How to choose time & attendance software: the complete guide
Ease of setup, legal reliability, real cost, room to grow: here are the 8 criteria that actually separate time-tracking software your team will keep using from a tool you'll replace in six months.
Try Timealyo for free1. How quickly you can get started
A tool that needs a week of setup or dedicated training will never be adopted by a small team long-term — clocking in should be intuitive from the very first use, no manual required.
With Timealyo, an employee clocks in within two seconds from a browser, with no self-service account creation and no app to download.
2. Legal reliability of the record
In France, the law requires automatic systems to be "reliable and tamper-proof" (article L3171-4 of the labor code). A spreadsheet that can be edited afterward doesn't meet that bar — a clock-in timestamped the moment it happens does.
Every Timealyo clock-in is timestamped automatically; any manual correction stays traceable with who made it and when.
3. The real cost, not just the sticker price
The subscription price is only part of the cost: setup fees, hardware for a physical badge reader, or time lost fixing spreadsheet mistakes (see our article on the hidden cost of spreadsheets) often outweigh the subscription itself.
Timealyo is free for life for a single user, with no hardware to buy, and paid tiers have no setup fees or minimum commitment.
4. Fit with your team's size
A tool built for 200 employees is often overkill (and overpriced) for a 5-person team — on the other hand, a tool that's too simple breaks down as the company grows. The right choice scales with you without forcing a switch.
Timealyo offers tiers from 10 to 100+ users, with the same features at every level — nothing locked behind a higher tier.
5. The contract types it actually supports
A team rarely runs on a single contract type: fixed hours, flexible hours, day-rate contracts for managers. A tool that only handles one forces you to juggle a second tool or a spreadsheet on the side — you never fully solve the problem.
Timealyo handles all three regimes (fixed, flexible, day-rate) independently for each employee, within the same company.
6. Automatic detection of gaps
Spotting a late arrival or a missed clock-in by hand means a manager comparing expected and actual hours every day — repetitive work rarely done systematically (see our article on automatic late-arrival detection).
Timealyo automatically flags late arrivals, missed clock-ins and overtime, with one-click manager approval instead of a surprise at month's end.
7. Compatibility with your payroll
Time-tracking software that doesn't produce a usable export forces you to re-enter hours by hand into payroll — exactly the duplicate work switching tools was supposed to remove.
Timealyo exports to PDF, CSV or Excel, filtered by employee, department or period, ready to hand to an accountant or payroll software.
8. GDPR and privacy compliance
A clock-in system processes personal data. In France, the CNIL requires proportionality, informing employees in advance, and generally prohibits biometrics for simple time tracking.
Timealyo strictly isolates each client company's data, encrypts data exchanges, and never uses biometrics — see our FAQ on GDPR compliance.
Questions about choosing time-tracking software
Do small teams need paid software?
No: several tools, including Timealyo, offer a permanent free tier for a single user — useful for testing before hiring, with no financial commitment.
Does time-tracking software replace payroll software?
No, the two are complementary: time-tracking software calculates hours actually worked and exports them, payroll software uses that data to generate payslips.
How long does it take to switch tools without disrupting the team?
Usually a few minutes to a few hours for setup (accounts, contract templates), optionally followed by a period of running both systems in parallel to check consistency before dropping the old one.