Honest OnTheClock Review: Pros, Cons, Features & Pricing

OnTheClock Pricing

OnTheClock adopts a straightforward user-based pricing model with no minimum user requirements. It has two plans, but unlike many workforce management platforms that lock advanced features behind higher tiers, both plans include the same features. This structure enables small businesses to scale without being forced to upgrade simply to unlock essential functionality.

However, the lower-tier plan is available only to small and mid-sized businesses with fewer than 100 users. This means that if your organization outgrows the user cap, you must upgrade to a higher-tier plan regardless of your feature needs.

Pricing starts at $4 per user per month, making it affordable for most solopreneurs and small businesses. However, there’s a $5 monthly base fee, which slightly increases the total recurring costs. The impact of the base fee may be noticeable for very small teams, but it becomes negligible as the team grows.

My only quibble is that OnTheClock doesn’t offer a free plan, which can be a dealbreaker for solopreneurs and small businesses looking for a long-term free solution. That issue aside, there’s a 30-day free trial, which gives you ample time to test all OnTheClock features. I used the free trial for this review.

OnTheClock Versus Other Time-Tracking Apps

OnTheClock is cheaper than many workforce management platforms, even when you factor in the monthly base fee. As the table below shows, its pricing remains competitive across different team sizes, making it an appealing option for cost-conscious small businesses:

Paid Add-Ons and Hidden Costs

OnTheClock’s payroll is available as a paid add-on; business owners can add it to any plan for $6 per employee per month, plus a $40 monthly base fee. You get essential payroll features, including unlimited payroll runs, integrated timecards and PTO, tax documents, direct deposit, state and federal tax compliance, and benefits administration.

The only issue is that adding payroll to your subscription incurs a one-time $250 fee for payroll migration and onboarding. Note that OnTheClock’s migration and onboarding service is mandatory, whereas other providers offer it on a need-to-use basis.

There are a few other costs to keep in mind. Text messaging costs $2 per month plus $0.01 per text, and fingerprint punching requires a fingerprint reader (starting at under $100), plus $0.50 per employee per month for each employee using the fingerprint reader system.

OnTheClock Sign-Up and Onboarding

Signing up is pretty straightforward, but setting up your team can be a hassle. During my last round of testing, OnTheClock took me straight to the settings page when I signed up. This time around, I was greeted with a welcome video immediately after signing up.

Unlike many welcome videos, which focus on feature highlights, OnTheClock’s provided practical next steps. I could book a meeting for personalized onboarding assistance or proceed with a self-guided setup. I chose the latter, and the system automatically launched a guided setup wizard, a feature that was missing last time I tested the platform.

Rather than taking users directly to a relevant settings page when they click a task in the setup wizard, OnTheClock provides step-by-step instructions to guide them through the configuration process. Although unconventional, this approach provides hands-on guidance at every step, simplifying the learning curve for beginners. However, experienced managers may find it boring and slow compared to the direct-to-settings workflow.

Beyond the guided setup, configuring other options can be time-consuming, primarily because OnTheClock seems to have removed the centralized settings page. Every option is now nested as a submenu under “settings” in the top navigation panel.

While the new design makes the settings accessible from virtually any page, it also makes configuration more cumbersome. I found myself repeatedly opening the settings menu and browsing through nested options to locate the option I needed. The extra clicks extended the setup to over an hour, whereas a centralized settings page would have helped me complete the process much faster.

Setting Up Your Team

Adding employees can be tedious, especially for managers with large workforces. While I was glad that OnTheClock now offers various team setup options, such as email invites, QR code scanning, and manual imports (Excel, PDF, CSV), the vendor has yet to streamline certain elements.

For example, while OnTheClock supports bulk email invites, you can’t paste multiple email addresses at once. I had to enter each employee’s name and email address individually, making the team setup process take longer than it should have.

Luckily, managers can use the QR code or manual imports (Excel, PDF, CSV) to speed up setup for large teams. Additionally, teams already using OnTheClock’s payroll can import user profiles directly into the platform. However, the vendor doesn’t support automated imports for businesses migrating from third-party systems.

I was also able to create user groups to separate employee departments, roles, and locations. Managers can use these groups to apply pay rates, overtime, breaks, and other essential settings to an entire team at once rather than assigning them at the individual employee level, saving time.

The only minor issue is that the user group option isn’t available on the team setup page; however, it’s easily accessible from the settings menu.

OnTheClock Usability and Interface

OnTheClock Web App

OnTheClock’s web app has a functional design that prioritizes usability over aesthetics. While it lacks the polished feel of modern workforce management platforms, its straightforward layout and visual appeal make everyday tasks easy to complete. I like that action buttons and controls are highlighted in orange, making them easily noticeable and hence easy to find.

The main navigational panel is situated at the top, not to the left where modern users expect it. Still, beginners will find their way around the app with ease, since menu items are clearly labelled and easily accessible from any page. Some items, such as schedule, settings, my team, and PTO, group related tools for less screen clutter and quicker access.

I liked that the web app now takes managers to the dashboard, not the settings page. Unfortunately, the dashboard is still barebones: it displays clocked-in employees, a map with geofenced locations, and an activity feed. However, there’s nothing related to team performance, so it doesn’t offer any insights to help managers make decisions on the fly.

Another issue is that OnTheClock’s web app is available only in English, making it unsuitable for non-English speakers. However, you can translate kiosk prompts such as “enter employee number,” “next,” “punch in,” and “punch out” into a language that works for your workforce. Unfortunately, there are no design considerations for users with visual or hearing impairments.

OnTheClock Mobile App

OnTheClock’s Android and iOS apps have a similar design and layout, so the experience on both platforms is nearly the same. I used the Android app for this review, but the descriptions below apply to the iOS app too.

The mobile app has a more visually appealing design than the web app. The UI’s layout conforms to what today’s users expect: a menu panel at the bottom of the screen, a main details area, and a top panel with additional navigation options. Just like the web app, key buttons and controls stand out with their bright orange color, making it impossible to miss them.

Feature-wise, the employee version is limited. Employees can track time, manage time cards, view the dashboard, request time off, view punch maps, and chat with colleagues. However, some essential and advanced features are notably absent. For example, employees can’t view shifts on mobile, which is a dealbreaker for field teams.

The manager version lets you perform vital admin tasks such as managing team members, adding jobs, and approving timecards and PTOs. Still, it might not suffice for managers who need to schedule employees while on the move, since there is no scheduling feature.

Interestingly, the mobile dashboard is more helpful than the web dashboard, as it provides a summary of your team’s overtime and regular hours for a chosen day or pay period.

Unfortunately, the app became unusable when I switched off my internet connection. The lack of an offline mode makes OnTheClock unsuitable for employees in regions with poor cellular service.

OnTheClock Core Functionalities

OnTheClock claims to be a viable solution for virtually every field-based industry, from restaurants and retail stores to construction sites and cleaning businesses. Does the vendor provide the features these industries need, though? I put OnTheClock through the wringer to determine its strengths and weaknesses. Read on for the nitty-gritty details.

• Time Tracking

Verdict: 7.5/10

Overall, OnTheClock is reliable. It offers multiple clock-in methods and backs them up with reliable controls to improve timesheet accuracy, making it an excellent fit for small businesses that prioritize accurate payroll. However, the lack of advanced tools like facial recognition and limited compliance capabilities make it less ideal for organizations with complex time-tracking needs.

OnTheClock time clock lets employees track regular hours, break, and overtime on the mobile, web, desktop, and kiosk apps.

You can also add a time clock widget to your website to simplify employee clock-in/out. I didn’t test this option, but OnTheClock’s compatibility with WordPress, Drupal, Weebly, and SquareSpace makes it a good fit for businesses that want employees to track time from a central online location.



The kiosk app is a modern replacement for traditional punch clocks. It allows multiple employees to clock in and out from a shared device, making it ideal for job sites where employees start and end shifts at a central location, like construction sites, retail stores, and warehouses.

I set up the kiosk on a smartphone during testing, but you can set it up on any internet-enabled device. The kiosk configuration process was straightforward and the punch flow was seamless, despite taking an unconventional approach.

With a standard kiosk, employees select their profile from a list and enter a unique PIN to access the punch interface. OnTheClock’s kiosk takes a peculiar yet straightforward approach. To begin with, there’s no list — just a simple interface for employees to enter their unique PIN to access the punch interface (see the image below).



Overall, OnTheClock lacks the advanced time-tracking capabilities of leading competitors. For example, the auto-clock-out option works only for employees on fixed schedules. This means that you can’t set it to automatically clock out shift-based employees when they reach their daily limits to restrict overtime or prevent fatigue-related risks.

Clock-In Restrictions

Beyond the time-tracking options, OnTheClock lets managers apply various restrictions to ensure authenticity with every punch. Notable restrictions include:

Geofencing

With OnTheClock’s GPS tracking tool, you can create geofences and assign them to shifts to ensure workers clock in and out only when they’re within the designated job site. However, you can’t assign geofences to specific jobs or employees. This, combined with OnTheClock’s inability to block punches without assigned shifts, makes it difficult to enforce geofence rules.

For example, the current geofence framework lets employees clock in from any of the geofences. I set a geofence and attempted to clock in from outside the predefined locations. OnTheClock served a warning and disabled the punch button, effectively blocking the off-site punch.



IP authorization

OnTheClock lets you restrict clock-ins and clock-outs to a specific IP address, such as your company’s office network. I like that you can choose how strictly the system enforces this rule, either blocking punches from unauthorized IPs altogether or allowing them while warning the employee and notifying managers of the violation. I tested enforcement levels, and they worked as expected.



Fingerprint punching

OnTheClock allows you to track employee clock-ins with biometric data to prevent buddy punching. However, the app lacks built-in fingerprint-reading capability, so you must invest in a separate fingerprint reader, which adds an extra hardware expense.

Device and browser authorization

You can lock down an employee to a specific device or browser. This is useful for office teams or employees who work from a dedicated workstation.

The device and browser authorization features worked just fine during testing. OnTheClock detected an employee’s device on the first clock-in attempt and requested me (the manager) to authorize it. Once I had authorized the device, the employee was able to clock in during subsequent punches without an issue.



OnTheClock imposes various restrictions to prevent employees from bypassing device and browser authorization. If an employee re-installs the app, they must request fresh authorization. Similarly, if an employee clears the cookies on a browser, they’ll need fresh authorization for the next punch.

Beyond these restrictions, you can require employees to select a task when clocking in. However, you can’t restrict employees from clocking in without an assigned shift, which leaves room for unauthorized punches. OnTheClock also doesn’t support facial recognition, making it a poor fit for preventing buddy punching.

• Overtime and Break Tracking

Verdict: 5.5/10

When it comes to break and overtime tracking, OnTheClock leaves much to be desired. While its overtime tools are adequate for businesses in some jurisdictions, they lack the flexibility needed to support more complex labor laws. Its break tracker is fairly basic and lacks the advanced tools needed to comply with labor regulations.

Put plainly, OnTheClock lacks the essential features for strict break-tracking compliance. To begin with, there are no customizable break policies, which makes it impossible to configure rules that align with local labor laws. In addition, while you can set the app to auto-deduct break time from an employee’s regular hours, you can assign only one break.



Auto-deducting employee breaks can lead to serious compliance issues, potential lawsuits, and hefty penalties. Remember that in states like California, you must enforce break-tracking rules to ensure employees take their legally permitted break time in full.

Unfortunately, OnTheClock’s apps don’t provide a break-tracking feature, let alone advanced features such as reminders or the ability to prevent employees from ending their break early. These limitations make OnTheClock unsuitable for field, frontline, and mobile teams in regions with strict labor laws.

Overtime Tracking

OnTheClock doesn’t let businesses create custom overtime rules, which limits its usefulness. However, it does provide numerous preset overtime thresholds for different states in the United States, including a predefined option to apply the California overtime rule. I tried out the California overtime feature, and OnTheClock accurately calculated my overtime and double-time hours in compliance with the law.



However, beyond the California overtime feature, there are no options that allow businesses to track daily, double time, and weekly overtime simultaneously. This becomes problematic for businesses operating in states that require multiple types of overtime, such as Alaska, Colorado, and Kansas. Moreover, with no option to split time at midnight, enforcing daily overtime rules becomes difficult.

Even worse, OnTheClock doesn’t support holidays or seventh-consecutive-day overtime, so it’s not ideal for businesses that schedule employees across holidays, weekends, and extended workweeks. What’s more, businesses that want to apply weighted averages or time off in lieu will also find OnTheClock limited.

• Shift Scheduling

Verdict: 6/10

OnTheClock covers the scheduling basics well, making it a solid choice for small teams. However, growing businesses with complex schedules and compliance requirements may quickly outgrow it due to the lack of scheduling automation, advanced compliance controls, and robust employee self-service tools.

OnTheClock’s scheduling adopts a simple calendar view, with employees listed to the left and the date at the top. This layout doesn’t change regardless of the view you choose — day, week, pay period or month — unlike with other scheduling platforms. The advantage of this layout is that managers can always see who they’re assigning a shift to.



Creating a shift is pretty straightforward. Simply click on the tile corresponding to an employee and date, and add the shift parameters, such as location, job, and dates. You can also add notes to each shift to provide detailed instructions and ensure all teams pull in the same direction.

Managers can copy shifts or schedules to auto-populate them to other employees or dates. This expedites the scheduling process and saves managers the time they would have spent building new schedules from scratch. Alternatively, managers can use the drag-and-drop scheduler to move and rearrange shifts to strike the correct workforce balance.



I appreciate that OnTheClock supports draft scheduling. This gives managers an opportunity to spot and rectify possible errors in a draft schedule before publishing the final schedule.

However, the platform doesn’t clearly distinguish between published and unpublished shifts. The best employee scheduling platforms visually highlight unpublished shifts or automatically activate the publish button whenever there are pending schedule changes. This allows managers to quickly identify which shifts still need publishing and ensure employees aren’t using outdated schedules.

OnTheClock displayed the message “this schedule has not been published yet” whenever I added new shifts or edited existing ones. However, when I clicked “publish,” the message didn’t clear and the published shifts didn’t change color, which left me confused about the shift status.



Notifications and Alerts

When I published a schedule, OnTheClock instantly notified shift assignees via email. However, there are two caveats regarding notifications. First, OnTheClock didn’t send push notifications during testing.

Second, notifications aren’t personalized. Instead of sharing specific shifts assigned to an employee, OnTheClock shares a link to the entire team’s schedule. Employees have to open the link and sift through the schedule to see their assigned shifts. I would love to see OnTheClock include shift details directly in the notifications, making updates easier to act on.



Scheduling Automation Tools

While OnTheClock’s scheduling is functional, it lacks advanced tools that mid-sized and large businesses need to speed up scheduling. For example, it doesn’t support recurring shifts, so managers have to recreate schedules manually even when employees work the same shift week after week.

It also doesn’t offer an automatic scheduler, making it less efficient for managers handling complex schedules with hundreds of shifts to fill. What’s more, the platform lacks compliance features and may not be suitable for businesses in tightly regulated regions or industries. For example, you can’t set employee hourly or shift limits.

I also noticed that the lack of limits makes OnTheClock’s conflict detector less effective. For example, during testing, the platform let me publish overlapping shifts without any warning. These limitations have far-reaching implications for compliance.



Employee Self-Service Features

Another area where OnTheClock falls short is the employee self-service suite. Employees can’t manage their shifts on mobile devices, which is a dealbreaker for field teams. Moreover, employees can’t accept, reject, swap, or trade shifts. If employees can’t complete a shift, the manager has to find shift covers manually, which adds to their admin workload.

• GPS Location Tracking

Verdict: 9/10

OnTheClock’s GPS location tracker is helpful for managers who need to stay on top of field employee locations. It tracks location in near real time and provides a detailed route map with a breadcrumb trail to help managers monitor movements and verify routes.

OnTheClock GPS controls enable you to monitor the live location of field employees during the day for better accountability and safety. I found the GPS location-tracking feature to be accurate. When I opened the “who’s in” page, I could see the precise location of all clocked-in workers, provided their devices were connected to the internet.



In addition, OnTheClock allows you to monitor employees’ movements while in the field. All you need to do is turn on GPS tracking and ask employees to activate GPS breadcrumb tracking on their mobile device. Once these configurations are set, OnTheClock will track employee movement and create a breadcrumb trail (route).

During my testing, the route OnTheClock created was accurate. It showed the exact places I visited, with breadcrumbs (arrows) indicating the direction of transit. With a breadcrumb trail, managers can determine whether a field employee followed the most efficient route. You can also click the breadcrumbs to zoom in on details such as speed and direction.



• Time-Off Management

Verdict: 7/10

Overall, OnTheClock’s PTO management is a strong fit for small businesses that need simple accrual tracking with straightforward approval workflows. However, its PTO categories aren’t customizable, and advanced features like blackout dates and minimum notice rules are missing. This makes OnTheClock unsuitable for organizations with strict staffing requirements and complex leave policies.

OnTheClock provides the essential paid-time-off management features you’ll find with the best PTO-tracking platforms. It allows both hourly and fixed accrual policies, making it ideal for a wide range of workforce structures and employee classifications.



I also appreciate the ease with which employees can request time off and track requests from their mobile device. Managers can approve the request on any device. Moreover, the PTO tracker has a powerful notification system, which keeps employees and managers in the loop about requests throughout the approval process.



Issues With OnTheClock’s PTO Tool

OnTheClock doesn’t support creating company-wide PTO policies. I had to assign PTO rules to each employee individually during testing, which made setup far more time-consuming than it needed to be. However, the provider does let you assign PTO policies to employee groups, which can simplify the configuration process for large workforces.

That said, OnTheClock supports four PTO types by default — vacation, holiday, sick, and personal PTO. While the provider allows you to rename these PTO types, it doesn’t let you add new categories. As a result, businesses may struggle to build PTO frameworks that truly align with their benefits structure and industry-specific requirements.



Another issue is that OnTheClock doesn’t let managers restrict time off during peak business periods. This limitation makes it unsuitable for industries such as retail, healthcare, and hospitality, where demand spikes during peak seasons and maintaining adequate staffing levels is essential to delivering quality service.

Additionally, without a minimum notice period, employees can submit last-minute requests. This can leave managers without sufficient time to review requests and adjust schedules accordingly to prevent disruption of operations.

• Team Communication

Verdict: 6/10

Overall, OnTheClock’s built-in chat is a good fit for small teams that want to discuss day-to-day work without leaving the workforce management platform. However, the lack of emoji reactions, public channels, threaded conversations, real-time messaging, and rich-text formatting makes it unsuitable for teams that rely on instant messaging, company-wide announcements, and structured discussions.

If you’re looking for an app to replace your dedicated communication platform, OnTheClock’s built-in chat will fall short. The app strikes a balance between simplicity and functionality. Therefore, while it’s easy to use and suitable for small teams with simple communication needs, it lacks the advanced communication tools necessary for streamlining collaboration in a large workforce.



The interface is clean and easy to navigate, though it feels somewhat dated compared to modern messaging apps. You can start one-on-one or private group chats, but you can’t create public or broadcast channels. I appreciate that OnTheClock lets you organize discussions by topic to keep conversations focused, while making it easy for employees to find important messages.

All that sounds good, but OnTheClock has limited messaging tools. While I was able to send text messages, I couldn’t find a rich text editor to format them. Moreover, there are no threaded replies, emoji reactions, or @mentions — features I consider must-haves for teams that rely on chat for day-to-day coordination and collaboration.

I also noticed that OnTheClock doesn’t deliver messages instantly. I had to constantly refresh the app during one of my test runs to see new messages. This limitation makes the built-in chat less effective for teams that rely on instant messaging.



• OnTheClock Integrations

OnTheClock offers limited integrations compared to other providers in its category. However, I was glad to see that it integrates with several popular payroll systems, allowing businesses to process payroll without the errors and admin burden of manual entry. Popular native payroll integrations include:

• ADP
• Gusto
• Square
• QuickBooks

Beyond native integrations, businesses can use OnTheClock’s application programming interface (API) option to integrate their go-to systems. Keep in mind that API integrations require technical expertise to implement and maintain, and may be cost-prohibitive for small teams without dedicated IT staff or development resources.

Reporting and Analytics

OnTheClock didn’t offer a reporting and analytics hub during my last round of testing. The provider has since introduced a reporting page, but it looks pretty basic. You’re limited to generating payroll summary, overtime, and schedule vs actual reports (the latter of which is currently in the beta-testing phase).

In addition to these reports, OnTheClock lets you schedule time cards, who’s in, and weekly time summary reports from the settings page. You can schedule these reports to be delivered to your inbox on a regular basis, ensuring you have access to up-to-date workforce data without lifting a finger.

Moreover, managers can export attendance, vertical totals, hour totals, time card notes, and other payroll provider-specific reports from the time cards page. I appreciate having report filters, which enable managers to adjust the report ranges or drill down to specific information.

OnTheClock performs well on the report-sharing front. In addition to scheduling reports, you can email reports directly to recipients without leaving the platform. However, this feature is available only for time card exports. You can share payroll summary, overtime, and schedule vs actual reports only through Excel, PDF, or CSV exports.

OnTheClock Security and Privacy

I liked that OnTheClock encrypts data both in transit and at rest, provides role-based access controls (RBACs) to prevent unauthorized access, and complies with the GDPR. Combined, these options provide the level of protection and privacy most small businesses need to safeguard company data.

That said, OnTheClock isn’t enterprise-ready, and the lack of independent security certifications, such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2, is the clearest indicator. Without these third-party validations, the platform may not meet the stringent security and privacy requirements of large organizations.

OnTheClock Customer Support

When you hit a snag, support is readily available and accessible via live chat, phone support, email, and the help center. The help center offers different forms of self-service support, such as help topics, guided journeys, webinars, and FAQs. The articles are well organized for ease of access, and there’s a search bar in case you need to find a help article by keyword.

OnTheClock also offers eight videos covering common customer issues. The videos are particularly helpful for users who like to solve problems on their own. In addition, there are many webinars that walk users through key OnTheClock features to flatten the learning curve.

Live chat support is available M-F 8:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. EST and Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST, which can be a disadvantage for businesses outside the EST time zone. That minor issue aside, I had a fantastic experience with the live chat during testing. The support agents were responsive and knowledgeable, answering my questions in under a minute and providing clear, helpful solutions every time.

What Are OnTheClock’s Review Ratings From Review Sites?

OnTheClock App Review

I find OnTheClock to be ideal for small businesses looking to ditch manual and inefficient paper or spreadsheet time tracking. It provides essential time-tracking tools, including device authorization, geofencing, and IP restriction to improve timesheet accuracy. Unfortunately, it falls short when it comes to compliance due to its limited overtime customization and basic break controls.

Additionally, OnTheClock suffices for small businesses with simple scheduling needs. It’s easy to use, and the drag-and-drop scheduling helps managers quickly reassign shifts to balance team workloads and fill coverage. However, the lack of automation, compliance, and self-service tools makes it a poor fit for businesses managing complex, multi-location workforces.

All in all, pick OnTheClock if you need a simple scheduling and time-tracking platform and don’t need automation or advanced compliance controls. However, if you’re in a highly regulated industry and need advanced compliance and automation features to scale workforce operations without violating labor laws, better alternatives are available, such as Connecteam.

OnTheClock FAQs