20 Best Free Computer Monitoring Software in 2024 - Financesonline.com (2024)

Work hours don’t always equate to productive hours. In fact, a recent survey revealed that among employees whose activities are being monitored, 53% are spending three or more hours per day on non-work-related activities. As companies battle for scarce resources, they have increasingly turned to technology in ensuring that wastage is minimized, including the use of time by employees. Employee monitoring software offers tools that enable managers to monitor productivity. The best computer monitoring software incorporates the tracking of user behavior as part of employee monitoring.

In this article, we list the best free computer monitoring software on the market to help you narrow down your options. We will be discussing each product’s key functionalities and benefits so you have all the data you need to make an informed purchasing decision.

To track employee activity and productivity, 60% of companies with employees who work remotely use monitoring software. This is to better understand how employees are using their time and also to ensure that employees are not using their time and office equipment for other purposes.

Computer monitoring software lets you track employee computer activity by logging the apps and websites accessed during working hours, including mouse and keyboard activity. The specific periods when the user is idle are recorded as well by highlighting the times of inactivity when using the computer. As companies continue to embrace hybrid work, remote computer monitoring software free managers from the daunting task of checking the status of employees as they work within and outside the office premises. This, in turn, has allowed them to improve engagement and overall operational efficiency.

In 2021, 81% of companies that implemented monitoring software saw an increase in productivity. While this is now considered the new norm in organizations, there are still employee groups that argue against this practice because, for them, employee monitoring sows distrust.

The platforms in the following list, however, respect the boundaries involved in employee and employer relationships. These computer monitoring software free admins from constant check-ins, while at the same time providing evidence that employees are working on their tasks through screenshots and a variety of tracking tools. Further, many of these apps are proprietary. If yo have the technical skills, you might want to use open source software for employee monitoring.

2024 Best Computer Monitoring Software

1. Connecteam

Connecteam is a computer monitoring software that allows you to see and manage all of your employee activities from your computer or any mobile device. The free version can have a maximum of 10 users, which also gives full access to Connecteam features such as mobile admin capabilities, push notification reminders, and custom admin notifications.

Features such as employee scheduling, employee time clock, checklists and forms, employee task management, and user management are included in the free version. As such, you can stay up-to-date and in control of all projects and identify the status of all ongoing tasks. Through advanced filtering capabilities, you can view the real-time status of tasks and see the level of productivity of your team.

What is unique about Connecteam?

1. Complete oversight for managers. For your daily tasks and workflows, Connecteam provides you with real-time work execution updates. You can also send push reminders to follow through with execution processes.
2. Manage all employee activities. From a single dashboard that you can access from your computer or any mobile device, you can monitor the tasks of your employees. Through notifications, you can ensure that your team is on the same page.
3. Split tasks into smaller tasks. This is another way to closely monitor employee progress. Set the app so that you can get a notification each time a subtask is completed.

2. Pivotal Tracker

Pivotal Tracker is a computer monitoring software that instantly provides you with a visual representation of your team’s overall productivity. The free version, which is limited to five teams and five projects offers unlimited core employee monitoring software features and unlimited read-only seats. The project overview page displays the status of your team’s health, including burnup, cumulative flow, and cycle time reports.

From providing a bird’s eye view, Pivotal Tracker also allows you to drill down into any of the reports to have a closer look at workflows. This leads to a diagnosis and the elimination of bottlenecks at the cellular level. Pivotal Tracker integrates with business tools such as Slack, Zendesk, and Zapier.

What is unique about Pivotal Tracker?

1. Analytics to track overall project health. From major trends to granular details, Pivotal Tracker lets you manage projects effectively. Easily identify fluctuations in productivity and determine what is causing project backlogs.
2. Multi-project workspaces. With the Pivotal Tracker dashboard, you can view your projects side-by-side. From a single screen, you can access productivity reports and identify which project needs additional monitoring.
3. Native GitHub integration. Among the integrations of Pivotal Tracker is the new native GitHub integration that automatically connects GitHub branches, pulls requests, and commits to stories and epics so your code remains visible as it advances through the development process.

3. RescueTime

RescueTime is a computer monitoring software that gives you insights into how your employees use time on devices. The free Lite plan offers all of the platform’s core functionalities. Using RescueTime, users can track how much time is spent on each website and app visited by the employee.

Tools are provided to categorize these apps as productive or unproductive. For you to have full control, you can set goals on how much time should be spent on each category. The free plan also provides a weekly report and you get to keep your stats for two weeks. RescueTime connects with Google Calendar, Zapier, Slack, and GitHub, among other business apps.

What is unique about RescueTime?

1. Provides rich insights. The automatic tracking enables the collection of rich sets of data that you can use to analyze workflows and productivity. This helps you in forming insights into your team’s work processes.
2. Easily categorize apps and websites. RescueTime will categorize apps and websites for you depending on your daily usage. RescueTime also alerts you when you are losing focus on important tasks.
3. Helps you avoid distractions. The Focus Session feature blocks major distractions. At the same time, it provides a detailed report on how well the employee is able to focus during the session.

4. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is an employee computer monitoring software that lets you see the activities that take up the work hours of your workforce in real-time. The free version, Desk Free, is good for one user to track the activity levels of employees based on mouse and keyboard usage. This time tracking software also includes tools for improving employee productivity and workforce management.

Using Hubstaff, users can gain insights into the workload of their employees and contractors. This is because it offers both time tracking and monitoring tools that enable you to view apps used and URLs visited. There is also an optional screen capture tool that allows you to collect proof of employee computer activity. Hubstaff integrates with Trello, Asana, and QuickBooks, among other apps.

What is unique about Hubstaff?

1. Tracks keyboard and mouse activity. Hubstaff monitors user activity. However, this is not to collect sensitive data. Rather, it measures the activity levels of the user.
2. Provides screenshot storage. Screenshots are stored via SSL over HTTPS but never pass through the Hubstaff server. This protects the data of employees even while they are being monitored.
3. Employees can access tracked data. Employees and other users can easily access the tracked data and even delete screenshots that contain personal data. Since monitoring software should ideally be installed with the consent of the user, this functionality develops trust in the organization.

5. ActiveCollab

ActiveCollab computer monitoring tool aims to optimize the management of resources and improve the way teams work. The free version is good for a maximum of three members and also comes with 1GB of storage, unlimited projects, unlimited tasks, discussions and notes, task assignee, and task dependencies.

In addition, ActiveCollab provides automated task scheduling and allows you to import projects from other apps. This platform monitors how employees use their time, making the management of projects more efficient and effective. It easily integrates with Trello, Basecamp, Asana, and Wrike.

What is unique about ActiveCollab?

1. All-in-one tool. ActiveCollab incorporates time tracking, invoicing, and project management. This comprehensive computer monitoring free software covers both employee monitoring and task monitoring. Easily access the status of projects and check employee productivity levels from one platform.
2. Add-ons for optional features. By clicking the configure button, you can activate any ActiveCollab add-on. These include optional features and third-party integrations.
3. Gain complete control over deadlines. The time tracking tool allows you to check the productivity levels of your team. In addition, your workflow is transparent and more organized.

6. Clockify

Clockify is a completely free computer monitoring software that offers a modern timesheet. It allows you to see the exact tasks that employees worked on, as well as the visited sites and apps during work hours. It has timekeeping, reporting, and work management features.

This platform enables you to track how much time is spent on other apps. It then visualizes this data on summaries and weekly reports so you can analyze and evaluate productivity. You can also instantly see the data on how each employee uses their time by referring to the reports. Integrations for Clockify include Jira, Asana, Trello, QuickBooks, and Zapier, among others.

What is unique about Clockify?

1. Collect and export reports. Review your team’s use of time, and see who worked on what. Clockify gathers comprehensive data and allows you to export these data as PDF, CSV, or Excel, and use this information for deeper analysis.
2. Easily check visited sites. The activity report includes employee locations as well as screenshots of visited sites. The privacy button allows you to set what specific data are allowed to be corrected.
3. Intuitive dashboard. Keep an eye on key metrics. The Clockify dashboard shows the tasks that your team is currently working on, the status of projects, the breakdown of tasks, and other important information that will instantly give you an overall assessment of workflows.

7. ActivTrak

ActivTrak is a platform that monitors user activity and enables admins and managers to collect real-time user actions. The free plan can accommodate up to three users and will be able to keep a data history of up to 30 days. Among the reports included in the free plan are productivity, top apps used, top websites visited, top users, and top categories.

ActivTrak has an activity dashboard that automates the classification of websites and apps based on user activity. The user activity monitoring software collects behavior data on monitored workstations. ActivTrak integrations include those with Salesforce Sales Cloud, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zendesk, and Jira, among others.

What is unique about ActivTrak?

1. Automated classification of apps and websites. Across categories, you can see how time is spent on various applications. This enables you to assess if activities are aligned with tasks, and also identify specific events that are affecting productivity.
2. User activity monitoring. User behavior data on company networks are monitored. This gives insights into both productive and unproductive activities that the user might be engaging in.
3. Alarms and website blocking. Configure alarms and actions for specific activities that could pose risk to the business. Get notified once data is transferred, and block websites in compliance with internet usage policies.

8. Desklog

Desklog is a platform for monitoring employee computers that offers tools for both productivity and project management. The free plan is for teams with up to 10 members and includes features such as automatic time tracking, attendance management, absence calendar, offline time tracking, and idle time tracking.

Desklog is the ideal solution for small and mid-sized companies, and also for large enterprises and freelance professionals. Employee activities are recorded through automated screenshots at either specified or random intervals. Users can also connect Desklog with other third-party apps such as Jira and Trello.

What is unique about Desklog?

1. Tracks idle time interval. When the user is idle or away for more than a specific predefined time, Desklog auto records the idle time. Until the user resumes work, the time will be recorded as idle time.
2. App, document, and URL tracking. During working hours, Desklog keeps track of apps, documents, and URLs accessed by employees. This also monitors internet usage, as well as the productive and non-productive apps accessed by employees.
3. Tracks title of accessed documents. For each specific document or program accessed by the employee, Desklog will record the time spent on the document. This is especially important for companies that need to protect confidential data.

9. ScreenshotMonitor

ScreenshotMonitor is a computer monitoring software that continuously sends time-tracking data and screenshots to facilitate real-time employee monitoring. This platform is free for up to three users with features on time tracking, screen monitoring, and three screenshots per hour, which are stored for two weeks.

You can monitor the activities of users from anywhere by accessing screenshots on the web. There is also a dashboard that displays the duration of time each employee has spent on apps and websites, how long they have worked on tasks, and whether they are still active. Using ScreenshotMonitor API, you can easily integrate your own project management, accounting, and other management processes with the platform.

What is unique about ScreenshotMonitor?

1. Monitors user activity. See time and screenshots and even task notes, all delivered to your dashboard. Get information on the actual work provided by employees and address productivity concerns as needed.
2. Protected screenshots. All ScreenshotMonitor plans include SSL encryption on data transfer and access. This ensures that your data is safe in data centers that are protected by biometric locks and 24-hour surveillance.
3. Offline tracking. This app will continue to capture screens and track time even without being connected to the web. Once the Internet connection is re-established, data will automatically be uploaded.

10. Workstatus

Workstatus is a computer monitoring software that tracks the activities of employees to ensure that time is not wasted on non-work-related activities. It improves workplace productivity by providing a holistic view of daily activities. The free version is limited to one user with a maximum of five projects, inclusive of time tracking tools, reports, and screenshots.

With Workstatus, you can monitor team performance, discover productivity trends, and generate supporting documents with screenshots. For transparency and accuracy, this employee monitoring app allows you to track employee website and app usage.

What is unique about Workstatus?

1. Real-time screen captures. Managers receive screenshots on a regular basis to keep tabs on what employees are working on. These screenshots also serve as proof of how employees spent their time on any given work day.
2. AI-powered dashboard. AI enables the platform to consistently monitor the websites visited, as well as the apps accessed by employees. From a single platform, monitor keystrokes, emails sent and received, and other activities.
3. Optimizes performance. Set goals, monitor progress, and stay informed of your team’s performance. Improve performance through constant monitoring and reporting for detailed insights.

11. TMetric Time Tracker

TMetric Time Tracker is a time tracking software that also functions as a platform for monitoring employee computers. You can install this app that supports both Android and iOS on your phone or any mobile device. The free plan includes time tracking, unlimited projects and clients, reporting, and a timer button for over 50 web apps.

You can download TMetric as a desktop app, mobile app, or browser extension. The time tracking feature includes idle detection, which provides information on “no keyboard usage time.” Reports are also provided by the platform such as activity summary reports, and app and site usage reports. TMetric Time Tracker easily connects with other business tools such as Jira, Asana, MS Office, and Freshdesk.

What is unique about TMetric Time Tracker?

1. Track any time, anywhere. You can install this platform as a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. This makes it possible to access reports and monitor your employees even when you are on the fly.
2. Idle detection. The free plan includes this feature that is able to monitor the keyboard usage of employees. The ‘no keyboard usage time” records the periods when the employee has no activity on the computer keyboard.
3. Comprehensive monitoring. Reports on user activity, including apps and site usage, are regularly sent to managers. This ensures that when you need to check how employees use their time, you have ready access to the exact data.

12. WorkTrak

WorkTrak is a computer monitoring software that covers application tracking, top open documents tracking, active and idle time tracking, and internet usage tracking. It also offers tools for website and application blocking and can even be installed in stealth mode. All these features are included in the free plan, which is limited to three users.

WorkTrak monitors user activity by logging the sites visited by employees, including the time spent on each website. By accessing the cloud portal, you can view real-time data as collected by the platform. Through constant monitoring, you can get clear insights into website search details and user behavior.

What is unique about WorkTrak?

1. Real-time web and app monitoring. Determine exactly how your employees spend their time. All the apps and websites visited by employees, including usage time, are included in the user behavior analytics.
2. All-inclusive screenshots. The screenshots use pre-defined time intervals, you can always access and review the daily work at a granular level. Even when the employee is offline, WorkTrak will continue to log activities.
3. App and website blocker. This insider threat detection tool identifies and automatically blocks apps and websites that pose a threat to the organization. This ensures that all your digital assets are secure, which is also an added value from WorkTrak.

13. AtTrack

AtTrack is a platform for monitoring employee computers that creates visual reports on tracked time. From start to finish, you can monitor the development of each task and project, as supported by screenshots and web activity logs. With AtTrack, you can also monitor mouse clicks and keystrokes. Employees can check their dashboards and see all screenshots, as well as the websites and apps visited.

For a single user, the free plan includes three months of data storage and screen storage. In addition, this plan also provides an unlimited number of projects and users, time tracking for projects, offline time tracking, tracked time editing, auto-creation of tasks, and detailed reports. Additional modules for integrations are available for a minimum fee.

What is unique about AtTrack?

1. Tracks accessed URLs and apps. All used programs are categorized into three distinct sections—productive, neutral, and unproductive. You can customize the categories based on the work context of your team.
2. Detects mouse movements. Once there is a three-minute absence of interaction with the mouse or keyboard, this will automatically be recorded as “inefficient time spending.” You can then begin to identify if there is something that needs to be improved in the workflow, or in the tools being used by employees.
3. Improves productivity. While this new way of monitoring employees has the tendency to send mixed signals, in general, employees are more cautious when they know they are being monitored. This results in significant improvement in productivity.

14. Employee Trail

Employee Trail is an advanced employee computer monitoring platform that helps employers identify which websites and apps employees are accessing during working hours. The Employee Trail free plan is for teams with up to three users. It includes 3GB of data storage, unlimited screenshots, and offline data collection.

The state-of-the-art features of this platform include URL capture, browser tracking, and idle time tracking, among others. With these, Employee Trail helps employers and managers identify non-productive activities and take the necessary steps to improve productivity. Employee Trail integrates with Google Drive.

What is unique about Employee Trail?

1. Integrates with Google Drive. This enables you to access your data any time and anywhere. You can also share data with other team members as you plan how to improve overall team productivity.
2. Connects with your in-house database. Within your organization’s database, you can connect to Employee Trail and you can keep your data secure within your company. This added flexibility gives you the option to access employee monitoring data anytime.
3. Captures accessed websites and URLs. Identify the work-related and non-work-related sites and apps frequented by employees. This can help you effectively plan policies on internet usage.

15. Twib

Twib is a GPS sales tracking app that is also used for tracking employee activities. It shows the routes traveled by employees and captures the location image, and the phone status of every employee. These tools help validate sales visits as check-ins are directly logged from any location with the date and time, address, images, and other details as needed.

Twib is free for up to 10 users and comes with instant activity notification, attendance management, work assignment, and check-in report. This real-time employee monitoring system provides visual live updates using maps, keeping you informed of your employees’ whereabouts at all times as they do fieldwork. The Twib development team can integrate your pre-installed systems on client data, order data, and check-in data with the Twib platform.

What is unique about Twib?

1. Real-time employee monitoring. All the important activity notifications will be delivered to your phone via push notifications. As visits and check-ins are conducted by your employees, you can effectively do workforce planning.
2. GPS-enabled tracking. In the field of sales, employees can easily report doing field work while out of the office. Twib lets you validate these client visits and address inconsistencies in employee check-ins right away.
3. Live visual updates. Twib uses maps so you can easily identify the location of your sales teams. This is effective as you can immediately address unproductive employee activities while on fieldwork.

16. Desktime

Desktime is a platform for monitoring employee computers by using tools that measure productivity and time use. The free plan is limited to one user and includes automatic time tracking, URL and app tracking, an integrated web timer, and a mobile app for iOS and Android.

This automatic employee tracking software facilitates effective workflow management by monitoring the usage of apps that are classified as productive and unproductive. It also provides a breakdown of how much time is spent on every assigned task. The screenshots provide real-time employee activity monitoring. Integrations for Desktime include Google Calendar, Trello, Asana, and Basecamp, among other business apps.

What is unique about Desktime?

1. Detailed tracking. With Desktime, you will see the apps and websites that your employees visited. The productivity bar displays how each employee spent their time interacting with the websites and apps listed.
2. Logs documents access. The document title tracking feature shows you the specific projects that employees are working on. See exactly what is being worked on by checking the documents, email subject lines, and chat group names.
3. Automatic screenshots. This tool lets you see the computer screens of your employees at random intervals of time. This helps you oversee how resources are spent.

17. ClickUp

ClickUp is a project management platform that can also be used for employee activity monitoring. The free plan for five spaces provides unlimited custom views and 400 folders per space. You can also access the activity view and check what is happening in a list, folder, or space. Filter per person so you can check each employee’s use of time as well as all the logged activities, which covers 24 hours for the free plan.

Custom status templates are provided so employees can uniformly provide task updates. The reporting tool includes time tracking widgets, critical path and slack time, and workload profiles. ClickUp integrates with business tools, including Zapier, Google Drive, and Dropbox.

What is unique about ClickUp?

1. Monitor work in real-time. See what people are working on in real time. ClickUp facilitates seamless virtual management by providing you with all the tools to monitor how employees are working on their tasks.
2. Keeps your teams focused. The time tracking widget helps in visualizing the progress of projects. Based on productivity levels, you can view and gather data on the status of projects and keep employees focused by tracking their individual time spent on tasks.
3. Effortlessly manage remote work. The LineUp tool displays the prioritized order of tasks. With this tool, you can instantly see if employees are working on the right tasks.

18. Trackabi

Trackabi is a time tracking app that also functions as a computer remote monitoring software for activity monitoring and idle time detection. The free plan is good for five users and includes tools for employee activity monitoring, time tracking, and configurable roles to manage the access level of employees.

This web-based time tracking and employee monitoring solution record and tracks hours worked on projects and tasks. Private dashboards are provided for managers to view project progress and address non-work-related activities that cause delays. Trackabi integrates with GitHub, GitLab, and Toggl, among other business tools.

What is unique about Trackabi?

1. Optimizes project management. This platform lets you manage tasks effectively by managing your workforce. The management of projects is optimized by ensuring that each member spends the actual allotted time on tasks.
2. Provides reports on time usage. Time is a valuable resource and Trackabi reporting tools for time usage ensure that your resources are well spent. As employee use of time is monitored, you are assured that you can easily address dips in productivity.
3. Monitors user activities. Advanced user roles allow administrators and managers to configure specific monitoring tools that can collect data on how employees use their time. This is to ensure that every project will not be unnecessarily delayed by employees engaging in activities that are not work-related.

19. Traqq

Traqq is a platform for time tracking and monitoring the computer activities of employees. The app tracks every minute of work time and keeps a record of all the apps used by employees while their time is being tracked. The free premium starter plan allows a maximum of three seats and includes all premium Traqq features.

With Traqq, you get a visual representation showing the time spent by employees on each app or website. Through this data, you can determine the productivity level of employees and address possible employee habits that might affect the timely accomplishment of tasks. Regular screenshots throughout the workday are also provided by the platform.

What is unique about Traqq?

1. Integrated time tracking and monitoring tool. Traqq provides both time tracking and employee monitoring data, making your approach holistic. The screenshots support the time logs which help you in evaluating user behavior.
2. Get insights from apps used and sites visited. Some employees visit other sites and access various apps to explore new ways to be creative and accomplish more at work. You can determine if this is the motivation of your employee by evaluating the apps and websites visited.
3. Determine user activity levels. Traqq follows how actively the employee is using the mouse and keyboard. This may not be applicable to every work context, but it is an effective way to notify you of sudden changes in engagement.

20. Kickidler

Kickidler is a new generation of employee monitoring software that also covers computer usage data. It analyzes employee performance based on their PC usage, without disrupting their work process. Kickidler allows admins and managers to conduct visual employee monitoring with the workplace monitoring software. The free plan is good for one user, which allows for the monitoring of employee computers.

The website and application user tracking tool allows you to configure settings for every employee depending on their roles and responsibilities. A full overview and analysis of personnel activity are provided by the keylogger and screen tracking software. The keylogger software of Kickidler integrates with Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Skype, and Viber.

What is unique about Kickidler?

1. Prevents data leakage. The keylogger tool records all keystrokes. Through this tool, you can evaluate productivity and at the same time prevent the leakage of confidential company data.
2. Automatic notifications. The autokick feature is a pop-up alert that aims to call the attention of the employee whenever violations are committed. In the same manner, it also calls their attention to remind them to take a break.
3. See all desktops in grid view. The quad splitter screen monitoring tool displays all employee desktops in a grid format. This enables managers to view the whole team at once, which adds more insights into evaluating how employees work.

Picking the Best Computer Monitoring Software

Monitoring the computer usage of employees delivers valuable insights into how employees spend their work hours. However, companies must be able to strike a balance. Too much monitoring may reduce employee engagement, and affect their productivity. To resolve this, employers should be able to clearly define the scope of monitoring activities and ensure proper adherence to privacy regulations.

Connecteam is the best computer monitoring software owing to its suite of solutions that promotes worker-friendly monitoring policies. This vendor offers a free trial computer monitoring software with a full set of features that you can use for 14 days, after which you can decide if this is the right platform for you.

Using monitoring tools to keep an eye on how your employees spend company time has its advantages and disadvantages. By carefully going through the platforms listed in this article, you will be able to decide which will best serve the needs of your team so you can improve overall productivity.