11 Best Employee Productivity Monitoring Tools: Track Performance & Identify Bottlenecks
Maximizing and tracking employee productivity is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge and achieving organizational goals. Effective monitoring and management of employee productivity can help identify bottlenecks, streamline workflows, and ensure that teams are working efficiently. Suppose you want to learn how to track employee productivity. In that case, this article explores eleven top employee productivity monitoring tools that can provide valuable insights into how time and resources are being utilized. By leveraging these employee productivity tools, businesses can enhance productivity, foster a more focused work environment, and drive better performance across the board.
Evaluation Criteria for Productivity Tracking Tools
📈 Features and capabilities: Ensure it offers all the functionalities you need to monitor and boost productivity effectively.
💻 Ease of use: The tool should be easy to navigate for both managers and employees to minimize the learning curve.
📊 Reporting and analytics: Consider the quality and depth of the reporting and analytics features as detailed reports can help you better understand productivity trends.
🔧 Integration with other tools: Check if the work productivity tracker integrates seamlessly with other software you use.
🕒 Real-time monitoring: Determine if the team productivity tracker provides real-time monitoring and updates.
👩💼 Employee-friendly: Choose a tool that balances monitoring with respect for employee privacy and trust.
📱 Mobile accessibility: Ensure the employee productivity software is accessible on mobile devices.
Everhour is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!
Employee Productivity Monitoring Tools: Comparison Table
| Tool | Free Trial | Pricing | Standout Features |
| Everhour | 14-day free trial; Free plan | From $8.50 per user/mo | Precise time tracking, Project management integration, Advanced reporting |
| Time Doctor | 14-day free trial | Basic: $5.90/month, Standard: $11/month, Premium: $16.70/month | Accurate time tracking, Productivity monitoring, Project & task management |
| Hubstaff | 14-day free trial | Starter: $4.99/month, Grow: $7.50/month, Team: $10/month, Enterprise: $25/month | Accurate time tracking, Location services, Advanced reporting |
| DeskTime | 14-day free trial | Pro: €6/month, Premium: €9/month, Enterprise: €18/month | URL tracking, Productivity reports, Project management integration |
| RescueTime | Free Lite version | Premium: $12/month or $78 annually | Activity tracking, Focus sessions, Productivity reports |
| Insightful | Free trial available | From $6.40/user/month | Automated time tracking, Real-time monitoring, Idle time tracking |
| ActivTrak | Free plan available | Essentials: $10/month, Professional: $17/month, Enterprise: Contact for pricing | Workforce intelligence dashboard, Automated time tracking, Advanced reporting |
| ProofHub | No free trial | Essential: $45/month, Ultimate Control: $89/month | Time-tracking, Custom fields and workflows, Employee-level reporting |
| SmartTask | Free Forever plan | Premium: $7.99/month, Business: $10.99/month, Enterprise: Contact for pricing | Time and budget tracking, Extensive customization, Free training and onboarding |
| Teamwork | Free Forever plan | Deliver: €10.99/user/month; Grow: €19.99/user/month; Scale: €54.99/user/month; Enterprise: Contact for pricing | Advanced reports, Client management, Time, budget, and expense tracking |
| Kickidler | 14-day free trial | From $3.67/user/month | Real-time monitoring, Violation monitoring, Automatic reports |
11 Best Employee Productivity Monitoring Tools
Everhour
Everhour is a robust employee productivity monitoring tool that offers a comprehensive set of features designed to enhance productivity and track employee productivity. This tool integrates seamlessly with popular project management software like Asana, Trello, Basecamp, and Jira, making it an excellent choice for teams already using these platforms.
Key features
- Time tracking: Everhour provides accurate time tracking capabilities, allowing employees to log hours spent on various tasks and projects. This data helps managers understand how time is allocated and identify areas for improvement.
- Budgeting: With budgeting features, you can set project budgets and track expenses in real-time. This ensures that projects stay within financial constraints and helps in better financial planning.
- Reporting: Everhour generates detailed reports on employee productivity, project progress, and time usage. These insights can be used to optimize workflows and enhance overall productivity.
- Team collaboration: The tool promotes transparency and cooperation between team members by providing a clear overview of who is working on what and how long tasks are taking.
- Integration: Seamlessly integrates with various project management & accounting & CRM & other tools, making it easy to incorporate into your existing workflow without disrupting processes.
Pricing
- Free Plan: Suitable for freelancers or small teams who need basic time tracking and reporting features.
- Team Plan: Starting at $8.50 per user per month, this plan includes advanced features such as project budgeting, invoicing, and team management.
Everhour’s user-friendly interface and powerful features make it an indispensable tool for any business aiming to improve employee productivity and project management efficiency. By leveraging Everhour, you can gain valuable insights into your team’s performance, streamline operations, and ultimately boost productivity.
Time Doctor
Time Doctor is an advanced employee productivity monitoring tool designed to optimize time management and enhance team efficiency through comprehensive features.
Key features
- Accurate time tracking: Time Doctor excels in precise time tracking, allowing users to monitor and record time spent on tasks and projects down to the minute.
- Productivity monitoring: Gain deep insights into team productivity with Time Doctor’s monitoring capabilities. This includes analysis of application usage, templates utilization, and review of website visits during work periods.
- Project & task management: Beyond time tracking, Time Doctor offers robust project and task management features. Users can allocate time to specific tasks within projects, ensuring clarity and accountability.
- Screencasts & screenshots: Time Doctor provides visual proof of work activities through screenshots and screencasts. This feature enhances transparency and accountability among team members.
- Website and app usage tracking: Monitor websites and applications used during work hours to identify time-wasting activities and promote focused work.
- Integration with popular tools: Seamlessly integrates with various project management, accounting, and payment systems, enhancing workflow efficiency and reducing manual data entry.
Pricing
- Basic Plan: $7 per user per month
- Standard Plan: $10 per user per month
- Premium Plan: $20 per user per month
Hubstaff
Hubstaff is software to track employee productivity with precise insights into their team’s work patterns and efficiency through a robust set of features.
Key features
- Precise time tracking: Hubstaff offers accurate time tracking through various methods, including manual entry, GPS tracking, and desktop screenshots. This ensures that every minute of work is meticulously recorded.
- Project management integration: Seamlessly integrates with popular project management tools, allowing users to link time tracking directly to specific projects and tasks. This enhances coordination and project management.
- Advanced reporting: Provides robust reporting features, enabling users to generate detailed time and activity reports. These reports offer insights into employee productivity, project progress, and resource allocation.
- Location services: Incorporates GPS location tracking and geofencing to provide comprehensive insights into employee movements, making it ideal for businesses with field teams or remote workers.
- Productivity monitoring: Uses activity tracking functionalities to monitor employee productivity and analyze work patterns, including keyboard and mouse activity.
- Alerts and reminders: Configurable alerts help prevent overtime, while timely reminders encourage breaks to enhance employee well-being.
Pricing
- Starter: $4.99 per user per month
- Grow: $7.50 per user per month
- Team: $10 per user per month
- Enterprise: $25 per user per month
DeskTime
DeskTime is a powerful employee productivity monitoring tool designed to optimize time management and enhance team efficiency through its comprehensive features.
Key features
- URL tracking: The desktop version is equipped with advanced tools such as URL tracking, allowing meticulous monitoring of app and website usage. This feature helps in identifying productivity bottlenecks and ensuring focused work.
- Productivity reports: Comprehensive productivity reports offer valuable insights, distinguishing billable time from non-billable activities. These reports help in analyzing work patterns and improving overall efficiency.
- Project management integration: DeskTime seamlessly integrates project management functionality, facilitating the linkage of tracked time to specific tasks and clients. This integration ensures accurate billing and project tracking.
Pricing
- Pro Plan: €6 per user per month
- Premium Plan: €9 per user per month
- Enterprise Plan: €18 per user per month
RescueTime
RescueTime is an advanced employee productivity monitoring tool designed to provide deep insights into time management and enhance team efficiency through its comprehensive features.
Key features
- Activity tracking: RescueTime monitors your activities across devices, providing insights into time spent on various tasks such as meetings, document writing, and research. It also includes offline tracking for a comprehensive view of your day.
- Focus sessions: The platform aids concentration by blocking non-work-related websites and apps during designated focus sessions. This feature helps users stay focused on their work without distractions.
- Productivity reports: Get a clear picture of your productivity with RescueTime’s insightful reports. Identify time-wasting habits and make informed adjustments.
- Goal setting: Set productivity goals and monitor your progress over time. RescueTime keeps you accountable, motivating you to stay on track.
- Time management for teams: RescueTime for Teams offers collaborative features, allowing managers to monitor team productivity and identify areas for improvement.
- Offline time tracking: RescueTime also tracks time spent away from digital devices, providing a more comprehensive view of your daily activities.
Pricing
- Free Lite version: Includes basic features
- Premium Plan: $12 per month or $78 annually, including a two-week free trial
Insightful
Insightful is a robust employee productivity monitoring tool designed to automate time tracking and enhance project management through its powerful and easy-to-use features.
Key features
- Automated time and activity tracking: Insightful excels in automated time and activity tracking, ensuring accurate work hour capture without the need for manual data entry.
- Project-centric organization: Helps categorize time entries based on specific projects. This enhances time card organization and facilitates precise tracking.
- Real-time employee monitoring: Provides real-time employee monitoring, offering a comprehensive understanding of how time is spent. This feature elevates time card analysis by providing valuable productivity metrics.
- Idle time tracking: Goes beyond basic functionalities by tracking idle time, ensuring accurate time card entries by accounting for moments of inactivity during work hours.
- URL and app tracking: Enhances productivity tracking with URL and app tracking, providing insights into digital activities and offering a nuanced perspective for time card management.
Pricing
- Paid plan: Starts at $6.40 per user per month. Insightful does not offer a free version but provides a free trial
ActivTrak
ActivTrak is a sophisticated employee productivity monitoring tool that excels in analytics capabilities, offering advanced insights and dashboards to facilitate informed decision-making.
Key features
- Workforce intelligence dashboard: Provides extensive insights into team performance with a comprehensive workforce intelligence dashboard, enabling managers to monitor and enhance team efficiency.
- Automated time tracking and location insights: Enhances productivity tracking for distributed staff by offering automated time tracking and location insights.
- Impact analysis: Helps identify the potential effect of organizational changes on team performance, allowing managers to make data-driven decisions.
- Advanced reporting: Allows analysis of the performance of your best employee on a given task, enabling you to apply those insights to improve team performance.
Pricing
- Free version: Includes basic features
- Essentials: $10 per user per month
- Professional: $17 per user per month
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
ProofHub
ProofHub is an exceptional productivity-tracking tool with a strong focus on project management. It combines intuitive project management capabilities with essential employee-monitoring features to build engagement and productivity over time.
Key features
- Time-tracking features: Attach directly to individual tasks, ensuring precise tracking of time spent on each project.
- Custom fields and workflows: Enable even the most unique projects, offering flexibility and customization.
- Employee-level reporting: Simplifies team monitoring with detailed reports on individual performance.
- Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations: Facilitate easy communication with your remote workforce, enhancing collaboration and productivity.
Pricing
- Essential: $45 per month for unlimited users
- Ultimate Control: $89 per month for unlimited users
SmartTask
SmartTask is a dedicated project management tool that also excels in productivity tracking. Its excellent time-tracking capabilities allow team members to log time spent on tasks either manually or automatically, providing valuable context to project needs and success.
Key features
- Time and budget tracking: Flows automatically into advanced project reports, offering comprehensive insights into project performance.
- Extensive customization options: Suitable for every industry and business size, allowing teams to tailor the tool to their specific needs.
- Free training and onboarding: Simplifies the initial setup process, ensuring that teams can start using the tool effectively from day one.
Pricing
- Free Forever: Includes basic features
- Premium: $7.99 per user per month
- Business: $10.99 per user per month
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
Teamwork
Teamwork is a comprehensive project management tool that also offers robust employee productivity features. Its time-tracking and resource management capabilities help build engagement and enhance team efficiency.
Key features
- Advanced reports and management features: Help balance team capacity for more realistic and balanced workloads, ensuring optimal team performance.
- Client management features: Allow users to store client records, including communication and finances, in a single space for streamlined client management.
- Tracking time, budgets, and expenses: Facilitates better management of recurring revenue by providing detailed insights into time, budgets, and expenses.
Pricing
- Free Forever: Includes basic features
- Deliver: €10.99 per user per month
- Grow: €19.99 per user per month
- Scale: €54.99 per user per month
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
Kickidler
Kickidler is an employee monitoring software equipped with productivity tools to help companies control personnel and improve workplace efficiency.
Key features
- Visual assessment: Supervisors can visually assess what employees are doing without interrupting their work, utilizing a unique quad splitter feature similar to CCTV systems.
- Cross-platform compatibility: Works on Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux systems, offering flexibility across different operating environments.
- Violation monitoring: Helps protect company and client data by detecting work schedule violations, ensuring compliance with service level agreements.
- Comprehensive activity recording: Records the entire history of computer activities to prevent illegal acts and enhance security.
- Automated reports and timesheets: Facilitates efficient tracking of work hours with automated report and timesheet generation for supervisors and HR officers.
Pricing
- 14-day free trial
- From $3.67 per user per month
Employee Productivity Monitoring Tools: Conclusion
Selecting the right employee productivity monitoring tools is crucial for enhancing organizational efficiency. Everhour, with its precise time tracking and seamless integration with project management tools, ensures accurate tracking and accountability.
Each employee productivity tracking software tool reviewed in this article brings unique strengths. However, choosing Everhour as your employee productivity monitoring tool ensures precise time tracking and seamless integration with project management systems. Its robust features empower teams to maintain accountability and optimize workflow efficiency.
