The Best Employee Monitoring Software

From keystroke logging to video surveillance – employee monitoring has different forms. But recently the most popular and effective is employee monitoring software. It is a popular form of boosting employee productivity and maximizing profit. It’s also a practical method for preventing fraud and internal crimes within an organization.

However, there is considerable controversy surrounding the subject of employee monitoring software. That’s because if used in an inappropriate way, without proper communication, it may bring more harm than good. Remember, employee monitoring will work only if it’s based on mutual trust.

What to Look For In Employee Monitoring Software?

If you implement the wrong software, it will bring more harm than good. Fancy-looking interface and modish features are not necessarily an indication of innovativeness and functionality.

Choosing the right software will bring many benefits to your business:

• Increased employee productivity
• Work automation and optimization of repetitive tasks
• Fraud elimination
• Internal and external safety of the organization and its employees
• Saving money on employee retention

The best employee monitoring software should be equipped with activity-tracking features, allow your employees to flexible work, and make them feel that they are benefiting from it.

Alongside the growing popularity of remote work, employee monitoring tools can be installed not only on company-owned computers but also on employee-owned devices. Business owners launch them sometimes carelessly, without proper communication that would explain the necessity and benefits of time tracking implementation. Keep in mind that no matter who owns the device employees are using to fulfill their duties, the employee monitoring software should work only within work hours.

👉 Read also about Work From Home Monitoring.

The market for software for tracking employees’ activities is vast and diverse. Companies with bigger needs should take a closer look at an on-premises solution. Yet not all apps fulfill their role. To help you implement a suitable tool for your business, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best employee monitoring software:

Best Employee Monitoring Software for on-site and remote teams

1. TimeCamp

👉 Manage your on-site and remote workforce time and attendance with the best employee monitoring software

TimeCamp is a time tracking software that automatically records all activities of your employees up to the second. All data is captured by the software in the form of detailed reports and timesheets. You can learn how your employees spend their work time, when they are most productive, and what activities take most of their time.

With TimeCamp, your employees can become more productive by maximizing time spent on efficient activities, and your business can increase profit by tracking the stage of projects and financial goals with the feature of budgeting.

Your employees will keep their privacy and you will receive real-time information on your company’s health.

Read more about tracking computer usage.

Main features:

• Comes with a wide range of platforms. The tool is available for Desktop (Windows, Mac, and Linux, and has native mobile apps available for iOS and Android to help users track their time regardless of location
• Automatically records time usage of each application running on your computer with the handy desktop app
• Measures the working time by particular categories
• Records the time spent away from a computer – detects the idle time
• Task management with advanced project structure
• Automatic time tracking 
• Monitors productive and unproductive activities
• Budgeting reports show actual vs. estimated time.
• Invoicing and budgeting
• Attendance management with timesheet approvals
• An extensive list of integrations with popular project management and productivity software

Free

$

0.00

billed annually

Free plan includes all the essentials (accurate time tracking, unlimited projects, a time clock kiosk, desktop, and mobile apps, idle time detection, and many more).

Starter

$

2.99

billed annually

Starter plan includes unlimited tasks, excel reports export, attendance, time-off, overtime tracking.

Premium

$

4.99

billed annually

Premium plan includes one integration, billable time, budget and estimates, apps and websites tracking, project archiving, and more.

Ultimate

$

7.99

billed annually

Ultimate plan includes unlimited integrations, billable rates, labor costs, invoicing, timesheet approvals, custom user roles, and more.

Enterprise

Talk to sales

Schedule here

Enterprise Plan, designed for companies with 50+ employees, includes priority support with SLA, self-hosted and private cloud instances, custom integrations, and more.

Get the best employee monitoring software – sign up for TimeCamp free!

2. CloudDesk

👉 Monitor employee activities and employee performance

CloudDesk is a comprehensive employee monitoring software for managing the productivity of your workers. CloudDesk comes with all the standard features, including time tracking and activity tracking, it is focused on helping your workforce get their work done. The software is user-friendly and a great solution for businesses that monitor employee activity and respect employee privacy at the same time.  

CloudDesk tracks when employees are working actively and when they are idle, the websites they visit, and the apps they access, and captures screenshots as proof of record. All user activity logs are stored in your cloud-based single dashboard making it easier for you to understand their behavior trends. 

Main Features:

• Time tracking in real-time
• Advanced workforce analytics and productivity insights
• Face ID verification to confirm employee identity
• Screenshots capture at specified intervals
• Keeps record of total working hours, idles hours, and overall productivity
• No hidden or stealth feature
• Geolocation tracking to confirm employee location
• Increases mutual trust between employees and employers
• Easy integration with other software
• Comprehensive, easy-to-understand detailed report

Pricing: Free Trial option for 5 users for 14 days

Premium pricing starts from $5 per month per user

3. ActivTrak

👉 Manage employee performance in real-time

ActivTrack is an employee monitoring software for demanding users. It’s a powerful tool that can provide you with valuable, meticulously detailed information. ActivTrak is an easy-to-use, employee behavior analytics software. It helps to understand how employees work by tracking their activities.

ActivTrak combines two important elements: productivity analysis and threat analysis. The two features can help your staff work productively and will keep your business safe from cybercrime and internal perils.

Main features:

• Real-time activity monitoring
• GPS tracking
• Numerous categories of tracked activities: measuring productive and unproductive activities, top websites and applications, website history for subpages, Top Users and Top Groups, 
• Searching by filters
• Alarms for assessing risks within the organization
• Stealth mode – employees don’t need to know you’re monitoring their work
• Triggers for alarms and unproductive activities
• Time tracking
• Screenshots
• USB tracking
• Reports

Pricing:

• Freemium – free up to 3 users
• Advanced – $7.20 per user / per month with Annual Сontract

4. Hubstaff

👉 Know how much time employees spend on tasks and measure productivity

Although Hubstaff is a time tracking software, it’s also a great tool for monitoring employees’ activity. It’s one of the most popular software used for employee tracking due to its simplicity and ease of use.

Hubstaff is universal, perfect for teams of any size as well as individuals. It’s also good for remote employees and those working in the field. Its features make it painless to manage workflow, and record working hours and all activities performed on the computer.

Main features:

• Easy time tracking in the real-time
• Screenshots
• Tracking activities with distinction to tasks and projects
• Websites and app usage tracking
• Employee productivity tracking
• Timesheets
• Daily, weekly, and calendar views
• GPS tracking
• Integrations with the most popular productivity and project management apps

Pricing:

• Free for 1 user
• Basic – $5 per user per month (paid monthly)
• Premium – $10 per user per month (paid monthly)

5. TimeDoctor

👉 Monitor work hours while managing human capital

Fully customizable, TimeDoctor is the best employee monitoring software for demanding users who need detailed insight into employees’ activity. It monitors the usage of apps and websites so managers can see how their teams are spending their time during work.

At the same time, employees can use the app to boost their productivity and better allocate their time. TimeDoctor is a first-class software for proper resource allocation and overall project management.

Main features:

• Time tracking with distinction to tasks, projects, people
• Time Doctor will monitor employee internet usage during their work time. When it is detected that excessive amounts of time are being spent on YouTube, Facebook, or browsing other personal websites, Time Doctor will give those users a nudge to check if they are still working
• Website and application monitoring
• Screenshots
• Ability to give clients access to Time Doctor
• Payroll management
• GPS tracking
• Range of configurable options available
• Integrations with the most popular apps

Pricing:

$9.99/month per user with a free 14-day trial

6. DeveLoop

👉 Entity behavior analytics fostering workplace diversity

 

Dedicated to employee development, DeveLoop is the best employee monitoring software for managers who want to align employee skills to the business. It is a robust analytical tool immensely helpful in finding skill gaps and providing employees with relevant feedback on their performance.

DeveLoop is an advanced solution that uses AI, Behavioral Science, and Data Analytics, to create an ALX  (Adaptive Learning Experience) to improve employee productivity and increase ROI.

Main features:

• Activity monitoring and productivity analysis
• Feedback management
• Performance management
• Individualized Learning Journeys customized to each employee’s developmental needs
• Smart Nudges, Reminders, and 360-degree feedback to push learning and keep employees growing
• Integrations with external software
• Available as a mobile app for iOS and Android

Pricing:

Not provided by the vendor

7. Timetastic

Timetastic is a comprehensive time-off management software with efficient features to simplify and transform your company’s leave management process, making booking time off work a breeze.

No more dealing with paper forms and updating messy spreadsheets. You get a central, up-to-date record of absences, so you can plan better, and work smarter. It also provides an easy way for your team to put in their sick-leave notice, so you don’t have to worry about updating your company calendar or their individual sick leave balance. You can group your staff into departments, allocate one boss to manage the whole team, set minimum staffing levels, and see clashes before approving requests for time off.

Main features:

• Up-to-date tracking on your team’s sick leave (as well as other leave types)
• Two ways to share sick leave information with your payroll department
• Public holidays from over 3,000 regions are supported in Timetastic. From UK to the USA, Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, we’ve got you covered

Pricing:

Business – $1.30 (per user per month)

Pro – $2.50 (per user per month)

8. Kickidler

👉 Monitor workplace productivity with an advanced employee monitoring system

Kickidler can be used as a time tracking and employee monitoring software. Its features allow managers to track every detail of employees’ work. Vast reports provide complete insight into all activities and make it easy to analyze productivity and performance in your business. Kickidler also helps in monitoring violations and employee negligence. It’s a perfect employee monitoring software for people who like exhaustive data, statistics, and figures.

Main features:

• Automatic time tracking with timesheets
• Real-time reports
• Employee productivity reporting and analysis
• Employee violations recording
• Screenshots with recording
• Remote PC access with the remote keyboard, mouse, and clipboard control
• Keystroke logging and monitoring
• Comprehensive and detailed reports
• Stealth mode

Pricing:

Pricing starts from $2 per month per license

9. Teramind

👉 User activity monitoring – check how deep employees engage

Teramind is one of the most popular employee monitoring software. It’s a fantastic surveillance and security tool as it helps to detect malicious behavior and threats to your organization. This robust solution will keep track of your staff’s activities. Additionally, it boosts employee efficiency and automates work.

Main features:

• User activity monitoring
• Use behavior analytics – customizable alerts with a full audit trail and video recording of all user actions
• Industry-defining DLP features such as OCR, fingerprinting, and content discovery to prevent malicious or negligent data exfiltration
• Monitoring employee activity with customizable reports to identify team, department, individual-level productivity, social media use, time spent on projects, apps, and more
• Compliance with the law, GDPR, PCI, HIPPA, and more
• Risk detection and blocking unwanted employee behavior

Pricing:

• Cloud – starts from $60 per month for 5 users (with a free 7-day trial)
• On-premise – starts from $60 per month for 10 endpoints (with a free 14-day trial)

10. Pivotal Tracker

👉 Employee monitoring businesses appreciate

If you’re looking for software that enhances workflow and would help your team work better, Pivotal Tracker is the right fit. It tracks employees’ activities and performance so everybody can get insight into each other’s work, project status, and workflow. People can create so-called stories at different stages of projects and set off right where they want to with their work.

Pivotal Tracker is a great software for people liking flexibility and wants to be more productive and improve communication and collaboration through agile management.

Main features:

• Drag-and-drop stories
• Workspaces with the view of entire projects
• File sharing
• Mentions @ and stories following
• Tasks
• Project history
• Search
• Labels
• Integrations with numerous external apps

Pricing:

• Startup – starts from $12.50 per month (paid annually)
• Pro – starts from $62.50 per month (paid annually)
• Enterprise – custom pricing

Check out Pivotal time tracking integration!

11. WebWork

👉 Basic employee monitoring solution for teams with simple needs

WebWork is great for freelancers, teams, and employees of larger businesses; for people who like straightforward solutions. It’s a simple but effective tool that doesn’t invade employees’ privacy. It has all the essential features to track employee activity and track time. You can acquire extensive data about your staff’s activity and help them become more productive.

Main features:

• Automatic time tracking with reports
• Screenshots
• Activity level tracking by keystrokes and mouse clicks
• 5 user types with different permissions and roles
• Tracking websites and apps
• Tasks with checklist and Kanban board
• Invoicing and billable hours
• Activity description

Pricing:

$2.99 per user/month with a free trial

12. BambooHR

👉 Comprehensive employee tracking software on every step

If you’re looking for an HR suite with employee monitoring solutions, take a closer look at BambooHR. BambooHR employee monitoring software is a huge help for human resources operations and provides the managers with reliable data for user behavior analytics.

Collecting, storing, and managing people’s data takes time, wastes tons of paper, and is at risk of data leaks. With this cloud-based HR software, you’ll create a comprehensive, secure employee database with high-level data loss prevention settings.

Main features:

• Employee monitoring with records,
• Workflows and approvals
• Analytics and reporting,
• Paid time off tracking,
• Applicant tracking and new employee onboarding,
• Offboarding,
• Time tracking tools,
• Payroll
• Performance management with employees productivity tracking

Pricing:

Not provided by the vendor, you need to fill out the form and send a request to get a price quote.

13. Monitask

👉 Employee monitoring software with screenshots

If you feel your company lacks transparency, maybe Monitask is the employee monitoring solution you’re looking for. The tool allows employees to clock in manually, then takes screenshots at random times and monitors employee activity, but only when they’re clocked in, maintaining employee privacy.

As the vendor states on their website – it’s not for spying purposes, the usage just brings more clarity. It doesn’t offer features like keystroke logging or screen recording and the tool can’t run without the user’s permission.

Monitask monitoring software ensures full employee safety and is dedicated mostly to remote work tracking – it’s available for both desktop and mobile devices.

Main features:

• Activity monitoring software
• Computer screenshots
• Team analytics
• Task management
• Idle time detection
• Time tracking
• Internet/Application monitoring

Pricing:

• Pro – $5.99 user/month
• Business – $8.99 user/month
• Entrepirise – $19.99 user/month
• Free trial available

14. Apploye

👉 Staff monitoring software for remote teams

With Apploye, productivity monitoring of your remote workers is a piece of cake. No matter if you run a startup or a big company, you can monitor employees’ productivity while protecting employee privacy and data security.

With this tool, you’ll also build the project and task structure and plan the budget for upcoming projects. You can also assign users to them and measure how much time employees spend on their tasks.

Apploye has a pleasant, intuitive user interface. The app tracks time in the background and allows the employees to clock in/out with just one click.

Main features:

• Log time tracking,
• Optional add-on for employee and staff monitoring,
• Projects & budgeting,
• Google Calendar scheduling,
• Attendance management,
• Task management,
• Clients database and invoicing,

Pricing:

• Solo – $2 user/month (for freelancers),
• Standard – $2.5 user/month
• Premium – $3 user/month (includes everything in Standard)
• Elite – $3.5 user/month (included everything in Premium)

15. Network LookOut

👉 Employee network monitoring software that prevents data breach

If your company doesn’t need time tracking tools with advanced features but only an employee tracking software with a simple user interface, Network LookOut will be a good employee monitoring solution. Its main goal is to prevent or detect data breaches and unproductive behavior to successfully eliminate them.

While Network LookOut doesn’t offer keyboard and mouse activity logging, it tracks employee activity and records desktop screens. Recording sessions can be scheduled for specific days, so they can be done remotely without the manager’s presence or continuous internet connection. However, we should remember how important is to communicate and discuss this issue before introducing such a practice to the team.

Main features:

• Cloud-based employee monitoring software
• Desktop screen recording
• Activity tracking
• Advanced admin tools
• Web browsing blockade
• Screen sharing
• File manager
• Computer functionality restriction,
• Employee notification and real-time alerts
• Pricing:

Commercial license pricing depends on the number of licenses your company wants to purchase, the lowest number is 5 computers for $179.95. An unlimited amount of computers (that are located in one building) cost $1,999.95.

16. Traqq

👉 User activity monitoring for on-site and remote teams

No matter if you manage remote workers or an on-site team, Traqq provides you with time tracking and productivity monitoring software. It’s one of these employee monitoring solutions that offer automatic screenshots and short video recordings. However, the provider states it’s not for employee surveillance, but to measure and analyze the activity level of the entire team. All taken materials are blurred to monitor employees’ data privacy.

With Traqq, you can set automatic notifications that remind you to turn on your timer or just tell you for how long you’ve been working. With this employee monitoring software, you’ll fill timesheets easily, and then, based on the records, analyze the team’s performance.

Main features:

• Time logging
• Screenshots, videos and activity levels,
• App and website monitoring
• Reporting
• People management
• Notifications and reminders

Pricing:

• Premium starter for freelancers and teams up to 3 seats – free,
• Premium teams – $6 per seat per month,
• Enterprise – request custom pricing

17. EmpMonitor

👉 Discreet employee monitoring software with activity tracking

If you suspect that your remote team members are snoozing on their job, track employee productivity with EmpMonitor. It’s an employee monitoring software that helps you keep an eye on employees’ productivity and measure their performance.

The tool offers a wide range of features for high-level security threat protection – website and application tracking monitoring parameters customization or automatic screenshots. What’s more, it helps track employee attendance with its offline time logging and work schedule.

👉 Find out more about Employee Attendance Tracking Apps

Based on collected data, EmpMonitor equips you with reports for your team’s activity. All data is safely stored in the cloud, so you can access them anytime and analyze the employees’ performance.

Main features:

• Automatic time recording with activity tracking
• Productivity tracking
• Human Resources Management Solution
• Shift scheduling
• Screenshots and keystroke monitoring
• Offline time request

Pricing:

• Free plan or 1-5 users, free trial included (15 days)
• Bronze – $4.59 user/month (up to 10 users),
• Silver – $3.75 user/month (up to 50 users),
• Gold – $2.92 user/month (up to 200 users).

18. Insightful (previously Workpuls)

👉 Workforce tracking and analysis for mind-driven teams

If your data-driven team is looking for the best employee monitoring software, consider taking a look at Insightful. The tool, known previously as Workpuls, provides you with data-based features that create a more productive workplace.

Insightful is one of these employee monitoring tools that take screenshots at any moment during the day. It also tracks the website and app usage, as well as employees’ time, providing you with insights into how they spend their work hours.

Insightful also makes employee attendance less costly – it allows users to clock in/clock out automatically just by turning the app on and off.

Main features:

• Real-time monitoring with activity tracking,
• Attendance management
• Reporting
• Screenshots,
• Stealth mode,
• Manual time entry,
• Productivity tracking

Pricing:

• Employee monitoring – $6,40 per user per month,
• Time tracking – $8 per user per month,
• Automatic time mapping – $12 per user per month,
• Enterprise – custom pricing (with unlimited screenshots)

19. LeapMax

👉 Improve workflow efficiency with employee monitoring software for remote teams

If you’re looking for an advanced employee monitoring software for tracking productivity and preventing efficiency loss of remote workers, take a look at LeapMax. Offering the highest level of data loss prevention and company security, it works also as data loss prevention software.

AI-based privacy settings customization includes for example using the user’s system in a special, customized mode. Such a mode blocks the option like copy/paste, website whitelisting, or particular key combination usage.

LeapMax, except for customizable employee monitoring, also provides remote teams with team collaboration, coordination, and communication features. The tool improves operational productivity and gains deeper insights into business performance and workforce productivity analysis. However, users may find some of the features of the remote workforce tracking as affecting the employees’ privacy.

Main features:

• AI-based employee monitoring software with a custom user interface (system mode),
• A live-chat platform for remote workers
• Encrypted video conferencing
• Real-time alerts and activity status
• Audit trails
• Reporting management
• Web and usage tracking
• Network health examination

Pricing:

Not provided by the vendor, you probably need to register for a demo to get the pricing. Free trial not included.

20. Desklog

👉 Automated time logging software with screenshots and data security threat protection

Employee monitoring also includes attendance management and Desklog provides on-site and remote teams with both features. With its automatic time logging and screenshots abilities, it streamlines the daily remote workers’ management and their activity tracking.

If your team requires more forms of employee supervision, Desklog also tracks apps, URLs, and document titles. All the registered data can be viewed and analyzed in real-time reports that show the percentage value of how employee spend their time at work.

Besides, Desklog offers other employee monitoring software essentials like idle time detection, offline time logging, and attendance management. Shift management is an extra benefit there.

Main features:

• Employee monitoring with time and activity tracking,
• Productivity reports,
• Attendance management,
• Shift management,
• Offline time request and absence calendar,

Pricing:

• Free plan for up to 10 members (free trial included),
• Business – $3.5 per user per month (5 teams),
• Enterprise – $4.5 per user per month (unlimited teams, premium support)

21. Kriptone

👉Monitor how your employees spend their work hours

Kriptone is an IT service provider that creates Ekran System – monitoring software with activity tracking and real-time alerts. It provides companies with a vast range of user identity verification and access organization.

With Kriptone, you’ll track and analyze employees’ performance. It’s real kryptonite for efficiency flaws – as a productivity tracking software, it detects idle time and tracks employee activities. What’s more, you can generate productivity reports whenever you want or schedule to receive them daily, weekly, or on a monthly basis.

Kryptonite can be installed on both company-owned and employee-owned devices.

Main features:

• Employee monitoring
• Security incident investigation,
• Insider threat prevention,
• Identity management,
• Reporting

Pricing:

Not provided by the vendor, fill out the form to request the custom offer.

Conclusion

It’s worth mentioning that monitoring software for employees is often confused with time tracking software. Yet they are not the same. However, they oftentimes have similar features. Only that time tracking apps are aimed at improving employee efficiency and increasing revenue, while employee monitoring software is often used to prevent malicious activities and internal and external threats.

No matter which tool you choose, remember that they are all distinct and serve different purposes. Pick the tool that meets your business model and requirements and you will find out how many benefits you’ll gain!

What are your thoughts on employee monitoring software? Do you approve of it, u maybe you think employee monitoring is unethical practice? Let us know in the comment section below!

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Co-author: Ola Rybacka

Kate Borucka Kate is a freelance translator, copywriter, and a content writer specializing in time tracking software, time management, and productivity. When not researching new software, she's reading books, or spending time outdoors.

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