14 Free and Open Source Time Tracking and Employee Monitoring Software

Time tracking and employee monitoring software are rarely free and open source. If you are considering implementing one in your organization, depending on the size of your team and your requirements you might be able to use one of these open source employee tracking software. However, for larger teams, you’ll probably need to invest a bit.

In this article, we’ll take a deeper look into 15 free and open source employee monitoring software and open source employee time tracking. We’ll try to explain their features and what are some pros and cons of using them. Unfortunately, there are not so many open source monitoring tools out there, so the list consists mostly of free apps.

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We did already talk about some of these in our review of the best 26 employee monitoring tools for 2022.

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Here's our list of 14 free computer monitoring software options:

• Homebase
• ActivTrak
• RescueTime
• DeskTime
• Paymo
• TMetric
• TimeCamp
• Timeneye
• Monitask
• Kickidler
• Veyon
• Screenshot Monitor
• SXR Software
• PC Screen Watcher

Homebase

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Homebase is one of the few free time tracking tool solutions that can support unlimited number of employees. It does have some paid packages, but we are here to talk about free and open source computer monitoring and time tracking tools.

With Homebase’s free package, you can track time as much as you want, with an unlimited number of users, projects and reports. Additionally, it has scheduling, payroll and even job posting and hiring features. Which is a pretty good deal for a free tool!

ActivTrak

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ActivTrak, like Homebase, offers a freemium option of their software. However, it is only for up to 3 users, so if you’re a freelancer or have a small team this is a great solution.

Freemium version offers real-time reporting, website blocking, and scheduled monitoring, among other things. However, data exports and screenshots are limited. Additionally, the storage space for logs and screenshots is limited to 3 GB.

RescueTime

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RescueTime offers a free RescueTime Lite version which helps you track the time spent on websites and apps, and set targets. It sends weekly email reports, but the report history is only available for the previous three months.

DeskTime

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DeskTime has a Lite version, however only for one user. With it you can track time, app usage, and it also has a mobile app to help you track your phone activity.

Paymo

Some of the more advanced features they have are more suitable for teams, and they include advanced reporting, file sharing, gantt charts, etc.

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TMetric

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TMetric’s free plan is limited to 5 users, it has options for time tracking, web app integration, and reporting. It also includes unlimited number of projects and clients. If you have a team up to 5 people, or you’re freelancing, you can probably get a lot out of an app like TMetric.

Besides a desktop app, the tool also has a web-based application and a browser extension which simplifies the whole process of time tracking.

TimeCamp

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If you need to track time exclusively, and only for yourself - go with TimeCamp. Their free version only does that - tracks time for one user. You can also integrate it with Trello (among other apps), for better task time management.

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Timeneye

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Timeneye’s free plan is only for one user. However, it allows an unlimited number of projects and clients, while letting you link one integration and one calendar. Considering you’re a one man band, this is more than enough.

Some of their integrations include Google tools, GitLab, Asana, etc - everything you need to carefully manage your projects.

Monitask

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Monitask offers a pretty good deal for a freeware time tracking software. It includes tracking up to 3 employees so it’s great for the small teams. It can take up to 6 screenshots per hour, but it also reports on activity, and app usage.

Another useful feature are online timesheets, which you can use to calculate working hours of your workforce more efficiently.

Kickidler

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Kickidler offers many paid options, but most notably it offers a Freemium version of the product which is free forever if you’re only looking to track 6 employees.

This free computer monitoring software doesn't include video recording and playback options, but you can still track keys, work time, and monitor the computers in real-time.

One thing it also lacks it remote control of computers, but most tools don’t even have it in their paid version.

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Veyon

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Veyon is free web monitoring software. It’s main use is for classroom management, but it can easily be used in a work environment as well.

It allows you to take control over paired computers, so you can lock them, reboot, or shut them down. It doesn’t have more traditional features like time tracking, website and app usage, etc. But it does offer almost full remote control, and taking screenshots.

Additionally, you can share your own screen with everyone in a matter of seconds.

Screenshot Monitor

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Limited to 3 users, the free version of Screenshot Monitor offers time tracking, screenshot monitoring (3 screenshots per hour), and it can store those screenshots for 2 weeks only.

There’s no way to track activity, so if you’re looking for something more than time tracking and screenshots, you can take a look at some other tools which offer more in their free packages.

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TrackingTime

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Simple project tracking software to manage everything in one place. Stay on top of your team's work, keep up with deadlines and ace all your projects. Get accurate timesheets, export them into invoices and reports, and share them with your clients. And create a timeline to plan your projects, displaying milestone tasks and assigning them to your team to promote ownership while keeping track of progress.

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Avoid bottlenecks and see how everything falls into place with no extra effort. TrackingTime makes it easy to collaborate with your team.

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SXR Software

SXR is a free computer monitoring software which has many different versions. They include versions for startups, processes, internet, activity, for mouse logging. Additionally, it also includes monitoring for files, USBs, screenshots, etc.

It seems interesting, but it’s not really practical to download 10 different apps in order to track 10 different things.

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PC Screen Watcher

PC Screen Watcher is advertised as a child control tool, but it isn’t its only use. It can limit app usage based on custom setting, send keyloggers and active windows stats to a set email address.

Furthermore, it can automatically shut down if the computer is idle, and run back once the computer is started. It captures screenshots, and it is very easy to configure the restriction rules on it.

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