Open Time Clock Review: A Flat-Price Hosted Time Clock with a Free Plan
Open Time Clock is a hosted employee time clock run by OpenTimeClock.com, which says it has been in business since 1997. Despite the name and a past listing in an open-source category, it is proprietary software delivered as a service, with data stored in Amazon Web Services' US East (N. Virginia) region. It publishes no source code or license.
Its pricing is unusual: one flat company price with unlimited users. The Free plan covers everything except PDF and Excel report downloads, the Paid plan is $39 a month or $399 a year, and eligible nonprofits, schools, hospitals and government agencies can get the full product free.
The verdict
For a school, a small nonprofit or a cost-conscious small business that needs employees to clock in and out and a supervisor to export hours, Open Time Clock is hard to beat on price. Unlimited users on a free or $399-a-year plan means a 150-person organization pays the same as a 10-person one.
The feature list is wider than the price suggests. Staff can clock in by username, PIN kiosk, face recognition, barcode or QR code, RFID badge or group clock, with an offline mode. GPS geofencing and WiFi-based attendance control limit where punches are accepted, and PTO auto accruals, overtime rules and shift schedules sit alongside more than 80 preset reports.
The site is built for breadth rather than polish, and it lists a long run of use cases from construction crews to school teachers and hospital clinics. That breadth is useful for a mixed public-sector employer, but buyers should test the admin screens and mobile apps with the supervisors who will use them every week, because nothing about the price tells you how easy it is to run.
I would look elsewhere if you want payroll run from the same product or a polished scheduling app for hourly shift work. Homebase and Connecteam bundle scheduling, messaging and, in Homebase's case, payroll add-ons in more modern mobile apps. Open Time Clock's own site does not name payroll integrations, so hours move by report export.
Where Open Time Clock fits
Who it suits
It suits US schools, nonprofits, local government offices and small businesses with hourly or part-time staff who need a free or very cheap time clock, and larger organizations that want unlimited users for a flat fee.
What it does differently
Homebase, Connecteam, Deputy and When I Work scale their paid plans with headcount or locations. Open Time Clock charges one flat fee regardless of headcount and offers a full-featured free plan for public and nonprofit organizations, which makes it one of the cheapest ways to put a large staff on a time clock.
How it gets bought
Signup is self-serve. The low price comes with trade-offs: no named payroll integrations on the site, no vendor-published uptime or security certifications that I could find, and US-only data hosting in AWS US East.
Open Time Clock pricing: flat company rate and free plans
The flat per-company price is the main reason to choose Open Time Clock. Paid is $39 a month or $399 a year for unlimited users, and long prepayments cut the effective annual cost further: $800 for 3 years, $1,200 for 5 and $2,000 for 10.
The Free plan withholds only PDF and Excel report downloads, after 30 days of free report access. Qualifying public and nonprofit organizations can apply for the NPO plan, which includes those reports at no cost.
| Plan | Published price | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | Not stated |
| Paid | $39/mo or $399/year per company | Not stated |
| NPO | $0/mo | Not stated |
| Sponsor Link | $0/mo | Not stated |
Pricing last checked September 25, 2026. View source
Free versus Paid
Everything except report downloads is in the Free plan. If you need to hand payroll a PDF or spreadsheet each pay period, you will need Paid, NPO or the Sponsor Link plan.
Sponsor Link and NPO plans
The Sponsor Link plan gives full features in return for placing a sponsor link on your website, which many organizations will not want to do. The NPO plan requires an application and is aimed at schools, government agencies, hospitals and nonprofits.
Cost at different headcounts
At $399 a year, the Paid plan works out to about $3.33 per employee per month for a 10-person team, and about 22 cents per employee per month for 150 people. On the 10-year prepay of $2,000, the annual cost falls to $200 for the whole company.
Long prepayments carry vendor risk, so weigh the discount against the chance of wanting to switch tools, or of the service changing, within that period.
Open Time Clock features: punches, geofencing and reports
Clock-in methods
Open Time Clock supports a wide range of punch methods for offices, schools and job sites, from a shared kiosk to individual phones.
PIN Kiosk and Face Clock. Shared-device clocking by PIN or facial recognition.
Barcode, QR and RFID. Badge-based punches for fast entry.
Offline Clock. Captures punches when the connection drops.
Location and access control
GPS geolocation and geofencing show where employees clocked in and can block punches outside authorized areas. WiFi-based attendance control restricts clock-ins to approved networks.
Clock Points. Restrict punches by device ID, IP address, WiFi ID or GPS.
Webcam photo. Captures a photo at punch time.
Time rules, schedules and reports
Overtime rules, shift and job schedules, absence tracking and PTO auto accruals run alongside project, job and department tracking. Over 80 preset PDF and Excel reports cover attendance and hours.
PTO auto accruals. Balances calculate automatically.
Job and project tracking. Assign hours to jobs, projects or departments.
Apps and access
The service runs in a browser, with downloadable apps for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and can be embedded in an intranet through an iFrame.
Desktop apps. Windows and macOS clients.
Mobile apps. iOS and Android apps for punching and viewing hours.
Open Time Clock pros and cons
Strengths
Flat price, unlimited users
$39 a month or $399 a year covers the whole company regardless of headcount.
Free plan for public and nonprofit employers
The NPO plan gives schools, hospitals, government agencies and nonprofits full features, including reports, at no cost.
Many ways to clock in
Username, PIN kiosk, face recognition, barcode or QR code, RFID, group clock, webcam photo and an offline clock mode.
Location controls
GPS geofencing and WiFi-based attendance control restrict where employees can punch in, and Clock Points can limit punches by device, IP address, WiFi or GPS.
Limitations
Not open source
The name suggests otherwise, but Open Time Clock is a proprietary hosted service. There is no source code to self-host or audit.
No named payroll integrations
The site lists over 80 PDF and Excel reports but does not name payroll integrations, so hours usually reach payroll by export.
Reports locked on the Free plan
PDF and Excel downloads stop after 30 days on Free, which is the step most payroll processes depend on.
US data hosting only
Data is stored in AWS US East (N. Virginia), which may not satisfy EU or other data residency requirements.
Open Time Clock is sold as a hosted service, with data stored in Amazon Web Services' US East region, rather than as software a buyer installs. It offers a free plan and a free NPO plan for schools, hospitals and government agencies, plus WiFi-based clock-in control and GPS geofencing to limit where staff can punch in.
Open Time Clock buying motion: plan choice and setup
There is no sales process: you sign up, configure clock-in rules and start on the Free plan. The decisions are which plan to end up on and how hours reach payroll.
- Apply for the NPO plan first if you are a school, hospital, government agency or nonprofit, because it gives full features including reports at no cost.
- Test a full pay period during the 30 days of free reports, since report exports are how hours get to payroll.
- Set up geofencing or WiFi restrictions before rollout, because changing clock-in rules after staff have learned the process causes confusion.
- Check with your privacy lead that US-only AWS hosting is acceptable, because the vendor lists no other data region.
Frequently asked questions about Open Time Clock
Is Open Time Clock open source?
No. It is a proprietary hosted service; the vendor has never released its code.
How much does Open Time Clock cost?
The Free plan is $0 with unlimited users but no PDF/Excel downloads after 30 days. Paid is $39 a month or $399 a year per company with unlimited users.
Is there a free plan for nonprofits and schools?
Yes. Schools, government agencies, hospitals and other nonprofits can apply for a free NPO plan with full features.
Does Open Time Clock support geofencing?
Yes, it offers GPS geofencing and WiFi-based attendance control.
Where is data stored?
In Amazon Web Services' US East (N. Virginia) region.
Alternatives worth comparing
Alternatives trade Open Time Clock's flat price for more modern apps, scheduling depth or payroll.
| Product | Pricing model | Free trial | Why buyers shortlist it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infor WFM | Custom quote | Not stated | Infor WFM handles time and attendance, demand-based scheduling and absence for large manufacturing, healthcare and retail employers. |
| EmpMonitor | Per user per month | Yes | EmpMonitor is commercial employee monitoring software that records screenshots, keystrokes, URLs, app use and idle time on Windows, macOS and Ubuntu computers. |
| Dayforce | Custom quote | Not stated | Dayforce is a single-database HCM suite covering payroll, HR, workforce management and talent for mid-market and enterprise employers. |
| Connecteam | Tiered pricing | Yes | Connecteam is a mobile-first frontline app with a GPS time clock, scheduling, checklists and chat, with a free plan for small teams and paid tiers that grow with headcount. |
| When I Work | Per-user pricing | Yes | When I Work focuses on shift scheduling with a built-in time clock, suited to hourly teams whose main problem is building rotas. |
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