Relentify Timesheets vs Clockify: When Free Time Tracking Isn't Enough

Clockify is free. Free forever. Unlimited users, unlimited tracking, no credit card. That's the pitch that's attracted millions of freelancers, agencies, and small teams over the past decade.

But here's what nobody mentions in the "free forever" marketing: Relentify Timesheets and Clockify don't solve the same problem. Clockify is a time tracker. It's built for knowledge workers and freelancers who start a timer, stop it, and log hours against projects. Relentify Timesheets is a workforce management system. It's built for businesses that employ people, need to track their working time accurately and compliantly, and require verification (GPS, geofencing, photo proof at clock-in).

If you've got an hourly workforce that clocks in and out of shifts, works at specific sites, takes regulated breaks, and needs manager approval before payroll runs, Clockify's free tier—no matter how unlimited—isn't designed for that use case. This comparison explains where each tool wins and when free time tracking isn't enough.

Different tools for different problems

The fundamental difference is worth spelling out clearly, because it's the hinge on which everything else hangs.

Clockify is a time tracker. You open it, hit start, do work, hit stop. The hours are recorded against a project or task. It's designed for people whose job is to log time—freelancers billing clients by the hour, agencies charging project time, marketing teams tracking time against campaigns. If your team sits at desks and tracks hours, Clockify's timer interface is natural and efficient.

Relentify Timesheets is a workforce management system. Workers clock in at a shift start, clock out at the end, and the system handles the rest—break deductions, overtime calculations, shift approval, compliance checks. It's designed for businesses with employees (not contractors), where time tracking is compliance and payroll, not billing. If your team works shifts at physical locations and you need to prove when and where they worked, this is the category you need.

This isn't about one being better than the other. It's about problem-fit. A freelancer asking "should I use timesheets or Clockify?" is like asking "should I buy a van or a bicycle?" The answer depends entirely on what you're actually trying to do.

Pricing: free vs. affordable

Let's talk cost first, because that's often where comparisons start.

Plan	Relentify Timesheets	Clockify
Free tier	Yes (up to 5 workers)	Yes (unlimited users)
Basic/Starter	£3/worker/month	$3.99/user/month (~£3.10)
Standard/Professional	£5/worker/month	$5.49/user/month (~£4.30)
Premium/Pro	Custom	$7.99/user/month (~£6.30)

At headline prices, both look affordable. Clockify's headline advantage is the free unlimited-user tier. For a startup tracking project time, that's genuinely useful. For a construction firm with 20 hourly workers clocking in and out each day, unlimited free users doesn't matter if the free version doesn't do what you need.

The real cost comparison appears when you add features. Want GPS tracking on Clockify? That's $7.99/user/month. Want shift scheduling? Also paid. Want break compliance automation? Also paid. By the time you've added the features a workforce business needs, you're often at or above Relentify's price—and you're still using a tool not designed for that use case.

(A bit like free-tier Slack—yes, it's free. No, it doesn't replace what you actually need if you're running a team with compliance requirements.)

GPS verification and location tracking

This is where the tools diverge most sharply, and where the difference in purpose really shows.

Clockify offers GPS tracking on its Pro plan ($7.99/user/month). It logs the location when users start and stop their timer, and it tracks routes for field workers throughout the day. Useful for knowing where people work, but it's tracking, not verification. There's no enforcement, no geofencing, no "you must be in this location to clock in."

Relentify Timesheets uses GPS as a verification mechanism. When a worker clocks in at a site, Relentify confirms they are within the geofenced area before accepting the clock-in. If they're outside the boundary, the clock-in is flagged. This is designed to prevent time fraud—no one's clocking in from home when they should be on a construction site or at a care facility.

Think about the jobs where this matters: construction, cleaning, security, home care, field service. These are businesses where "when did you clock in" and "where did you clock in" are both compliance questions. Relentify answers both. Clockify answers only the second, and only after the fact.

Feature	Relentify	Clockify
GPS at clock-in	Verified (within geofence)	Tracked (Pro plan, recorded)
Geofencing	Yes (enforced)	No
Photo at clock-in	Yes (visual proof)	No
Location history	Yes (searchable)	Yes (Pro plan)
Site-based tracking	Yes (multiple sites)	No (GPS route only)
Alerts for violations	Yes	No

For construction sites, cleaning teams, and care agencies, this isn't a nice-to-have. It's how you prove compliance if a worker disputes a disciplinary decision or if you get audited.

Break tracking and compliance

Here's a rule that catches a lot of UK small-business owners off guard: the Working Time Regulations 1998 require that workers get specific break entitlements based on shift length. The ACAS website has guidance on how these work in practice. Get it wrong and you can face penalties. Get it right and you've got a documented audit trail.

Clockify allows users to log breaks manually. There are no automatic break rules, no compliance alerts, and no enforcement of minimum entitlements.

Relentify Timesheets automates this:

Configurable break rules (e.g., 20 minutes after 6 hours, 30 minutes after 8 hours)
Automatic break deduction when breaks are taken
Alerts when breaks are missed or too short
Break records included in every timesheet report
Compliance auditing for WTR adherence

For any business employing hourly workers, this automation doesn't just save management time—it reduces compliance risk. That's worth paying for.

Shift management and scheduling

Clockify added scheduling features in recent versions (available on the Pro plan). The scheduling is functional but basic—it's a newer addition to what remains primarily a timer-based tool. It covers shift assignment and some availability management, but shift swap requests, open shift broadcasting, and schedule publishing are add-ons or missing entirely.

Relentify Timesheets is built around shifts from the ground up:

Create and assign shifts to workers and sites
Shift templates for recurring patterns (useful for weekly schedules)
Availability management across workers
Shift swap requests and approvals
Open shift broadcasting (alert team when coverage is needed)
Schedule publishing with worker notifications

If you're a manager scheduling 20 workers across multiple sites, the difference between "scheduling is an add-on I had to learn" and "scheduling is how the system works" is meaningful. (See our detailed comparison of Relentify vs Deputy if you're also evaluating specialist shift-management platforms.)

Reporting: projects vs. workforces

The reporting differences reflect purpose again.

Clockify reports focus on projects, tasks, and billable hours. Who worked on what project for how long? What's billable versus non-billable? These serve project managers and agencies asking "how much can I charge the client?"

Relentify Timesheets reports focus on workforce metrics. Total hours per worker, overtime calculations (with UK rules built in), attendance patterns, site-level labour costs, and compliance adherence. These serve operations managers asking "are we over budget?" and payroll teams asking "are we compliant?"

Report type	Relentify	Clockify
Hours per worker	Yes (detailed)	Yes
Hours per project	Basic	Yes (core feature)
Overtime tracking	Detailed (UK rules)	Basic
Attendance (patterns, lateness)	Yes	Limited
Labour cost per site	Yes	No
Compliance (WTR, breaks)	Yes	No
Billable hours	Basic	Yes (core feature)
Client reporting	No	Yes

Pick the tool whose reports answer your actual questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Clockify's free tier really have unlimited users? Yes. You can add as many users as you like to a free Clockify account, and they can all track time against projects. The catch: you don't get features like GPS, shift scheduling, or timesheet approval without paying for higher plans.

Can I use Relentify Timesheets if I'm freelance or self-employed? Not really—we built it for businesses with W2 employees who clock in and out of shifts. If you're a freelancer tracking billable hours or a consultant logging time against projects, tools like Clockify or our comparison of Relentify Timesheets vs Harvest for agencies are better fits. We also have a Relentify CRM that pairs with projects and time if you want something in-house.

What happens if a worker clocks in outside the geofence by accident? The clock-in is flagged (not rejected). Managers can approve it with a note if there's a legitimate reason. This keeps the system honest without being punitive for genuine edge cases—like a worker whose job involves moving between sites or starting work in a shared office.

Do we need payroll integration, or can we export timesheets to our payroll software? You can do both. Relentify exports to CSV or integrates with major payroll platforms (QuickBooks, Xero, Gusto, others). You've got flexibility.

Is photo verification required every shift? No. Photo verification is optional—you configure when it's mandatory (e.g., first shift of the day, or only for certain sites). Some businesses use it for all shifts; others use it only when they suspect fraud.

What's the difference between Relentify and other shift-scheduling tools? We've written detailed comparisons of Relentify Timesheets vs Deputy for exactly this question. The short version: specialist tools like Deputy excel at advanced shift-swap workflows; Relentify excels at compliance tracking, verification features, and integration—plus it's part of a broader suite (CRM, helpdesk, tasks, chatbot) so you don't need separate logins.

Can I use Relentify if I pay workers a mix of hourly and salary? Yes. You can set different time-tracking rules per worker or per site. Salary workers might not use the mobile app at all; hourly workers clock in and out as normal.

Does Relentify charge per worker or per company? Per worker. At £3–£5/worker/month depending on tier, a 10-person team is £30–£50/month. Compare that to Clockify's per-user fees when you add GPS and shift scheduling, and the maths often favour Relentify for small businesses with hourly staff.

Who should choose which

Choose Relentify Timesheets if you:

Employ hourly workers who clock in and out of shifts
Operate multiple sites or need geofence verification
Need GPS and photo proof of work location
Manage shift schedules and worker availability
Need UK Working Time Regulations compliance automation
Want break tracking and approval workflows built in

See what Relentify Timesheets can do for your team.

Choose Clockify if you:

Track project time for knowledge workers, clients, or freelance projects
Need billable hours and client reporting
Are a freelancer or agency charging by the hour
Want a timer-based workflow (start/stop) for your team
Need the free unlimited-user tier to get started
Track time against tasks and projects, not shifts

The bottom line

Clockify and Relentify Timesheets solve genuinely different problems. One's a project time tracker; the other's a workforce timesheet system. The free tier that makes Clockify popular with freelancers and agencies doesn't matter if you need GPS verification, shift management, and break compliance.

If your team sits at desks and logs time against projects, Clockify's free tier is hard to beat. If your team clocks in at sites, works shifts, and you need verified records for payroll and compliance, Relentify Timesheets is built for exactly that—with GPS verification, photo proof, break automation, and shift management Clockify isn't designed to do.

Try Relentify Timesheets free for 14 days and see what happens when your time-tracking tool is built for workforce management, not project tracking.