Top 10 Software to Monitor Remote Employees in 2021
Why Do You Need an Employee Tracking App?
More and more companies shift to remote work due to the pandemic. Working from home now is the best way to take care of employees health and at the same time to prevent a company’s collapse. However, the majority of company owners have never used such a work format and don’t know how to monitor remote employees. Remote work monitoring is indispensable when it comes to letting your team members work from afar. It may help you check their efficiency, attendance, and productive time as well as detect slackers and late-comers.
What Features Should Remote Monitoring Software Offer?
First of all, you’ll need a reliable employee desktop live viewer. Such software lets you view the team’s computer screens in real mode at any time. Live viewing feature helps businessmen check if their remote workers spend their time productively during business hours. Besides, it’s helpful when you suspect somebody is planning to leak corporate data.
Secondly, modern employee tracking software should offer a smart time control system that records efficient and inefficient time, analyzes it, and represents the statistics in convenient graphs. Modern activity monitor software records inactive time periods when the user is chatting with a colleague, surfing the Net, etc. Some other helpful features include screenshot capturing, screen recording, URL blocking, and keylogging.
It’s also helpful to take care of the company’s security and to ensure that nobody in your team leaks corporate data. For it, you can use screen recording and save all sessions in case you’ll have to investigate employees’ unlawful actions. Additionally, modern employee monitoring apps offer smart behaviour analysis so the system will inform you if it detects some unusual activities on the team’s devices.
Is It Legal To Use Remote Employee Monitoring Tools?
It’s a controversial question. Usually, it’s legit to use activity monitor software in the workplace if the team members know about such a tool and permit you to record their activities. It’s better to check your state’s laws before implementing a tracking app at the office. But when it comes to tracking remote employees, it’s getting even more complicated. Major staff members use their devices to work from home and, obviously, they won’t agree to install a user activity monitoring app at home due to privacy reasons.
Luckily, there is a way to use employee productivity tracking software even if your team works from afar via their home devices. All you need is to install a monitoring app on their office workstations and to provide them with a remote desktop tool (in this article you can learn more about the well-known TeamViewer remote desktop and its alternatives). In this case, the computer monitoring software will record only activities performed on the office devices when the team will connect to them from home with the help of remote desktop tools. You won’t wonder how to find out if remote employees are productive and the team won’t worry about their personal data.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at my list of Top 10 remote PC monitoring software in 2021.
10 Best Remote Monitoring Software
#1 CleverControl
When it comes to tracking team members working from home, CleverControl is one of the best solutions by far. It’s a powerful remote desktop monitoring software that lets you know what your employees are doing at the moment from any device and any place. This employee monitoring software is cloud-based and lets you view newly recorded data on your online account. All you need to check employees’ efficiency and attendance statistics is to connect to the Internet and log in to your CleverControl account.
This computer monitoring software offers powerful features: keylogging, screen recording, live viewing, remote settings, clipboard control, Skype monitoring, and more. The software records time that was spent on this or that activity and shows you stats in graphs. Besides, the app captures screenshots at all important events like right-clicking and window change, and it can record activity near the device with the help of a webcam and microphone. Moreover, CleverControl records employees’ active and inactive time, letting you detect lazybones and reward hard work.
Pros:
- time and attendance tracking system;
- remote monitoring through a secure web account;
- an ability to record user sessions;
- powerful features;
- easy to use and install.
Cons:
- there are many remote recording features so you need to get used to the dashboard to find the necessary data quickly.
Pricing: starts at $3 per user/mo.
Platform: CleverControl can track Windows and macOS devices and provides you access to the recorded data from any device as it’s web-based.
#2 Spyrix Employee Monitoring
This employee time tracking software with screenshots capturing is the second app on my list due to its reliability and functions. Spyrix offers remote employee time tracking, screenshots capture, chat control, web, and application usage recording, as well as live viewing of the computer screens. The app is also good for requesting reports about every employee’s activities at the workplace. Further, the app offers remote settings like uninstallation, feature settings, webcam control, and so on.
Like CleverControl, this tracking tool captures snapshots, showing you if the team members are at the workplace. Spyrix sends smart reports to your online account and lets you ensure that the remote team is productive. By the way, if you want to improve your team’s efficiency, you can also send them the reports about their daily activities so that they could quickly self-correct their time-wasting behaviour.
Pros:
- a free trial;
- easy to use: the software offers several different options of viewing the recorded data (online dashboard, email, locally on the target PC, etc.);
- an intuitive interface;
- recording of all important events like keystrokes, screen, webcam, and microphone;
- smart reports about daily activities.
Cons:
- small businesses may find it expensive.
Pricing starts at $3 per user per month and offers a free trial.
Platform: desktops, tablets, and mobile phones.
#3 Hubstaff
Hubstaff is also a good solution when you search for employee screen monitoring software when it comes to features and a simple user interface. It offers everything you need to run your business like clockwork. Firstly, it has a smart time tracking system that records the team’s activity remotely and lets you view reports to improve your company’s productivity. Further, the monitoring app tracks URLs, websites, applications and makes screenshots allowing you to check if employees work from home. The company also offers a mobile-based time tracking app recording your team’s GPS location.
To make running your business easier the app has an in-built payroll system. With it, you can set up pay rates for employees, and send payments automatically based on hours worked during that pay period. Other helpful features of Hubstaff software include team scheduling, reports, task management, offline time tracking, invoicing, integrations with more than 30 third-party apps.
Pros:
- offers a free version;
- easy to use;
- suitable for remote employees;
- cross-platform app.
Cons:
- the free version is limited in features (offers only time tracking, activity levels, limited screenshots, and limited payments);
- the plans for huge companies are rather expensive.
Pricing: The premium plan costs $10 per user per month and offers a free 14-day trial.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS.
#4 ActivTrak
With ActivTrak, you’ll forget about wondering how to monitor remote employees. The company offers a solution specifically designed for remote workforce management. With this app, you’ll be able to:
- check employees’ efficient and inefficient time;
- compare the team members’ productivity and detect lazybones;
- block unproductive websites and apps;
- establish remote policies and measure their effectiveness.
Also, the tool records videos and makes screenshots when the remote member misuses the device.
The app has all features to help you solve several issues at once: you’ll reduce cybersecurity risks, you’ll know for sure what work is being performed and by whom, you’ll check if the team works productively from afar and will have no difficulties with measuring their productivity.
Pros:
- features specially designed for tracking a remote team;
- offers a free plan;
- reliable company with high ratings.
Cons:
- the free plan is limited in features (you can track only 3 users);
- you should pay extra for some features.
Pricing: the paid plan starts at $7,2 per user per month with an annual contract.
Platform: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome.
#5 Teramind
The company offers many smart solutions for businesses like endpoint security and user activity monitoring as well as pc hardware monitoring software to track remote teams. The software lets you record visited URLs, pressed keys, used apps, and many more. Further, the software:
- analyzes user behaviour;
- detects malicious activity or activities indicating deviation from normal behavioural baseline;
- notifies you that some unusual insider activities are performed.
Besides, with this screen monitoring software, you can investigate team members’ illegal actions like data leakage. It records videos of staff’s activities, as well as audio and user sessions. In addition, the tool lets you select the apps and websites that you find productive and check how your team members use these apps. It gives you a vivid picture of what your employees are doing during a business week and identify high performers or detect slackers by checking reports about their idle vs. active time.
Pros:
- powerful monitoring features;
- suitable for remote teams;
- user-behaviour analytics system;
- lets you track an unlimited number of users.
Cons:
- the minimum number of monitored employees is five;
- is not cheap.
Pricing: depends on the plan and number of monitored devices, for instance, to track 5 users, you should pay $125 per month. Offers a 1-week free trial.
Platforms: Windows and macOS.
#6 Kickidler
Kickidler offers real-time monitoring software that can also help you track your remote company members. It has a powerful time-tracking solution that checks when employees start and stop working, records their productive and non-productive time, and gives you an insight into what they’re doing from afar. The recorded logs are represented in graphs and metrics for your convenience.
The app also records computer screens so you can check the staff’s activities at any moment. As you know, screen recordings are also handy if you need to prove that this or that team member performed some unlawful actions in the workplace. Besides, the software records all keystrokes pressed by your team.
Pros:
- offers solutions specifically designed for remote employee monitoring;
- has a lifetime subscription option;
- detects unproductive time;
- offers a free trial.
Cons:
- the pricing plans look too complicated.
Pricing: depends on the number of users and the duration of the subscription. A usual 1-year license option will cost you $4.58 per user/month.
Platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux.
#7 WorkPuls
WorkPuls monitoring solution lets you get the most out of your employees’ time. It allows a company owner to view what apps and websites team members use or visit during working hours individually, in a team, or on a company level. WorkPuls can also capture screenshots at a set time period or triggered by suspicious team’s activities. In addition, you can check the idle & active time of each staff member, track attendance, receive reports about all user activities, and many more.
This app stores your company’s data for 2 years so you can access recorded logs for up to 24 months. It will also send you alerts caused by inefficient activities or suspicious actions. WorkPuls offers two modes — stealth and visible, so if you want to hide your monitoring app from computer users, you won’t have an issue with it. For remote teams, it’s better to use visible apps that help employees organize themselves and work harder based on their individual reports. According to customer reviews, WorkPuls is smooth and seamless to use both on Windows and macOS devices.
Pros:
- easy to install and use;
- time tracking features;
- a reliable vendor;
- detailed reports about every employee;
- offers powerful software for enterprises.
Cons:
- cheaper plans have limits on the number of captured screenshots.
Pricing: starts at $4,80 per user per month billed annually.
Platforms: Windows and macOS.
#8 Veriato
Veriato is another employee screen monitoring software that makes this list. It’s already very popular worldwide due to its recording features. This tracking solution monitors social applications, online searches, visited URLs, sent and receive emails, running applications, network connections, file downloads and transfers, keystrokes, USB and printer usage, etc. If you need to track a remote team, it’s better to choose Veriato Vision software. It monitors the productivity of employees working both in the office and from home.
According to the developers, the software shows you the most and the least productive members, sends you real-time alerts when employees spend working time inefficiently and represents data in convenient graphs. It also offers web filtering, screenshot recordings with video playback, and weekly productivity reports.
Pros:
- powerful features;
- specifically designed to track remote teams;
- a free trial.
Cons:
- if you want to buy add-ons, you’ll be charged extra.
Pricing: a 1-year license for free devices costs $150.00.
Platforms: Windows and macOS.
#9 DeskTime
Many businessmen in foreign countries use this employee monitoring software (India, Latvia, Poland, etc) and the app has already helped employers all over the world boost their sales and improve the team’s productivity. This time tracking tool offers some helpful features like URL, applications, and social networks monitoring, screenshot capture, and automatic productivity monitoring. Besides, it lets you create and share CSV reports to tell your clients precisely how much time your team spent on their projects.
DeskTime also offers integrations with many third-party apps like Asana, Jira, GitLab, Trello, calendar, etc. This helps you simplify your company's workflow. The company takes care of its clients’ security and stores your data on TIER III servers and offers security encryption and Login & Password protection. The app lets you track your remote team with ease.
Pros:
- easy to use;
- integration with third-party apps;
- CSV reports.
Cons:
- monitoring features are limited compared with other employee monitoring software from this list.
Pricing: there’s a free version for 1 desktop. For the pro version, you need to pay $5.94 per user per month.
Platforms: records Windows and Mac activities, the data can be viewed from any device.
#10 WorkAuditor
WorkAuditor may be less popular than other apps from the list, but it’s also a powerful tracking tool when it comes to monitoring remote employees. It records screenshots, keystrokes, printer, and USB activities, clipboard events, chat conversations, visited websites and URLs, application usage, and many more. The software is cloud-based and allows remote monitoring via an online account from any device, so you can track your staff on the go wherever you’re located.
To help you improve productivity, WorkAuditor sends you daily and weekly reports about your team’s efficiency. It also lets you block applications, Facebook, Twitter, or some unproductive websites to reduce the time the employees waste in the workplace.
Pros:
- powerful monitoring features;
- reliable data protection methods;
- free trial.
Cons:
- the minimum license is a 1-year plan;
- some companies will find it expensive.
Pricing: a 1-year plan costs $99.95 per pc/mac.
Platforms: Windows and Mac.
Other Tools to Track Remote Employees
This was my list of top 10 remote employee monitoring software. However, not only time trackers and monitoring software can help you control your team remotely. There are some other useful tools like Zoom, Bonusly, Bitrix, TeamViewer, and other apps that may help you implement remote work productively and quickly. Check my previous articles on this topic as well.
