5 Best Free Open Source Employee Monitoring Software in 2024

In modern times, when remote jobs are becoming very common, monitoring employees' activities during their work hours has become a necessity. However, it is also vital not to spy on them but to use ethical ways to track their activities without invading their privacy.

So, the question arises: "How to monitor employees working remotely or in-house in a legal way?"

The answer to all your related problems is employee monitoring software. With monitoring software open source, employers or the company can encourage employees to improve productivity by ensuring transparency in the work.

Part 1. What is Open Source Employee Monitoring Software

An open source employee monitoring software tool monitors employees' activities, interactions, and productivity levels during work hours. It allows companies to ethically track employees' computer activities without invading their personal space. The employer monitors workers through a computer by connecting their PCs to one central computer.

Regardless of whether the company is big or small scale, using an employee monitoring open source software ensures a transparent workspace. You can find various employee PC monitoring software, free and paid, available online.

Part 2. Why should Companies Invest in Open Source Employee Monitoring Software

There are many reasons why organizations should invest in open source employee monitoring software. Some of the most important reasons are:

• Monitoring remote workers

After the COVID-19 lockdown, remote work has become a common approach for many organizations. With employees working remotely for the business, monitoring their work has become a must. Open-source and free employee monitoring software allows employers to monitor remote workers easily.

• Tracking current work status

Whether employees are working remotely or in-house, it is crucial to ensure that they don't lose their focus while working. Open-source employee monitoring software helps employers gain insights into the current status by keeping a close watch on their assigned task progress.

• Detecting usage of company privileges

Every organization gives employees access to different apps and software to make their job easy or get the work done. Using those resources for any purpose other than the company's work is unethical. Employee activity monitor open source software helps gather information about where the workers use these company resources.

• Dodging frauds and in-house scams

Open-source computer monitoring software allows companies to track all employees' activities on their PCs. This helps them avoid fraud by ensuring that no one leaks the company's sensitive and vital data.

• Analyzing productivity levels

Employee productivity monitoring tools open source help the employer analyze workers' performance and find their most productive and lazy hours. Thus, the company can reschedule an improved work hour bracket with breaks during the slow hours. As a result, the productivity level of the employees may improve.

Part 3. Is there any Free and Open Source Employee Monitoring Software

Plenty of free and open source user activity monitoring software is available to meet your requirements. These options include free and paid ones for the user's convenience. Each software is similar but has different key features that allow organizations to invest in the one that suits their needs.

You do not need to search further for suggestions for the best open-source freeware employee monitoring software because we've got you covered.

Part 4. Overview – The 5 Best Free Open Source Monitoring Software We’ll Review

?1. Soniga SwiftTime- A versatile tool for attendance, time calculation, and leave management, ideal for businesses with hourly and salary-based employees, offering productivity tracking and email integration for up to 15 employees.

? 2. CKZ Time Clock Software- Real-time tracker suitable for businesses of all sizes, automatically generating payroll reports based on employee activity, with an easy-to-use interface, and offering a free trial for up to three workers.

?3. iSafe Free Keylogger- A comprehensive, stealthy employee monitoring software that tracks all computer activities, including keystrokes and audio, offering diverse tracking features suitable for businesses of all sizes.

4. Screenshot Monitor- It tracks performance through time tracking and screen monitoring, capturing snapshots of computer activity and providing performance charts, with the ability for users to easily toggle monitoring on and off, even without an internet connection.

5. ClockIt- It monitors attendance, working time, vacations, project performance, and GPS location, with easy-to-use punch-in and punch-out features for employees.

Part 5. Top 5 Open Source Employee Monitoring Software Reviewed

1. Soniga SwiftTime

Soniga SwiftTime software is a tool for attendance and time calculation, which makes it an excellent choice for organizations with hourly workers. It also assists salary-based employees. Another great feature is that it lets users request leaves and send emails to the employer for approval.

This employee time tracking software open source helps businesses track their most productive employees. It is free open source employee time-tracking software for small companies with up to 15 employees.

Pricing:

Free for up to 15 employees; $15 for 20 employees; $20 for 30 employees. The pricing increases with increasing numbers assisting up to 500 workers.

2. CKZ Time Clock Software

CKZ's employee time tracking system is open source and is a real-time time tracker for all-scale businesses. It automatically generates employee payroll reports based on their working hours, performance, holidays, and leaves. The open source pc activity monitoring software has an easy-to-use interface and allows exporting and sending reports.

Available both as a website and as a desktop app, CKZ Time Clock offers a free trial for three workers.

Pricing:

CKZ Time Clock offers a free trial and a paid version with a one-time fee of $50, with no additional monthly or yearly charge.

3. iSafe Free Keylogger

iSafe Free Keylogger is user activity monitoring software open source that works in completely hidden mode. This stealth employee monitoring software monitors every computer activity of the employees. It's an all-in-one free screen monitoring software that screenshots everything from websites and clipboards to keystrokes of conversations on every possible platform, including emails.

Moreover, iSafe gives you access to the audio of the users you're tracking. You will receive timely logs via email from iSafe. It is an easy-to-use open source computer tracking software with diverse tracking features to accommodate all big and small-scale companies.

Pricing:

Offers a free trial and a demo, while the prices depend on the company's needs.

4. Screenshot Monitor

Screenshot Monitor is free, open source employee monitoring software that tracks every employee's performance through time tracking and screen monitoring. It takes up to 6 snapshots of every computer activity in an hour, which you can see on your computer screen. It also shares an employee performance pie chart every 10 minutes to show the performance rate during those last 10 minutes.

When not working, users can turn off Screenshot Monitor with just a click to prevent the employer from assuming that the user is watching Netflix during work hours. You can download a screenshot monitor for a free version or trial and can switch to a paid version in case you (the employer) want to track your performance and time.

One thing that makes every user a fan of screenshot monitor software is that it works perfectly fine even when you have no internet connection.

Pricing:

The starting price is $6 with free monthly usage. To track their performance and time, employers must subscribe to a paid version.

5. ClockIt

ClockIt is open source computer tracking software to track employees’ performance. It tracks performance through attendance, working time, vacations/leaves, and project performance. It also tracks the GPS location of each employee via their profiles. Every user gets a profile and can easily mark their attendance. Employees can punch to start and stop time tracking.

Pricing:

Free version; $3 per month; $30 per year.

All of the above open-source employee monitoring software can help you effectively monitor your employees. However, if you want to remotely monitor your employees' activities on their phones, not just their location, but also their work emails, text messages, call logs, etc., to prevent employees from leaking company data and secrets, then you need to use professional monitoring software.

I have evaluated the most popular monitoring software on the market, such as mSpy, Eyezy, Spylix, Msafely, etc. Through comprehensive comparison, Msafely is the most comprehensive and cost-effective monitoring software. Next, I will detail the features of Msafely.

Part 6. Bonus: How to Monitor Employees' Work on Android & iPhone

Msafely is affordable since you can choose from the pricing plan availed. It is versatile as it allows stealth monitoring of call logs, SMS, multimedia and even the private browser visited on the target phone. Moreover, Msafely is compatible with both Android and iPhone devices.

6.1. Key features of Msafely

Msafely ranks top among so many cell phone trackers. It comes with a series of advantages and ensures the best user experience you ever have.

•  Remote access

Once you finish setup, you can view and monitor someone’s phone on your dashboard remotely. No one will notice that you are spying on his/her phone secretly.

•  Work in stealth mode

If you choose Msafely, you don’t need to worry about being caught by the person you are monitoring. Once you finish setup, you don’t physically handle the target device, just monitor someone’s phone from the dashboard.

•  Easy to use

With three simple steps, you can start to monitor someone’s phone remotely and secretly. No need to install an app on the target phone, and no need to jailbreak/root the target phone. Login to your dashboard and spy on the target phone effortlessly.

•  Support 40+ types of data

With Msafely, you can track all activities on someone’s phone, such as text messages, phone calls, photos, videos, social apps, browser history, etc. That means you can keep everything under control.

•  Real-time data

Msafely allows you to track someone’s location, text messages and photos in real-time. Even if the monitored person deleted the text messages or photos, you can also view the deleted ones.

6.2. What phone activities can Msafely monitor

Msafely supports monitoring of both Android and iPhone devices, but the activities that can be monitored may differ slightly. 

6.3. How to use Msafely to monitor employees' work on a cell phone

Step 1. Sign up for a free account.

Step 2. Select the phone you want to monitor, iOS or Android.

Step 3. View monitored data

Turn to your phone, and log in to Msafely dashboard to access the dashboard, alternatively, use the control panel app. With an internet connection, data from the target phone will be synced to your phone, and you can view messages, call logs and anything else.

Part 7. Key Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Free Open Source Employee Monitoring Software

Following are some essential features to find the best computer monitoring software open source,

Time tracking: 

Time tracking is an essential feature for calculating the working hours of employees, which is vital for hourly paid employees. Ensure that it allows the user to punch to stop and start the time.

Screen monitoring via snapshots: 

Look for free remote employee monitoring software that offers screen monitoring by providing snapshots of the computer screen frequently.

Keystroke monitoring: 

Keystroke count is important to monitor what the employees are up to in office timing. It tracks their conversations on every social platform, Google searches, and emails sent. This feature helps prevent fraud by saving sensitive data from being shared with outsiders.

Productivity analysis: 

An ideal open source employee monitoring software provides productivity analysis by monitoring work time, attendance, performance, and project progress. It helps the employer to find their most productive employees and pay them accordingly.

Stealth mode: 

Sometimes, an organization might have to monitor their employees secretly, which needs monitoring software that can work in stealth mode. The employee monitoring software, which works in stealth mode, monitors and tracks employees without their knowledge.

Location tracking: 

Although not the most important feature, a free employee monitoring software open source with a GPS tracking feature is a plus.

Part 8. FAQs about Open Source Employee Monitoring Software

Q1. Can my boss track my working hours and monitor my online activities?

Your company has the right to monitor your activity as they provide the communications technology. Plus, when they're paying you on an hourly basis, it means they're buying your time so tracking your activities in that time bracket is justifiable.

Q2. Can I monitor my employees at the company?

Federal law permits organizations to track worker activities during working hours. This monitoring can include clipboards, audio surveillance, websites viewed, snapshots of computers, keystrokes of conversations, and whatever you type on the PC. They can even track your working time and activities with or without you knowing.

Q3. Is monitoring staff common among all scale businesses?

After the COVID-19 lockdown, remote work has become a fundamental approach, and so has monitoring every remote worker's activities. The demand for open source and free employee monitoring software increased. Over 60% of big-scale North American organizations use open-source PC activity monitoring software.

Q4. Are there any risks of employee monitoring?

Monitoring employees during work hours is okay, but tracking their activities during personal time can be a significant hazard. If you track workers during their break time or leave, it is unethical, illegal, and discourages a transparent workspace system. It can negatively affect the performance and productivity of employees due to work stress and loss of trust in the organization.

Q5. What is the best free employee monitoring software?

Plenty of open-source employee monitoring software are available as web and desktop options. We tried and reviewed many and some of our favorite free employee tracking software include Screenshot Monitor, Soniga SwiftTime, ClockIt, CKZ Time Clock Software, and iSafe Free Keylogger.

Part 9. Conclusion

Working at times when remote jobs have become a norm, monitoring employees is equally essential. There are several open source employee monitoring software to make the employer's life easy and stress-free in that regard. Features including time tracking, screen monitoring, keystroke tracking, audio surveillance, and productivity analysis ensure transparency in the work environment. There are many employee monitoring software, including iSafe Free Keylogger, Screenshot Monitor, ClockIt, Soniga SwiftTime, and CKZ Time Clock Software, to assist employers with employee monitoring. You can choose any of the above-suggesed software that suits your organization's needs.