10 Best Apps to Track Employee Location (In-Depth Review)

The 10 Best Apps to Track Employee Location of 2023

1. Connecteam — Best all-in-one employee tracking app

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android

   Start for free

   

   When it comes to tracking employees in the field, Connecteam is the best all-in-one option for businesses. 

   Why I chose Connecteam: The mobile app provides GPS-based location tracking, time tracking, internal communication tools, and so much more.

   Let’s take a look at the specific features:

   Real-time GPS tracking while employees are on the clock

   With Connecteam’s real time GPS tracker, you can see the location of all employees at the same time while they are clocked in. It also tracks location if employees move from job site to job site, so you can make sure they are where they’re supposed to be.

   If an employee is suddenly unavailable for a shift or job, you can view what other team members are closest and send one of them to the site instead. You can even rotate employees between sites to ensure that all work is covered.

   If you want to know where a team member has been throughout the day, you can enable breadcrumbs to display an employee’s full location history. This is a great tool if you want to know whether employees are taking roundabout routes that hinder productivity or whether they stopped by a particular job site before the end of the day.

   You might also want to read our in-depth review of top employee time tracking apps we done this year

   Automatic scheduling alerts reduce confusion

   I like that Connecteam sends automatic alerts and notifications if there are changes in schedules. So, if someone does call out last minute, you can make the adjustments on the employee scheduler right from the app and all affected employees will receive alerts so they know where to go once their shift starts. 

   You might be interested in our in-depth review of the best employee scheduling app.

   Streamlined communication so all employees stay connected

   Connecteam has online team chat so you can message employees directly or create group chats with the app’s Smart Groups feature. 

   You can ask employees for updates on jobs, shifts, and tasks or how long it will take them to wrap up what they’re doing. If you have multiple employees near a job site, managers can start a group chat to see who will be available first.

   The app’s company updates feature is also incredibly useful, with a social media-style newsfeed for shared updates and announcements. Employees can also respond with comments, likes, and emojis. 

   You might be interested in our in-depth review of the best work communications apps.

   Geofencing and GPS enhance the app’s time management capabilities 

   Another great feature of Connecteam is that it’s both a GPS tracking app as well as a geofence time clock in one. That way, your business has better time management. 

   You can set up geofences around project sites, limiting employees to clock in only when they arrive at a job and clock them out when they leave. Geofences are extremely customizable—you can choose how far they extend around a job site and even what hours the geofence should apply.

   And so much more…

   Connecteam does all of this and more! Task and project management features, HR capabilities, document storage, and online training are just a few other features of this app.

   It’s completely free for small businesses with up to 10 employees. Plans for larger businesses start at just $29 per month for up to 30 users, plus $0.50 per month for each additional user.

   Employees spend less time wondering what they should do and where, and more time actually just doing it.

   Rick Peterson
   Director

    

   Connecteam also offers a free for life plan – Join Connecteam!

   Key Features

   • Real time GPS tracker

   • Geofence time clock

   • Company knowledge base

   • Team instant messaging

   • Employee updates

   • Time clock tracker

   Pros

   • Track full location history for each employee

   • Integrated time tracking

   • Customizable geofences

   • Free for businesses with up to 10 users

   Cons

   • More third party integrations in development

   Pricing

   Free-for-life plan availablePremium plans start at $29/month for 30 users

   14-day free trial, no credit card required

   Start your free trial
2. 

   QuickBooks Time — Good for payroll and accounting integrations

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android
   • Windows
   • Mac

   

   QuickBooks Time is a great solution for companies that already rely on QuickBooks for accounting and payroll. With this employee tracking app, companies can locate their field service employees in real-time. QuickBooks Time enables geofencing around project sites, making it easy to keep track of how much time each employee spends on specific projects.

   Another benefit to QuickBooks Time is that it keeps track of how much employees drive. Mileage data can easily be imported into QuickBooks so that you can account for gas and other vehicle expenditures for your business.

   One drawback to this app is that it only tracks employees’ locations when they’re clocked in. If your employees forget to clock in on their way to a job or if they clock out between jobs, you can’t see where they are. You could also end up missing important mileage data.

   Learn more about QuickBooks Time

   Key Features

   • Set up geofences around project sites
   • Tracks mileage in business vehicles
   • Integration with QuickBooks accounting and payroll tools
   • View all employees’ locations on a single map

   Pros

   • Low smartphone battery and data usage
   • Compatible with all QuickBooks software

   Cons

   • Cannot view location for employees who are clocked out
   • No integrated communication features

   Pricing

   Starts at $20/month + $10/user/month Trial: Yes — 30-day Free Plan: No

3. 

   Time Tracker by eBility — Good for combined location and time tracking

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android
   • Windows
   • Mac

   

   eBillity was built first and foremost as a time tracker for office work, but it has some handy features for field services teams who work outside the office as well. You can see where employees are and see whether they’re currently working, clocked out, or on a break. This makes it easier to contact the right employees when you need a job covered right away.

   eBillity enables you to set up geofences to keep employees honest when they’re clocking in and out. All clock-ins from outside a geofenced area are sent to a manager for approval.

   This app really stands out for its time reporting features. Using location and time data, eBillity offers visual breakdowns of how much time employees have spent on different projects. It’s very useful for project management and even enables managers to check whether a job is staying on budget

   Learn more about Time Tracker by eBility

   Key Features

   • See whether employees are clocked in or on a break
   • Create geofences to manage clock-ins
   • Reports showing time spent on projects
   • Can automatically create invoices for clients

   Pros

   • Easy to use
   • Includes time tracking tools

   Cons

   • Limited tools for redeploying employees in real-time
   • Expensive per-employee cost

   Pricing

   Starts at $7.20/user/month + $12/month base fee Trial: Yes Free Plan: No

4. 

   Buddy Punch — Good for employee privacy

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android

   

   Buddy Punch offers several unique features compared to other GPS tracker apps. You can view a map of all the locations an employee has clocked in along with a list showing the clock-in device.

   This isn’t as helpful as breadcrumbs, and it’s important to note that you can’t monitor an employee’s location in real-time. However, Buddy Punch lets managers see where an employee has been without using up a phone’s battery life.

   Another neat feature Buddy Punch offers is the ability to turn GPS tracking on or off for individual employees. This can offer a little more privacy for trusted employees.

   Buddy Punch doesn’t enable you to view all employees’ locations on a single map, which makes it hard to redeploy workers quickly. It also doesn’t support geofences.

   Learn more about Buddy Punch

   Key Features

   • Turn GPS tracking on or off for each employee
   • View each clock-in location as a pin
   • Manages paid time off (PTO) requests
   • Uses phone camera to capture photo when employees clock in

   Pros

   • Lots of scheduling and time management features
   • Decide whether to require GPS tracking for individual employees

   Cons

   • Doesn’t support geofences
   • Does not show an employee’s real-time location

   Pricing

   Starts at $2.99/user/month + $19 base fee/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: No

5. 

   Clockify — Good for time and location reporting tools

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android
   • Windows
   • Mac

   

   Clockify offers simple but effective tools for tracking the location of employees in the field. It works well for a variety of industries including construction and delivery.

   You can view all of your employees’ locations on a single map and track them in real-time when they’re clocked in. Clockify doesn’t track the location of off-the-clock employees, which ensures your employees have more privacy outside of work hours.

   What’s really nice about Clockify’s location tracking is that it’s integrated with the platform’s time tracking and reporting tools. You can use GPS data to monitor the amount of time employees have spent at particular locations.

   Customizable reports make it easy to visualize time and location data. Clockify also integrates with most payroll software so you can easily pay your employees for hours worked.

   Learn more about Clockify

   Key Features

   • View employees’ locations on a single map
   • Integrates GPS and time tracking
   • Reports display time spent on projects
   • GPS tracking starts automatically when employees clock in

   Pros

   • Excellent reporting tools
   • Integrates with most payroll software

   Cons

   • Cannot control clock-ins with geofences
   • No alerts for late or no-show employees

   Pricing

   Starts at $3.99/user/month Trial: Yes — For PRO features Free Plan: Yes

6. 

   Hubstaff — Good for no-show and late employee alerts

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android
   • Windows
   • Mac

   

   Hubstaff is another handy time tracking app with GPS functionality. With Hubstaff, you can set up geofences to automatically clock employees in and out of jobs. If an employee is late or doesn’t show up, their supervisor will receive an alert notifying them of the problem. That’s a big plus for ensuring every job is covered.

   This GPS time clock uses the time data it collects based on employees’ locations to build timecards automatically. That saves a lot of administrative work and eliminates inaccurate timecards.

   The app also uses time and location data to build reports for each job. Project managers can see how much time employees have spent working at a location and make sure a project stays on budget.

   Learn more about Hubstaff

   Key Features

   • No-show and late employee alerts
   • Automatically clock employees in and out with geofences
   • Track time spent at each job site
   • Creates employee timecards automatically

   Pros

   • Includes employee monitoring and productivity tools
   • Payroll integrations

   Cons

   • No built-in communication features
   • Expensive

   Pricing

   Starts at $4.99/user/month, 2 users minimum Trial: Yes — 14-day Free Plan: Yes — For one user only

7. 

   Homebase — Good for reducing time theft

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android

   

   Homebase is primarily a mobile time clock app that’s designed to help employees keep track of their hours and make payroll easier. It includes GPS tracking as a way to reduce time theft. Time theft occurs when employees clock in before they actually arrive at a job site or stay clocked out after they leave.

   You can set up geofences around each employee’s work location. If an employee tries to clock in or out outside the geofence, you will receive an alert and must approve the time entry manually. Clock-ins and clock-outs are used to automatically generate timesheets for each employee.

   Notably, you can’t track employees in real-time with Homebase. The tracking system operates in the background to verify time entries and an employee’s current location is not visible to managers.

   Homebase charges per job site where you set up a geofence rather than per user. So, it can be economical if you have a lot of employees working at just a handful of locations.

   Learn more about Homebase

   Key Features

   • Alerts when an employee clocks in or out outside a geofence
   • Integrated scheduling tools
   • Built-in messaging
   • Automatically creates timesheets for each employee

   Pros

   • Integrates with payroll platforms
   • Billed per work location, not per employee

   Cons

   • Cannot track employees in real-time
   • No alerts for no-show employees

   Pricing

   Starts at $20/location/month Trial: Yes — 14-day Free Plan: Yes — For a single location & up to 20 employees

8. 

   Timeero — Good for tracking mileage

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android

   

   Timeero is a robust employee tracking app that lets you easily see where all of your employees are at any time. Even better, you can view a breadcrumb trail to see where they’ve been. This is great for managers who want to keep a close eye on employees or want to create more productive schedules with less travel time for each employee.

   Timeero isn’t a full-fledged fleet management software, but it does a nice job of tracking mileage for each of your employees. If you only have a few business vehicles, it works well enough for determining your vehicle expenses when tax time comes around.

   Timeero is also a time clock app. Employees can clock in and out using the mobile app. Supervisors can also set up geofences to keep track of how much time employees are spending on each project.

   Learn more about Timeero

   Key Features

   • Breadcrumb trail for each employee
   • See all employees’ locations on a single map
   • Keep track of business vehicle mileages
   • Uses geofences to enforce time tracking

   Pros

   • Very easy to use
   • Integrates with most major payroll providers

   Cons

   • Limited fleet tracking features other than mileage
   • Reports lack visualizations and charts

   Pricing

   Starts at $4/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: No

9. 

   OnTheClock — Good for tightly controlling clock-ins

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android

   

   OnTheClock uses GPS tracking mainly as a way to prevent time theft. With this platform, supervisors can create geofences around work areas and only enable employees to clock in if they’re inside a geofence.

   This works well with one of OnTheClock’s more unique features: biometric clock-ins. Employees must use their fingerprint to clock in, ensuring that it’s really them that’s doing the time entry. The combination of requiring an employee’s location and fingerprint to clock in can dramatically reduce time theft.

   OnTheClock has several other features, including shift scheduling and time off tracking. It cannot be used to track employees’ locations in real-time.

   Learn more about OnTheClock

   Key Features

   • Supports geofences to limit clock-in locations
   • Requires employees to use their fingerprint to clock in
   • Location tracking can be disabled for individual employees
   • Includes employee scheduling tools

   Pros

   • Customizable geofences
   • Supports biometric time tracking

   Cons

   • Cannot view employee location in real-time
   • Limited payroll integrations

   Pricing

   Starts at $102/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes — For up to 2 users

10. 

    allGeo — Good for customizable data tracking

    Available on

    • Web
    • iOS
    • Android

    

    allGeo is a powerful platform designed for logistic companies, delivery services, and other businesses with a lot of employees on the move. The platform can capture a wide range of data including employee location, mileage, and vehicle loads.

    The GPS tracking features enable a business owner or supervisor to pull up their employees’ locations in the field at any time. You can also enable employees to see each others’ locations. Rules for who can see what data are highly customizable.

    allGeo supports geofences in some interesting ways, too. You can create alerts for no-show employees based on geofences. You can also set allGeo to remind employees to clock in if they forget to when entering a geofenced area.

    Learn more about allGeo

    Key Features

    • Tracks employee location and vehicle mileage
    • Employees can see each other’s location
    • No-show and late employee alerts
    • Geofence-based reminders to clock in and out

    Pros

    • Extremely customizable
    • Supports a wide range of automations

    Cons

    • Much more complex than other employee tracking apps
    • Features are divided across multiple apps

    Pricing

    Contact vendor for price Trial: Yes Free Plan: No