Do you have employees working in the field? You need an employee location tracking app to ensure they are where they need to be, ensure driver safety, and secure company assets. However, picking the right employee tracker can be tricky, especially when you realize the data security measures you must put in place to protect from misuse or breaches. This article will introduce some great solutions while helping weigh their pros and cons.
Key features of employee tracking apps
Employee tracking is a sensitive issue, which is why you need only the best GPS trackers for your workers. Here are the features you should always consider:
- Real-time GPS tracking: The convenience of an employee location tracking app that offers live oversight of all field operations and assets is unparalleled. It provides a sense of reassurance and control over your workforce.
- Offline tracking: The proper tracker shouldn’t lose track of recording ongoing in areas with poor internet connectivity.
- Attendance & Timesheets: Your employees shouldn’t have to record their attendance manually to prevent time theft.
- Geofencing: it should have GPS sensors that allow you to create virtual boundaries to automate clock-ins and trigger job site alerts.
- Trial period or demo: It’s crucial that the app allows you to have a trial period. This gives you the opportunity to evaluate how the app fits into your workflow and assess its robust security measures before committing. This ensures that the app you choose can effectively solve a specific problem.
Top 8 best employee location tracking apps
Now, considering the features we’ve outlined above, here are some of the best ways to track employees, including their specific benefits and drawbacks.
ConnectTeam
ConnectTeam is known for its all-in-one operation. It provides businesses with communication, Human Resources, Geofencing, scheduling, and a Live GPS tracker for workers. Hence, when you need a tool that connects your entire workforce while simplifying day-to-day operations for efficiency, it’s an excellent choice. It’s no wonder, it’s a popular choice among employers with an entirely remote workforce.

Pros
- Comes with exciting features like forms, checklists, task management, and even a help desk for your employees.
- There’s a 14-day free trial to see how ConnectTeam works for your team.
- Recently, Connectteam added AI agents to automate routine tasks for teams.
- The platform is also 100% free for up to 10 users, which small businesses can take advantage of.
Cons
- Live GPS and Breadcrumbing tracking are only available in the Advanced and Expert plans.
- The platform can feel cluttered and overwhelming for smaller teams or first-time users of employee location tracking apps.
Pricing: Paid plans start from $29/month for up to 30 users.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a well-known time and activity monitoring tool for employees. You’ll love its geofencing, scheduling, and project management features. However, it’s best suited for office-based teams than field teams because its robust activity monitoring (screenshots, app/URL tracking) is desktop-only.

Pros
- It’s easy to use and complete with mobile and desktop apps.
- You can create custom geofenced job sites to automate continuous tracking and monitoring.
- It’s also fantastic at cutting out unnecessary overtime and streamlining payments.
- Employees can also manually add time when they are away from their cellphones, which can be approved later.
- There’s also a real-time expense tracking feature to manage budgets on the go.
Cons
- Even with geofencing, employees may sometimes be able to clock in outside job sites.
- The mobile app is bare-bones. You need to use the desktop app to access most features actively.
Pricing: From $7/user/month with “Locations” add-on at +$4/user/month
Jibble
Jibble is also an excellent GPS tracker for managing your workers’ locations and activities. Specifically, you can monitor their attendance, clock-ins, and clock-outs, track their live location, optimize routes, and more. Users especially appreciate that the app utilises facial recognition to verify identities, effectively preventing “buddy punching” and time theft.

Pros
- A strong free plan to track your employees’ locations.
- Suitable for a wide range of business models, including construction, accountants, lawyers, consultants, and healthcare.
- Robust customer support.
Cons
- Offline sync is unreliable, which is why employees need to have strong internet at all times.
- There’s no built-in communication tool.
- Reporting can feel underwhelming.
Pricing: Starts free for basic attendance features for unlimited teams.
Buddy Punch
BuddyPunch is an award-winning employee scheduling, time-tracking, and payroll application. It helps keep track of what your employees are doing with their working hours, whether they work onsite or not. Plus, Buddy Punch takes photos of employees and uses facial recognition to avoid the actual act of “buddy punching.”

Pros
- It offers a free trial, allowing you to access and test all features without providing your credit card details.
- Strong features for both on-site and field employees, including webcam capture, facial recognition, and IP address locking.
- BuddyPunch has an excellent and responsive support team.
Cons
- You pay for additional features, such as scheduling, custom reporting, real-time GPS, and data retention, as standalone add-ons on a per-user basis, in addition to the base free service. Hence, determining your total bill can be confusing.
- No offline mode.
- Software can sometimes lag or feel buggy.
- The app can be expensive for smaller teams.
Pricing: $5.99/user/month + $19 base fee.
Timeero
Timeero is a GPS time, location, and mileage tracking platform all in one. It’s especially featured for field workers, especially those who work in areas with spotty internet. Timeero automatically syncs data when a connection is established. Additionally, employees would benefit from a prompt-based system that prompts them to clock in or out when they enter or leave a job suite.

Pros
- Provides GPS time/location and mileage tracking.
- Easy to schedule and manage employee tasks on the dashboard.
- You’ll love the strong offline tracking and time-off tracking.
- Employees would use the Face recognition system, which avoids time theft.
Cons
- There are no offline tracking features.
- Once employees are outside the geofence, they can’t manually add any additional work.
- There is no way to bulk edit timesheet entries.
- The mobile app also functions offline, but it can be buggy at times.
Pricing: Basic plans start at $4 per user per month.
Hellotracks
Hellotracks is positioned as a strong solution for field service management and route optimisation. Hence, employees love it for how it helps shorten the routes their employees and vehicles take, improving fuel efficiency. You’ll also love the real-time visibility alongside dispatch, scheduling, and more.

Pros
- Hellotracks automatically logs your employees’ live location and generates accurate mileage and billing reports based on that information.
- You can use Hellotracks for 30 days without entering your payment details.
- For the most part, it works as a mobile app on your employees’ devices.
- Employees will have automated job assignments and geo-fenced check-ins.
Cons
- The app mainly focuses on field service and route optimisation. You won’t get much use out of office-based employees or those who work primarily with their laptops.
Pricing: Starts at $12 per user per month.
QuickBooksTime
QuickBooks Time works effectively if you already use the QuickBooks payroll function for your employees. With it, you can have a smooth, accurate, and easy setup for monitoring how long your employees spend on their tasks. Additionally, it would enable you to monitor the live location of your employees.

Pros
- Track, edit, and approve timesheets from a simple dashboard.
- Work with all QuickBook software.
- It comes with geofencing, mileage tracking and GPS tracking.
- Access project-based time logging and payroll mapping.
Cons
- It can freeze sometimes, and the app often feels buggy.
- The subscription fee feels expensive, especially for smaller businesses.
- Reporting basically focuses on time tracking. There are no robust features for expense tracking and financial management.
- Overtime trackers often don’t work properly.
Pricing: $20 base + $8/user/month
Arcoro
Arcoro is a comprehensive HR software that also provides functional employee location tracking features through its ExakTime module. It’s specifically designed for industries such as construction, manufacturing, and field services that require robust, compliance-focused workforce management. Specifically, it’s known for its features, including a GPS time clock, job costing, applicant tracking, performance management, and more.

Pros
- Built for the complex needs of construction and field services.
- Access GPS location stamping, designated job sites, and advanced job costing.
- Comprehensive digital documentation and reporting, which is invaluable during audits.
- Automated clock-in/clock-out occurs using a GPS sensor to prevent time theft.
Cons
- Steep learning curve, but the customer support is really hands-on.
- Not suitable for smaller businesses or mobile field workers.
- Software updates happen too frequently and may change your workflow or interface.
Pricing: ExakTime pricing starts at $9 per employee per month.
Compare the employee tracker apps
App | Industries | Use Case | Integration | Free Trial | Platform |
Connectteam | Suitable for construction, cleaning, healthcare, food and beverage, retail, and field services. | All-in-one operations, communications, and HR management. | Works with Gusto, QuickBooks, LightSpeed, etc. | Free plan for 10 users. | Web, IOS, and Android. |
Hubstaff | Suitable for remote businesses, especially those with freelancers. | Time-tracking with productivity monitoring for distributed teams | Over 35 integrations, including PayPal, QuickBooks, Asana, Trello, and Jira. | 14-day free trial | Desktop, web, Android, and IOS mobile apps. |
Jibble | Suitable for freelancers and small businesses | Core time tracking and attendance tracking for unlimited users with the free forever model | Works with QuickBooks, Xero, Deel, Microsoft Teams, Zapier, Asana, Airtable, Trello, etc. | Generous free plan before paying for add-ons. | Works on web, desktop, IOS, and Android |
BuddyPunch | Fantastic choice for construction, auto-repair, legal services, education, and transportation businesses | Ideal for field and mobile workforces requiring GPS tracking, geofencing, and photo verification. | Works with Paylocity, QuickBooks, Zaper, Deltek, Deluxe Payroll and primarily other payment solutions. | Starts from $4.49/user/month + $19 base fee per month for small teams. Features such as data retention, custom reporting, and real-time GPS are available as separate add-ons. | Available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, IOS and Chromebook |
Timeero | Suitable for cleaning/janitorial, construction, field service, food services, and agricultural businesses | Offers superior combined GPS time tracking and mileage tracking capabilities | Connects to over 5,000 applications, including Gusto, ADP, QuickBooks, and more. | 14-day free trial | Desktop, Android, and IOS capabilities |
Hellotracks | Suitable for mobility/transportation, repair/maintenance, logistics, and distribution companies | Best for field service operations that require live location, dispatching, and route optimisation. | Integrates apps such as Google Calendar, Excel, Gmail, Slack, and more. | Generous 30-day free trial | IOS, Android, Web, Windows, and Mac access. |
QuickBooks Time | Suitable for construction, landscaping, home healthcare, and other businesses | Manage mobile and remote teams with GPS tracking, project-based timesheets, and geofencing. | Integrates with over 50 other accounting and payroll applications, besides QuickBooks. | 30-day free trial | IOS, Android, Web, Windows, and Mac access. |
Arcoro(ExakTime) | Suitable for the construction industry. | End-to-end construction-specific HR software with time tracking via ExakTime. | Integrates with construction ERP and accounting systems. | No free trial, but there’s a free demo of the platform. | IOS, Android, Web, Windows, and Mac access. |
How to track employee location without an app?
Businesses adopt location tracking apps primarily to enhance operational efficiency and make informed decisions. When considering how the specific choice depends on your industry and business goals, it can be challenging to make an accurate decision. You may feel a no-frills solution that requires minimal setup. LocatePhone is a fantastic choice for locating your employees with just a web-based app. This app utilises advanced GPS tracking capabilities, combined with Wi-Fi and cell tower data, to determine its most accurate location. Here’s how it works:
- Go to LocatePhone website.
- Enter their phone number (alongside the appropriate country code).
- Click the “Locate” button.
- Enter your email to complete the account opening process.
FAQ
What is the free app for tracking employee location?
Jibble offers a free plan with unlimited users, which primarily includes attendance tracking and other features. However, if you want a no-frills web-based solution that is low-cost and requires no previous setup, this is a good option.
Can employers track employees’ location?
Yes, generally in the U.S, no federal law bans it. However, state laws vary. For instance, look out for conditions that ensure your business legitimately requires it, or that you need to track company-owned vehicles and devices. That said, most jurisdictions in the United States require consent from employees.
Can my employer track my location via Teams?
To a limited extent. Employers can typically view your IP address and general location once you log in. Please note the device and operating system you are using. However, Microsoft Teams does not offer real-time, continuous GPS tracking of your movements. This is why it’s often used along with other employee location tracking tools.
Conclusion
For most businesses, employee location tracking is beneficial for managing field operations, improving safety, and ensuring accurate timekeeping. However, selecting the best tool depends on your specific operational needs and goals. Fortunately, most tools on our list offer free trials to help you test how they integrate into your existing suite of business tools. Ultimately, you’ll pick a suitable employee location tracking app that effectively aligns with your business needs.