to 3. When I Work, QuickBooks Time, Deputy, and Buddy Punch are trial-only despite frequent listing as free options.
Do free timesheet apps include timesheet approval?
Often not, and this is the detail that decides a timesheet purchase. A manager's sign-off is what makes tracked hours safe to pay from, so it is often the part you pay for: on Clockify, approvals sit on Standard rather than the free tier. If disputed or late hours are why you are shopping, verify approvals are on the specific plan you intend to use.
What records does the FLSA require me to keep?
For non-exempt employees, hours worked each day and total hours each workweek, the basis of pay, regular rate, straight-time and overtime earnings, and deductions. Payroll records must be kept at least three years and the records wage computations are based on, including time cards and schedules, for two years. The DOL allows any timekeeping method, so software is a convenience rather than a legal requirement.
What is the difference between per-user and per-location pricing?
Per-user charges for every person tracked, so the bill grows with each hire. Per-location charges per site regardless of headcount, which is how Homebase bills. At one site with 15 people, per-location wins clearly. Across three small sites it loses badly. Connecteam is a third model, a flat fee per hub covering up to 30 users, which is among the cheapest at mid headcount and multiplies with additional hubs.
Do I need a mobile timesheet app?
Only if your team is deskless. Office staff are served by a weekly web timesheet. Field and shift staff need mobile because there is no desk for a terminal, and the features that make mobile genuinely useful, meaning GPS stamping, geofencing, and photo verification, usually sit on paid tiers, with Jibble and Connecteam's free plan the main exceptions.
Can I just use a spreadsheet instead?
For a very small salaried team with no overtime exposure, yes, and the DOL permits any method: 29 CFR 516.1 prescribes no particular order or form of records.
The risk appears when hours are disputed: where records are inadequate, the burden effectively shifts to the employer to disprove the employee's account. Software helps by producing a dated per-day record made at the time rather than reconstructed later, and by making approval a routine event.
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