What Is Connecteam, and Is It Really Free?

Connecteam is one phone app for deskless teams. Here is what it does, what the two free plans actually cover, and why most reviews get the price wrong.

See the alternatives

Plans read off Connecteam's own pricing page, 31 July 2026.

Definition

What Connecteam is, in one sentence

What it is

Connecteam is an all-in-one app for people who work away from a desk. One phone app carries a GPS time clock, the week's shifts, a shared-device kiosk, team chat, forms and checklists, training courses and HR records. It is sold as three separate hubs, Operations, Communications and HR & Skills, and you buy each one on its own. Up to 10 people it is free for life with everything switched on, which is the most generous free tier in this whole category.

Who needs this

Cleaning crews, construction firms, restaurants, retail chains, care agencies and any operation where staff carry a phone and never touch a company laptop. If your team already sits at desks and bills clients for hours, most of Connecteam is weight you will not use.

Features

What Connecteam does, hub by hub

Reviews list these as one long feature dump. That hides the thing that decides your bill, which is that each feature lives in a hub you buy separately, at its own tier.

Time clock with GPS (Operations)

Staff clock in and out from the Connecteam phone app, and the punch carries a GPS point. Every paid Operations tier includes it. Auto clock-out and up to 10 geofenced sites need Advanced. Unlimited geofences, live location and breadcrumb trails need Expert.

Job scheduling (Operations)

Connecteam builds the week, publishes open shifts people can claim, and repeats a pattern with templates. Basic covers simple scheduling and open shifts. Repeating shifts, templates and a shareable live link start at Advanced. Auto-assign and 12 parallel schedules are Expert.

Kiosk clock-in (Operations)

Connecteam has a separate Kiosk app so a whole crew can punch from one shared tablet at the site entrance, instead of everyone using their own phone. It sits on the Advanced tier and up. Note that TimeTracker has no shared-device mode of any kind.

Forms and checklists (Operations)

Unlimited digital forms, checklists and quick tasks on every paid Operations tier. This is what replaces the clipboard: a safety check before a shift, a job sheet after it, a photo from site. Conditional fields, so a question only appears when it matters, need Advanced.

Chat and updates (Communications)

A work chat, a company feed, a staff directory, surveys and an event calendar. Connecteam keeps all of this in the second hub, so a field team that wants both the time clock and the chat is buying two hubs and paying two fees.

Training and HR (HR & Skills)

Courses, quizzes, a document library with expiry dates on certificates, recognition and rewards. The third hub. Useful for a business that has to prove every cleaner did their induction, and irrelevant to almost everyone else.

Payroll and integrations

Connecteam sends approved hours to Gusto, QuickBooks Online, Paychex and Xero, and Expert adds API access and webhooks. This is a real advantage over tools that stop at a CSV file.

Phone first, and it shows

Connecteam is designed for a worker who has a phone and nothing else, and the reviews that like it most say the same thing: an employee can be onboarded in minutes without training. The manager side runs on the web. There is no full desktop app for staff.

Free

The two free plans, and where each one stops

Almost every review names one free plan. There are two, and they cap at different numbers. Getting this wrong is what makes people think Connecteam is expensive when it is not.

Comparison dimension	Small Business PlanBest fit	Limited plan	14-day trial
Price	$0, free for life	$0, free for life	$0 for 14 days
User cap	Up to 10	Up to 30	No cap for 14 days
How much is switched on	All 3 hubs, nearly all features	Essentials of each hub only	Everything, at Expert level
Credit card to start	No	No	No
Live GPS and breadcrumb trails	Yes, until you hit 11 users	No	Yes
Named by the ranking reviews	5 of 5 name it	1 of 5 names it	4 of 5 name it

Read off Connecteam's own pricing FAQ on 31 July 2026. The trial runs at Expert level, so what you try is not what the free plans give you afterwards.

Pricing

What Connecteam costs once you outgrow free

These are Operations hub rates, the hub that holds the time clock. One flat fee covers your first 30 people. Communications and HR are priced separately and cost less.

Comparison dimension	Basic	AdvancedBest fit	Expert	Enterprise
Flat fee a month, billed yearly, covers 30 users	$29	$49	$99	Quote only
Same fee, billed monthly	$35	$59	$119	Quote only
Each user past 30, billed yearly	$0.80	$2.50	$4.20	Quote only
Each user past 30, billed monthly	$1.00	$3.00	$5.00	Quote only
GPS on each punch	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auto clock-out and geofenced sites	No	Up to 10 sites	Unlimited sites	Unlimited sites
Live location and breadcrumb trails	No	No	Yes	Yes
Kiosk clock-in from a shared tablet	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
API access and webhooks	No	No	Yes	Yes
Single sign-on and 2FA	No	No	No	Yes

Read off Connecteam's pricing page on 31 July 2026. Paying yearly saves 18%, which the vendor calls two free months. Communications and HR overage rates are lower.

Fact sheet

Connecteam and TimeTracker side by side

We build TimeTracker, so read this knowing that. These two tools are not really competitors. One runs an operation, the other proves the hours later.

Connecteam

One phone app that runs a deskless operation. Clock, rota, kiosk, chat, forms and training, free for life up to 10 users with almost everything on.

Best for: Field, retail, hospitality and care teams whose staff work from a phone and never open a laptop.
Pricing: Free for life up to 10 users on the Small Business Plan, or up to 30 users on the cut-down Limited plan. Paid Operations tiers are a flat $29, $49 or $99 a month billed yearly, each covering 30 users.

GPS time clock on every paid tier
Shift building and open shifts
Shared-tablet kiosk from Advanced
Team chat and company feed
Forms, checklists and training
Sends hours to Gusto and QuickBooks

Compare the alternatives

Best fit

TimeTracker

Not an all-in-one. A time and attendance tool that makes approved hours hard to argue with months later, and does nothing else.

Best for: Teams whose hours get checked by a client, a payroll run or an auditor.
Pricing: Free for up to 3 people, no credit card and no seat minimum. Paid is $15 per user a month, or $12 per user a month billed yearly.

Approved periods lock against edits
Every later edit is recorded
Rounding keeps the exact raw time
Geofence and IP rules block a punch
Time off with real accrual policies
Overtime from expected against actual

Start free

Head to head

Where Connecteam beats us, and where it does not

Connecteam wins most of this table, and it should. It is a bigger product doing more jobs. The bottom rows are the narrow strip where we are the better answer.

Comparison dimension	Connecteam	TimeTrackerBest fit
Free plan size	10 users, or 30 cut down	3 users, full features
Cost for 25 people	$29 a month, one flat fee	$300 a month at $12 a seat
Builds next week's rota	Yes, with open shifts	No, none of it exists
Team chat, forms and training	Yes, in the other two hubs	No, none of it exists
Shared tablet at the door	Yes, Connecteam Kiosk	No, everyone signs in as themselves
Sends hours to a payroll system	Gusto, QuickBooks, Paychex, Xero	CSV export, then you import it
Live location and trails	Yes, on the $99 Expert tier	No, only allow or block a punch
Everything in one bill	No, three hubs priced apart	Yes, one plan, one price
Approved period locks	Approvals, no published lock	Yes, and later edits are logged
Keeps raw time beside rounded	Not published	Yes, both are stored
Blocks a clock-in from the wrong place	Records and alerts on geofences	Yes, and previews who it blocks
Hours against a client or project	Jobs, but no client billing	Yes, with rates and invoices

Checked on each vendor's own site on 31 July 2026. The $300 figure is honest arithmetic, not a typo. We charge per seat and Connecteam does not, so at 25 people it is far cheaper.

Narrow fit

The only jobs we do better than Connecteam

Problem	TimeTracker feature	Outcome
A client disputes an invoice six months after the work	Timesheets	The period is locked and every later edit is on the record
You round billable time and need the real figure kept too	Billing	Both the exact duration and the rounded one are stored
Hours need to land against a client, not a shift	Job costing	Every hour carries a rate and rolls into an invoice
Leave balances drift and nobody trusts the spreadsheet	Time off	Accrual, opening balances and approvals run in one place
Someone forgot to clock out and payroll is on Friday	Time tracking	The open session is spotted and the person is told

Problem
A client disputes an invoice six months after the work
FeatureTimesheets
Outcome
The period is locked and every later edit is on the record
Problem
You round billable time and need the real figure kept too
FeatureBilling
Outcome
Both the exact duration and the rounded one are stored
Problem
Hours need to land against a client, not a shift
FeatureJob costing
Outcome
Every hour carries a rate and rolls into an invoice
Problem
Leave balances drift and nobody trusts the spreadsheet
FeatureTime off
Outcome
Accrual, opening balances and approvals run in one place
Problem
Someone forgot to clock out and payroll is on Friday
FeatureTime tracking
Outcome
The open session is spotted and the person is told

Pros and cons

The real strengths and limits of each

Both write-ups follow one rule. Strengths and limits carry equal weight, nothing is invented, and every price was read off the vendor's own site on the date shown.

Connecteam

Best for

Field, retail, hospitality and care teams whose staff work from a phone and never open a laptop.

Pricing

Free for life up to 10 users, or up to 30 on the Limited plan. Operations paid tiers billed yearly are $29, $49 and $99 a month, each covering 30 users, then $0.80 to $4.20 per extra user.

Checked 31 July 2026

Where it wins

Free for life for up to 10 users with all three hubs and nearly every feature on, which is the most generous free tier in the category
A second free plan, Limited, covers up to 30 users for life on the essentials, and almost no review mentions it
Paid tiers are a flat fee for the first 30 people, so a 28-person crew pays the same as a 5-person one
Built for a worker with a phone and nothing else, and easy enough that onboarding takes minutes
One app covers clocking, the rota, chat, forms, checklists and training, which usually takes three or four tools
Sends approved hours to Gusto, QuickBooks Online, Paychex and Xero, so payroll does not start with a spreadsheet

Where it falls short

Three hubs are priced separately. Wanting the time clock and the chat means paying for two hubs, roughly $58 a month rather than $29
Live GPS and breadcrumb trails vanish at user 11 unless you jump to the $99 Expert tier, a 3x jump from Basic
Kiosk clock-in from a shared tablet needs Advanced, not Basic, which surprises small crews
No client billing, invoicing or project profitability, so agency and consultancy work still needs a second tool
Doing many jobs at once means each one is shallower than a specialist product
Most published reviews misprice it, quoting the yearly rate as monthly or inventing a flat $5 per-user overage, so get a quote before you budget

TimeTrackerOurs

Best for

Teams whose hours get checked by a client, a payroll run or an auditor.

Pricing

Free for up to 3 people, no card and no seat minimum. Paid is $15 per user a month, or $12 per user a month billed yearly.

Checked 31 July 2026

Where it wins

Approved periods lock against edits, and every change after that is recorded with who and when
Rounding to 6, 15 or 30 minutes always keeps the exact raw duration next to the rounded one
Geofence, IP range and accuracy rules can block a clock-in outright, and you can preview who a rule restricts before it goes live
Spots a session someone forgot to close and tells them, so attendance data does not drift before payroll
Hours carry a rate and roll into client invoices, which Connecteam does not do at all
One plan, one price, no hubs to buy separately

Where it falls short

No rota builder, no team chat, no forms, no checklists and no training courses. If any of those is the job, Connecteam wins outright
No kiosk and no shared-device mode. Everyone signs in as themselves on their own phone
Much more expensive above 10 people, because we charge $15 a seat and Connecteam charges one flat fee for 30
Free plan takes 3 users against Connecteam's 10
No offline clock-in. A punch needs a connection, where Connecteam keeps working without one
Approved hours leave as CSV. There is no direct push into a payroll platform

See all Connecteam alternatives

Which to pick

Running the operation, or proving the hours?

Choose Connecteam when…

Your staff work from phones and have no company laptop.
Connecteam was designed for exactly that worker.
You publish next week's shifts as well as tracking hours.
Connecteam builds the rota. We have nothing like it.
A crew should punch from one tablet at the site entrance.
Connecteam Kiosk does this from the Advanced tier up.
You have 10 people or fewer and want to spend nothing.
Connecteam is free for life with almost everything on.
Safety checklists, forms and training all need chasing.
Connecteam carries all three. We carry none of them.

Choose TimeTracker when…

A client argues about an invoice long after the work.
Approved periods lock and every later edit is recorded.See how
You round billable time and must keep the real figure.
Both the exact duration and the rounded one are stored.See how
Hours need a rate and an invoice, not just a shift.
Rates, job costing and invoices run off the same hours.See how
A punch from the wrong place should not count at all.
Geofence and IP rules block it, not just flag it.
You are a small desk-based team and want one simple bill.
Free for up to 3, then one plan with nothing bolted on.See how

FAQ

Common questions about Connecteam

Google shows no People Also Ask box for this brand, so these come from the FAQ sections of the pages that rank plus Connecteam's own pricing page.

Is Connecteam free?: Yes, in two different ways. The Small Business Plan is free for life for up to 10 users with all three hubs and nearly every feature switched on. Above that there is the Limited plan, also free for life, for up to 30 users on the essentials of each hub. Most reviews only mention the first one. For paid options and rivals, see our Connecteam alternatives roundup.
What is included in the Small Business Plan?: All three hubs at once: the GPS time clock, job scheduling, forms and checklists from Operations, chat and the company feed from Communications, and courses and documents from HR & Skills. The one thing you lose the moment you pass 10 users is live GPS and breadcrumb trails, which then need the $99 Expert tier.
How much does Connecteam cost?: Operations, the hub with the time clock, is $29 a month billed yearly for Basic, $49 for Advanced and $99 for Expert. Paying monthly makes those $35, $59 and $119. Each fee covers up to 30 users. Communications and HR are priced separately. Our own pricing is $15 per user a month, which is a completely different shape.
What happens when I have more than 30 users?: You start paying per person on top of the flat fee. On Operations billed yearly that is $0.80 extra a user on Basic, $2.50 on Advanced and $4.20 on Expert. Billed monthly it is $1.00, $3.00 and $5.00. Communications and HR are cheaper at $0.50, $1.50 and $3.00 yearly. Several ranking reviews quote a flat $5 for every tier, which is wrong.
Can I keep using Connecteam free after the 14-day trial ends?: Yes. The trial runs at Expert level, so it shows you more than the free plans give. When it ends you either subscribe, drop to the Small Business Plan if you have 10 or fewer people, or drop to the Limited plan for up to 30. Nothing forces you onto a card.
Does Connecteam work offline?: Mostly yes. The phone app holds a clock-in made without a signal and syncs it once the connection returns, which matters for basements, tunnels and rural sites. This is a genuine advantage over TimeTracker, where a punch needs a connection.
Does Connecteam track employee location in real time?: Only on the Expert tier. Every paid plan stamps a GPS point on the clock-in and clock-out. Continuous live tracking and breadcrumb trails between those two points are Expert only, at $99 a month billed yearly. Connecteam says tracking stops when the shift does, not around the clock.
Can Connecteam send hours to a payroll system?: Yes. Connecteam connects to Gusto, QuickBooks Online, Paychex and Xero, and Expert adds API access and webhooks so you can build your own route. TimeTracker exports approved hours and leave balances to CSV, and you load that into whatever runs your payroll.
Does Connecteam have a desktop app?: Not for staff. Employees use the phone app or the Connecteam Kiosk app on a shared tablet. Managers work in the browser. If your people sit at computers all day, that is a sign this is not built for you.
Who is Connecteam best suited for?: Operations with 10 to 200 deskless staff: cleaning, construction, security, care, retail and hospitality. It fits badly for agencies and consultancies, because there is no client billing, no rates and no project profitability. That work needs a billable hours tracker instead.
Why do reviews disagree about what Connecteam costs?: Because the pricing has an unusual shape and reviewers flatten it. It is not per user until user 31, the rates differ by hub as well as tier, and the yearly figure looks like a monthly one. Of five ranking pages we checked on 31 July 2026, one had the prices right, one printed the yearly rate as monthly, and one invented a single per-user overage that does not exist.
What is the best Connecteam alternative for a desk team?: It depends what you were using Connecteam for. If it was the rota, look at Deputy or When I Work. If it was free attendance for a big team, Jibble. If what you actually need is hours you can defend to a client or an auditor, that is what we built, and the full alternatives list covers the rest.

Not running a crew? Then you may not need all this

If your team sits at desks and the real problem is proving hours to a client or an auditor, TimeTracker is free for up to 3 people. Approvals, locking and rounding that keeps the raw time come with the one paid plan.

Start free