The Best Employee Monitoring Software of 2019

Employee tracking software might sound like a different way to address surveillance camera, but that is way far from what that’s about.

Employee tracking software is specially designed software to monitor how workers spend their work time. It’s a helpful tool that collects data and gives an insight of their application and website usage. It helps differ slackers from hard workers, but more than that, it helps you see how you can improve productivity in your workplace.

Employee monitoring is so 2019, and there are plenty of software in the sea, so how do you choose which one is the best for your company?

There are a few things to consider when choosing the right software:

• Price — From free to as high as $100/user, there is a software that fits the budget capabilities of companies of all sizes
• Number of employees — While all of these can track a small number of workers, not all have the capability to track bigger teams
• Features — They all measure website and application usage, but some of them offer specific features, like keystroke activity, mobile application or Datalock

Workpuls

Photo credit: Workpuls

Starting from $6/user monthly, Workpuls is one of the cheapest computer monitoring software listed, but with features it offers, it’s also one of the simplest to use.

It has a feature to categorize applications and websites by Productive, Neutral, and Non-productive, and you can give your employees different permissions to see their screenshots and data usage, which is a great way to track and improve their productivity.

The main downside would be the lack of keystroke recording and email monitoring.

Teramind

Photo credit: GetApp

Teramind is one of the most expensive employee computer monitoring software out there, starting from $60/5 users, but the price is not surprising considering it also offers insider threat guard, that allows admins to block access to websites or unauthorized hardware. It has a keylogging feature that allows individual keystroke recordings, which can be turned off by admin. Another feature that Teramind provides is an optical character recognition (OCR), which recognizes on-screen text and lets you set up keyword alerts.

With 7 supported languages and a comprehensive threat guard, Teramind is a good choice for many international companies.

ActivTrak

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ActivTrak offers a free version for up to three users, although very limited in options — it has limited data exports, 3GB data storage and single screenshot. But starting from $7.20/user monthly, you can create custom plans fitting your needs. It allows administrators to block access to links, files or applications, whether to save employees from distraction or malicious threats.

You can use it on your computer, iOS or Android device.

The main disadvantage of this tracker software is that it doesn’t track keystroke activity.

Time Doctor

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With $9.99/user monthly, Time Doctor offers a detailed review of your employee activity log, by showing not only on what they spend their work time, but also gives an insight of chat applications they might be using during that time.

It shows a breakdown on employee’s time spent on each task or client, and gives you the option to send a reminder to a slacking employee.

You can set up a client log-in option, that allows your clients to see how time is spent working on a project.

The main complaint Time Doctor’s users have is the outdated UI, which looks like it’s made in 2000, but besides its looks, it’s a tool that has everything you need.

Hubstaff

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Even though Hubstaff offers plans starting as low as $5/user monthly, it offers only the basic tracking options, and chances are you would need at least a Premium plan, which goes from $10, making it a par with most other monitoring software, pricewise.

It offers both computer and mobile applications. While the mobile app can’t take screenshots or measure activity, it has a GPS tracker that is a great employee tracking tool in field.

Hubstaff’s biggest issue is that it doesn’t offer advanced tracking options, and it gives a very basic reporting.

Hubstaff has a good customer service, but it’s only available via email and website chat box, which isn’t very convenient. Another users’ complaint is difficult Windows version setup, which has many bugs.

Veriato

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Veriato is one of rare workplace monitoring software that gives pricing information on request.

While the installation process is relatively complicated and with high system requirements, the software itself is fairly easy to navigate through. It monitors application and website usage, keystroke activity, but also email and chat messages sent from specific applications.

Screen capture ability is stronger compared to other software, as it offers a playback feature, where you can watch employee’s every move during their work time.

One of it’s main downsides are lack of OCR ability on PDF documents or images, and cloud-based option, which means you need to have more than 40GB of free space on your computer, as it saves all the data there. It also doesn’t have a mobile app.

Desktime

Photo credit: GetApp

Desktime offers a simple one-user free version, which allows basic time tracking, application tracking and a mobile app. Paid plans start from $7/user monthly, which scales down with higher user rate.

This is a good employee productivity tracking software, and adds some privacy options, such as blurred screenshots and a Private Time button, that turns off tracking if you need to enter private banking information, for example.

While those extra privacy settings are nice, Desktime lacks some key features other monitoring software have, such as keyword tracking or keystroke logging. Overall, it’s a solid software option for its price.

Interguard

Photo credit: PCMag

For a work tracking software that starts at $8/user monthly, Interguard offers a highly customizable platform.

Installing a software can be somewhat problematic — it’s blocked by most antivirus programs, so you need to place it in the antivirus exclusion in order to be working. Once you set it up, using it is relatively easy with simple, although not so aesthetically pleasing UI.

Via wizard, Interguard gives you a wide range of monitored data reports. You can choose from 40+ widgets, choose your metrics and file format you want your report exported.

Like Teramind, it’s designed to keep your network secure, by blocking specific applications or websites to be accessed by your employees.

It has a variety of add-on options, including Laptop cop, which is used for data recovery in case of stolen laptop, and DataLock, which prevents transfer of files through means not regulated by IT.

Monitask

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Monitask is probably the cheapest option you can get — it has a free version for up to three users, and a professional version $2.99/user monthly.

User interface is fairly simple, and it provides you with basic information about your employee computer activity. It offers project management options — you can create projects, assign them to employees, and monitor their progress.

While it provides all the basics for monitoring, Monitask has a lot of downsides. It lacks keystroke recording and email monitoring.

Clockify

Photo credit: GetApp

This is a fully free tracking software for unlimited users, but it also offers extra options starting from $10/month.

This is a great software for new companies, and it offers a sleek-designed user interface. You can mark billable and non-billable hours, and categorize time by project.

Being the free software in a sea full of expensive ones, it’s somewhat expected for a free version to have some downsides, and Clockify’s biggest one is lack of random screenshot capture option. Users also complain on contact support system, as it’s only reachable by email.