Honest Review:

Apploye

By Asim Qureshi, CEO Jibble

May 29th 2023

As a CEO of a time tracking software company I need to know what my competitors are up to. That means I’m often researching about and/or playing around with their products, you know, it’s part of the job. Here, I share my findings of that research, giving credit to those competitors where credit is due and being honest about which products I believe you really need to avoid. And so, there you have it, this review, and in it, I try to be honest, fair, and insightful…

This review covers:

• Overview
• What Users Like
• What Users Don’t Like
• Pricing Plans
• Standout Features
• Positive User Highlights
• Negative User Highlights
• Ratings from Other Reviews

Overview

As someone who has reviewed countless time tracking software (and owns one!), I have to say, Apploye is one of the more complete solutions for growing businesses. Its suite of features includes efficient time tracking, employee management, project tracking, and activity monitoring – basically everything you need to keep tabs on your team.

One of my favorite things about Apploye is how easy it is to create timesheets, generate progress reports, and set project budgets. Plus, with its availability on web, desktop, and mobile platforms, you can access it from anywhere, which is perfect for remote work. And let’s not forget about its 100+ features, which include client invoicing and employee payroll, making it a comprehensive solution for all your business needs. Also, starting from just US$2/user/month, it’s a pretty sweet deal.

But while Apploye has a lot going for it, there are some areas where it falls short. While it’s great for many businesses, the reporting feature lacks the detailed information employers need to make informed decisions. And for those with specific software needs, the absence of critical third-party integrations and customization options is a limitation.

What Users Like

• Simple user interface
• Responsive customer support
• Variety of features
• Excellent for monitoring and improving productivity
• Reasonable pricing

Let’s Talk Pricing!

Apploye provides users with four different pricing plans, all available monthly and annually, with a 10-day free trial. It also provides 6 months free, if someone selects the annual plan.

Solo: At US$2/user/month, this plan is ideal for freelancers or contractors as it contains basic features like time tracking, project management, client invoicing, and scheduling.

Standard: At $2.5/user/month, this plan consists of all the Solo features and team management features like attendance tracking, payroll, third-party integrations, etc.

Premium: At $3/user/month, this plan is a culmination of all Standard features with the added benefit of employee GPS location, project, and team-specific organization, as well as some new features to come soon.

Elite: At $3.5/user/month, this plan contains every feature offered by Apploye, including but not limited to screenshots, app and URL tracking, and engagement analytics.

Standout Features of Apploye

1. Time Tracking

Apploye provides the option for real-time tracking (using a timer) or manual logging of work hours to stay updated on employee activity. Clocking in or out takes a single click, and employees can leave notes on their work timer if they forget to clock in. All this helps keep track of employee payroll and client invoicing, mainly by generating time and activity reports on the dashboard.

Timesheets can be generated for days, weeks, months, or even years, so employers always have a complete record of their employees’ work hours. Furthermore, these timesheets can be exported in different formats, and employers can approve their employees’ timesheets. Aside from that, the Pomodoro timer sends regular break reminders to boost the productivity of team members.

2. Scheduling and Attendance

With Apploye, employers can manage schedules based on members, projects, and tasks on a daily, weekly, monthly, or custom basis. They can also set notifications to signal the beginning and end of a schedule.

Attendance and leaves, a soon-to-be-added feature, helps users keep track of their employees’ attendance and absences while managing and approving their leave requests. They can also create and edit shifts for their employees, allowing them to view a summary of the daily shifts and attendance in one database.

3. Projects and Task Management

With the projects feature, teams and managers can monitor past and current projects in one place. They can also edit and categorize them according to preferences so users can get an overall project summary. Through this, managers can set budgets, generate client invoices, and lock deadlines.

Another feature connected to projects is task management which allows users to create an infinite number of tasks within a project and assign them to specific members. They can further view tasks under categories of projects and employees working on them. The task time log is even better, where users can monitor the time spent on each task.

4. RemoteTrack — Staff Monitoring System

RemoteTrack is an optional add-on feature, mainly for monitoring remote teams, which contains several features such as app and URL tracking, random screenshots, and productivity tracking. Employers can set a time frame of 10 minutes, during which screenshots will be taken regularly of their employees’ screens, or they can take random screenshots whenever they choose.

Employers can also monitor what websites and applications employees use during work hours through the app and URL tracking feature, which can help determine if workers are spending their time productively. Users can monitor multiple screens at once. While this feature might be convenient for employers, many employees and even some employers consider this a violation of privacy, as no one can stay productive constantly.

Selected Positive User Feedback: 

• “User-friendly dashboard, easy to track member’s activity, screenshot, billing calculation, monthly reporting.” – Tuhin A. (Source Capterra)
• “Apart from time tracking, it also provides a Task Management feature that helps organizations monitor employees’ productivity. I don’t need to use any other project management tool.” – Mohammad A. (Source G2)
• “The scheduling is a nice feature to balance workload and resources. I can even run reports and payroll from the app, which makes it convenient, and I don’t have to use separate apps for that.” – Anonymous (Source Software Advice)
• “Apploye’s team is accommodating and friendly; they make the whole setup process so seamless and understandable for new users.” – Clara A. (Source Capterra)
• “Since it allows me to view the end-to-end lifecycle right from time spent by each employee per project till payments, it helps us keep a check on all the ongoing projects.” – Sarthak A. (Source G2)
• “To me, the best takeaway is that it improves productivity for both myself and my team with its work cycles while still reminding us to take periodic breaks. It’s also really helpful in stopping us from investing too much time in less important tasks or ideas and instead moving on to other priorities.” – Matt H. (Source Capterra)
• “The tool improved productivity by saving time on manually tracking hours, creating reports, and motivating workers to stay on task.” – Peter P. (Source G2)
• “With everyone on the team moving remote, we’re able to prioritize employees’ work duties and improve overall productivity with Apploye.” – Benjamin (Source Software Advice)
• “Terrific user interface along with the simplified structure to manage your employee workflow details.” – Suvran R. (Source Capterra)
• “It is fairly easy to learn all the functions, provides what we need, and the UI is built very intuitively with a very clean and light-weight design.” – Juraj (Source Software Advice)
• “A very nice tool to keep track of timesheets and tasks with an incredibly clean UI and fast learning curve.” – Verified User in Computer Software (Source G2)
• “Great for planning and tracking the productive time spent by the development & sales team on different projects and activities. Perfect for understanding what the real cost of implementing a project inside the team.” – Florin T. (Source Capterra)
• “Monitoring the productivity of my team as I run a virtual school in Canada, and I have an army of teachers that deliver remote classes. We use Apploye to know the least productive teachers and give them additional work hence increasing the academy productivity.” – Verified User in Education Management (Source G2)
• “Apploye served my employee’s time and productivity track from day one. Back-office teams and on-field members tracking is done efficiently.” – Parag P. (Source Capterra)
• “It allows me to keep track of all my employees’ time all in one simple dashboard with all the features to get specific and look up the precise time in the month.” – Franky S. (Source Capterra)

Selected Negative User Feedback: 

• “I felt it could have been better if they had an app for iPad tracking – Employees may feel uncomfortable with the screenshots that are taken.” – Vineet G. (Source Capterra)
• “They promised that some of the features are coming soon, but yet they haven’t been published.” – Mohammad A. (Source G2)
• “The main was the screenshot tool – employees could feel uncomfortable with this, and honestly, no worker will be 100% productive during their hours. There needs to be a level of trust, allowing workers to know when their most productive moments are, which can be balanced with “free time” (even on the clock).” – Peter (Source Software Advice)
• “I am looking for the feature Schedules, which is not released yet.” – Petr G. (Source Capterra)
• “Reporting has a great potential to be enhanced.” – Mohammad D. (Source Capterra)
• “There were some downsides to Apploye, namely, the screenshot tool, which some employees felt invasive.” – Peter P. (Source G2)
• “Pricing could be more adjusted to teams, not per member.” – Jana F. (Source Capterra)
• “Reporting feature has huge potential to improve. Currently, it is basic, but the support team promised that it will be enhanced soon.” – Verified User in Education Management (Source G2)
• “It’s a great desktop app, but would be great to have some more integration options. I could also go without the random computer screenshots, as they’re a bit unnecessary, in my opinion.” – Matt H. (Source Capterra)
• “I would add an advanced task management system and more integration options.” – Petr G. (Source G2)
• “They can improve their customer support a bit to enhance the experience.” – Ranjit G. (Source Capterra)
• “Could have more dashboard customizations.” – Anonymous (Source Software Advice)
• “Since the app is packed with features, I would love to see an explainer at the beginning of sign up – at least for the admin.” – Sarthak A. (Source G2)
• “Not as feature-rich as some of the others, need customization for dashboards. Would love to see that change.” – Mb Ashraful A. (Source Capterra)
• “Some features are still under development, but it is not a deal-breaker.” – Verified User in Computer Software (Source G2)

Ratings from Other Reviews

(As of 04/06/2023)

• Capterra: 4.9/5
•  G2: 4.5/5
•  Software Advice: 5/5
• GetApp: 4.9/5
• CrozDesk: 4.5/5
• App Store: 4.8/5 (in the US)

Final Thoughts

Apploye is a time tracking and employee management software that effectively monitors employee work hours, attendance, project progress, and overall team productivity for businesses. The software is versatile; it can be accessed through the website, desktop, or mobile app, making it easy for everyone to use.

What I love about Apploye is its intuitive user interface, which makes generating timesheets, creating shifts, managing schedules, organizing projects, and calculating project profitability a breeze. Plus, the customer service is top-notch, always available to lend a hand whenever you need it.

While Apploye offers a robust set of features, there are still areas where it falls short of expectations. Users have pointed out that the software could use some improvements to better meet their needs. The reporting feature, for instance, lacks the depth and detail required to provide truly insightful data. Some of the new features, such as scheduling, have a little catching up to do. In addition, the software could benefit from more customization and integration options, which would make certain features more efficient.

Nonetheless, at the low starting price of just US$2/user/month, Apploye still offers great value for its range of functionalities. So, if you can overlook its minor drawbacks, it’s definitely worth a try!