Compare · ExakTime alternative
An ExakTime alternative for crews spread across many jobsites
If your crews report to a few long-running sites and you want a rugged, lockable clock with key fobs and no phones, ExakTime (now sold by Arcoro as Arcoro Time) fits. If crews split across many short jobs and move during the day, consider ZeroBadge. Each worker wears a company badge, so there is no clock to place at each site and a site change stays inside one shift.
Last updated Competitor facts verified By ZeroBadge
ZeroBadge makes one of the products compared on this page.
What ExakTime does well
ExakTime's JobClock is built for jobsites without power or Wi-Fi. Arcoro describes the Hornet and LE models as portable, lockable, weatherproof clocks rated from -10 to 170 degrees F that mount anywhere without AC power.
- No phones at all. Workers punch with colored key fobs, with different colors for different job codes or locations.
- Long battery on the LE. Arcoro lists about 6 months on the LE's battery; the Hornet's rechargeable battery lasts up to 21 days, with a car charger available.
- Holds punches through dead zones. Both store up to 20,000 punches locally until the Hornet regains cell service or the LE is synced.
- A GPS app alongside. Arcoro lists a mobile app where clock-ins can be limited to a geofenced job site and GPS is active only while an employee is on the clock, plus a Photo ID Capture feature.
- Payroll in the same vendor. Arcoro sells a Time + Payroll plan as well as time-only plans.
How ExakTime captures time
ExakTime records a punch when a worker touches a fob to the JobClock at the site. The Hornet uploads data automatically every hour over a cellular data plan; the LE syncs over Bluetooth through an iOS or Android device, so someone has to bring a phone to the clock to collect the punches.
Job coding happens at the punch: the worker picks the fob color for the job code. That is precise when crews are disciplined about it, and it means a worker who moves to other work has to punch again with the right fob.
Clocks scale with jobsites; badges scale with workers
The cleanest way to compare a site clock with a worn badge is to count devices and the moves they need. Here is a mid-size contractor's month, with no prices assumed.
One month, 5 active jobsites, 32 field workers
- Site clocks needed
- 5 (one per jobsite, more on a large site with several entrances)
- Sites opening or closing this month
- 2, so 2 clocks collected, carried and remounted
- Badges needed
- 32 (one per worker), plus a few spares
- Badges moved when a site opens or closes
- 0; the new jobsite is a geofence drawn from its address
- Worker sent to a second site after lunch
- Clock: punch out at site A, punch in at site B. Badge: no action
- Rule of thumb
- Few long sites with many workers each: fewer clocks than badges. Many short jobs and crews that move: the badge count stays flat while the clock chores grow.
Where ZeroBadge differs from ExakTime
ZeroBadge puts the device on the worker instead of the site. The badge reports about every 5 minutes, using GPS outdoors and Wi-Fi positioning indoors, and each minute is allocated to a jobsite, transit or other. A worker's day across two sites and a supply house is one shift with no extra punches.
ZeroBadge does not code time by job code or cost code. It knows which jobsite a worker was at, not which task they did there.
ExakTime and ZeroBadge side by side
| Question | ExakTime (Arcoro Time) | ZeroBadge |
|---|---|---|
| Where the device lives | A JobClock at each site; optional GPS app on phones | A badge on each worker; nothing at the site |
| How a worker punches | Touches a colored key fob to the clock | Powers on the badge |
| Job or cost codes | Chosen by fob color at the punch | Hours by jobsite; no code entry |
| Moving to another site | Punch out and in again at the next clock | No action; same shift |
| Getting data to the office | Hornet uploads hourly over cellular; LE syncs over Bluetooth via a phone | Badge reports about every 5 minutes over its own cellular connection |
| Identity at the punch | Photo ID Capture listed | Not checked; badge assigned to one worker |
| Pricing | Time Essential from $9, Time Professional from $12, Time + Payroll from $20 per employee per month, annual contract; hardware not priced on the page | Quote-based |
| Payroll | Lists ERP, accounting and payroll integrations; also sells its own payroll plan | Integrates with payroll providers; CSV, Excel or PDF export |
When ExakTime is the better choice
Frequently asked questions
What do we do with our JobClocks if we switch?
Our crews use fob colors for job codes. How does ZeroBadge handle that?
Is ZeroBadge as rugged as a JobClock?
What happens in a dead zone?
Can we move over one crew at a time?
Sources
ExakTime and Arcoro are trademarks of their owner. ZeroBadge is not affiliated with ExakTime or Arcoro.
Keep reading
- SolutionJobsite time clock alternativesKiosks, tablets, portable site clocks and foreman punch, compared with a worn badge.
- SolutionMulti-jobsite time trackingSite transfers, transit and supply runs inside one shift record.
- The badgeBadge battery and chargingHow long a badge runs, how it is charged and what the office sees.
- CompareSmartBarrel alternativeA facial-verification site clock against a worn badge.
- CompareTime clocks for workers without smartphonesEvery way to record hours when crews do not carry phones.
