Buddy Punch vs ClockShark
time & attendance head-to-head for ERP teams: evidenced capabilities, published pricing, and which ERPs each actually integrates with.
| Starting price | From $4.99/user/mo (published) | Tiered per-user subscription (Standard, Pro) |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Company size | SMB, Mid-market | SMB, Mid-market |
| Stated ERP integrations | QuickBooks, Workday | QuickBooks, Xero |
| Vendor | Buddy Punch | ClockShark |
Our take
Where Buddy Punch leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 15 of the 24 capabilities where they differ (led by buddy-punching prevention controls and biometric verification (face/fingerprint)).
- Published pricing where the alternative quotes.
- Stated Workday integration the alternative doesn't list.
Where ClockShark leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 9 of the 24 capabilities where they differ (led by offline clock-in with later sync and budgeted vs. actual hours tracking).
- Stated Xero integration the alternative doesn't list.
Where they differ
The 24 capabilities (of 54 in the time & attendance taxonomy) where the evidence separates them, biggest gaps first. “Not evidenced” means our research found no public documentation of this capability — the vendor may still offer it. Confirm on a demo.
| Capability | ||
|---|---|---|
| Offline clock-in with later syncTime Capture & Punch Methods | Not evidenced | Core strength Offline time tracking with a Sync Queue for low-signal areas |
| Buddy-punching prevention controlsLocation & Fraud Prevention | Core strength PIN, facial recognition and photo verification are the product's core positioning | Not evidenced |
| Budgeted vs. actual hours trackingLabor Costing & Job Tracking | Not evidenced | Core strength Budgeted vs. worked hours tracking per job |
| Biometric verification (face/fingerprint)Time Capture & Punch Methods | Supported Facial recognition verification, optionally required before punching | Not evidenced |
| PIN / badge / QR code punchingTime Capture & Punch Methods | Supported Employee PIN and QR code punching | Not evidenced |
| Voice / SMS / phone-based time entryTime Capture & Punch Methods | Supported Text-to-punch for field workers without internet access | Not evidenced |
| IP address / network restrictionLocation & Fraud Prevention | Supported IP address locks restricting punches to company networks | Not evidenced |
| Overtime & premium pay calculationTimesheets & Pay Rules | Supported Overtime calculation across a dozen+ overtime types | Not evidenced |
| Automatic break deduction rulesTimesheets & Pay Rules | Supported Automatic break deductions based on configured rules | Not evidenced |
| Punch rounding rulesTimesheets & Pay Rules | Supported 2-30 minute rounding increments | Not evidenced |
| Reusable shift templatesScheduling | Supported | Not evidenced |
| Leave request & approval workflowLeave & Absence Management | Supported | Not evidenced |
| Real-time leave balance visibilityLeave & Absence Management | Supported Approved PTO automatically appears on timesheets | Not evidenced |
| Multi-department / cost-center allocationLabor Costing & Job Tracking | Not evidenced | Supported Multi-department / multi-office controls (Pro plan) |
| Labor cost dashboardsWorkforce Analytics & Reporting | Not evidenced | Supported Real-time labor-cost and financial reporting |
| Multilingual employee appEmployee Experience | Not evidenced | Supported Spanish-language app support |
| SSO & identity provisioningPlatform & Integrations | Supported SSO via Google, Apple, Okta or OneLogin | Not evidenced |
| Photo capture at punchTime Capture & Punch Methods | Supported | Partial Photo and note attachments on jobs; not documented as an identity check at punch |
| Live crew location mapLocation & Fraud Prevention | Supported Real-time GPS location tracking with breadcrumb history | Core strength "Who's Working Now" live crew map |
| Automatic timesheet calculationTimesheets & Pay Rules | Core strength | Supported |
| Drag-and-drop schedule builderScheduling | Supported | Core strength |
| Job / task / project cost codingLabor Costing & Job Tracking | Supported Job/project cost tracking via job codes | Core strength Job and task selection at clock-in feeding real-time labor-cost reporting by customer/job/task |
| Audit trail & policy-violation logsCompliance & Labor Law | Partial Administrator timesheet editing for missed punches; no explicit audit-log feature documented | Not evidenced |
| ERP general ledger postingPlatform & Integrations | Not evidenced | Partial Sage 100 Contractor export covers job costing, billing and payroll but is a file export, not live GL posting |
Both grade identically on the other 30 capabilities — see each product's full profile: Buddy Punch, ClockShark.
Buddy Punch vs ClockShark — FAQs
Is Buddy Punch or ClockShark better for ERP integration?
Both state integrations with QuickBooks. Buddy Punch additionally lists Workday. ClockShark additionally lists Xero. Always verify the connector against your ERP version with a reference customer.
Which is cheaper, Buddy Punch or ClockShark?
Buddy Punch publishes a starting rate ($4.99/user/mo); ClockShark prices by quote, so a like-for-like number requires asking both.
Get pricing for both
Tell us your ERP, seat count and must-haves and we'll come back with an independent view of what Buddy Punch and ClockShark should each cost you — and whether a third option belongs on your shortlist.