Have you ever wondered where the hours go by the end of the week? Studies show that companies lose thousands of dollars every year due to untracked or wasted time.
Employees are an organization’s biggest asset, but when they start to procrastinate or spend their hours on low-value work, motivation dramatically decreases. The results are usually underperforming staff and lost profits.
This is why time management is so critical to an organization’s success. In this article, we’ll review some of the best employee time tracking tools on the market today to help you find the right tool that keeps teams focused and increases accountability.
Benefits of Employee Time Tracking
Time tracking tools aren’t about spying on your employees.
Instead, they're about transparency and growth for your business and teams. When used properly, these tools empower rather than control.
Here are some other ways time tracking tools can benefit your company:
- Better project management: Employee time tracking makes planning easier. You can set deadlines, allocate resources as needed, and identify potential problems early so they don't become problems.
- More effective time management: With proper time tracking, businesses and employees can know exactly how their working time is spent and focus on tasks that matter the most.
- Fewer burnouts: Nobody wants to see their best people burn out. If you are able to identify who is consistently working overtime and who is really struggling, you can spot the problem before it occurs. It may be time to help shift accountability, get temporary help, or have a serious discussion about what is actually achievable.
- Increased profitability: Some projects appear to be easy but take forever, while others are more straightforward to complete. With time tracking tools, you begin to identify patterns and trends: which projects are using most of your time, which services you should focus on, and which clients/services you may be leaving money on.
- Accurate billing: If you bill employees per hour, accurate time tracking is essential for getting paid fairly. No more loss of money because someone forgot to log their time or underestimated how long something took. Your invoices will be precise, professional, and backed by real data.
The secret to enjoying all of these benefits is choosing the right time tracking tool for your team. Let's look at some of the best options out there today, their benefits, and pricing information.
5 Top Tools for Employee Time Tracking
Insightful
Insightful.io is a workforce intelligence company that provides robust solutions for employee monitoring, time tracking, productivity, and work process management.
Best for:
Remote and hybrid organizations that need visibility, flexibility, and control over team performance and productivity.
Key features:
Insightful’s time tracking tool offers the following features to help teams stay organized.
- Automatic time mapping that captures work activity by project, app, or task without manual entry,
- Real-time visibility into team activity and performance metrics,
- Hybrid and remote work support,
- AI-powered analytics that pinpoint bottlenecks and help optimize workflows,
- Activity monitoring (e.g., app usage, website visits, and active vs. idle time),
- Automated project tracking with budget monitoring,
- 50+ integrations with popular tools like Jira, Asana, Workday, and Zendesk.
Pricing:
- Productivity management: $6.40/seat/month (billed annually)
- Time tracking: $8/seat/month (billed annually)
- Process improvement: $12/seat/month (billed annually)
- Enterprise: Custom (contact for a tailored offer).
A free trial is available.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a workforce management software for modern teams. It combines time tracking with project management, payroll automation, and productivity monitoring to enhance team management.
Best for:
Small to medium businesses with remote, hybrid, and in-house teams looking for an all-in-one time tracking solution with payroll automation.
Key features:
- Employee time tracking with simple stopwatch functionality,
- Automatic timesheet generation based on time entries with breakdowns by date, client, and project,
- Project budget management to track costs and set budgets based on hours, bill rates, or pay rates,
- Integrated payroll for billable hours with automated payments through PayPal, Payoneer, Wise, and Bitwage,
- Time off management to handle PTO requests, break policies, and shift scheduling,
- Multi-platform support available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, and ChromeOS,
- GPS tracking and geofenced time clocks for mobile and field service teams to automatically clock in based on location.
Pricing:
- Starter Plan: $4.99/user/month (billed annually)
- Grow Plan: $7.50/user/month (billed annually)
- Team Plan: $10.00/user/month (billed annually)
- Enterprise Plan: $25/user/month (billed annually)
A free 14-day trial is available.
ActivTrak
ActivTrak is a workforce intelligence platform that helps businesses optimize workforce management through comprehensive employee monitoring, tracking, activity analysis, and reporting.
Best for:
Companies seeking control over employee digital activity to boost productivity and optimize workforce planning for remote, hybrid, and in-office teams.
Key features:
- Automatic time tracking of work activity,
- Unbalanced workload detection,
- Real-time reporting with activity summaries by user, team, apps, sites, and categories,
- Working hours reporting and schedule adherence monitoring for compliance tracking,
- Activity trend analysis and historical reporting to find productivity patterns,
Pricing:
- Free: $0/user/month
- Essentials: $10/user/month (billed annually)
- Essentials Plus: $15/user/month (billed annually)
- Professional: $19/user/month (billed annually)
Toggl Track
Toggl Track is employee time tracking software designed to boost employee productivity and enhance team efficiency, project management, and accurate reporting for better business decisions.
Best for:
Small businesses, freelancers, agencies, and consultants, especially those in service-based industries that rely on billable hours, project tracking, and employee productivity analysis.
Key features:
- One-click time tracking across web, desktop, and mobile,
- Project profitability analysis with earnings, labor costs, and profit insights,
- Time estimates vs. actual tracking comparison to identify bottlenecks,
- Team workload monitoring and visualization to prevent burnout,
- Detailed reporting for individual performance analysis,
Pricing:
- Free: Free for up to 5 users
- Starter: $9user/month (billed annually)
- Premium: $18/user/month (billed annually)
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
A free 30-day trial is available for paid plans.
TimeCamp
TimeCamp is a powerful time tracking solution that tracks time spent on projects for both individual employees and teams.
Best for:
Freelancers, contractors, and agencies in marketing, advertising, software, and IT industries who need detailed workforce productivity.
Key features:
- Automatic employee time tracking
- Project profitability analysis with budget status tracking and customizable reports,
- One-click timesheet approval system,
- Multiple tracking options, including web, desktop, mobile apps, and kiosk mode,
- GPS tracking and geofencing features for location-based time tracking,
- Integration with over 80 productivity tools.
Pricing:
- Free: Free forever plan
- Starter: $1.49/user/month (billed annually)
- Premium: $2.99/user/month (billed annually)
- Enterprise: $11.99/user/month (billed annually)
Conclusion
A time tracking tool can make a real difference to both productivity and profits within your business. Each solution provides unique benefits. The key is to select a tool your team will actually use.
Here are some next steps you can take.
- Choose one tool that matches your needs and requirements
- Sign up for their free trial (if available)
- Test it with a small team first
- Scale up once you start seeing results
Remember, your employees are your biggest investment, so make sure their time is working as hard as they are.
