This review covers:
- Overview
- What do users like about Buddy Punch?
- What don’t users like about Buddy Punch?
- What Pricing Plans does Buddy Punch offer?
- What are the Standout Features of Buddy Punch?
- Selected Positive User Feedback
- Selected Negative User Feedback
- What are Buddy Punch’s Review Ratings from Review Sites?
- What’s my Final Verdict on Buddy Punch?
Overview
Buddy Punch is a cloud-based time clock software that simplifies employee scheduling, time tracking, and payroll. It acts as an easy way for businesses to easily track employee time accurately wherever they may be with a user-friendly UI and an array of features designed to streamline admin processes and maximize productivity all contained in one powerful software.
The software features flexible clock-in options such as facial recognition, PIN, QR Code, and traditional username and password entry. Also offered is GPS and photo on punch, aswell as IP address locking to prevent off-site and buddy punching. Users can also download the mobile app to set up a time clock kiosk that on-site employees can use to simplify tracking.
To help reduce labor costs, Buddy Punch offers several features to manage employee work hours effectively. Overtime alerts notify managers via email, mobile, or in-app notifications when employees are approaching overtime, allowing for schedule adjustments to prevent unplanned overtime expenses.
Punch limiting ensures employees can only clock in at their scheduled times, avoiding payment for unplanned hours. The automatic punch-out feature clocks employees out at the end of their shifts or after a set number of hours to prevent unauthorized overtime. Notifications can be customized to alert managers about early clock-ins, late clock-outs, missed shifts, and more. The system also automates breaks by deducting them from total hours based on predefined rules and allows punch rounding with flexible increment options to align with business needs.
The software also automates timesheet management by compiling employee clock-in and out data into ready-to-review timesheets, with hours calculated automatically for managers or administrators to review. Administrators and managers can edit timesheets if an employee forgets to punch in or out.
The system supports a variety of overtime calculations to ensure accurate pay, identifying and calculating overtime automatically. Project tracking is simplified with job codes that employees select when clocking in, allowing for easy monitoring of project hours. Additionally, Buddy Punch allows location tracking by prompting employees to select their work location when clocking in. The software also offers integrations with popular payroll apps like QuickBooks, Gusto, ADP, and Paychex for easy payroll processing. If your payroll provider isn’t supported, you can export Buddy Punch reports as spreadsheets, PDFs, or CSV files to upload manually.
While the software indeed has highlights where they matter, it also has its fair share of limitations that make it less than ideal for businesses looking for a smoother product.
Some issues that affect the Buddy Punch experience include pesky bugs and crashes, and occasional slow performance that can cause serious annoyance as time can be tracked incorrectly, requiring manual editing. Sometimes the software simply wont punch-in. Unfortunately Buddy Punch doesn’t have an offline mode, which may be a deal-breaker for industries that regularly have employees or operations in sites where internet connection is low or absent.
What do users like about Buddy Punch?
- Great customer service
- Easy-to-use software
- Multiple punch-in options including facial recognition
Find more about what users love about Buddy Punch.
What don't users like about Buddy Punch?
- Mobile app is subpar
- Punching out difficulties
- No offline mode
Find more about what users hate about Buddy Punch.
What Pricing Plans does Buddy Punch offer?
Buddy Punch offers three pricing plans to cater to the needs of different businesses. Although they do not have a free plan like other similar software, each tier includes a free trial period to help users decide which plan fits their needs best.
Starter
The Starter Plan has a base fee of US$19 per month,plus $4.49/mo/user billed annually, or $5.49/mo/user if billed monthly.
This plan can be used by unlimited administrators and includes the punch clock, automatic overtime calculations, time off tracking, job & location tracking, pay rate calculations, punch rounding, automatic breaks, mobile apps, time card approval workflow and on-demand reporting.
Communication features offered at this tier include alerts and reminders and punch notes. Accountability is considered allowing users access to limit punches to time of day and scheduled shifts, device locks, IP address locking, error logging, manager permissions and automatic punch outs. Basic GPS tracking allows users access to GPS coordinates at this tier. Integrations offered by the software are also available.
Pro
The Pro Plan has the same base fee of US$19 per month as the Standard Plan, plus $5.99/mo/user billed annually, or $6.99/mo/user billed monthly. In addition to all the features in the Standard Plan, the Pro Plan adds webcam photos on punches, geofencing, users can limit punches to scheduled shifts and automatic punch outs after shift is complete.
The scheduling suite becomes available at this tier, offering features such as a drag-and-drop schedule builder, shift trades and covers, templates, recurring shifts, available and preferred times, mobile scheduling and early/late/absent reporting. Further punch methods are added on top of username and face ID, users can now punch through QR codes or PIN codes.
Enterprise
The Enterprise Plan has everything that the Standard and Pro Plans have to offer, plus advanced GPS tracking, GPS activity tracking and reporting, and a real-time location dashboard. API access is finally available as well. Pricing for this tier include the $19 base fee plus $11.99/mo/user monthly or $10.99/mo/user billed annually.
Read more about the 5 things you MUST know about Buddy Punch’s pricing.
What are the Standout Features of Buddy Punch?
1. Time Tracking and GPS tracking
Buddy Punch makes time tracking simple by allowing employees to clock in and out from any device, including web access, iOS, Android, or ChromeOS apps. A central time clock kiosk can be set up on a tablet, and group punch or text-to-punch options are available for unreliable internet connections. Employees can clock in/out using a PIN, QR code, facial recognition, or username/password.
For monitoring, Buddy Punch collects GPS data with each punch to ensure employees are at the right location, and geofences or IP address locks can prevent off-site punching. It also prevents buddy punching by using photos or facial recognition. Alerts notify managers when employees miss shifts or clock in/out early or late.
The GPS tracking feature provides on-the-go monitoring, allowing access to real-time location data whether in the office or traveling. Managers can choose which employees to track, making the GPS feature optional or mandatory as needed. The software provides live location updates and a map view for better coordination and planning, enhancing accountability through real-time tracking.
Buddy Punch takes a privacy-first approach by monitoring only during work hours, ensuring employees’ privacy outside of work. Its user-friendly interface makes the GPS feature simple for both administrators and employees, and it offers reliable and accurate location tracking for effective workforce management.
2. Geofencing
2. Geofencing With its geofencing feature, Buddy Punch allows businesses to assign a virtual perimeter around job sites with GPS technology so that employees can only punch in when they are in the perimeter of the correct site. They will not be able to track time when outside the area, which relieves users of the burden of ensuring that staff and crew are where they should be during work hours, and that they are only being paid for the actual time that they spend on site.
Any employee may be assigned more than one geofence so that they can switch between jobs or tasks with ease. The perimeters may also be customized depending on business needs, from a radius of 150 feet for small businesses to 5,000 feet for larger and more complex operations, allowing for great flexibility.
The Buddy Punch geofencing feature gives businesses the necessary control over employees’ locations and simplifies the management of multiple teams.
3. Job Codes
In addition to the geofencing feature, Buddy Punch has a job code feature that gives businesses more granular control over how time is spent by employees, allowing users to track the time they spend on specific projects or tasks.
A job code is given to an employee for a particular job, which they select before punching in, and the time they spent on that task is automatically recorded and calculated by Buddy Punch. They can easily switch between job codes when needed, and admins can view where time goes, accurately and reliably. The data gathered from time tracking with department codes can help businesses make more accurate job costing and ensure maximum profitability.
Selected Positive User Feedback:
- “Buddy Punch has helped our business save money by tracking employee work hours and by helping staff schedule easier. Staff love that they can see the schedule and request off right from their phones.” – Nellie S. (Source G2)
- “What I really like about Buddy Punch is how easy it is to use. Unlike some other systems, it’s not confusing at all. It’s designed in a simple way that’s not complicated. Plus, it’s really easy to edit and check past time cards, including time off summaries. It just makes it easier for me to start and finish my work shift.” – Sheila C. (Source G2)
- “Clocking in is so easy. Monitoring time off requests is easy, too! The sync from time cards to payroll is also a big time saver for us, though there was a bit of a learning curve and work with IT to get that to function properly.” – Amanda T. (Source G2)
- “We have had a great experience with nothing to complain about. It has made our payroll and tracking easier and more efficient.” – Scott D. (Source Capterra)
- “The platform is user-friendly and offers a reliable way to monitor and manage employee time. The time cards and editable punch times feature is particularly useful for ensuring accuracy and flexibility in recording work hours.” – Andrea I. (Source Capterra)
Selected Negative User Feedback:
- “Occasionally, staff has issues punching in due to internal or external causes.” –
- Verified User in Education Management (Source G2)
- “My only complaint would be that sometimes if you try to punch in at say 8:34 it’ll round up your time so you have to edit it.” – Janessa S. (Source G2)
- “Sometimes the website will glitch and will not pick up the punch in/out.” –
- Verified User in Insurance (Source G2)
- “It could be more user friendly when searching for specific people and their clock history. Sometimes buddy punch will reset the criteria for searching for a person after a person was already selected.” – Verified User in Mental Health Care (Source G2)
What are Buddy Punch's Review Ratings from Review Sites?
(As of October 2024)
- Capterra: 4.8/5
- G2: 4.8/5
- TrustRadius: 8/10
- GetApp: 4.8/5
- Play Store: 4.6/5
- App Store: 4.9/5
What's My Final Verdict on Buddy Punch?
Buddy Punch stands as a comprehensive time-tracking and workforce management solution, offering an impressive range of features designed to streamline employee scheduling, time tracking, and payroll processing.
With its user-friendly interface and flexible punch-in options—through facial recognition, PINs, and QR codes—it provides businesses with very flexible clocking in options. Features such as geofencing, automated timesheets, overtime alerts, and job codes solidify Buddy Punch as a practical choice for managing both on-site and remote teams.
Additionally, its seamless integrations with popular payroll systems like QuickBooks, Gusto, ADP, and Paychex simplify administrative tasks, making it suitable for organizations of all sizes and industries.
However, Buddy Punch isn’t without its limitations. Persistent bugs and the absence of offline functionality can disrupt the user experience, particularly for businesses operating in remote or low-connectivity environments.
Additionally, while its pricing structure is designed to accommodate different business needs, the lack of a free plan could deter smaller businesses or startups looking for more cost-effective solutions, despite the free trial offered across all tiers.
In conclusion, Buddy Punch offers a strong balance of flexibility and practicality, making it a valuable tool for businesses seeking to optimize workforce management. While it excels in many areas, potential users should carefully consider its limitations and evaluate how well it aligns with their operational needs and technological expectations before making a commitment.
