5 Best Productivity Software for Agency Marketers

Whether you are outsourcing or have an in-house team, tracking time and productivity of your employees is key to identifying problems in the workflow and solving them right in the beginning. Luckily, you don’t have to peek behind your employees’ back or go through hand-written time logs to get a clear picture of how much work was done. All you need is a good productivity software!

We compiled a list of top-rated solutions with a varying number of features, based on your needs, the size of your team, and the challenges you face.

1. Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a web-based time tracking and employee monitoring software, especially suited to companies with 20-500 employees. Time Doctor will enable you to track time your employees spend working, but you will also be able to monitor computer work sessions, pull reports, set reminders and run invoicing. Some of the other features of this software include:

• Activity Monitoring
• Browsing History
• Productivity Analysis
• Screen Activity Recording
• Time & Attendance
• Time Tracking

Time Doctor has a 4.5/5-star rating based on more than 180 reviews.

Pros

Time Doctor is intuitive, multifaceted productivity software that allows you to track and organize all the relevant factors connected to your employees’ daily routine and workflow.

Despite Time Doctor’s simplicity and user-friendly dashboard, the list of its features and integrations keeps growing. This productivity software incorporates project management tools, so unless you are already a die-hard fan of some project management software, Time Doctor already has you covered.

In case you are also tracking your own time, the white label Client View feature will help you establish trust with clients by giving them access to productivity and activity reports. The users also point out that Time Doctor works in real time, delivers clear screenshots and it can also process a payroll.

Cons

Some users report bugs in time tracking and discrepancies between web and app usage report, as well as a lot of space for improvement on Time Doctor mobile app, which lags from time to time for smartphones that are not very powerful.

Another problem Time Doctor users reported is that this productivity software mostly caters to employers and management – so the employee’s dashboard offers a little less freedom and functionalities that would allow them to save permanent tasks and switch between them.

Pricing

After a free 14-day trial, Time Doctor costs $9.99/user per month.

Verdict

Time Doctor is a multifaceted tool that provides you with everything you need to manage a team – from tracking time and productivity and organizing workflow, to the payroll process. It is affordable, reliable, and effective.

2. ActivTrak

ActivTrak is a cloud-based productivity software focused on analytics and improving employee efficiency. ActivTrak platform will provide you with daily data on your employees’ performance, with information readily available on a simple dashboard. ActiveTrak also offers protection by data transfer encryption. Its features include:

• Activity Monitoring
• Browsing History
• Email Monitoring
• Productivity Analysis
• Remote Control
• Screen Activity Recording
• Time & Attendance
• Time Tracking

ActivTrak holds a 4.5/5-star rating based on 440 reviews.

Pros

ActivTrak is a robust productivity software with a simple interface and straightforward setup process. It allows you to block apps and websites you deem as unproductive and track your employee’s workflow via screenshots or real-time monitoring.

On one hand, this feature can be particularly useful if you are running a tight-knit team that requires a lot of consultations during the work process.

The application is running in the background, completely invisible to the employee, so it doesn’t slow the workflow down.

On top of that, ActiveTrak regularly releases updates, so it is constantly improving its performance and features.

Cons

Some users feel that the level of control the management gets over the employee’s computer, especially if it is possible unbeknownst to the worker, could be a bit too intrusive for their taste.

On top of privacy issues, this productivity software doesn’t leave your employee with a lot of autonomy to switch between tasks or contribute to their workflow management.

Finally, it lacks customizing options with blocked websites – once they are blocked, they are unavailable even before or after working hours and breaks. The only way to turn them off is to do it manually.

Pricing

ActiveTrak with its complete list of features is free, but it also offers paid plans starting at $9/month per user.

Final verdict

ActiveTrak is robust productivity software that caters to management level and focuses on analyzing and improving the employees’ efficiency. It is affordable and effective, but it leaves little space for the employee’s input or control. ActiveTrak is a good fit for employers looking to enforce company workflow guidelines, but it is questionable whether it is a good fit for the marketing industry.

3. Toggl

Toggl is a cloud-based software focused on time tracking and increasing productivity. It is simple, flexible, and straightforward, integrates with a few complementary invoicing and project management apps. Toggl also enables you to pull reports and time usage graphs and share them with your team and clients. Its list of features is short, but mint:

• Activity Monitoring
• Browsing History
• Time Tracking

Toggl holds a 4.5/5-star rating based on more than 690 reviews.

Pros

Toggl users point out this productivity software’s simple and visually appealing reports, paired with a minimal and intuitive interface. Since it is not a robust tool, its updates are quick and the app runs without major glitches and bugs. The reports can be filtered by employee groups or various keywords and tags you set.

Cons

As Toggle is so simple, there are few major problems one could find with this productivity software. Some users complained about the difficulties when switching between various workspaces within the apps, and some of them are hoping for added customizations for reports.

Pricing

Toggl offers a free basic plan and three paid plans. Starter plan costs $9/month per user if you pay annually, and $10/month per user if you are on a monthly subscription.

Final verdict

Toggl is the simplest tool on this list, and it is a good fit for managers who are looking for something that is small, pretty, and reliable.

4. WebWork Time Tracker

WebWork time tracker is web-based productivity software focused on time tracking and reporting in the form of screenshots, statistics, and graphs. Apart from invoicing options, it includes the following features.

• Activity Monitoring
• Browsing History
• Keystroke Recording
• Remote Control
• Screen Activity Recording
• Time & Attendance
• Time Tracking

WebWork Time Tracker has 4.5/5-star rating based on more than 60 reviews.

Pros

WebWork Time Tracker can be directly installed on your browser tool and it gives a lot of maneuvering space to the employees, who can segment their workflow, switch between tasks and report every change. It can easily be paused and continues right where you left off.

It is simple, works without any major glitches, and it is suitable for teams as allows you to manage employees and assign different user roles among them.

Cons

When software is multifaceted yet simple, it usually comes with a few larger cons – in this case, no integrations. This, however, shouldn’t be a problem unless you are really relying on a different project management software or payroll tool – WebWork already includes project management features and invoicing.

Another flaw the users pointed out was that the time-tracker stops after 7 minutes of “inactivity,” including watching videos or reading materials. After that, you have to manually restart it.

Pricing

After a free 7-day trial, WebWork Time Tracker costs $2.99/month per user.

Final verdict

WebWork Time Tracker is the most affordable productivity software on this list, especially if you take into account the number of features it offers. If you are looking for a simple, all-encompassing solution for managing your team, this is a good candidate.

5. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is a productivity solution with several efficiency-boosting features like time tracking, activity monitoring, and reporting. It’s an excellent tool for managers who want to understand how their team makes use of their time so they can improve their work habits. Check out Hubstaff’s features:

• App and URL tracking
• Invoicing
• Keyboard and mouse activity monitoring
• Timesheets and reporting
• Time tracking
• Payroll
• Project budgeting

Hubstaff has a 4.6/5-star rating based on 1025 reviews.

Pros

Hubstaff is a lightweight tool that accurately records your time and activity with just the click of a button. Once you have set up your projects and to-dos on the web platform, you can directly track time to them on the desktop app. You can view this information on Hubstaff’s dashboard, and export reports generated by the time tracker.

Hubstaff lets you create a schedule for each individual in your team. The app will automatically notify you of late or missed shifts, meaning manual attendance tracking won’t be necessary.

Cons

While Hubstaff’s features can provide managers the information they need to help their teams perform better, some users have reported its activity monitoring to be inaccurate. Since Hubstaff relies on keyboard and mouse activity, some users may find themselves yielding low activity rates despite actually being productive, depending on their responsibilities at work.

Pricing

Hubstaff’s 14-day free trial lets you access all its features. It has a free plan with basic features, and its paid plans start at $5.83 per user monthly.

Final verdict

Hubstaff is a great choice for managers who want to focus on helping their team work better rather than keeping an eye on them. It’s compact, easy to use, and has a well-rounded set of features that can provide that productivity boost that you need.

Bonus suggestion

Teramind

Teramind is another productivity software focused on monitoring employees and enforcing company’s workflow guidelines. Teramind enables real-time access to employee’s activities and offers alerts, warnings, redirects and user lock-outs to streamline the working process.

• Activity Monitoring
• Browsing History
• Email Monitoring
• Keystroke Recording
• Productivity Analysis
• Remote Control
• Screen Activity Recording
• Time & Attendance
• Time Tracking

Teramind holds a 4.5/5-star rating based on more than 50 reviews.

Pros

As a security-centered solution, Teramind is good if your agency is handling a client or a project that comes with sensitive information. The software can be remotely controlled, and it is reliable when it comes to analyzing productivity and any waste of resources.

Cons

Remote controls need improvement, as there are reported glitches with remote controlled graphics, speed, delay time, and the lack of possibility to notify the user about the remote control.

Pricing

Teramind offers 5 pricing packages, starting from $18/month per user.

Final verdict

Teramind goes a step further from productivity software, and although this security-focused solution isn’t a natural fit for marketing agencies, we included it on this list because it could be a specific fit for specific clients.

Conclusion

This is our list of the best productivity software in 2019. Is there any software you would recommend to the agencies and marketers? Tell us in the comments!

On the other hand, if you want to check out which complementary project management software you can pair up with these solutions, check them out here and here!