The best ClockShark alternative for crews is TrackBadges, a QR badge time clock where a supervisor scans each employee's printed badge with any phone — no app or smartphone for employees, free for 3 people. Other strong options: busybusy, Workyard, QuickBooks Time, Buddy Punch, Connecteam.
Why people look for a ClockShark alternative
The three-year contract term.
Per-user pricing plus a base fee for a crew that mostly needs hours.
GPS tracking drains phones and draws complaints from crews.
You want proof each crew member was actually there when the foreman clocked them in.
The 6 best ClockShark alternatives
1
TrackBadges
Our pick for crews
A QR badge time clock for crews: a supervisor scans each employee's printed badge with any phone or tablet, and the owner gets live timesheets with overtime, ready for payroll. Best for: Crews that start the day together — construction, landscaping, cleaning, warehouses, farms and events — especially when not everyone has, or should use, a smartphone.
How employees clock in
A supervisor (or a shared tablet) scans each employee's printed QR badge. Scan once to clock in, again to clock out.
Employee needs a smartphone
No. Employees carry a printed badge.
Free plan
Free for up to 3 people, with every feature.
Pricing
Free for up to 3 people. Pro is $9 a month for your first 3 people, plus $1.50 a month for each person after that.
busybusy is a construction time tracking and job costing app with a free GPS plan, plus a kiosk and supervisor tools on its paid tiers. Best for: Construction companies that want job costing, equipment tracking and offline GPS time tracking.
How employees clock in
In the busybusy app on the employee's phone (works offline), at a kiosk with a PIN and photo, or by a foreman using Supervisor Tools to clock in crews.
Employee needs a smartphone
Not on Pro and above, where the kiosk and Supervisor Tools cover workers without phones. On the free plan, yes.
Free plan
Free for unlimited users with GPS time tracking — but no kiosk or supervisor tools.
Pricing
Free plan for unlimited users. Pro is $11.99 per user a month billed monthly ($9.99 annually) plus a $40 admin license that includes the first user; Premium is $17.99 ($14.99).
Workyard is a GPS time tracking and job costing app for construction and field service, with supervisor-led crew clock-in and an iPad kiosk on higher tiers. Best for: Contractors who want GPS-verified hours, job costing and project tracking, and are happy to pay annually.
How employees clock in
In the Workyard app on the employee's phone with GPS, by a supervisor clocking in the crew (supervisor-led time tracking), or at an iPad kiosk with a PIN and photo (Pro and above).
Employee needs a smartphone
No — supervisor-led tracking covers workers without phones; the kiosk needs the Pro tier.
Free plan
No free plan; free trial.
Pricing
Starter is $6 per user a month billed annually; Workyard doesn't publish its monthly price. Pro, Autopilot and Enterprise prices aren't published.
QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) is Intuit's time tracking app for QuickBooks Online users, with a mobile app, a PIN kiosk and crew clock-in. Best for: Businesses already on QuickBooks Online that want time data to flow straight into QuickBooks payroll and job costing.
How employees clock in
In the QuickBooks Workforce app on the employee's phone, at a kiosk with a 4-digit PIN and optional photo, or by a manager using the Crew feature.
Employee needs a smartphone
No — the kiosk and Crew feature cover employees without phones.
Free plan
No free plan; free trial. A QuickBooks Online subscription is required.
Pricing
Time Premium is $20 a month plus $10 per user; Time Elite is $40 plus $12 per user, billed monthly. A QuickBooks Online account is required (and billed separately).
Buddy Punch is an online time clock with many punch methods — web, mobile app, PIN and QR code kiosks, Face ID and text — plus a supervisor "group punch". Best for: Businesses that want lots of punch options, PTO tracking and payroll integrations, and don't mind a base fee plus per-user pricing.
How employees clock in
On the web or mobile app, at a PIN or QR kiosk (from the Pro plan), with Face ID on iOS, by text message, or by a supervisor's group punch.
Employee needs a smartphone
No — kiosks and group punch cover employees without phones.
Free plan
No free plan; there's a free trial.
Pricing
A $19 monthly base fee plus a per-user fee: Starter $5.99, Pro $7.99, Advanced $13.99 per user a month billed monthly ($4.99 / $6.99 / $12.99 annually). QR and PIN kiosks start on Pro. Admins are free.
Connecteam is an all-in-one app for deskless teams — time clock, scheduling, chat, forms and training — where employees clock in on their own phone or at a shared kiosk with a PIN. Best for: Teams where everyone has a smartphone and you want scheduling, chat and forms in the same app as the time clock.
How employees clock in
In the Connecteam app on the employee's phone (with GPS), at a shared kiosk with a 4-digit PIN and optional selfie, or by tapping NFC tags placed at a site.
Employee needs a smartphone
Not with the kiosk, which takes a PIN. Otherwise each employee uses the Connecteam app on their own phone.
Free plan
Free for up to 10 users (Small Business plan), with one time clock.
Pricing
Free for up to 10 users. Operations Hub Basic is $35 a month billed monthly ($29 annually) for the first 30 users, then $1 per user; Advanced ($59) adds auto clock-out and geofences.
Not on Pro and above, where the kiosk and Supervisor Tools cover workers without phones. On the free plan, yes.
No — supervisor-led tracking covers workers without phones; the kiosk needs the Pro tier.
No — the kiosk and Crew feature cover employees without phones.
No — kiosks and group punch cover employees without phones.
Not with the kiosk, which takes a PIN. Otherwise each employee uses the Connecteam app on their own phone.
One supervisor clocks in a crew
Yes — it's how it works. One phone clocks in the whole crew.
Yes — Supervisor Tools on Pro and above.
Yes — supervisor-led time tracking is on the Starter plan.
Yes — the Crew feature lets a manager clock in team members one at a time or all at once.
Yes — group punch lets a supervisor clock in several employees.
No. Per Connecteam's help center, admins can't clock someone in directly; they add the time to the timesheet instead.
Free plan
Free for up to 3 people, with every feature.
Free for unlimited users with GPS time tracking — but no kiosk or supervisor tools.
No free plan; free trial.
No free plan; free trial. A QuickBooks Online subscription is required.
No free plan; there's a free trial.
Free for up to 10 users (Small Business plan), with one time clock.
10 people / month
$19.50/mo
$147.91/mo
$60/mo
$120/mo
$98.90/mo
Free
25 people / month
$42/mo
$327.76/mo
$150/mo
$270/mo
$218.75/mo
$35/mo
50 people / month
$79.50/mo
$627.51/mo
$300/mo
$520/mo
$418.50/mo
$55/mo
Monthly prices for a crew using each vendor's shared kiosk or supervisor clock-in, at list prices checked in October 2026. Each comparison page shows the exact plan used. Annual billing is cheaper with most vendors.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best ClockShark alternative?
The best ClockShark alternative for crews is TrackBadges, a QR badge time clock where a supervisor scans each employee's printed badge with any phone — no app or smartphone for employees, free for 3 people. Other strong options: busybusy, Workyard, QuickBooks Time, Buddy Punch, Connecteam.
Is there a free ClockShark alternative?
Yes. TrackBadges is free for up to 3 people with every feature. busybusy: Free for unlimited users with GPS time tracking — but no kiosk or supervisor tools. Workyard: No free plan; free trial. QuickBooks Time: No free plan; free trial. A QuickBooks Online subscription is required. Buddy Punch: No free plan; there's a free trial. Connecteam: Free for up to 10 users (Small Business plan), with one time clock.
Does ClockShark require a contract?
ClockShark's pricing page says a contract term of three years applies to all pricing plans. TrackBadges is month to month with no contract.
What is ClockShark CrewClock?
CrewClock is ClockShark's feature that lets one person — usually a foreman — clock in several employees from their own phone by selecting them. TrackBadges does the same job by scanning each worker's printed QR badge, which also confirms the person is there.
Print a QR badge for everyone and scan them in and out with any phone or tablet. Free for up to 3 people — try it with your real crew before you sign up.