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Best Buddy Punch Alternatives for 2026, Free and Paid

Buddy Punch has no free plan and charges a $19 base fee on top of every seat. Here is what that really costs, and what to move to.

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Why people switch

Why people look for a Buddy Punch alternative

What it is

A Buddy Punch alternative is another time clock you move to when Buddy Punch stops fitting your team. Cost is the usual reason, and the sticker price hides it. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and every plan carries a $19 monthly base fee on top of the per-user rate. So five people on Starter is $43.95 a month, which works out at $8.79 each, not the $4.99 advertised. Geofencing, PIN and kiosk punching all need the Pro tier, and real-time GPS is an extra again. Below we compare four alternatives on what you actually pay.

Who needs this

A service business that sells its people's time and needs to know, in real time, whether each client project is still making money.

Meet both products

Compare the two products at a glance

TimeTracker and this competitor cover the same job in different ways. Here is what each one includes.

Best fit

TimeTracker

Every task carries operational and financial context together. Tracked time, budget impact, and invoicing live in one connected system, so you know if a project is still profitable before it becomes a problem.

Best for
Agencies and consultancies of 2 to 50 people who bill clients for time and need to see project profit, not just hours.
Pricing
Free for up to 3 people, no credit card needed. Pro is $15 per user a month, or $12 per user a month billed yearly, with a 14-day trial.
  • One-click task timers
  • Timesheet submission and approvals
  • Effective-dated billing and cost rates
  • Live project budgets and profitability
  • Client invoicing and payments
  • Client portal with a cost firewall
  • Reports and dashboards
  • Expense tracking with billable markup
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Buddy Punch

An easy time clock with a lot of ways to prove who punched: GPS on every punch, plus geofencing, PIN and kiosk punching and a webcam photo from the Pro tier up.

Best for
Small and mid-size hourly or field workforces that want an easy time clock with GPS and scheduling.
Pricing
No free plan, 14-day trial only. Billed annually: Starter $4.99, Pro $6.99, Advanced $12.99 per user a month, each plus a $19 monthly base fee. Extras are sold per user on top.
  • Punch in/out from web, mobile, or kiosk
  • GPS coordinates on every punch
  • Geofencing, PIN and kiosk punching (Pro)
  • Webcam photo on punch (Pro)
  • Scheduling, included from Pro
  • PTO accrual and approvals
Full comparison

See how the alternatives stack up

Pricing, best fit, and top strengths for TimeTracker and every tool in this comparison.

Comparison dimensionTimeTrackerBest fitBuddy PunchJibbleOnTheClockQuickBooks TimeHubstaff
CategoryProject time trackingTime and attendanceTime and attendanceTime and attendanceTime and attendanceProductivity monitoring
Best forAgencies and consultancies of 2 to 50 people who bill.Small and mid-size hourly or field workforces that want an.Small to mid-size teams, especially hourly, field, or.Small businesses that want a simple time clock with GPS.Small and mid-size field service or construction.Distributed teams, agencies, and field service businesses.
Starting price$12/user/month$4.99/user/monthFree$4/user/month$10/user/month$4.99/user/month
Top strengthTies every time entry to a task, so hours and money are.Rated 4.8/5 on G2 and Capterra for ease of useFree tier is unusually full-featured for unlimited usersClean, intuitive dashboard that needs little trainingDeepest native integration with QuickBooks Online and.Strong monitoring depth (screenshots, activity rate) for.

Pricing checked 2026-07-31. Confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.

Every option, in full

Each Buddy Punch alternative, and who it suits

Each tool below covers a different kind of team, so this is not a ranking. We list what each one does badly as well as what it does well, with the date we last checked its pricing.

TimeTrackerOurs

Best for

Agencies and consultancies of 2 to 50 people who bill clients for time and need to see project profit, not just hours.

Pricing

Free for up to 3 people, no credit card needed. Pro is $15 per user a month, or $12 per user a month billed yearly, with a 14-day trial.

Checked 13 July 2026

Every task carries operational and financial context together. Tracked time, budget impact, and invoicing live in one connected system, so you know if a project is still profitable before it becomes a problem. A service business that sells its people's time and needs to know, in real time, whether each client project is still making money.

Where it wins

  • Ties every time entry to a task, so hours and money are the same record instead of two systems to reconcile
  • Live budget and profitability rollups instead of a month-end spreadsheet
  • Timesheet approval locks numbers before they hit an invoice, so billed hours cannot silently drift
  • No screenshots, keystroke logging, or GPS tracking, by design

Where it falls short

  • Newer product than long-established time trackers, so its integration marketplace is still small
  • No native payroll run; timesheets export for an external payroll tool instead
  • Built for client-project delivery, not a general work OS, so it will not replace a wiki or a sprint board

Buddy Punch

Best for

Small and mid-size hourly or field workforces that want an easy time clock with GPS and scheduling.

Pricing

No free plan, 14-day trial only. Billed annually: Starter $4.99, Pro $6.99, Advanced $12.99 per user a month, each plus a $19 monthly base fee. Extras are sold per user on top.

Checked 30 July 2026

An easy time clock with a lot of ways to prove who punched: GPS on every punch, plus geofencing, PIN and kiosk punching and a webcam photo from the Pro tier up. A 15 to 100 person hourly or field workforce that needs proof of where a punch happened and will pay a base fee for it.

Where it wins

  • Rated 4.8/5 on G2 and Capterra for ease of use
  • Administrator accounts are free and unlimited, so managers do not use up seats
  • More ways to verify a punch than most rivals: GPS, geofence, PIN, kiosk and webcam photo

Where it falls short

  • No free plan at all, unlike Clockify, Jibble, Homebase and TimeCamp
  • The $19 monthly base fee hits small teams hardest. Five people on Starter is $43.95 a month, which is $8.79 each, not $4.99
  • Geofencing, PIN and kiosk punching and webcam photos all need the Pro tier
  • Real-time GPS is a paid add-on unless you are on Advanced, and other extras are priced per user too
  • No client billing or invoicing, so tracked hours cannot become a bill

Jibble

Best for

Small to mid-size teams, especially hourly, field, or shift workers, who want free attendance tracking.

Pricing

Free for unlimited users, including GPS, kiosk and face recognition. Paid tiers exist for PTO accruals and multilevel approvals, but Jibble no longer publishes their prices.

Checked 31 July 2026

More on Jibble

The most generous free plan in the category: unlimited users, GPS geofencing, and facial recognition to stop buddy punching, all at no cost. Small businesses and hourly or field teams that need reliable, verified clock-in and attendance reporting without a big budget.

Where it wins

  • Free tier is unusually full-featured for unlimited users
  • Strong, hardware-free buddy-punching prevention via facial recognition
  • Easy to set up, and kiosk mode works well for shared-device clock-ins

Where it falls short

  • Paid-tier prices are not published, so budgeting means asking Jibble first
  • PTO accruals, multilevel approvals, and live location need paid tiers
  • Mobile app dashboard is underdeveloped for on-the-go managers

OnTheClock

Best for

Small businesses that want a simple time clock with GPS, PTO, and scheduling included at the base tier.

Pricing

No free plan, 30-day trial. $4 per employee a month plus a $5 monthly base fee, so 2 employees is $13 a month. Payroll adds $6 per employee plus a $40 base fee, and a one-time $250 onboarding fee.

Checked 30 July 2026

More on OnTheClock

GPS tracking, geofencing, and PTO accrual come standard on the base plan, features most rivals gate behind higher tiers. Small businesses under 100 employees that want straightforward time tracking, scheduling, and PTO with clean payroll exports.

Where it wins

  • Clean, intuitive dashboard that needs little training
  • Strong review scores: 4.7/5 on Capterra, 4.5/5 on G2
  • GPS, geofencing, and PTO included at the base tier, not a premium add-on

Where it falls short

  • Payroll is not included; it's a separate paid add-on
  • Reporting and analytics are more basic than larger workforce platforms
  • Fewer native integrations than bigger rivals like QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time

Best for

Small and mid-size field service or construction businesses already running QuickBooks Online or Payroll.

Pricing

No free plan. Time Premium $20/mo base + $10/employee/mo; Time Elite $40/mo base + $12/employee/mo. Intuit now also sells Workforce Premium and Elite alongside these.

Checked 30 July 2026

More on QuickBooks Time

Owned by Intuit and built to sync natively with QuickBooks Online and Payroll, so timesheets and payroll share one data source. A construction or field service company of roughly 5 to 100 employees already on QuickBooks that wants timesheets feeding job costing.

Where it wins

  • Deepest native integration with QuickBooks Online and Payroll of any rival
  • Mature, well-tested GPS and mobile clock-in tools
  • Scheduling is included on every plan, not gated to the top tier

Where it falls short

  • Geofencing, mileage tracking, and project tracking need the Elite plan
  • Base fee plus per-employee pricing makes total cost less predictable
  • Full value depends on already using QuickBooks Online or Payroll

Hubstaff

Best for

Distributed teams, agencies, and field service businesses that need proof-of-work tracking tied to payroll.

Pricing

No free plan, 14-day trial only. Billed annually: Starter $4.99, Grow $7.50, Team $10 per seat a month, all with a 2 seat minimum, and Enterprise $25. So the real floor is $9.98 a month, not $4.99.

Checked 31 July 2026

More on Hubstaff

Pairs time tracking with built-in workforce monitoring (screenshots, activity levels, GPS geofencing) and automated payroll payouts. Agencies and outsourcing firms managing remote or field-based hourly workers who need verifiable activity data alongside payroll.

Where it wins

  • Strong monitoring depth (screenshots, activity rate) for proof of work
  • Built-in payroll automation removes the need for a separate payout tool
  • Works for hybrid teams: office staff and field workers on one platform

Where it falls short

  • No real always-free tier for full time tracking
  • Screenshot and activity monitoring can feel invasive to employees
  • Entry-level plan is limited on integrations and screenshot frequency
  • GPS and geofencing are a paid add-on gated to Team and above, not included
Why switch

Reasons teams switch

Popular features

Time Tracking

Employee time tracking your team will actually use

One click starts a timer, or people type hours in by hand. Every entry ties to a client, project, and task, so the record stays clean.

Explore Time Tracking→
Billing

Bill for every hour you earn

Mark each entry billable or non-billable while you work. Approved hours roll straight into reports you can bill from.

Explore Billing→
Reports & Dashboards

See where the time really goes

Break hours down by client, project, and team member. Find the work that pays off and the projects that run over.

Explore Reports & Dashboards→
Use cases

Use cases this solves

More comparisons

Compare other tools

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How much does Buddy Punch cost?
Billed annually it is $4.99 a user a month for Starter, $6.99 for Pro and $12.99 for Advanced, and every plan adds a $19 monthly base fee. That fee is why small teams pay over the sticker price: five people on Starter is $43.95 a month, or $8.79 each. There is no free plan. TimeTracker is $15 a user a month, $12 yearly, with no base fee and billing included. Checked July 2026.
What is Buddy Punch used for?
It is a time clock for hourly and field staff. People punch in from a phone, a browser or a shared kiosk, and it records GPS coordinates on the punch. Higher tiers add geofencing, PIN punching and a webcam photo. It exports to payroll, but it does not bill clients. Our guide to what Buddy Punch is covers each tier and what buddy punching means.
What is the 7 minute rule for clocking in?
It rounds clock times to the nearest quarter hour. Minutes 1 to 7 past a quarter-hour mark round down, and 8 to 14 round up. Federal law allows it, but only if the rounding stays neutral. Our guide to the 7-minute rule has the full chart and where it gets risky. TimeTracker keeps the exact raw duration alongside the rounded one.
What is the difference between Buddy Punch and Homebase?
Buddy Punch charges per user plus a $19 base fee and focuses on proving a punch with GPS, a geofence or a photo. Homebase charges per location, is free for one site with up to 10 staff, and leans on scheduling, hiring and payroll instead. For a single small site Homebase is usually cheaper. See the Homebase alternatives for the detail.
Does Buddy Punch show whether a project is making money?
No. Buddy Punch tracks clock-in and clock-out time, scheduling, and PTO, but it does not connect hours to project cost or price. TimeTracker shows cost against price live as the team logs hours, so you can see project profit while the work is still happening.
Can I send a client invoice straight from Buddy Punch?
No. Buddy Punch exports timesheets for payroll, not client invoices. TimeTracker turns approved hours straight into an invoice, see how invoicing from tracked time works.
Is there a free alternative to Buddy Punch?
Yes, several, and Buddy Punch itself has none. Jibble's free plan takes unlimited users with GPS and face check. Clockify is free for 5. Homebase is free for one site with up to 10 staff. TimeTracker is free for up to 3 people and includes timesheet approvals and billing, which no free time clock covers.
Is QuickBooks Time better than Buddy Punch?
Only if you already run QuickBooks. Its whole advantage is pushing hours into QuickBooks Payroll on its own, and Buddy Punch exports instead. Buddy Punch is cheaper for a small team once you compare like for like, and it has more ways to verify a punch. Neither bills a client, so if that is the job see invoicing from tracked time.
Can Buddy Punch see your location?
Yes, and it is worth knowing how much. Every plan records GPS coordinates at the moment you punch. Real-time GPS, which follows movement for the whole shift, is a paid add-on and comes included on the Advanced tier. TimeTracker records no location at all, and no screenshots or keystrokes either. It ties each entry to a client and project so people log billable hours without being followed.
Can I set different bill rates for different clients in TimeTracker?
Yes. You can set a bill rate per client and per person, and change rates over time without breaking invoices you already sent. See how rate management works.
Which teams should pick TimeTracker over Buddy Punch?
Teams that bill clients for time and want to see project profit, not just clocked hours, tend to do better with TimeTracker. Teams that mainly need GPS-verified punches and scheduling for hourly staff are often better served by Buddy Punch itself or a similar time clock. Compare both tools directly on the TimeTracker vs Buddy Punch page.
Retail manager and team member conversing near a wooden counter

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