Best Time Tracking Apps for Small Businesses, Contractors, and Field Teams

9 Best Time Tracking Apps for Small Businesses and Contractors

1. ClockShark: Best for Construction and Field Service Crews That Need GPS-Verified Time Cards

ClockShark was purpose-built for how contractors, field service companies, and trade professionals operate. 

Your crew clocks in from their phones at the job site, GPS automatically confirms they're where they should be, and the hours flow straight into your payroll system without anyone retyping a single number. 

Picture a five-person framing crew on three different sites: each person taps in on arrival, the geofence verifies the location, and by Friday afternoon your office manager exports clean, job-costed timesheets to QuickBooks in a few clicks instead of chasing paper timesheets all weekend.

Key Features

• Mobile time tracking. Crews clock in and out from their phones on-site, replacing paper timesheets and manual data entry.

• GPS time clock. Every clock-in captures the employee's location, verifying that workers are where they're supposed to be and giving you documentation for client billing.

• Geofencing. Set virtual perimeters around each job site so employees can only clock in once they've arrived, which cuts down on time theft and buddy punching.

• Job costing. Allocate hours to specific jobs and tasks and pull real-time reports on labor expenses across customers, projects, and date ranges.

• Kiosk Clock. Deploy a shared tablet at your shop or job-site trailer where multiple crew members can punch in with a 4-digit PIN and facial recognition, useful for larger teams or workers without smartphones.

• Employee scheduling. Build schedules with a drag-and-drop editor, assign people to jobs, and send automatic notifications so the right people show up at the right job, at the right time.

• Payroll integrations. Direct connections to QuickBooks, Sage 100 Contractor, ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Xero, MYOB, and more.

• PTO tracking. Build custom sick and vacation policies and have time accrue to each pay period automatically.

Pricing

• Standard: $40/month base + $9/user/month
• Pro: $60/month base + $11/user/month
• 14-day free trial of the Pro plan, no credit card required

View pricing

2. Connecteam: Best for Deskless Teams That Need Time Tracking, Scheduling, and Team Communication

Connecteam combines time tracking with team chat, scheduling, task lists, training, and digital forms in a single mobile app, built specifically for deskless and frontline workers. 

If you run a 15-person cleaning, security, or landscaping operation where the office and the field are constantly out of sync, the appeal is that you can replace a stack of tools (WhatsApp groups, paper checklists, printed schedules, a separate time clock) with one app on every crew member's phone. 

A supervisor publishes Monday's schedule in the morning, the team sees it on their phones, clocks in via GPS when they arrive at the first job, and messages the office through the same app if a job runs long.

Key Features

• Mobile time clock with GPS and geofencing. Workers clock in from their phones with location stamps, and geofences keep clock-ins tied to approved job sites.

• Job and project-specific time allocation. Hours can be tagged to specific jobs, customers, or shifts for accurate cost tracking.

• Drag-and-drop scheduling. Build schedules in minutes, assign open shifts that employees can claim, and push instant notifications when anything changes.

• In-app team chat and announcements. One-on-one and group messaging, plus company-wide announcements that require read receipts.

• Task assignments and digital checklists. Send job site checklists, daily reports, and one-off tasks straight to the crew's phones.

• Digital forms. Custom forms for safety reports, incident logs, equipment checks, and timesheet approvals.

• Training and document library. A central place for SOPs, certifications, training videos, and onboarding material.

• Payroll integrations. Direct exports to QuickBooks Online, Gusto, Paychex, ADP, and Xero.

Pricing

• Small Business Plan: Free for up to 10 users
• Basic: $29/month for up to 30 users
• Advanced: $49/month for up to 30 users
• Expert: $99/month for up to 30 users
• Enterprise: Custom pricing
• 14-day free trial on paid plans

View pricing

3. Jibble: Best Free Time Clock App for Small Teams Tracking Attendance

Jibble is one of the few time-tracking apps that offers unlimited users on a genuinely free plan, including GPS, facial recognition, and basic timesheets, which makes it a practical option for small operations that need attendance tracking without a software bill. 

A three-person electrical contractor can sign up, set each apprentice up with the mobile app, and verify that they showed up at the right house with a face-scan clock-in and a GPS pin, all without entering a credit card. 

Once the team grows past basic attendance, the paid plans add unlimited geofences, automated overtime rules, and project-based tracking.

Key Features

• Facial recognition clock-ins. A selfie at each punch verifies identity and prevents buddy punching.

• GPS tracking with geofencing. Every clock-in is location-stamped, and geofences restrict clock-ins to approved job sites.

• Unlimited users on the free plan. No seat cap on the free tier, which is unusual in this category.

• Automated timesheets and approvals. Timesheets generate from clock-ins, and managers review and approve in bulk.

• Payroll export formats. Exports work cleanly with payroll platforms or as CSV downloads.

• Offline mode. Clock-ins cache locally and sync once the device is back online, useful for remote job sites.

• Activity and attendance reports. Dashboards show who's working, attendance trends, and hours by project or client.

• Kiosk mode. A shared tablet or phone at the job site lets multiple workers clock in with a PIN.

Pricing

• Free: Unlimited users, core time tracking, GPS, and facial recognition
• Premium and Ultimate: Request a quote
• 14-day free trial of premium features

View pricing

4. QuickBooks Time: Best for Businesses That Already Run Payroll and Accounting in QuickBooks

QuickBooks Time connects directly to QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop, which means tracked hours become payroll runs and job costs without anyone retyping or exporting anything. If you're already running payroll, invoicing, and your chart of accounts in QuickBooks, this is the cleanest path from job site to paycheck. A plumbing contractor with five techs can have each one clock in on their phone at the customer's house, tag the hours to a specific job, and watch those hours show up against the right customer record in QuickBooks before payroll runs on Friday, with no manual data entry between the two systems.

Key Features

• Direct QuickBooks integration. Two-way sync with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop for hours, jobs, and payroll.

• GPS-based location verification. Captures employee location at each clock-in.

• Job costing with project-level tracking. Hours flow to specific jobs, customers, and service items in QuickBooks.

• Schedule creation and shift management. Build, publish, and adjust schedules with employee notifications.

• PTO request and approval workflow. Employees request time off in the app, managers approve, and balances accrue automatically.

• Multiple clock-in methods. Mobile app, web browser, and tablet kiosk options.

• Geofencing (Elite plan). Reminds employees to clock in when they enter a job site and to clock out when they leave.

• Mileage tracking and project estimates vs. actuals (Elite plan). Useful for service businesses that bill mileage or measure project budget burn.

Pricing

• Time Premium: $10/month for the first 3 months, then $20/month + $8/user/month
• Time Elite: $20/month for the first 3 months, then $40/month + $10/user/month
• 30-day free trial

View pricing

5. Harvest: Best for Consultants and Service Teams That Bill by the Hour

Harvest is built around the path from tracked time to paid invoice. You track employee hours against a project, mark them billable at the rate you've set for that client, and Harvest turns those entries into an invoice you can email straight from the platform. 

For a two-person consulting firm or a small design studio billing four clients at different hourly rates, the time-to-invoice workflow is the entire pitch. 

A consultant logs three hours on a Tuesday client call, an hour on Wednesday writing a proposal, and 90 minutes on a Thursday revision, and by the end of the month Harvest has built a clean, itemized invoice with payment links built in.

Key Features

• Project and task-level time tracking. Time entries roll up against projects, tasks, and clients with billable rates applied automatically.

• Invoice generation from tracked time. Convert tracked hours into invoices in a few clicks, with Stripe and PayPal payment links built in.

• Billable expense tracking. Attach receipts to projects and include expenses on client invoices.

• Project budget monitoring. Set hour or dollar budgets and get alerts as projects approach them.

• Team capacity and forecasting. See who's at capacity and who has room for more work.

• Accounting and project tool integrations. QuickBooks, Xero, Asana, Trello, Jira, Slack, and more.

• Mobile apps for iOS and Android. Timers and entries from the phone, syncing back to the desktop app.

• Reporting on profitability. Identify which projects, clients, and team members are profitable. Field time tracking protects margins.

Pricing

• Free: 1 user, 2 projects
• Teams: From $11/user/month (billed annually)
• Enterprise: $17.50/user/month
• 30-day free trial on paid plans

View pricing

6. Hubstaff: Best for Teams That Need GPS Tracking Plus Workforce Activity Monitoring

Hubstaff is built for businesses that want both field-side GPS time tracking and office-side productivity visibility in the same platform. 

A general contractor with three estimators in the office and seven framers in the field can use Hubstaff to verify GPS locations for the crew and, at the same time, see activity levels, app usage, and optional screenshots for the office staff. 

The same tracked hours then feed an automated payroll calculation so the bookkeeper isn't reconciling two different timesheets on Friday afternoon.

Key Features

• GPS tracking with customizable geofences. Location-stamped clock-ins for field teams, with geofence-based reminders.

• Activity level monitoring. Tracks keyboard and mouse activity for office or remote staff (configurable per user).

• Optional screenshots. Periodic screen captures for roles where it makes sense, fully disclosed to the employee.

• App and URL tracking. Visibility into which apps and websites office staff are using during tracked time.

• Automatic payroll calculation. Pay rates assigned per employee, with payouts to PayPal, Wise, Payoneer, and Bitwage.

• Project budgets and client invoicing. Set budgets, track burn, and invoice clients from tracked time.

• Time off and scheduling. PTO requests, balances, and basic shift scheduling.

• Integrations with QuickBooks, Gusto, ADP, Asana, Jira, Trello, and more.

Pricing

• 14-day free trial
• Starter: $7/seat/month (2-seat minimum)
• Grow: $9/seat/month (2-seat minimum)
• Team: $12/seat/month (2-seat minimum)
• Enterprise: $25/seat/month, billed annually (2-seat minimum)

View pricing

7. Clockify: Best for Freelancers and Small Teams That Need Basic Free Timesheets

Clockify's free plan covers unlimited users with unlimited time tracking, which makes it the default starting point for anyone testing time tracking before paying for it. 

A solo handyman or a three-person sign-painting shop can run Clockify free forever, tracking hours against jobs, generating basic reports, and exporting timesheets to a spreadsheet for payroll. 

The catch is that GPS, invoicing, scheduling, and approvals all live on the paid plans, so the moment you need field verification or client billing built in, you're upgrading.

Key Features

• Unlimited free time tracking. Unlimited users, projects, and time entries on the free plan.

• Timer and manual entry. Start a timer or log time after the fact, on web, desktop, or mobile.

• Project and task time allocation. Hours roll up by client, project, and task.

• Reporting and exports. PDF, CSV, and Excel exports of timesheet and project reports.

• Kiosk mode. A shared device lets a team clock in with PIN codes.

• Calendar view and Pomodoro timer. Visualize and structure tracked time.

• GPS tracking and invoicing (paid plans). Available on the Standard and Pro tiers.

• Integrations. QuickBooks, Google Calendar, Trello, Asana, Jira, and 80+ others.

Pricing

• Free: Unlimited users and time tracking
• Standard: $6.99/user/month
• Pro: $9.99/user/month
• Enterprise: $11.99/user/month
• Cake.com bundle: $12.99/user/month

View pricing

8. Toggl Track: Best for Freelancers and Office Teams That Want Simple Project Timers

Toggl Track is the cleanest, lightest timer in this list. There's no GPS, no kiosk mode, and no payroll automation; what you get is a one-click timer that runs in the background and tells you, accurately, where your week went. 

A four-person marketing consultancy or a solo bookkeeper can install Toggl Track, hit start at the beginning of a client task, and at the end of the month see exactly how many hours they spent on each client, which projects went over budget, and which work was profitable. 

It's a poor fit for field crews but a strong fit for any team where the work happens at a computer.

Key Features

• One-click timer. Web, desktop, mobile, and browser extensions, all syncing in real time.

• Project and client tracking. Tag time with project, task, client, and billable status.

• Billable rates and revenue tracking. Hourly rates at the workspace, project, member, or task level.

• Detailed reports. Filter and group by client, project, team member, or tag.

• Idle detection and autotracker. Reminds users to log time and detects when work apps are in use.

• 100+ integrations. Asana, Jira, Notion, GitHub, Salesforce, and most major project tools.

• Profitability reporting (Premium). Compare billable revenue against labor cost to see margin per project.

• Privacy-first design. No screenshots, no keystroke logging.

Pricing

• Free: Up to 5 users
• Starter: $10/user/month
• Premium: $20/user/month
• Enterprise: Custom quote

View pricing

9. Buddy Punch: Best for Hourly Teams That Need Simple Clock-In/Clock-Out Time Cards

Buddy Punch was built around a single problem: stopping employees from punching the clock for each other. 

Facial recognition, GPS verification, IP address restrictions, and webcam photos at each punch all exist for the same reason, to make sure the person clocking in is actually the person who's supposed to be working. 

A 12-person restaurant or a small janitorial company can roll Buddy Punch out in an afternoon, have employees punch in with a face scan on a tablet at the door, and export clean timesheets to payroll on Friday without wondering who actually worked which shift.

Key Features

• Multiple punch methods. Web browser, mobile app, or shared tablet kiosk with PIN, QR code, or facial recognition.

• Webcam photos on punches. Captures a photo at each clock-in for verification.

• GPS verification and geofencing. Location-stamped punches, with geofences restricting clock-ins to approved sites.

• PTO and overtime tracking. Vacation, sick, and personal time management with overtime rules per state.

• Scheduling (Pro plan). Build, publish, and notify employees of shifts.

• Payroll integrations. QuickBooks, ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Paylocity, Paycor, Rippling, and more.

• Payroll add-on. Optional in-platform payroll processing for an extra fee.

• Time card approvals. Managers review and approve timesheets before they hit payroll.

Pricing

• 14-day free trial
• Starter: $19/month base fee + $5.49/user/month
• Pro: $19/month base fee + $6.99/user/month
• Enterprise: $19/month base fee + $11.99/user/month

View pricing

Key Features to Look For in a Time Tracking App

The right time tracking app pays for itself within a few pay periods. The wrong one creates more work than the paper timesheets it replaced. 

Here's what separates the two.

GPS tracking and geofencing

If any of your team works outside the office, GPS verification is the difference between trusting that hours are accurate and knowing they are. 

Look for an app that captures location at every clock-in, lets you set geofences around job sites or customer locations, and stamps that data onto the timesheet so it's defensible later. 

For an HVAC company billing time across three customer sites a day, this is the feature that ends arguments about start and stop times.

Accurate, audit-ready time cards

Tracked hours need to hold up under scrutiny, whether that's a payroll question from an employee, a DOL audit, or a client disputing an invoice. 

The best apps log every clock-in, switch, break, and clock-out with a timestamp, leave a clear audit trail of any edits, and let employees review their own timesheets before they submit. 

Per the US Department of Labor, employers are required to keep accurate records of hours worked for each non-exempt employee, per labor laws, and the right app handles that automatically.

Payroll and accounting integrations

Time data that has to be retyped into payroll is time data that gets retyped wrong. 

Pick an app that connects directly to whatever you're already running (QuickBooks, ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Sage, Xero) so approved hours flow straight through without a manual export-import step in between.

Job costing

Knowing the total hours your team worked is useful. Knowing how those hours broke down by customer, job, and task is what tells you whether you actually made money on a project. 

Job costing should let employees tag time to specific jobs as they clock in, switch tasks without clocking out, and produce reports you can use to price the next bid.

Scheduling

If your team works variable hours, drag-and-drop scheduling with instant notifications saves hours of phone calls every week. 

The best schedulers let you build recurring shifts, reassign jobs in a click, and push updates to crew members' phones so a Tuesday schedule change doesn't turn into a Wednesday no-show.

Mobile clock-ins that work offline

Crew members shouldn't need cell service to clock in. Look for an app that caches clock-ins locally when service drops and syncs the moment the device is back online. 

This matters anywhere your team works in basements, remote sites, or buildings with thick walls.

Ease of use

The most sophisticated time tracking app is worthless if your least tech-comfortable employee won't use it. 

Test the mobile app yourself, then hand it to the person on your team who hates new software. If they can clock in and out without a tutorial, you have your answer.

Transparent pricing

Some apps charge a flat per-user rate, some charge a base fee plus per-user, and some hide core features (GPS, scheduling, payroll integrations) behind add-ons that double your bill. 

Before you commit, model what 12 months will cost at your current headcount plus any seats you expect to add.

Which Time Tracking App Should You Choose?

The right answer depends on what your team works on each day.

Choose ClockShark if you run a construction, contracting, trade, or field service business and need verified job-site time tracking. 

GPS, geofencing, job costing, and crew-friendly mobile clock-ins are built around the way your crew works, and the payroll integrations move hours from job site to paycheck without anyone retyping a number.

Choose Clockify, Toggl Track, or Harvest if your work happens at a computer, and you only need basic project timers or billable-hour logs. These suit solo consultants, small agencies, and office-based service teams.

Choose QuickBooks Time if QuickBooks is already your payroll and accounting hub. The native two-way sync avoids the friction of moving data between systems.

For most contractors, trade businesses, and field service teams, ClockShark is the closest fit. Start a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, or book a demo to see how it would work for your operation.