Buddy Punch vs Jibble: Full Comparison
Buddy Punch pairs a time clock with drag-and-drop scheduling and photo capture. Jibble pairs a time clock with free facial recognition and GPS.
Free to start. No credit card needed.
Our quick verdict on both tools
Pick Jibble if cost matters most and you want a full-featured free plan with facial recognition and GPS for unlimited staff. Pick Buddy Punch if you want scheduling built into the same app as the time clock, plus a 4.8 out of 5 rating on G2 and Capterra for ease of use.
Start tracking freeWhat this comparison covers
Buddy Punch and Jibble are both time tracking tools, compared here side by side so you can see how they differ.
If neither tool fits because you bill clients by the hour and need budgets and invoicing tied to tracked time, TimeTracker is worth a look too.
Compare the two products at a glance
Both tools solve time tracking. Here is what each one includes, side by side.
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
Jibble
The most generous free plan in the category: unlimited users, GPS geofencing, and facial recognition to stop buddy punching, all at no cost.
- 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.
- Web, desktop, mobile, and kiosk apps
- AI facial recognition at clock-in
- GPS-verified clock-ins with geofencing
- Automated timesheets with approvals
- PTO policies and accrual (paid tiers)
- 30+ integrations plus Zapier
See how they stack up
Pricing, best fit, and top strengths for both tools, side by side.
Pricing checked 2026-07-31. Confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.
Which one fits your team
Choose Buddy Punch when…
You need to build and share shift schedules, not just record hours after the fact.
Drag-and-drop scheduling lives in the same app as the time clock, so shifts and actual punches sit side by side.See how
You want basic GPS and geofencing without moving to a top-priced tier first.
Basic GPS tracking and geofencing come standard on Buddy Punch's lower tiers, though advanced real-time GPS is locked to the priciest Enterprise tier.See how
You want a photo attached to every clock-in, not just a face scan at set intervals.
Photo capture on punch gives a supervisor a picture tied to each entry, which is easy to review after the fact.See how
You want PTO accrual and approvals handled without a separate leave system.
PTO accrues by policy and requests route for approval, so leave balances stay correct without a spreadsheet.See how
You want a tool with strong reviews for ease of use.
Buddy Punch holds a 4.8 out of 5 rating on both G2 and Capterra, which reflects how little training it needs.See how
Choose Jibble when…
You want to run full attendance tracking for free with no user cap.
Jibble's free plan covers unlimited users with GPS and facial recognition included, not just a trial.See how
You need a hardware-free way to stop one worker from clocking in for another.
AI facial recognition checks identity at clock-in without buying a scanner or badge reader.See how
You run shared devices at one or more sites and need a simple clock-in station.
Jibble's kiosk mode turns a tablet or shared computer into a clock-in point with no extra hardware to buy.See how
You already use a wide range of other business apps and want broad integration coverage.
Jibble connects to 30 plus apps plus Zapier, giving smaller teams a way to link attendance data elsewhere.See how
You want automated timesheets with approvals without paying a per-employee base fee.
Timesheets generate automatically from clock data and route for approval, part of Jibble's free and paid tiers.See how
Your budget is tight and you need the lowest possible cost to start tracking attendance.
A team can run on Jibble's free plan with no seat limit, which suits a business watching every dollar.See how
Popular features
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→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→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 this solves
Leave & PTO Tracking
Track accruals and approvals so leave balances stay correct without a spreadsheet.
Explore→Timesheet Approvals
Let a manager sign off on hours before they turn into pay or an invoice.
Explore→Audit Trail & Compliance
Keep a clear record of who logged what, and when, for every entry.
Explore→
Frequently asked questions
- Is Buddy Punch more expensive than Jibble?
- Yes, usually. Jibble has a free plan for unlimited users with GPS and facial recognition included. Buddy Punch starts around $4.49 a user a month plus a flat base fee, with no free tier for ongoing use. If cost is the deciding factor, check the time tracking basics each plan covers before you commit.
- Which tool stops buddy punching better?
- Both are built for this, just differently. Jibble uses AI facial recognition to confirm the person clocking in. Buddy Punch uses a photo capture on punch, which a supervisor reviews rather than an automatic face match. Either approach beats a plain PIN or badge for audit trail and compliance needs.
- Does Jibble have scheduling like Buddy Punch?
- Jibble focuses on clock-in verification and timesheets more than shift building. Buddy Punch includes drag-and-drop scheduling in the same app as its time clock, which suits teams that plan capacity planning ahead of time, not just record punches after they happen.
- Is Jibble's free plan really unlimited?
- Yes, as of 2026 Jibble's free plan covers unlimited users with GPS and facial recognition, not just a capped trial. Buddy Punch has no equivalent free tier, so its cost tracking starts from day one, base fee included.
- Which tool has GPS tracking?
- Both do. Jibble includes GPS-verified clock-ins with geofencing, even on its free plan. Buddy Punch offers GPS with a live map view on its lower tiers too, useful for teams tracking time by project across job sites.
- Which tool handles PTO and leave better?
- Jibble adds PTO policies and accrual, but only on its paid tiers. Buddy Punch also builds leave and PTO tracking into its plans, with accrual and approvals as part of the product rather than a separate app.
- Did Jibble's pricing change recently?
- Yes. Jibble raised its paid tier prices in March 2026, which made its Premium and Ultimate plans less competitive than before, even though the free plan stayed the same. If a plan's price rising matters to you, compare both tools' full cost tracking picture, not just the sticker price, before you commit.
- Which tool is easier to set up for a small team?
- Both are simple to set up. Buddy Punch holds a 4.8 out of 5 rating for ease of use across reviewers. Jibble is also quick to configure, especially for a team that just wants reports and dashboards on attendance with no cost to start.
- Do either of these tools handle client billing?
- Not really. Both are built around attendance and hourly workforce management, not client invoicing. If you bill clients for time and need it tied to billing, neither tool is the right fit on its own.
- What if neither tool fits what I need?
- If you need project budgets and invoicing tied to the same tracked hours, neither of these two is built around that. Our alternatives page covers more options, including TimeTracker, which is worth a look for that kind of setup.
Ready to pick the right time clock?
Buddy Punch and Jibble both verify attendance well. Weigh scheduling and track record against price and facial recognition before you commit.
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