QuickBooks Time vs uAttend: Full Comparison
QuickBooks Time is a cloud time clock that syncs with QuickBooks Payroll, with GPS and job costing. uAttend sells fingerprint and badge clock hardware.
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Our quick verdict on both tools
Pick QuickBooks Time if you already run payroll through QuickBooks and want hours to flow straight into a pay run with GPS proof for field staff. Pick uAttend if you want a physical clock at the front door for on-site staff, plus a simple app for anyone working off-site.
Start tracking freeWhat this comparison covers
QuickBooks Time and uAttend 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 for time and need budgets and invoicing tied to those hours, TimeTracker is worth a look too. See the full field on the alternatives page.
Compare the two products at a glance
Both tools solve time tracking. Here is what each one includes, side by side.
QuickBooks Time
Owned by Intuit and built to sync natively with QuickBooks Online and Payroll, so timesheets and payroll share one data source.
- 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.
- GPS time tracking with location breadcrumbs
- Geofencing to remind staff to clock in (Elite)
- Scheduling by shift or job
- Mileage tracking for field staff
- Job and project costing
- Native two-way QuickBooks sync
uAttend
Sells its own line of physical time clock hardware (fingerprint, facial recognition, badge) alongside cloud software, priced by employee count.
- Best for
- Businesses that want physical time clock hardware paired with a cloud dashboard.
- Pricing
- Tiered by employee count: about $29/mo (1-9 employees) up to $195/mo (100+). Hardware clocks sold separately from about $139. A plan covers 2 clocks and 1 admin, with extra clocks $12/mo and extra admins $8/mo. Payroll is a separate add-on from $5 a person a month.
- Fingerprint, facial recognition, badge clocks
- Mobile app with GPS on punch in/out
- Cloud dashboard for timesheets and PTO
- Touch-tone phone punching option
- Text and email missed-punch alerts
- Multi-location support
- Shift scheduling, and its own payroll add-on
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 QuickBooks Time when…
You already run payroll through QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Payroll.
Hours sync natively into QuickBooks, so a pay run pulls tracked time without exporting a file or re-entering hours by hand.See how
Your crews move between job sites and you need proof of where they clocked in.
GPS time tracking with location breadcrumbs shows where a punch happened, which matters for construction and field crews.See how
You want hours tied to a specific job so you can see what each project actually cost.
Job and project costing rolls tracked hours up by job, so labor cost per project is visible without a separate spreadsheet.See how
You need to build and publish shift schedules, not just record punches.
Scheduling by shift or job is included on every QuickBooks Time plan, not held back for a higher tier.See how
You want staff reminded to clock in once they reach a job site.
Geofencing on the Elite plan nudges a worker to punch in when they arrive, cutting down on missed or late clock-ins.See how
Field staff drive between sites and you need mileage logged for reimbursement.
Mileage tracking captures driving distance alongside time, so reimbursement numbers do not need a separate app.See how
Choose uAttend when…
You want a physical clock at the door for staff who work from one location.
Fingerprint, facial recognition, and badge clocks sit on-site, so staff punch in the same way they always have, no phone required.See how
You do not use QuickBooks and do not want your time clock tied to it.
uAttend runs as its own cloud dashboard, so it does not assume or require any specific payroll or accounting system.See how
You want pricing that scales with a fixed monthly fee by employee count, not a base fee plus per-user add-ons.
uAttend prices in flat tiers by employee count, from about $29 a month up, which is simple to budget against.See how
You want remote or traveling staff to be able to clock in by phone call, not just an app.
Touch-tone phone punching lets a worker clock in from any phone, which helps staff without a smartphone or data plan.See how
You run more than one location and want missed-punch alerts sent automatically.
Text and email alerts fire when a scheduled punch is missed, so a manager at another site finds out the same day.See how
You want responsive support if the clock hardware or app has an issue.
uAttend's customer support is frequently praised by reviewers as fast and easy to reach, which matters when a clock goes down.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
Frequently asked questions
- Is QuickBooks Time more expensive than uAttend?
- QuickBooks Time charges a base fee plus per-employee pricing, starting around $20 a month plus $10 an employee. uAttend prices in flat tiers by headcount, starting around $29 a month for up to 9 employees, though hardware clocks are sold separately. For time tracking by project, check both pricing pages against your exact headcount before deciding.
- Which tool syncs better with QuickBooks Payroll?
- QuickBooks Time wins here by a wide margin. It is owned by Intuit and built to sync natively with QuickBooks Online and Payroll, so hours flow into a pay run without exporting a file. uAttend does not offer that same native sync.
- Does uAttend sell physical time clock hardware?
- Yes. uAttend sells fingerprint, facial recognition, and badge clocks starting around $139, which sit on-site next to a cloud dashboard. QuickBooks Time is cloud and mobile only, with no matching hardware line, so its time tracking relies on phones and computers instead of a physical clock.
- Which tool is better for a construction or field service crew?
- QuickBooks Time is the stronger fit. GPS tracking, job costing, and mileage tracking are built around crews moving between sites. See how time tracking by project rolls labor cost up by job. uAttend covers GPS on punch too, but does not have the same job costing depth.
- Does either tool include employee scheduling?
- QuickBooks Time includes scheduling by shift or job on every plan. uAttend focuses more on clock-in and attendance than shift building. If capacity planning matters to you, QuickBooks Time covers more of that ground out of the box.
- Which tool handles PTO and leave tracking?
- Both track leave, but in different ways. uAttend includes PTO and leave tracking as part of its cloud dashboard, good for leave and PTO tracking out of the box. QuickBooks Time tracks time off too, but its deeper leave rules often depend on how QuickBooks Payroll is set up.
- Are geofencing and location alerts available on both tools?
- QuickBooks Time offers geofencing on its Elite plan, which reminds staff to clock in once they reach a site. uAttend covers GPS on mobile punches and sends missed-punch alerts by text and email, but its geofencing is not as central to the product as it is for QuickBooks Time's field-focused Elite tier.
- Which tool has more reliable hardware or app performance?
- Reviewers note that uAttend's fingerprint scanners can sometimes misread and its mobile app can crash. QuickBooks Time's GPS and mobile clock-in tools are more mature and widely used. If reliability under reports and dashboards matters most, weigh both against a trial with your own staff before committing.
- Do either of these tools handle client billing or invoicing?
- No. Both QuickBooks Time and uAttend are built around attendance and payroll, not sending invoices to clients. If you bill clients for hours worked, look at tools built around billing instead, since neither product here covers that workflow.
- What if neither QuickBooks Time nor uAttend fits what I need?
- If you need budgets, approvals, and invoicing tied to the same tracked hours, not just attendance, TimeTracker is worth a look. For a wider field of options beyond these two, see our alternatives page, which compares more tools side by side.
Ready to compare time and attendance tools?
QuickBooks Time and uAttend solve attendance in different ways. Check both against how your staff actually clock in before you commit to one.
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