Top Remote Work Time Tracking Tools and Guide

Top Remote Work Time Tracking Tools and Guide

Top Remote Work Time Tracking Tools and Guide

Working remotely allows employees to take control of their time and be much happier. Unfortunately not everyone has the discipline it takes and some employees may even take advantage of the remote freedom. Fortunately for remote employers, there are many great time tracking tools to keep track of employees working hours and schedules. 

How to track remote employees time and schedules:

Decide what kind of schedule you will use and how you will track time. 

Before you choose a tool, you should layout your remote work schedule policy. One of the best benefits that comes with switching to remote is having a larger talent pool from around the world. This means that instead of finding talent locally, you can grab the top talent worldwide. This also means that you’ll face some problems with scheduling. Different time zones, different client hours, and time tracking can all be hurdles that you’ll have to overcome. 

Some questions that you should ask when making a remote team schedule are:

  1. Should we allow them to make their own hours?
  2. How flexible should we be?
  3. Who is in different time zones and who needs to collaborate?
  4. Should we focus on hours or tasks completed?

The answer to these questions will depend on your business and will help guide you when making your schedule policy. Once you have created your remote work schedule policy, then you will be able to decide which tools to use. 

What are the benefits of using a time tracking tool for remote workers?

The main benefits of using a time tracking tool for remote workers are:

  1. Employees will have to answer for their time spent working. This helps keep employees from slacking off.
  2. Protects employees from being overworked. Many remote workers are clocking ridiculous hours on tasks. By using a time tracking tool, remote workers are protected from being overworked. 
  3. Protects freelancers and businesses. Many remote companies use freelancers. By using a time tracking tool, both the freelancer and business are protected.
  4. Give clients a piece of mind. If you choose, you can use time tracking software to track the time spent on projects.
  5. Removes the guessing and stress of hiring a remote employee. Hiring remote employees can be scary. Time tracking apps allow businesses to have a piece of mind and know what their employees are doing. 

Top remote work time tracking tools:

Here are the top remote work time tracking tools, best use cases, and pricing. 

Clockify.me

If you are looking for a free option, then Clockify.me is the one that you might want to try. Clockify is completely free with unlimited users, tracking, projects, and reports. Clockify has a great user interface and is really easy to use. Clockify is very simple; users click to start a task or manually enter tasks in. This means that you are still relying on employees or freelancers to enter the correct time. This is not for someone who is looking to truly track and monitor employees. This is more for people who need to track employee hours on projects for billing purposes.

Cost: Free

Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a more comprehensive option. Time Doctor allows you to track and see what your employees are spending their time on. You can use Time Doctor on all devices and with many integrations.

Time Doctor protects you by:

  • Screenshots to monitor activity
  • Web & App Usage to see which apps and sites are being used
  • Remind employees when they are on non-work related sites
  • Track Breaks
  • Time Use Alerts when employees are on Facebook or other timewasters

Cost: $7/user/month – $10/user/month – $20/user/month

Hubstaff

Hubstaff has many unique features such as activity levels which tracks mouse and keyboard usage. You can also track apps and URLs, use random screenshots, and track mobile GPS. Hubstaff also includes payroll, invoicing, and timesheet approvals. They have a great user interface that is very easy to use. Hubstaff is especially great if you need to track employees who are on the move or even an entire fleet.

Cost: $7/user/month – $10/user/month – $20/user/month

Timely

Timely is a really great time tracking and project management tool for remote teams. Timely lets you capture and record time spent on different work apps. Timely aims to create a noninvasive workplace and does not utilize screenshots, mouse tracking, or location tagging. All tracked data is private to the user. This is a really great tool for projects and managing teams in a way that gives your team trust. Timely is a really great tool for tracking and managing remote teams.

Cost: $49/month (2 seats) – $199/month (10 seats) – $449/month (30 seats) or save 20% by paying annually. 

Toggl

Toggl is another great tool for tracking remote teams. Toogl is a very smart time tracking tool for remote teams that includes reminders and built in idle detection. Toggle is also great for clients and tracking billable hours and rates. Toggle also works across all devices. Toggl has a free time tracking plan for up to 5 members. 

Cost: $10/user/month – $20/user/month or save by paying annually. 

These are a few of our favorite tools for a complete list of apps for remote teams check out this article: 64 Remote Work Apps List and Guide

Note: prices may have changed for accurate pricing please check with the companies. 

How do you deal with your remote team’s hours? Let me know in the comments!

Justin Palmer is Founder and CEO of The Remote Firm

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