Time clock app for small business
Set up a real time clock yourself in an afternoon. No hardware, no consultant, and no HR department needed to keep it running afterwards.
Free for up to 3 people. No credit card needed.
Why small teams need one
When there are six of you, hours live in texts, memory and a spreadsheet somebody rebuilt last month. That works until it does not: a paycheck is wrong, someone disputes a shift, or you realise you paid overtime you never agreed to. A time clock app gives you one place where people clock in and out, and one timecard per period that somebody signs off.
For owners and office managers running teams of roughly 3 to 50 people, who do the payroll themselves and have no HR software already.
You are the owner and the payroll clerk
- Hours arrive by text, on paper, and in a group chat
- You rebuild the same spreadsheet at the end of every period
- Nobody agreed the overtime, but you are paying it anyway
- Enterprise tools want a demo call before they show you a price
- The cheap options cap the free plan right when you grow
One clock everyone uses, timecards that add themselves up, and a price you can read on the website.
See the setup steps →What makes it workable for a small team
You can set this up yourself
Sign up, name the workspace, invite people by email. There is nothing to install, no hardware to order, and no implementation call. Most teams have their first real timecard inside a day.
See getting started→
One file instead of five sources
At the end of the period you approve each timecard and export the approved hours to CSV. That is the file payroll works from, so you stop stitching numbers together from chats and paper the night before.
See data export→Four steps you can do this afternoon
Nothing here needs a specialist. If you can set up a shared inbox, you can do this.
Sign up free
Create the workspace with your email. No credit card and no sales call to get in.
Invite your team
Add people by email. They clock in from their own phone or a browser on the shop computer.
Set scheduled hours
Tell the app the hours you expect, so short days and overtime get flagged instead of discovered later.
Approve and export
At period end, approve each timecard and export the approved hours to CSV for payroll.
What a small team gets
Everything below is real. The honest list of gaps is in the next section.
Clock in and out
One button to start, one to stop, with a live running total on the open session.
Works on what they own
iPhone and Android apps, plus any browser, so you do not buy a device for every person.
Timecards per period
Worked hours beside scheduled hours, day by day, so payday is a review instead of a rebuild.
Overtime flagged early
Overtime, late starts and short days are worked out as the period runs, not after you have paid.
Time off included
Leave policies with accrual and balances, so holiday requests stop living in your inbox.
CSV export
Export approved hours, leave and balances whenever you want. Your data stays yours.
What we do not do
A small team usually wants one of two things we do not have. There is no kiosk mode, so you cannot mount a tablet by the door and let people punch in with a PIN, which is a common ask for shops and workshops. And there is no shift scheduling, so you cannot build next week's rota here. We compare worked hours against scheduled hours instead. If either of those is the whole reason you are shopping, save yourself the trial.
Small business time clock questions
The practical questions owners ask before they commit a team to a tool.
See full pricing→- Is there a free time clock app for small business?
- Yes. There is a free plan for small teams with no credit card needed, and the paid plan is $15 per user a month, or $12 billed yearly billed monthly or yearly. The current limits are on the pricing page.
- How long does it take to set up?
- Most small teams get from sign-up to a working clock the same afternoon. There is nothing to install and no implementation call, so the slow part is usually just telling everyone it is happening.
- Do I need to buy a time clock device?
- No. People clock in on the phone they already own, or from a browser on a computer you already have. There is no wall unit to buy, and no kiosk mode, so a shared tablet is not an option here.
- Can I try it before paying?
- Yes. Start on the free plan with no credit card. You can run a real period through it, approve a timecard and export the file before you decide whether the paid plan is worth it.
- Will it work if my team is only three people?
- Yes, and that is a common size. The setup is the same, just faster. You will feel the benefit most at period end, when the hours are already added up and flagged.
- Does it do payroll as well?
- No. It produces the hours that payroll needs and exports them to CSV, but it does not calculate pay or file taxes, and there is no direct sync with a payroll provider yet. For working out figures by hand, try our payroll calculator.
- What happens to my data if I stop paying?
- You can export your timecards, leave and balances to CSV at any time, including before you leave. We treat the data as yours rather than as a reason you cannot go. See data ownership for the detail.
- Can I schedule shifts in it too?
- No. There is no rota builder. You can set the hours you expect someone to work, which is what the timecard compares against, but you cannot draw next week's shifts in the app.
Set up your time clock this week
Start on the free plan, invite your team, and run one real pay period through it before you decide. No credit card needed.
Start free