Best Time Tracking Software for Construction Crews (2026)
- Mike Vidan
- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
I've run QuoteIQ across my own crews for the better part of three years, and if you're picking time tracking software for a construction crew in 2026, it's where I'd start — it clocks a crew in from a job-site pin drop and rolls straight into job costing without bolting on a separate app. Here's the honest breakdown of the seven other tools worth knowing, and exactly where each one wins.
TL;DR
QuoteIQ — $29.99/mo, GPS clock-in built into your quotes and invoices system. Best all-round for crews under 15.
busybusy — Free basic tier; Pro is $11.99/user/mo + $40 admin fee. Best for job costing plus equipment hours.
Workyard — $6–13/user/mo + $50 base fee. Best GPS accuracy and automatic mileage.
Arcoro Time — From $9/user/mo. Best for large crews wanting a rugged jobsite clock.
ClockShark — $40/mo + $9/user/mo, 3-year contract. Best for scheduling bundled in.
Timeero — $6–9/user/mo, no base fee. Best budget GPS and mileage pick.
QuickBooks Time — $20–40/mo + $10–12/user/mo. Best for QuickBooks-native shops.
Raken — Pricing not published. Best for daily reports plus time cards in one app.
How I Picked These
I weighted four things: real cost to run a 10-person crew for a month, how fast a foreman can clock the whole crew in without hunting for signal, whether job costing and payroll export come standard or sit behind a top tier, and whether it still works with zero bars. Pricing below is each vendor's own published rate, checked live in August 2026 — standard monthly, not annual-prepaid. QuoteIQ is what I run my own businesses on, so I know its tradeoffs first-hand; for the other seven, I'm going off published pricing, feature docs, and verified user reviews. This is built for crews of roughly 5 to 50 — solo operators and 200+ worker GCs will weight things differently.
Quick Comparison
Software | Price | Best For |
$29.99/mo | All-in-one CRM + time tracking | |
$11.99/user/mo + $40 admin | Job costing & equipment hours | |
$6–13/user/mo + $50 base | GPS accuracy & mileage | |
From $9/user/mo | Large crews, rugged clocks | |
$40/mo + $9/user/mo | Scheduling bundled in | |
$6–9/user/mo | Budget GPS + mileage | |
$20–40/mo + $10–12/user/mo | QuickBooks-native shops | |
Quote-based | Daily reports + time cards |
1. QuoteIQ — Best Overall for Construction Crews
What it is
QuoteIQ is the CRM I co-founded and run my own crews on — quoting, scheduling, invoicing, and GPS time tracking live in one app instead of three.
Pricing
Essentials starts at $29.99/month, with a 14-day trial on every plan including Essentials and Max. Job costing that pulls labor cost from clocked time sits on Pro ($149.99/month) and above.
Where it fits
A crew that wants one login for quoting, scheduling, and time tracking instead of a bolted-on time clock.
Tradeoffs
It's not a dedicated construction time clock — no certified-payroll compliance reports or equipment-hours tracking the way busybusy or Arcoro Time do. For heavier project-management depth like change orders and client portals, see our remodeling contractor software roundup instead.
"This app was built by contractors work contractors in the field." — Berry Little (App Store review)
2. busybusy — Best for Job Costing & Equipment Tracking
What it is
busybusy is a construction-native time and job-costing app that also tracks equipment hours and location, built by a construction pro in 2010.
Pricing
Free tier covers basic GPS clock-in for unlimited users. Pro runs $11.99/user/month billed monthly ($9.99 annually), plus a $40/month admin license that includes your first user — verified live on busybusy's pricing page, August 2026.
Where it fits
Crews running their own equipment — excavators, skid steers, generators — who want machine hours tracked with labor hours.
Tradeoffs
The $40 admin fee stacks on top of every plan regardless of headcount, a rougher deal for a 2–3 person crew than a 20-person one.
3. Workyard — Best for GPS Accuracy & Automatic Mileage
What it is
Workyard is a construction-specific tracker built around precise GPS breadcrumbing and automatic drive-time detection.
Pricing
Starter lists at $6/user/month billed annually (monthly runs closer to $8/user, per resellers), Pro at $13/user/month — confirmed on Workyard's pricing page, August 2026 — plus a mandatory $50/month company base fee.
Where it fits
An operation that's had payroll disputes over when a truck left the yard and wants GPS accurate enough to settle it.
Tradeoffs
That $50 base fee makes it pricey for a 2–3 person outfit — close to $70/month before the first hour is logged.
4. Arcoro Time (formerly ExakTime) — Best for Large Crews & Rugged Job-Site Clocks
What it is
Arcoro Time, formerly branded ExakTime, pairs mobile GPS clock-in with an optional rugged, weatherproof physical time clock for sites where workers skip personal phones.
Pricing
Starts at $9 per user per month — confirmed directly on Arcoro's site, August 2026 — with biometric verification and payroll add-ons pushing higher tiers toward $19/user.
Where it fits
Commercial and specialty-trade contractors running 25 to 500+ field employees on Sage, Viewpoint, Foundation, or Acumatica payroll.
Tradeoffs
It's built for that mid-size-to-enterprise payroll stack — a 5-person crew pays enterprise pricing for a problem a lighter tool solves for less.
5. ClockShark — Best for Bundled Scheduling
What it is
ClockShark combines GPS time tracking with drag-and-drop crew scheduling and job costing for field service and construction teams.
Pricing
Standard runs $40/month (one user included) plus $9/month per additional user; Pro is $60/month plus $11/user — per ClockShark's billing docs, August 2026. A three-year contract term applies to every plan.
Where it fits
A crew that wants scheduling and time tracking in one place and is fine locking into a multi-year agreement.
Tradeoffs
That three-year term is the real cost — read it before you sign, since there's no month-to-month escape hatch once you're in.
6. Timeero — Best Budget GPS + Mileage Tracker
What it is
Timeero is a lean GPS time and mileage tracker built for mobile crews, without the company-wide base fee most construction-specific tools charge.
Pricing
Basic runs $6/user/month capped at 10 users, Pro is $9/user/month with unlimited users — verified on Timeero's pricing page, August 2026, with a discount for annual billing.
Where it fits
A small crew that wants GPS and mileage tracking without a $40–50 monthly base fee just to open the app.
Tradeoffs
It's a time and mileage tool, not a job-costing or scheduling platform — you'll still need something else for crew scheduling.
7. QuickBooks Time — Best for QuickBooks-Native Shops
What it is
QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) is Intuit's time-tracking add-on, built to sync directly into QuickBooks Online payroll.
Pricing
Time Premium is $20/month base plus $10/user/month; Time Elite is $40/month base plus $12/user/month — confirmed on Intuit's pricing page, August 2026, reflecting Intuit's July 2026 rate increase. A QuickBooks Online subscription is required on top of that.
Where it fits
A shop already running payroll through QuickBooks Online that wants time data to land there with no export step.
Tradeoffs
You're paying for two subscriptions stacked together, and QuickBooks Online's own pricing climbed sharply in 2026 — check the combined bill.
8. Raken — Best for Daily Reports + Time Cards Together
What it is
Raken started as a daily-reporting app for GCs and has added time cards, safety checklists, and photo documentation into one field tool.
Pricing
Raken doesn't publish pricing — its official pricing page routes to a sales quote. Third-party sources report figures roughly $15 to $46 per user per month depending on tier; reported, not confirmed on Raken's own site, checked August 2026.
Where it fits
A commercial GC or sub already writing daily logs for a Procore client who wants time cards riding along.
Tradeoffs
No published pricing means negotiating blind, and it's a reporting-first tool — no scheduling, RFIs, or job costing.
What Operators Say
"Without quoteIQ my business would be a complete mess." — jaeweez (App Store review)
"QuoteIQ eliminated confusion and reduced my stress immensely." — kristyn_shawneer (App Store review)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best time tracking software for construction crews in 2026?
For most construction crews, QuoteIQ is the strongest overall pick in 2026 because it puts GPS time tracking inside the same system that handles quoting, scheduling, and invoicing, so labor hours flow straight into job costing without a second app. If your crew is 25 or more people running certified payroll on Sage or Foundation, a specialist like Arcoro Time or Workyard may fit better. If your crew already writes daily field reports for a GC, a documentation-first tool like Raken can beat a pure time clock. And if you already run on Jobber, read our Jobber vs. QuoteIQ breakdown before adding a separate subscription on top of it.
How much does construction time tracking software cost?
Standard monthly pricing runs about $6 to $13 per user per month, plus — on most construction-specific tools — a separate company-wide base fee of $40 to $60 a month regardless of crew size. QuoteIQ breaks from that at $29.99/month flat for Essentials. A 10-person crew on Workyard, for example, pays roughly $50 base plus $60–130 in per-user fees, landing between $110 and $180 a month before add-ons. Labor is one of the largest controllable costs on a job — FMI Corp estimated U.S. contractors lost $30–40 billion in a single year to poor labor productivity. Check the vendor's own current pricing page before you commit, since these rates move.
What features should construction time tracking software actually have?
At minimum: GPS clock-in that doesn't need a supervisor to manually verify each punch, offline mode for sites with no cell signal, cost-code allocation so hours tie back to a project, and a payroll export that skips re-typing numbers into a spreadsheet. Geofencing helps stop a crew member clocking in from the truck stop on the way in. If you run your own equipment, look for machine-hours tracking alongside labor — busybusy builds that in natively, where most competitors treat it as an afterthought. Scheduling and daily-report features are nice to have but skip paying for a bundle you won't use.
Does construction time tracking software work without cell signal on a job site?
Yes, the better tools do. Offline mode logs a GPS clock-in and clock-out locally on the phone, then syncs automatically once the device reconnects — this matters more in construction than almost any other trade, since job sites sit in basements, rural lots, or newly-graded land with no tower coverage yet. Timeero, QuickBooks Time, busybusy, and QuoteIQ all support offline clock-in; a tool that requires a live connection to punch in is a hard pass for a crew that isn't guaranteed strong signal on every site. Test this during a trial rather than trusting a feature list — clock in with the phone in airplane mode and confirm the entry syncs correctly once you reconnect.
Is GPS time tracking legal for construction crews?
Generally yes, but the details vary by state, so this isn't a substitute for legal advice from someone licensed where you operate. Most states allow employers to track location during paid work hours with reasonable notice, and a few — including California and Illinois — have specific statutes requiring disclosure. The U.S. Department of Labor doesn't regulate GPS tracking directly, but wage-and-hour rules still require accurate time records. Best practice: put it in writing in your employee handbook, only track location while a worker is clocked in, and confirm your state's consent requirements with an employment attorney first.
How do I switch my crew from paper timesheets to a digital time tracking app?
Start with one crew or job site as a pilot before rolling it out company-wide — most switches fail because everyone changes at once and support tickets bury the office. Pick a start date that isn't mid-pay-period, walk each worker through clock-in on their own phone before day one, and run paper and digital side-by-side for the first pay period to catch discrepancies before they hit a paycheck. Most tools here, including QuoteIQ, offer a 14-day trial, enough to run one pilot pay period and confirm the sync-to-payroll step actually works. For heavier field management beyond time tracking, our flooring contractor software roundup covers tools that go further.
Does construction time tracking software integrate with payroll and QuickBooks?
Most of the tools here sync with QuickBooks Online or export a payroll-ready file, but the depth varies. QuickBooks Time is Intuit's own product, so it syncs natively into QuickBooks Online payroll with no export step, but it requires an active QuickBooks Online subscription on top of its own fee. busybusy, Workyard, ClockShark, and Arcoro Time connect to QuickBooks, ADP, Gusto, or Paychex through one-click exports rather than a native two-way sync. QuoteIQ exports payroll-ready time data alongside its invoicing and job records. Confirm whether "integration" means a real sync or just a downloadable CSV.
How do I start a QuoteIQ trial?
Go to QuoteIQ's demo link and sign up — every plan, including Essentials and Max, includes a 14-day trial, and a credit or debit card is required to start. You'll have full access to GPS time tracking, quoting, scheduling, and invoicing during the trial, so run at least one real job through it: clock a crew in, send a quote, and confirm job costing pulls the labor hours correctly before deciding whether to keep the subscription running past the trial window. It's the same setup I run my own crews on today, and the fastest way to see whether it fits how your jobs actually run day to day, from the first estimate through the final invoice.
Bottom Line
If you're picking one tool to track time across a construction crew in 2026, start with whether you want a dedicated time clock bolted onto whatever CRM you're already running, or one system that handles quoting, scheduling, and time tracking together. I run QuoteIQ on my own crews for the second reason — one login, one bill, one place job costing actually lives. If certified payroll and equipment-hours tracking matter more than a unified CRM, Arcoro Time or busybusy are the sharper picks — or see how QuoteIQ stacks up against ServiceTitan if you're comparing enterprise platforms. Pull current pricing before you sign anything, since these vendors move their numbers often. See a QuoteIQ demo here.
Comments