Buddy Punch vs Puntual

Buddy Punch is employee time and attendance software for businesses managing field, office, remote, and on-site teams. It covers scheduling, attendance, PTO, break tracking, timesheet approvals, and attendance reports. Clock-in and clock-out records become timesheets, with hours calculated automatically. Punch verification options include GPS locations, geofencing, and photos; clock-ins are available through web, mobile apps, kiosk PIN, QR code, text message, group punch, and Face ID. iOS and Android apps are listed, along with Chromebook access through a ChromeOS app. Pro supports offline punches that sync when a device reconnects. Integrations include QuickBooks, ADP Workforce Now, Gusto, Paychex, Paylocity, Workday, and Zapier, and an external API can create and edit workforce records. Payroll is an add-on covering payments, tax filings, direct deposit, and W-2 and 1099 processing. Plans are paid after a 14-day trial, which requires no credit card; Starter starts at $4.99 a month billed monthly.

Puntual records employee working hours and applies labor regulations based on the company’s selected country. It runs on Android and the web, with clock-ins that are saved on the device first and synced later, allowing recording without an internet connection. Staff can also use a shared entrance tablet, entering a name and PIN instead of installing the app. Administrators can review daily details, weekly and monthly totals, differences from expected hours, and monthly incidents. PDF and CSV reports include an annex for independent checks of whether records were altered. The maker says clock-ins are chained with cryptographic fingerprints, server timestamps are sealed, and corrections add records rather than changing originals. Optional location records where a clock-in or clock-out occurred, without continuous tracking. Puntual lists labor-rule settings for 23 EU countries and says it works worldwide. Cloud-mode data is hosted in Ireland; local-mode data stays on the device. Local Mode is free for one employee, with no cloud sync. Subscription costs €4.99 a month; One-Time Purchase costs €9.99 as a one-time purchase. A 30-day trial includes the whole staff, web dashboard, verifiable exports, and server timestamps, with no card or automatic charge.