Best Employee Monitoring Software
Editorial Note: This content has been independently collected by the Forbes Advisor team and is offered on a non-advised basis. This content is not part of the comparison service provided by RunPath Regulatory Services. Forbes Advisor may earn a commission on sales made from partner links on this page, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions or evaluations.
With more people working remotely than before, employers are looking for ways to help uphold employee productivity regardless of where they are working from. For this reason, many businesses are turning to employee monitoring software, which can be used to help track productivity and evaluate efficiency, as well as identify threats, gauge the efficiency of internal systems operations and manage industry compliance standards.
Forbes Advisor India evaluated dozens of employee monitoring software platforms by price, ease of use and functionality to narrow down the best for 2024.
- Featured Partners
- The Best Employee Monitoring Software of 2024
- The Best Employee Monitoring Software of 2024
- Hubstaff
- Teramind
- ActivTrak
- SentryPC
- DeskTime
- StaffCop Enterprise
- Controlio
- We360.ai
- Insightful
- Traqq
- InterGuard
- Summary of Best Employee Monitoring Software
- What Is Employee Monitoring Software?
- Is Employee Monitoring a Good Idea?
- How To Choose an Employee Monitoring Software
- Essential Features
- Pricing and Budget
- Ease of Use
- Methodology
- Featured Partners
- Next Up In Business
Featured Partners
1
SentryPC
24/7 Remote Access in the Cloud
Centralized management of multiple devices and user
Activity Monitoring & Recording
Alert logging, call logging, keylogging, screenshot capturing, text message logging,
Content Filtering & Restriction
Activity alerts by keyword/phrase, alert notifications by email, website filtering. Also, geofencing & geolocation
The Best Employee Monitoring Software of 2024
- Hubstaff: Best overall
- Teramind: Best for time tracking
- ActivTrak: Best for robust free plan
- SentryPC: Best for low-budget businesses
- DeskTime: Best for task management
- StaffCop Enterprise: Best value for money for large companies
- Controlio: Best for monitoring a distributed workforce
- We360.ai: Best for customer support
- Insightful: Best for promoting transparency
- Traqq: Best for team management
- Interguard: Best for a mobile workforce
BEST OVERALL
Hubstaff
Starting price
Free; around INR 414 per month, per user (minimum two users)
Keylogging
No
Stealth or visible mode
Visible
Starting price
Free; around INR 414 per month, per user (minimum two users)
Keylogging
No
Stealth or visible mode
Visible
While Hubstaff has a suite of solid employee monitoring features, it is better known as a time tracking tool. Hubstaff was designed for employers to get a clear picture of their employee’s performance based on actual data, not guesses. Hubstaff balances maintaining employee privacy while tracking employee time and improving productivity. Hubstaff does not log keystrokes but instead tracks activity rates based on mouse and keyboard usage. This gives companies granular insights into team productivity.
Who should use it:
Hubstaff’s versatility makes it a suitable choice for every type of user who wants to instantly improve their workforce’s productivity.
- Free 14-day trial
- 60-day money-back guarantee
- Free forever plan available
- Unlimited screenshots
- Time tracking comes standard
- Idle timeout on premium plans
- Basic reporting
- Minimum number of users
- Limited hours for phone support
BEST FOR TIME TRACKING
Teramind
Starting price
INR 924 per seat, per month (minimum of five users)
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Starting price
INR 924 per seat, per month (minimum of five users)
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Teramind’s comprehensive set of tracking tools ranges from identifying workflow bottlenecks and redundancies, immediately blocking malicious activities, alerting the security team of malicious incidents in real-time, screen recordings, tracking emails and using prebuilt and customizable rules to support a variety of global compliance regulations.
Who should use it:
Businesses that want to improve their team’s overall productivity in noninvasive ways to track employee time and activity accurately.
- Free 7-day trial
- Comprehensive tracking tools
- Keystroke tracking
- Advanced features such as sensitive content detection and redaction
- Security features such as malicious activity blocking
- Custom behavior rules only available on most expensive plan
- High learning curve
- Must have minimum of five users
BEST FOR ROBUST FREE PLAN
ActivTrak
Starting price
Free; Around INR 830 per month (minimum five users), per user
Keylogging
No
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Starting price
Free; Around INR 830 per month (minimum five users), per user
Keylogging
No
Stealth or visible mode
Both
ActivTrak monitors employees in a transparent way with features that track how many hours employees work as well as how engaged they are while they are working. Its set of productivity tools focuses on worker productivity by tracking how much time employees engage in productive behaviors vs. idle behavior through mouse movements, keyboard activity and website usage.
One key differentiating factor is ActivTrak’s free plan. Few employee monitoring software platforms have a free plan. Those that do usually offer a free plan that is limited to one user and a small handful of basic features. ActivTrak’s free plan is available for up to three users, includes top categories, website, user, productivity and applications reports as well as activity alarms, email notifications and 24/7 access to online onboarding resources.
Who should use it:
Small businesses with a tight budget can take advantage of ActivTrak’s generous free plan.
- Intuitive interface
- Allows for multiple administrators
- Tracks productivity on project level
- Top users report
- Payments and payroll available
- No keystroke logging
- Data history only stored for limited time
- Five-user minimum
BEST FOR LOW-BUDGET BUSINESSES
SentryPC
Starting price
INR 6,053.83 annually, additional device is for around INR 2,446.24
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Starting price
INR 6,053.83 annually, additional device is for around INR 2,446.24
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
The perk of SentryPC is that it uses multiple operating systems which include Mac, Windows and Android. It is completely cloud-based with 24/7 remote access. Real-time updates on any activities happening like games, screenshots, websites, programs and much more. SentryPC monitors and records everything that employees may do on their devices. It also has geofencing and geolocation features that will alert you when the employee enters and exits the fence you have created. The best feature is time management and scheduling as it allows you to set particular hours and days for your employees with a four hours maximum allotted time.
Who should use it:
SentryPC offers users six budget-friendly cloud-based plans. The software has customized real-time alerts and reporting features. It is ideal for small businesses that need affordable employee monitoring software.
- Real-time viewing
- Activity alerts
- Cloud-based account
- Easy to use
- Budget friendly
- Extensive features like geofencing and geolocation
- It does not work on Chromebooks, mobile device and Linux machines
BEST FOR TASK MANAGEMENT
DeskTime
Starting price
Free; INR 400 per month, per user
Keylogging
No
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Starting price
Free; INR 400 per month, per user
Keylogging
No
Stealth or visible mode
Both
In addition to outstanding employee time tracking features, DeskTime also includes task management features, such as a calendar, document, URL and app tracking, estimated project costs, project tracking and detailed project reports. The software is affordable with the basic paid plan starting at INR 400 per month, per user, and does not require a minimum number of users like other plans. It also offers a forever free plan―DeskTime Light―for one user. While the plan is limited it does include automatic time tracking, URL tracking and an integrated web timer.
Who should use it:
Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that want robust project management and project time tracking software included in their employee monitoring software.
- Forever-free plan and low-cost paid plans
- Productivity calculation
- User-friendly
- Built-in shift scheduling
- Offline time tracking
- Limited reporting
- No 24/7 live rep
- No keystroke logging
BEST VALUE FOR MONEY FOR LARGE COMPANIES
StaffCop Enterprise
Starting price
Starting at around INR 8,139 per user for perpetual license
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Starting price
Starting at around INR 8,139 per user for perpetual license
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
StaffCop Enterprise is a robust software solution for employee supervision and threat identification. Along with many of its competitors, it offers employee email monitoring, keystroke monitoring, productivity tracking, remote desktop control and more. Unlike many of its competitors, it offers a perpetual license for the right to use the software for a one-time payment.
With the license, access to upgrades and technical support is free for the first 12 months. This is especially beneficial for larger organizations as the price significantly decreases in relation to the number of users. StaffCop charges around INR 8,139 per user for companies with between five and 25 users. For companies with more than 1,000 users, the software platform charges around INR 5,730 per user.
Who should use it:
Large companies that want to monitor more than 1,000 employees.
- Free 15-day trial
- Voice communication recording
- Webcam capture capability
- Perpetual licenses
- No support on weekends
- Does not have mobile app
- Expensive for small businesses using it on short-term basis
BEST FOR MONITORING A DISTRIBUTED WORKFORCE
Controlio
Starting price
Around INR 663 per user per month
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Starting price
Around INR 663 per user per month
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
The cloud-based software allows users to monitor activity via the web-based dashboard at any time, regardless of where they are located. This is an excellent tool for supervisors who are required to monitor employee conduct even when they are not physically present in the workplace. Real-time monitoring of on-screen activities is one of Controlio’s most valuable capabilities.
Who should use it:
Controlio’s web and cloud-based installation is ideal for managing and monitoring a remote workforce.
- Free 14-day trial
- No limit on data storage for mid and top tier plans
- Cloud-based
- Monitor for insider threats
- Wide range of advanced features
- Only works on PCs
- No free plan
- No live chat support
BEST FOR CUSTOMER SUPPORT
We360.ai
Starting price
INR 199 per user, per month (billed annually)
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Starting price
INR 199 per user, per month (billed annually)
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
We360.ai is a cloud-based employee monitoring software that was designed to not only monitor employee’s work time, but also help managers gain insights into their employees’ work environment. One major benefit is the ability for managers to track how much time employees are spending on specific projects or clients. The platform has a dashboard that allows managers to analyze employee performance at a granular level. These detailed reports on employee time allocation help managers adjust time, resources and workload as needed.
Another big advantage of We360.ai is its customer service. With a technical support team that is available 24/7, a dedicated account manager that provides personalized service to every customer and regular free live training and demos, We360.ai is a great platform for companies that need extra help.
Who should use it:
Because of its 24/7 live support and dedicated account manager, the software platform is perfect for companies requiring additional personalized assistance while using the software.
- 24/7 tech support
- Computer screen snapshots
- Real-time analytics
- Monthly plan requires minimum of 10 users
- Does not have free version
BEST FOR PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY
Insightful
Starting price
Around 531 per employee per month (billed annually)
Keylogging
No
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Starting price
Around 531 per employee per month (billed annually)
Keylogging
No
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Insightful offers the best choice for employee privacy. The software uses both visible and stealth modes. While the software runs on visible mode when employees use their own devices, companies have the option to run it on stealth or visible mode of company-owned devices. Visible mode gives employees more control over the exposure of their data. Companies can promote accountability by sharing detailed productivity reports with their employees.
Who should use it:
Companies that want to promote transparency and give employees control over their data.
- Free 7-day trial and low-cost paid plans
- Real-time monitoring
- Time and attendance tracking
- Monthly and annual plans
- Uses both visible and stealth mode
- Live support for all plans
- Only Enterprise plan offers 24/7 phone support
- Does not work on mobile devices
- No free version
BEST FOR TEAM MANAGEMENT
Traqq
Starting price
Free; Around INR 498 per user per month (four-seat minimum, billed annually)
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Visible mode
Starting price
Free; Around INR 498 per user per month (four-seat minimum, billed annually)
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Visible mode
One of Traqq’s biggest strengths is its team management abilities. The software allows users to set up to four administrator levels (owners, admin, manager and team member) with different access rights and monitoring options. Each role has its own set of permissions. Owners can create groups and assign managers to oversee those groups. Managers then assign responsibilities and can monitor the activity of their team members.
Owners and administrators can assess overall company profitability by generating distinct reports and statistics for each team. These team management features enable team leaders to efficiently oversee and coordinate their teams, streamline the work processes, foster effective collaboration and promote accountability. Furthermore, its user-friendly interface and customizable features make it easy for employers to adapt the platform to their specific needs.
Who should use it:
Companies that are looking for software to help them manage teams in addition to monitoring employees.
- Free version
- 21-day free trial
- Screen video recording
- Does not have mobile app
- Does not have stealth mode
BEST FOR A MOBILE WORKFORCE
InterGuard
Starting price
Around INR 2,076 per user per month (five-user minimum)
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
Starting price
Around INR 2,076 per user per month (five-user minimum)
Keylogging
Yes
Stealth or visible mode
Both
InterGuard has the capability to monitor employees using not only Windows, Mac and Chromebook computers but also Android and iOS devices. This is an unusual feature in the employee monitoring software space which tends to focus just on monitoring computers.
Who should use it:
Companies focused on managing a remote workforce that relies on both PCs and mobile devices to complete their work.
- Monitor both computer and mobile devices
- Six dashboard view types
- Works on mobile devices
- Outstanding reports
- Minimum of five users
- Expensive compare to alternatives
- Not as intuitive as competitors
Summary of Best Employee Monitoring Software
What Is Employee Monitoring Software?
Employee monitoring software is a software platform businesses use to track and oversee employees’ activities during their work hours. This technology can offer insights into behavior such as productivity, attendance and online habits to help companies make decisions about how to use their resources most effectively.
A simple application of the software is tracking an employee’s hours by monitoring when they log in and out. More advanced systems may track keystrokes, capture screenshots or record screen activity, providing a detailed view of an employee’s work behavior. Reports commonly include usage of software applications, websites visited, documents accessed and even specific keystrokes made. Some software companies include features for tracking employee location, which is particularly useful for businesses with remote or mobile workers.
This software isn’t solely about surveillance. It also serves as a valuable tool for productivity analysis by providing managers with detailed reports about how work time is spent. With this data, managers can better understand work processes, optimize workflow and aid employees in improving their performance. Moreover, employee monitoring software plays a critical role in maintaining cybersecurity. It can help prevent data breaches by detecting suspicious activity or behavior. For instance, an unusual data transfer can trigger alerts that enable quick preventive actions to be taken.
Is Employee Monitoring a Good Idea?
Employee monitoring software is a software platform businesses use to track and oversee employees’ activities during their work hours. This technology can offer insights into behavior such as productivity, attendance and online habits to help companies make decisions about how to use their resources most effectively.
A simple application of the software is tracking an employee’s hours by monitoring when they log in and out. More advanced systems may track keystrokes, capture screenshots or record screen activity, providing a detailed view of an employee’s work behavior. Reports commonly include usage of software applications, websites visited, documents accessed and even specific keystrokes made. Some software companies include features for tracking employee location, which is particularly useful for businesses with remote or mobile workers.
This software isn’t solely about surveillance. It also serves as a valuable tool for productivity analysis by providing managers with detailed reports about how work time is spent. With this data, managers can better understand work processes, optimize workflow and aid employees in improving their performance. Moreover, employee monitoring software plays a critical role in maintaining cybersecurity. It can help prevent data breaches by detecting suspicious activity or behavior. For instance, an unusual data transfer can trigger alerts that enable quick preventive actions to be taken.
How To Choose an Employee Monitoring Software
The market is flooded with numerous employee monitoring software solutions, each offering their own diverse range of features and pricing. With so many options, how do you know where to start when it comes to finding the perfect solution for your team?
First, start with clarifying your business goals when choosing an employee monitoring software. What do you want the software to achieve? This could range from enhancing productivity to managing remote workers to ensuring data security. Why do you need it? Perhaps you’re seeking more visibility into work processes or maybe you’re addressing specific challenges such as time management or potential data breaches.
Understanding the nature of your workforce is equally crucial. For a largely remote team, you may need features such as location tracking or screen recording, whereas an office-based team might require less stringent monitoring.
The degree of invasiveness is another significant factor. Yes, detailed monitoring can provide comprehensive insights, but it’s vital to strike a balance between gathering useful data and respecting employee privacy. Overly invasive software can harm morale and trust, which can negatively affect the very productivity you aim to improve.
Once you figure all this out, you can then move on to evaluating which employee monitoring software has the right features, ease of use and price for your business.
Essential Features
Businesses need to understand their specific objectives for using the employee monitoring software. If the primary goal is to boost productivity, then features such as time tracking, activity logs, and website and application usage might be key. Some software platforms, such as DeskTime, even offer task management features including an absence calendar, document tracking, project tracking and detailed project reports.
For those prioritizing data security, features that alert systems for unusual activity or access to sensitive information may be critical, while companies managing remote teams might look for location tracking and screen recording features. If you are managing your teams remotely, Hubstaff has a geofence feature that allows employers to create a job site on a map. Once that is done, employees will automatically be clocked in and out when they enter the geofence area. This is ideal for workers whose job site regularly changes, such as landscapers or construction workers.
It’s also worthwhile to consider how detailed the monitoring needs to be while respecting privacy norms. Each business is unique and the “right” software is the one that best supports its operational needs, promotes employee productivity and maintains a comfortable work environment. It’s about finding the balance that enhances business efficiency without compromising trust within the team.
Pricing and Budget
Choosing the right employee monitoring software also heavily depends on a company’s budget and pricing considerations. Employee monitoring software varies significantly in cost. Most of the companies we reviewed have a monthly per-user rate that can be reduced if you prepay for the entire year rather than pay monthly. StaffCop Enterprise is the only software platform we reviewed that sells a perpetual license to be used throughout the lifetime of the company or the software, whichever comes first.
The price range of the companies we reviewed spanned from INR 199 per user per month with We360.ai to around INR 2,076 per user per month with Interguard. Each software has its own regulations on the minimum number of users, which could be detrimental to smaller companies.
It’s crucial to weigh the cost against the return on investment. A more expensive solution might be justified if it significantly enhances productivity or prevents costly data breaches. Free trials and demo versions are useful to assess whether a more expensive option justifies the investment. For small teams, some of the software companies such as ActivTrak offer a free plan. While free plans can be limited, ActivTrak’s free plan is available for up to three users and includes reports on website, user, productivity and applications as well as activity alarms, email notifications and 24/7 access to online onboarding resources.
Ease of Use
Ease of use is a significant factor when selecting an employee monitoring software. A system with a user-friendly interface is not just a convenience—it’s a necessity. For the software to be truly effective, both administrators who analyze the data and employees who are being monitored should find it straightforward enough to navigate with ease. A software that’s difficult to navigate can lead to wasted time and potential misinterpretations, which could hinder the very thing it’s meant to enhance—productivity.
An overly complex system could also cause frustration among employees. Therefore, when choosing a monitoring software, companies should prioritize simplicity and user-friendliness alongside the essential features and pricing. After all, a tool is only as good as its usability.
Methodology
To determine the best employee monitoring software, Forbes Advisor India looked at a variety of factors, including ease of use, cost, customer support, features and functionality. We also considered each company’s reputation and real user reviews.
Key criteria to determine the best employee monitoring software:
Pricing – 10%
We looked into the monthly cost of the software plan, whether it had a free plan or free trial and what the minimum number of users was for each plan. We also examined the starting tier price and what was included in that tier as well as the pricing and features of each additional tier.
Features – 50%
We considered the range of features each software platform provided as well as how easy they were to operate. We looked at whether the software platforms had general features such as stealth monitoring, file tracking and the ability for users to take screenshots. We also looked for more advanced features such as keystroke recording, geofencing, location tracking and user privacy settings.
Ratings and Reviews – 10%
We examined what type of customer support was included with the software, which plans came with what type of customer support and if the support was free or at an additional cost. We examined how many reviews each platform had on review sites such as Trustpilot, G2 and Capterra as well as how many high reviews each platform had on these sites.
Expert Score – 30%
In evaluating the best employee monitoring software, we leveraged our direct knowledge and experience with these providers to determine the top contenders for our comparison. The most effective employee monitoring software combines affordability with a rich set of features and a user-friendly design. This combination facilitates smooth adoption of the new software and ensures your team accurately tracks, manages and reports employees’ activities. The expert score contributed 35% to the final ranking.
Featured Partners
1
SentryPC
24/7 Remote Access in the Cloud
Centralized management of multiple devices and user
Activity Monitoring & Recording
Alert logging, call logging, keylogging, screenshot capturing, text message logging,
Content Filtering & Restriction
Activity alerts by keyword/phrase, alert notifications by email, website filtering. Also, geofencing & geolocation
Next Up In Business
Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.
