The Best Time Clock Apps for Plumbing Companies (2026)
Six time clock apps compared for a plumbing company: Clox, QuickBooks Time, Buddy Punch, Connecteam, Deputy, and Homebase. We look at solo service trucks, a week-long rebuild, the 2 a.m. call, a record for callbacks, and the price for 6 users.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2026 · BY THE CLOX TEAM
This is an honest comparison of six time clock apps for a plumbing company: Clox, QuickBooks Time, Buddy Punch, Connecteam, Deputy, and Homebase, using each vendor's own pricing page with the date we read it. The method for service calls, rebuilds, and 2 a.m. calls is in our plumbers guide; this page compares the apps.
01
How we compared
A service plumber runs 4 to 6 calls a day from a solo truck, a rebuild crew spends a week in one basement, and a 2 a.m. call lands after a full day. We scored each app on:
- A job on every punch, so a flat-rate call still has a labor number.
- Location at the punch or GPS during the shift, and a geofence that blocks at the rebuild site.
- Daily overtime math for the 2 a.m. call in a daily-overtime state.
- A record for callbacks: who punched, where, when, and whether it was edited.
- Offline punches, a kiosk, payroll exports, the price for 6 users, and the contract term.
Prices are monthly for 6 users. Read dates: September 8, 2026 for Clox, QuickBooks Time, Buddy Punch, Deputy, and Homebase; July 28, 2026 for Connecteam.
02
Clox
A plumber clocks in at the customer's address with one tap on the iPhone or Android app or a phone browser, picks the job at the punch, and switches to the next call without clocking out. Location is read only at the punch: no live map, no breadcrumbs, nothing between calls. Every hour carries a job and a task, so a flat-rate water heater swap still has a labor cost, and punches with no signal queue and sync later.
For the rebuild crew, the basement is a worksite with a radius, and geofencing is per employee: a geofenced worker outside every assigned worksite at clock-in has the punch blocked, while service plumbers stay unfenced. The location comes from the plumber's phone, so the geofence deters and does not prove. For the 2 a.m. call, daily and weekly overtime thresholds are set per employee on the Team page, and the org-wide rule set is Standard (weekly) or California (daily overtime, double time, and meal-break review).
For a callback, every punch is signed and hash-chained, a Proof of Presence PDF exports from Reports, and anyone can verify it at getclox.com/verify. That proves the record has not changed since capture; it does not prove the GPS reading was true. On the approval screen a pending shift shows a Map link and a readout such as "On site, 40 m from Main St job", and every manager edit goes to an audit log. One plan: $29 a month covers 3 users, then $6 per user, so 6 users is $47, month to month. The plumbers page shows the setup.
03
QuickBooks Time
QuickBooks Time comes from Intuit and needs a QuickBooks Online account. On Intuit's pricing page, read September 8, 2026, Time Premium is $20 a month plus $10 per user and Time Elite is $40 plus $12 per user. That makes 6 users $80 on Premium and $112 on Elite. Premium includes a time kiosk; Elite adds project tracking.
Geofencing is an Elite feature, and it reminds rather than blocks. The wording in Intuit's help article, read September 8, 2026, is "A team member can choose to clock in and out as normal and disregard the geofence notification." Intuit's GPS FAQ says GPS points are gathered while clocked in and not on breaks. Our QuickBooks Time comparison goes deeper.
04
Buddy Punch
Buddy Punch bills a $19 a month base plus a per-user rate on every tier. Per its pricing page, read September 8, 2026, Starter is $4.99 per user per month billed annually ($5.99 monthly), Pro is $6.99 ($7.99), and Advanced is $12.99 ($13.99). Pro carries scheduling and GPS on punches; Advanced carries real-time GPS, sold separately as a $2 per user add-on. No contract is stated. Six plumbers on Pro come to about $61 a month at the annual rate.
The page labels Pro's location feature "GPS on punches" and Advanced's "real-time GPS" without defining either, so ask whether Pro records anything between calls. Our Buddy Punch comparison, verified July 2026, recorded geofencing and the kiosk on Pro; confirm the tier with the vendor.
05
Connecteam
Connecteam's Operations hub holds the time clock. Its pricing page, verified July 28, 2026, offers a Small Business plan free for a team of 10 users or fewer, then Operations Basic at $29 a month for the first 30 users. Basic lists real-time clock in and out with GPS, unlimited jobs, payroll integration, and basic scheduling; it has one time clock and no geofence sites. Advanced is $49 and adds up to 10 geofence sites, Expert is $99 and adds unlimited sites, GPS breadcrumbs, and an API, and those are yearly rates with an 18 percent saving stated.
Unlimited jobs on Basic covers a job per call, and ten sites on Advanced covers a rebuild crew's active jobs; breadcrumbs are on Expert. Daily overtime rules and payroll formats are not stated; our Connecteam comparison has the notes.
06
Deputy
Deputy prices per user in USD excluding taxes. Its pricing page, read September 8, 2026, lists Lite at $5 per user per month, Core at $6.50, and Pro at $9, with a minimum spend of $30 a month. Six users is $30 on Lite, $39 on Core, and $54 on Pro. Lite covers scheduling, timesheets, time clocking, labor law compliance, shift swaps, and leave. Core adds auto scheduling, biometric clocking, and demand forecasting; Pro adds advanced timesheets and location hierarchies.
Our Deputy comparison, verified July 2026, recorded location capture at clock-in rather than job-site geofencing, and a product built for retail, hospitality, and healthcare shifts. That fits a plumbing company's front counter, where staff work scheduled shifts; ask whether Lite's labor law compliance covers your state's daily overtime rule.
07
Homebase
Homebase prices per location, not per user. Per its pricing page, read September 8, 2026, Basic is $0 for 1 location and 10 employees or fewer, with basic scheduling and time tracking. Essentials is $30 per location per month ($24 annual), Plus is $70 ($56) with PTO controls and departments, and All-in-One is $120 ($96).
Our Homebase comparison, verified July 2026, recorded job-site geofencing on Plus and above; check the vendor page before relying on it. Homebase is built around a store or restaurant shift per that page, and "location" means the shop, so a company with a showroom and counter staff pays one location's price.
08
How to choose for a plumbing company
- Put a job on every punch. Flat-rate billing hides labor per call unless the plumber picks the job at the punch.
- Know the overtime rule where you are. Federal overtime is weekly after 40. In California, per the state labor commissioner, it is 1.5x after 8 hours in a workday up to 12 and 2x after 12. We cover it in California overtime rules for trades.
- Keep a record you can show. For a disputed callback you want the punch, its location readout, and an edit log; see proving hours worked.
- Match Deputy and Homebase to the counter. Both fit scheduled shifts at a shop; the trucks need a job per call.
09
FAQ
Which time clock app records where a plumber was on a service call?
How does a 2 a.m. emergency call affect overtime?
What does a time clock app cost for 6 plumbers?
This is general information, not legal advice.
Try Clox free for 14 days with no card; the first paid subscription has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Start a free trial, add the rebuild site as a worksite, set the overtime rule for your state, and run one real week.