100% FREE Deputy Alternative

I’m Asim Qureshi, CEO of Jibble, and a former Vice President at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.
Listen, I didn’t leave all that behind just to build another time tracking software! Jibble is truly different, and I’m going to tell you why in most cases, choosing Deputy over Jibble simply doesn’t add up. Let me briefly give you an overview of why your team needs to be jibbling, not deputy-ing… not only because it rolls off the tongue way better, but because Jibble offers you so much more.

No doubt, Deputy is a pretty well-designed tool for time tracking, time tracking, attendance, and workforce management. However, design is one thing and application is another, and the Deputy experience is marred by glitchy performance across all platforms, a lot of bugs, slow loading times, and time tracking inconsistencies such as failure to track overtime hours correctly by classifying them as regular hours.

Its scheduling capabilities are also riddled with inconsistencies such as difficulties in copying and pasting schedules, preferences being overridden by pre-programmed schedule options, and significant lags in grabbing, starting, and ending shifts. Considering the amount of hype they’ve built around this functionality, it’s kind of ironic that it fails so spectacularly when put to the real-world test. 

Their GPS tracking also leaves a lot to be desired. It is severely challenged in correctly locating employees and managing large, complex, and multi-location operations. Since Deputy is used mostly by industries with on-the-ground and on-the-go workforces such as retail, healthcare, hospitality, and restaurants, such a function is crucial and any deviation has the potential to be wildly problematic for businesses. And while we’re at it, I also have to say that Deputy has very limited mobile functions, and is difficult to use on smartphones — much more so on Android. This also takes away from its usability for on-site work. 

In addition to all of that, its reporting capabilities are quite basic, and it lacks invoicing and payroll modules.

Now, it’s still a great tool for basic time tracking, but these things point clearly to the importance of looking for a more reliable Deputy alternative. Dive into my honest review of Deputy to understand its strengths and weaknesses even better.

Jibble is a time tracking solution that shares many similar features to Deputy, but we do them even better. We’re 100% focused on time tracking, which is why we’re so good at it. That’s why many of our users have switched over from Deputy, because they appreciate the amount of care we’ve put into ensuring that they have a high-quality experience in using our product.

Jibble is designed around the concept of straightforward usage with maximum impact which is reflected in our clean and uncluttered interface, the simplicity of operation, and the lack of complicated processes in our features. Plus, we’re built on clean architecture, which means significantly fewer bugs than Deputy. 

Our scheduling system is fully customizable to accommodate dynamic business requirements and adapt to changing needs. And, unlike Deputy, it’s so much easier to use, and so much more reliable. 

In addition to that, our GPS tracking system is top-notch and capable of pinpointing the whereabouts of employees accurately while they’re on the clock. You also don’t have to worry about mobile functionality, because Jibble has fully functional and feature-rich mobile apps that allow you to work on anything, anytime, anywhere. 

Now, in comparison to Deputy’s reporting capabilities, Jibble’s insights are far more advanced, giving you an advantage for a better understanding of how time is spent in your business. We also have powerful payroll and invoicing capabilities that significantly reduce admin time and ultimately save you resources. 

Best of all? Our 100% FREE forever plan serves the needs of small businesses well without them spending a single cent. That includes the location-based industries that use Deputy, plus desk-based industries and freelancers too. 

We’re also continuously working on Jibble to ensure that our product performs optimally at all times, and that our features can address dynamically changing needs. Check out our product portal to find out more about what we released over the last couple of months and what we have planned!

Deputy has respectable ratings on Capterra (4.7/5), GetApp (4.6/5), Software Advice (4.6/5), and the App Store (4.7/5), but Jibble outshines it in the same platforms with higher ratings. We’re rated  4.8/5 on Capterra, 4.8/5 on GetApp, 4.8/5 on Software Advice, and 4.8/5 on the App Store. 

We’re also more likely to be recommended by users on GetApp and Capterra. Plus, we’re also recognized as a Category Leader in Time Tracking, Time Clock, Attendance Tracking, Workforce Management, and Leave management System categories on GetApp, and we’re featured on the Capterra Shortlist™ in the categories of Time Tracking Software and Attendance Tracking Software for 2023, Time Clock Software for 2021 and 2023, and Leave Management System Software of 2022.

Deputy has four major plan variants and a seasonal plan. The entry-level plans divide feature focus into two, namely the Scheduling and Time and Attendance. Both come at $3.50 per user per month, and both come without robust reporting capabilities. The Premium plan combines the power of both entry-level plans plus reporting for $4.20 per user per month. For seasonal needs, the Deputy Flexi Weekly plan allows users to access Premium features for $2.50 per active user per week and $0.50 per inactive user per week, billed monthly. For more complex needs and teams of 250 and above, Deputy offers an Enterprise plan with custom pricing. It doesn’t have a free plan, but it does offer a 31-day free trial period.

All of that can be quite confusing, and the feature segmentation is unnecessary. 

Jibble offers a simpler pricing scheme that makes so much more sense. Our 100% free forever plan adequately covers the needs of most small businesses without costing them a single cent, and is available for unlimited users. While that’s enough for quite a lot of happy users, they can have even more power by upgrading to the Premium plan at only $2.49 per user per month for enhanced time tracking capabilities with detailed reports and overtime calculations, and our Ultimate plan is only $4.99 per user per month for limitless time tracking with project and client-based tracking designed for teams that require advanced time tracking features. 

By choosing Jibble as a Deputy alternative, you’re saving more and getting more features at the same time!

Work can take you to places you’ve never been before, so you gotta have multiple options for time tracking from the comfort of your desk to the rigors of the road. 

With Jibble, you can clock in and out of work using our web app, track time straight from the browser tab you’re working on with the extension, on-site with a shared kiosk, or with mobile apps for Android and iOS when you’re out and about. Unlike the faulty Deputy apps, our mobile apps are feature-rich, stable, and truly reliable for work on the go.

When you choose Jibble as a Deputy alternative, there’s no more reason not to capture every minute of working time, no matter where you may be. Have the confidence to go where work takes you, or take work with you wherever you go… even to places where there’s no internet connection!

To ensure that the right person is checking in at the right location, Jibble offers next-level security measures with facial recognition and GPS tracking. 

The facial recognition functionality compares the facial features of the person clocking in with the unique facial landmarks of the person in the profile photo for the account stored in the system and flags any mismatches to prevent unauthorized entry. The geolocation system accurately captures the user’s location upon checking in and monitors their whereabouts while they are on the clock. Unlike Deputy’s less-than-reliable geolocation feature that struggles to pin down employee locations, especially for large and multilocation operations, Jibble ensures that managers can keep a keen eye on their teams’ locations throughout the workday.

Together, these features help eliminate buddy punching and other time theft shenanigans that drain you of precious resources. They also help ensure that you have visibility of everyone’s locations while helping inculcate the value of accountability across the ranks in the process. 

Another reason to look for a Deputy alternative is because of its lack of options to clock in with these modern workplace essentials. Sure, it works fine for on-site work, but it’s limiting for industries with mostly desk-based operations such as marketing and advertising, information technology and services, and remote freelancers.

Jibble allows you to take your time tracking experience to the next level by revolutionizing the way you manage work hours. You can track time from within MS Teams and Slack directly, and with ease. With just a few clicks, managers can see who’s in and working on which projects, and gain visibility on progress as it happens.

Deputy does a fair job at keeping records of who clocked in our out when, but it doesn’t quite have the depth of visibility that Jibble offers. 

Real-time entry recording with Jibble means that you have a clear and up-to-the-minute picture of your work. Gain real-time visibility into your team’s presence, absence, or leaves, and access essential time entry details such as entry method, device usage, locations, selfies, and flagged entries. 

With that much power right at your fingertips, you’ll always be on top of everything that goes on in your business.

With Jibble, timesheets are updated in real-time with data tracked from user activities. Worked hours, breaks, and overtime are automatically categorized and populated into timesheets, which are then auto-calculated according to easily configurable rates. Jibble saves you a lot of time (and money!) by doing all the heavy lifting and number-crunching.

All that’s left to do is for employees to verify their entries and once confirmed correct, managers can approve them for payroll. The best thing about it? They can do all of these using only one app from anywhere and on any device! 

This smooth and efficient automated process ensures that payroll is on time, every time. And if you ever need additional calculations, timesheets can be exported in CSV or XLS formats to your payroll and accounting software, or use the open API for even more possibilities. 

Aside from time tracking and timesheet calculations, scheduling is also a very important part of keeping your business truly organized and productive. Deputy has auto-scheduling and meal and break planning features, but they’re not available for the Attendance and Time Tracking package. Plus, they’ve been reportedly difficult to use according to less-than-satisfied users — the cumbersome process of publishing copied shifts and timesheet management for absent employees can be a real pain at times. 

With Jibble, you can kiss these challenges goodbye using our straightforward scheduling functionalities that simplify how schedules are made. Decide who works when, how long breaks should be, and have the power to change anything and everything according to dynamically changing business needs and resource availability. 

Sure, all the bells and whistles in Deputy’s scheduling really make it look awesome, but the true measure is in its reliability for real-world usage… and that’s where Jibble shines. 

Scheduling works great, now what? Now you have to ensure that your team members are getting the time off they deserve so they can be at their best… and so your business remains compliant with state and federal leave legislations.

Here at Jibble, we understand the importance of leave management for precise time tracking. That’s why we came up with an integral and dedicated suite of time-off management features to streamline requests and approvals. 

Jibble’s PTO tracker is not only free but also incredibly user-friendly. Employees can apply for various leave types that managers can approve in a matter of clicks on any device. No more chasing signatures and awkward negotiations for well-deserved time off!

Good reports are the backbone of great business decisions. That’s why it’s important to have access to analytic tools when you’re managing abusiness. Especially when you have dreams of making it big. \

The lack of robust reporting features in Deputy’s entry-level plans is another reason why you should look for a more comprehensive Deputy alternative. Jibble allows you to dive deep into productivity and attendance reports to analyze attendance patterns and time allocation so you can identify areas for improvement. Explore detailed data, from clock-in locations and device utilization to selfie captures and offline entries, all at your fingertips.

Engaging visual charts and insightful reports dive deep into the data to give you a clear view of how projects and tasks are progressing, how productive teams and individual employees are, how much resources are spent to achieve your goals, and how to best address challenges that pose a threat to productivity.

Best of all, our reports are highly customizable and can be configured to unique analytic structures for unique business needs so you can see the data you need in the way that makes the most sense to you. These can also be exported as CSV or XLS files for further processing and even more power.

Integrate Jibble with popular project management platforms, messaging tools, and accounting or payroll software including QuickBooks and Deel. Sync time data across your apps with ease and utilize Jibble’s open API for limitless integration possibilities.

Best of all, these integrations are all 100% FREE!

By choosing Jibble, you’re choosing the best Deputy alternative so you can do even more things with just one powerful tool. Invite your employees via email, SMS, or a shareable link, and you’re all set.

We’ll guide you through the process when you sign up and get started with Jibble’s FREE version. And if you ever need assistance, our world-class customer support team is just one chat away, ready to help you in your journey. We’re with you every step of the way.