Top 15+ Employee Monitoring Software

The use of employee monitoring technologies is essential in the workplace, not only for boosting productivity but also for ensuring security. This is evident as over a quarter of employers have fired workers for email misuse, and nearly a third for internet misuse.

Learn about the best employee monitoring software with benefits, reasons, and best practices of using employee monitoring solutions:

Features of employee monitoring software compared

Price comparison

15+ employee monitoring software analyzed

Hubstaff

Hubstaff is an employee monitoring software designed to help organizations track employees’s productivity with transparency. It offers time tracking, activity tracking, and monitoring software that captures keyboard and mouse activity without using keystroke logging. This ensures no sensitive data is recorded, as it only measures activity levels. Hubstaff also tracks the apps and websites used by employees and allows optional screenshots for a glimpse into employees’ work.

Ideal to monitor remote employees, Hubstaff includes automated timesheets, detailed reports, and over 30 integrations with platforms like Trello, Asana, and QuickBooks.

Teramind

Teramind offers an employee monitoring software solution that not only tracks employee productivity but also enhances data security through advanced user behavior analytics. For organizations handling remote workers or those concerned about insider threats, its ability to detect potential risks, such as data loss prevention and unauthorized access, allows businesses to monitor employees effectively without compromising sensitive data. Its AI & predictive analytics offer insights to prevent issues before they escalate.

By automating processes like reassigning seats when employees exit, it reduces security risks that can arise in busy environments. Furthermore, the platform offers detailed reports and visualizations aligned with organizational goals, helping companies to track performance and adjust metrics over time.

ActivTrak

ActivTrak is a monitoring software that provides insights into employees’ productivity while maintaining a strong focus on employee privacy. Allowing managers to track app and website usage and categorize them by role or function helps identify potential bottlenecks and balance workloads effectively. With automated time tracking, employees’ work patterns can be reviewed over time, enabling better productivity monitoring.

The software also prioritizes data security and compliance, sending alerts when security vulnerabilities arise, making it useful for protecting against insider threats. ActivTrak’s real-time insights help teams assess activity tracking and measure progress toward goals while respecting privacy outside of work hours. This balance ensures that organizations can monitor employees to improve productivity without overstepping boundaries, making it a practical solution for both remote work and in-office environments.

DeskTime

DeskTime is an employee monitoring software that combines time tracking with workforce management features. By automatically starting and stopping time tracking as employees open and close their computers, DeskTime eliminates the need for manual entries and reduces human error.

Beyond time tracking, DeskTime includes tools for project management and productivity monitoring, such as tracking project costs, assigning hourly rates, and providing break reminders to prevent burnout. These features support the operation of both small businesses and large enterprises, whether managing a hybrid office or monitoring a remote workforce. With its customizable settings, screenshots, and user dashboards, DeskTime provides a solution to monitor employees, optimize resources, and oversee all ongoing business processes.

StaffCop

StaffCop offers an employee monitoring software that combines user activity monitoring with advanced insider threat prevention capabilities. The platform’s User & Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) helps identify unusual behavior patterns and potential insider threats, offering real-time alerts, audit trails, and video recordings to ensure compliance with internal security policies and regulations like GDPR.

Additionally, IT teams can benefit from its remote administration features, which include monitoring system events and analyzing user actions, helping operations across both local and remote desktops.

WE Controlio

WE Controlio is an employee monitoring software that offers real-time tracking of various computer activities, including web surfing, keystrokes, and apps and website usage. It adapts to different organizational needs, allowing monitoring to take place with or without the employee’s knowledge. This flexibility helps maintain transparency while providing thorough insights into employee behavior.

In addition to productivity monitoring, WE Controlio supports insider threat prevention by using customizable rules and alerts, helping to reduce security risks and ensure compliance with internal policies and regulations like GDPR.

Reports generated by the software include comprehensive activity tracking, such as time tracking, attendance, and productivity scores, all of which can be exported in various formats. The software’s adaptability, including custom rules and access levels, enables companies to tailor its usage to fit specific needs, such as managing teams, categorizing apps, and scheduling monitoring based on work hours.

We360.ai

WE360 employee monitoring software provides real-time tracking of computer activity such as web surfing, app usage, and screen recording. This monitoring software allows businesses to gain insights into how employees work, while also offering flexible management options to categorize activities and ensure compliance with GDPR.

WE360 goes beyond basic monitoring by offering customizable rules for blocking unwanted activities and providing alerts when security policies are violated.

Additionally, its time tracking and productivity reports allow managers to keep track of ongoing projects and activity tracking, helping to optimize team performance without overstepping employee privacy. The ability to customize monitoring profiles based on department or team structure makes WE360 adaptable to different work environments, whether it’s for remote work or in-office setups.

Insightful

Insightful offers a solution for understanding employee productivity without intruding on their work experience. By providing real-time monitoring and detailed activity logs, it empowers managers to see exactly how their team is utilizing their time. Insightful’s ability to generate detailed reports—delivered daily, weekly, or monthly—ensures that decision-makers have the insights needed to foster a productive work environment.

The option for employees to manually log their activities and the provision of access to their own data fosters transparency and trust. With its API, Insightful can integrate with existing systems, ensuring a tailored approach to workplace monitoring that meets the unique needs of any organization.

Traqq

Traqq presents a user-friendly approach to time management, focusing on optimizing workforce productivity through intuitive employee monitoring. The software provides essential data through its billable hours reports, which can help identify areas of inefficiency and improve team dynamics. Additionally, Traqq’s idle time reporting feature allows for a deeper analysis of productivity, highlighting opportunities for improvement by monitoring periods of inactivity without compromising privacy.

In addition to these features, Traqq focuses on providing transparency regarding employee activity levels, tracking mouse movements and keyboard clicks without intrusive keylogging. This approach allows managers to gain an overview of productivity trends. With tools for team management and activity analysis, Traqq fosters a data-driven environment that encourages proactive adjustments to enhance overall team performance.

InterGuard

InterGuard allows organizations to track employee activity across various endpoints, enabling managers to gauge productivity and identify idle time or non-work-related tasks. By setting up alerts for suspicious behaviors, companies can maintain oversight and ensure that employees remain focused on their responsibilities, even when working from home.

Furthermore, InterGuard prioritizes data security by alerting managers to any potential data theft or misuse, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected, even in a remote setting. By offering features such as silent deployment and detailed activity logging, InterGuard stands out as an alternative tool for organizations looking to maintain oversight while fostering a productive remote work culture.

SentryPC

SentryPC is an employee monitoring solution that offers comprehensive activity tracking and management features. With the ability to access logs and settings from any device with a web browser, SentryPC ensures that managers can monitor user activities regardless of whether the actual device is online. The software records detailed information about user interactions, including the exact date, time, and duration of activities, providing insight into how devices and the internet are being used.

In addition to its robust monitoring capabilities, SentryPC includes features for content filtering and time management. The geofencing feature further enhances oversight by enabling alerts based on the device’s location, ensuring that employees remain within designated areas.

Veriato

Veriato offers a user activity monitoring (UAM) solution designed to provide organizations with visibility into employee activities, whether on-site, remote, or in hybrid work environments. By continuously collecting data across more than 60 activities—such as email, chat, application use, and web browsing—Veriato helps organizations identify potential security risks and monitor for productivity issues. The platform allows for detailed reporting and real-time alerts, enabling managers to track employee performance and detect anomalies or insecure behavior effectively.

One of the notable features of Veriato is its capability to measure productivity and idle time, generating a productivity score for each employee. It also includes robust monitoring for compliance risks, helping organizations swiftly investigate any policy violations or misuse of sensitive information.

iMonitorSoft

iMonitor EAM (Employee Activity Monitoring) offers a centralized solution for monitoring employee activities across a wide range of devices. By combining user activity monitoring, behavior analytics, and productivity tools in one platform, iMonitorSoft helps organizations prevent insider threats and enhance workforce productivity.

With features such as real-time alerts for suspicious behaviors and the ability to block unproductive websites or applications, iMonitor EAM can help mitigate potential security risks while maximizing employee output. It provides detailed reporting capabilities, allowing managers to analyze activity patterns and make informed decisions to enhance workplace efficiency.

VeriClock

VeriClock offers powerful reporting and integration capabilities, allowing businesses to gain valuable insights into labor data. Users can generate customized reports to see how time and resources are allocated across various jobs and tasks, enabling more informed decision-making. Time tracking data integrates with popular accounting software like QuickBooks and Sage, streamlining payroll processes and saving time.

With the ability to clock in using smartphones, web browsers, SMS, or even a simple phone call, employees can easily track their hours from virtually any device, whether it’s a tablet, desktop, smartphone, or flip phone. The system’s unique verification features, including GPS geotagging and time stamps, help ensure that employees are clocking in accurately and at the right locations.

Real-time email alerts notify managers of clock-in and clock-out activities, enhancing oversight and reducing common time tracking errors, such as forgetting to clock out at the end of the day.

BambooHR

BambooHR offers a unified HR platform designed to simplify the management of key HR functions from hiring to retirement. It consolidates employee data, payroll, time tracking, and benefits management into a single, easy-to-use system, streamlining processes and eliminating the need for manual entries and approvals.

The platform also places a strong emphasis on employee experience and performance management. By providing tools to gather feedback, track performance, and set employee development goals, BambooHR helps organizations foster a positive company culture and support the growth of their workforce.

Worktivity

Worktivity focuses on enhancing productivity through data-driven insights, time tracking, and task monitoring, offering tools that help teams streamline workflows and improve decision-making. By tracking time and generating intuitive time sheets, Worktivity supports efficient payroll processing, making it simpler to manage hours worked and optimize compensation workflows.

Beyond basic time management, Worktivity also provides unique features like timelapse videos and screenshots, giving teams visual timelines of project progression and task performance. Productivity analysis further aids in distinguishing productive from unproductive tools, allowing organizations to adjust their workflows based on real-time insights.

Benefits of employee monitoring software

Implementing employee monitoring software can provide several advantages:

Improved productivity and efficiency: Monitoring software helps identify time-wasting activities, optimizing work processes and improving worker productivity. However, it might lead to unproductivity if not implemented well.

Enhanced security and compliance: By tracking employee activity, companies can reduce the risk of data breaches, data leaks, and insider threats.

Increased transparency and accountability: Employee monitoring systems provide detailed reports on how employees spend their working hours, ensuring accountability.

Reduced risks: Automated monitoring solutions help prevent data breaches by tracking sensitive data movement and blocking unauthorized access.

Why Track Employee Productivity?

Tracking employee productivity is crucial for businesses to stay competitive. Productivity tracking identifies inefficiencies and areas for improvement. For remote employees or remote teams, it’s especially important to monitor progress and maintain workload balance. Employee tracking software provides insights into worker productivity, enabling managers to measure productivity and optimize business processes.

How monitoring software enhances productivity

Using employee monitoring software allows businesses to track employee activity in real-time. It highlights inefficient activities and provides tools like automated time tracking, task management, and app usage monitoring. This helps optimize workflows, ensure that employees focus on productive tasks, and improve team productivity. Managers can track project costs and monitor workload balance to better distribute tasks across the team.

Choosing the right monitoring software

When deciding on the right employee monitoring software, it’s important to ensure that it includes key features that not only boost employee productivity but also safeguard data security. Whether you’re managing remote workers or in-office staff, the following features are essential to help improve efficiency, track activity, and secure sensitive information. Here are the top features to consider when you choose employee monitoring software.

Features

1-GDPR compliance

Many employee monitoring tools collect personal data, such as employee activity, computer activity, and location tracking. To avoid potential legal risks, it’s essential that any employee monitoring system you introduce adheres to strict privacy regulations. Make sure that the data collected is handled responsibly, and ensure employees are aware of how their own data is being used. The best software strikes a balance between productivity monitoring and respecting employee privacy.

2-Screen recording

Screen recording is a powerful feature to include in employee pc monitoring software. This allows businesses to monitor what employees work on during their working hours, ensuring they are focusing on business-related tasks. While this feature is particularly useful for tracking remote teams, it’s important to use it wisely, as excessive monitoring—such as keystroke logging—could lead to discomfort among employees.

Automated employee monitoring systems with screen recording help monitor employees in real-time, but they should be deployed in a way that avoids creating an invasive work environment.

3-Used apps & URLs

Tracking software should provide detailed reports on which apps and websites employees are using during work hours. By analyzing this data, businesses can detect whether employees are engaging in productive activities or if they are being distracted by non-work-related tasks.

This feature helps businesses improve productivity by identifying potential areas of inefficiency. Additionally, it can be useful for it teams to detect unauthorized software that may pose a security risk, thus contributing to data security.

4-Time tracking

One of the most crucial aspects of employee monitoring is time tracking. Employee tracking software should provide a clear picture of how employees spend their working hours. Automated employee monitoring tools that include time tracking ensure real-time accountability, helping managers understand the actual work being done by employees.

This feature is particularly important for remote employees, as it provides insights into their activity during the workday. Using employee monitoring software with this capability allows you to better monitor task management, track deadlines, and optimize business processes.

5-Geolocation tracking

For businesses managing a remote workforce, location tracking is an essential feature. Employee tracking software with geolocation capabilities allows you to monitor where your remote team is working from. This can be useful for companies with employees who frequently travel for business, ensuring they are in the expected location during work hours.

However, it’s important to consider the cons of employee monitoring when using location tracking, as some employees may view this feature as an invasion of privacy. Clear communication about the purpose and scope of location tracking can help alleviate these concerns.

Market presence

1-User ratings & reviews

User rating is an essential metric when deciding on employee monitoring tools. It reflects the experiences of other companies that have used the software. A high user rating indicates that the employee monitoring solution is reliable, easy to use, and effective in boosting employee productivity.

When evaluating employee monitoring software, look for platforms with strong reviews on features like real-time monitoring, task management, and data security. Additionally, feedback on remote employees and remote workforce management can offer valuable insights for businesses with distributed teams.

2-Pricing Options and Cost Considerations

Pricing is a key factor to consider, as businesses must choose employee monitoring software that fits their budget. Different solutions come with varying costs based on the features offered, such as screen recording, location tracking, time tracking, and more. It’s important to evaluate whether the pricing structure aligns with your company’s needs.

3-Free Trial

A free trial is a great way to test employee monitoring solutions before committing to a purchase. It allows businesses to evaluate key features such as tracking employee productivity, automated time tracking, and monitoring employee activity.

During the free trial, organizations can determine whether the software meets their specific requirements, such as monitoring remote employees, improving business processes, or enhancing data security. This risk-free period is particularly useful for assessing whether the software is compatible with existing systems and workflows.

4-Free Version

Some employee monitoring software platforms offer a free version, which is an ideal option for small businesses or companies that want to try out basic features without any financial commitment. A free version typically includes limited functionalities such as time tracking or basic computer activity monitoring.

While the features may be restricted, it still provides value for companies with limited budgets or those looking to monitor a few employees. Businesses with more advanced needs, such as location tracking or detailed reports on employee performance, may eventually need to upgrade to a paid plan.

Best practices for employee monitoring software

Tomczak et al. (2018) gather best practices to minimize the negative effects and maximize the positive effects of employee monitoring software Here are five key recommendations for successful employee monitoring:

1. Be transparent about employee monitoring use

One of the most important best practices is to be open and honest with employees about the use of employee monitoring software. Transparency helps build trust and prevents negative feelings associated with secret surveillance. Clearly explain why the company is using employee monitoring tools, such as improving task management or productivity monitoring, and how it will benefit both the organization and employees. Informing employees upfront about what aspects of their work will be tracked, such as time tracking, computer activity, or location tracking, ensures they understand the purpose and are more likely to accept the monitoring system.

2. Be aware of employee reactions to monitoring

When implementing employee tracking software, it’s essential to be mindful of how employees may react. Some may feel uncomfortable with being monitored, especially if the system tracks behaviors like keystroke logging or uses screen recording. It’s important to acknowledge these concerns and actively address them.

Encourage open communication and feedback about the monitoring system, so you can adjust as needed. By considering the emotional impact and providing reassurance, you can minimize resistance and enhance overall employee engagement.

3. Use employee monitoring for learning and development

Instead of using employee monitoring as a deterrent, focus on leveraging the data for learning and development. Employee monitoring solutions can provide insights into areas where employees may need additional support or training. Use the collected data to identify strengths and areas for improvement, helping employees enhance their performance and efficiency.

Monitoring should be viewed as a tool for growth, not punishment, which encourages a positive work environment and contributes to long-term team productivity.

4. Restrict monitoring to work-related behaviors

A key best practice is to limit employee monitoring systems to work-related behaviors only. Monitoring employees’ personal activities or off-duty actions can invade employee privacy and lead to mistrust. The focus should be on monitoring employee activity that directly impacts business processes, such as time spent on apps and websites related to work, task completion, and real-time monitoring of work progress.

Keeping monitoring strictly professional helps ensure that employees feel respected and maintain compliance with legal and ethical standards.

5. Consider tailored practices when implementing monitoring

The success of employee monitoring tools also depends on the organization’s structure, culture, and needs. It’s important to take into account the company’s size, type of workforce (such as whether they have a large remote workforce or remote teams), and industry-specific requirements when choosing and implementing employee monitoring software.

For example, some businesses may benefit from more advanced features like automated time tracking, while others may need basic employee tracking and activity tracking. Tailoring the system to the organization’s unique needs ensures that the employee monitoring solution works effectively and fits into the broader organizational goals.

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