Free Geofencing Time Clock Apps: What the Free Tiers Actually Include (2026)

This page answers one question: which time clock apps include geofencing on a free tier, and what that tier holds. We checked six vendors with free plans or trials (Jibble, busybusy, Connecteam, Clockify, Homebase, and Hubstaff) against their own pricing pages, with the date we read each, and we put Clox in the same table. Where a page is silent, we say so.

01

How we compared

For each tool we read the pricing page and recorded five things: whether a free tier exists, how many users it covers, and whether geofencing is on it. We also noted what the geofence does at the punch (a reminder or a block) where the page says, and the first paid tier that adds geofencing with its price. We didn't infer a limit the page doesn't state.

02

What each free tier includes

Read dates: September 8, 2026 for Homebase, Hubstaff, and Clox; August 9, 2026 for busybusy; July 28, 2026 for Jibble, Connecteam, and Clockify. Prices are monthly.

03

Jibble

Jibble's free tier, per its pricing page verified July 28, 2026, has no user limit and includes a kiosk, facial recognition, basic GPS, and 2 geofences. Premium, at $4.49 per user per month annually ($5.99 monthly), adds unlimited geofences, schedules, and PTO accruals; Ultimate, at $7.99 ($9.99), adds live location tracking. Paid tiers have a 14-day trial.

Two geofences cover a shop and one job site; a crew that works three sites in a week needs Premium, about $27 a month for 6 users at the annual rate. The pricing page doesn't state whether a geofence blocks an off-site punch or only records it, so ask before you rely on it.

04

busybusy

busybusy's free tier, per its pricing page verified August 9, 2026, has no user limit and lists GPS time tracking, job costing, equipment tracking, overtime, and offline mode. Pro costs $9.99 per user per month billed annually plus a $40 admin license, and its additions are GPS breadcrumbing, supervisor tools, scheduling, a kiosk, and time off. Premium is $14.99 per user plus the license.

The free plan lists GPS time tracking, and our busybusy comparison recorded geofenced on-site clock-in on Pro and up, so for 6 users the geofence costs $99.94 a month at the annual rate. Confirm the tier on the vendor page, and ask what the fence does at the punch, which the page doesn't state.

05

Connecteam

Connecteam's Small Business plan, per its pricing page verified July 28, 2026, is free for 10 users or fewer. Operations Basic costs $29 a month for the first 30 users and $0.80 per user after that. Its list is real-time clock in and out with GPS, unlimited jobs, payroll integration, and basic scheduling, with one time clock and no geofence sites. Operations Advanced is $49 for 30 users and adds up to 10 geofence sites and auto clock out. Operations Expert is $99 and adds unlimited geofence sites, GPS breadcrumbs, and API access.

Those are yearly rates, with an 18 percent saving stated. So GPS on the punch starts on Basic and geofence sites start at $49 a month, and the price covers a 30-user block whether you have 4 users or 30. Communications and HR are separate hubs with their own pricing. Our Connecteam comparison has the detail.

06

Clockify

Clockify's pricing, verified July 28, 2026, is free for 5 users or fewer with basic tracking and no GPS. Basic is $3.99 per seat annually ($4.99 monthly) and adds a kiosk. Standard is $5.49 ($6.99) and adds time off, approvals, overtime, rounding, and QuickBooks. Pro is $7.99 ($9.99) and adds scheduling, GPS tracking, a kiosk photo, and screenshots.

The page we read doesn't list geofencing on any tier; GPS tracking arrives on Pro, about $48 a month for 6 users at the annual rate. Clockify is built for office and billable-hours teams, and the free tier fits a 5-person shop that only needs hours.

07

Homebase

Homebase's pricing, read September 8, 2026, is per location, not per user. Basic is $0 per location per month 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 annual) and adds PTO controls, departments, and permissions, and All-in-One is $120 ($96 annual). A payroll add-on is $39 a month plus $6 per employee paid, and there's a 14-day trial of All-in-One with no card.

Our Homebase comparison, verified July 2026, recorded job-site geofencing on Plus and above, so confirm the tier on the vendor page before counting on it. "Location" in Homebase means a store or restaurant, which matters before a crew with eight job sites reads it as eight locations.

08

Hubstaff and Clox: no free plan

Hubstaff's pricing guide, read September 8, 2026, shows no free plan; there's a 14-day trial instead. Starter is $4.99 per user per month annually ($7 monthly), and GPS tracking, job sites, and geofencing come through the Locations add-on from $3.33 per user per month. Our Hubstaff comparison, verified July 2026, recorded a 2-seat minimum.

Clox has no free plan. There's a 14-day free trial with no card, then one plan at $29 a month for the first 3 users and $6 per user after that, with annual billing about 20 percent off and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Geofencing is included and turned on per employee. A worksite is a named location with a coordinate and a radius (200 meters by default), worksites are unlimited, and a geofenced worker outside every assigned worksite at clock-in has the punch blocked.

A second check can require the site WiFi indoors where GPS drifts. Location is read only at the punch, never between punches. The full pricing is at /pricing.

09

What free tiers leave out for a field crew

Blocking versus reminding. None of the free-tier pages above states what its geofence does when a worker punches from outside the fence. A fence that reminds records the off-site punch and leaves it to you to notice; a fence that blocks stops the punch until the worker is on site. For a crew owner the second is the point; we explain the difference in how geofencing time tracking works and GPS time tracking that blocks off-site clock-ins. Ask the vendor the literal question: what happens to the punch?

Approvals and the payroll file. Clockify's page puts approvals, overtime, and QuickBooks on Standard, and Homebase Basic is described as basic scheduling and time tracking. The Jibble, busybusy, and Connecteam free-tier lists don't mention manager approvals or payroll export formats. A free tier that records hours but leaves the payroll file to you saves the subscription fee and costs you the time to build that file by hand.

10

When $29 a month costs less than free

$29 a month is about $6.70 a week. Put your own hourly number on the time you spend on Friday re-keying hours from a free app into payroll, checking who was on site, and chasing missing punches. If that's an hour a week at any rate above $6.70, the paid plan is the cheaper one. On the Clox plan a manager approves the week on the web, and an off-site punch for a geofenced worker is blocked at clock-in. The hours export as a payroll file for QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, ADP RUN, ADP Workforce Now, Paychex Flex, Gusto, or a universal CSV.

The other honest math is headcount. Free tiers with a user cap (Connecteam at 10, Clockify at 5, Homebase at 10 employees and 1 location) stop being free when the crew grows, and the first paid tier is the number to compare. We ran that comparison across more tools in the cheapest time clock apps for small crews and our time clock cost guide; the paid geofencing options are in our small business geofencing comparison.

11

FAQ

There's no free plan, but the trial is free: 14 days, no card, and a 30-day money-back guarantee once you pay. Start a free trial, add one worksite with the default radius, turn on geofencing for one worker, and see a blocked punch before you spend anything.