A GPS time clock answers one question: was the person actually at work when they said they clocked in? ClockOut records the location of every punch and, on paid plans, refuses punches taken outside a work area you define. It does this from a web page, so nobody has to download anything or set up an app-store account.
The problem with a plain time clock
A time that says 7:58 tells you nothing about where the person was at 7:58. They could have been on site, in the parking lot, or still at home. For a business with staff spread across job sites, client homes, or route stops, that gap is where padded hours and buddy punching live. You find out at payroll, or you never find out.
A GPS time clock closes the gap by attaching a location to the punch. ClockOut goes one step further: with geofencing on, a punch taken away from the work area is stopped at the moment it happens, not flagged three weeks later.
How it works
- 01
Employee opens ClockOut in their phone browser
No download, no app store. They open the page, grant the browser location permission once, and tap clock in. You can also run a shared tablet in kiosk mode for teams without personal phones.
- 02
The punch is stamped with location and address
At clock-in and again at clock-out, ClockOut captures the GPS coordinates and resolves them to a street address, then stores them on the timesheet entry. This happens on every plan, including Free.
- 03
Geofencing checks the punch is on site
On Starter and up, you draw a work area. If the employee is outside it (plus a 50 m buffer), clock-in is refused with a message telling them to get to the work site. Admins and anyone marked exempt skip the check entirely.
What the GPS time clock actually does
GPS-stamped punches on every plan
Clock-in and clock-out each record latitude, longitude, and a resolved address on the timesheet entry. Managers see where each punch happened and whether it was inside the work area. There is no live map and no movement trail, only the two punch locations. This is included on Free, so even a two-person team gets location on every timesheet.
Geofencing that blocks off-site punches
On Starter ($3 / employee / month) and Pro, you define a work area and ClockOut enforces it at clock-in. A 50 m buffer is added to the radius on every fence check, so an employee standing just past the property line still clocks in cleanly, while someone at home does not. Multi-location businesses can set a separate geofence per site, each with a radius between 10 m and 10,000 m, and a punch is accepted if the employee is inside any active location.
Optional auto clock-out when someone leaves
If you turn it on, ClockOut can clock a forgetful employee out after they leave the work area. The default leave distance is about 1 mile from the site, and leaving starts a grace period (5 minutes by default) with an in-app warning that asks if they are still working. If they return inside the area, the warning cancels and nothing happens. If the grace period runs out, they are clocked out automatically and any open break is closed.
Built to ignore bad GPS
Phone GPS is noisy, so ClockOut is deliberately cautious about clocking people out. Any reading with accuracy worse than 300 m is thrown away rather than acted on, and the same 50 m buffer applies to the leave-distance check. The boundary check runs only about once a minute, and only while the employee is clocked in. Those readings are used to decide whether to warn or clock out, then discarded, not saved as a location history.
Honest limits of GPS time tracking
GPS is useful, not magic. Here is exactly what to expect so you can set the right policy for your team.
- Browser GPS accuracy varies. Downtown between tall buildings, deep inside a warehouse, or in a basement, a phone fix can be off by a wide margin. That is why ClockOut ignores readings worse than 300 m accuracy and adds a 50 m buffer rather than trusting a single tight reading.
- Offline punches queue and sync.If a phone has no signal at the moment of a punch, the clock-in or clock-out is saved on the device and syncs automatically with its original tap time once it reconnects. The app has to have been opened on that phone first, synced punches are flagged for admins, a punch that could not be checked against a geofence is recorded and flagged for review rather than blocked, punches older than 48 hours are rejected, and breaks are online only. For a kiosk or any shared device where signal is thin all day, a tablet on the site’s wifi is still the reliable path.
- Geofencing needs permission. The employee has to grant the browser location permission. With geofencing enforced, clock-in without location is refused until they enable it. Without geofencing (for example on Free), a punch with permission declined records the time but no location.
- It is enforcement, not surveillance. ClockOut checks location at the punch, plus an optional once-a-minute boundary check while on the clock. It never requests background or always-on location, and it does not follow anyone off the clock. We treat that as a privacy feature, not a shortcoming.
Why teams pick ClockOut for GPS time tracking
The wedge is simple: a GPS time clock your staff can use in thirty seconds, on the phone already in their pocket, with nothing to install. Geofencing starts at $3 / employee / month on Starter, and GPS-stamped punches are free up to 2 employees so you can prove it works before you pay for anything.
We publish exactly how the GPS and privacy behavior works rather than hiding it. Read the full location privacy policy and the verified product facts, or start on the free time clock and add geofencing when you need it. See the full breakdown on pricing.
Built for teams that work off site
A GPS time clock earns its keep when work happens away from a front desk. See how it fits specific trades:
- Construction crews across multiple job sites, with a geofence per active site.
- Landscaping crews moving between properties on a route all day.
- Home care agenciesthat need to confirm a caregiver reached the client’s address.
FAQ
What is a clock in and out app with GPS?
It is a time clock that records where each punch happened, not just when. ClockOut stamps every clock-in and clock-out with GPS coordinates and a resolved street address on the timesheet, on every plan including Free. On paid plans it can also block a clock-in taken outside a work area you define.
Does a GPS time clock track employees all day?
No. ClockOut reads location at the moment of a punch, and if you enable auto clock-out, it runs a boundary check about once a minute while the employee is clocked in. Those readings are used to decide whether to warn or clock out, then discarded. It never requests background or always-on location and does not track anyone off the clock. See the location privacy policy for the full detail.
Is there a GPS time clock without installing an app?
Yes, that is ClockOut’s core design. It runs in any phone browser as a web app and an installable PWA, so staff do not download anything or set up an app-store account. They open the page, grant location permission once, and clock in.
Is ClockOut's GPS time clock free?
GPS-stamped punches with a resolved address are free for up to 2 employees on the Free plan. Geofencing, which blocks off-site clock-ins and enables auto clock-out, is on Starter at $3 / employee / month and up. See pricing or start on the free time clock.
How accurate is the geofence, and what if GPS is off?
Each fence check adds a 50 m buffer to the radius so honest punches at the edge of a site still work, and readings with accuracy worse than 300 m are ignored so a noisy signal cannot wrongly clock someone out. Phone GPS can still drift indoors or between tall buildings, so a shared kiosk tablet is the fallback where signal is poor.
Can I set different work areas for multiple locations?
Yes. On Starter and up you can define a geofence per site, each with a radius between 10 m and 10,000 m. A punch is accepted if the employee is inside any active location. Admins and employees marked exempt skip the check entirely.