Clockify vs. Paychex Flex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Clockify
Score 8.4 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Clockify, from COING in Palo Alto, is a time tracker and employee timesheet software for teams of all sizes. Clockify lets users track how much time is spent working on tasks, as well as keep track of employee timesheets and billable hours, project completion, reports, and schedules.
$0
forever, unlimited everything
Paychex Flex
Score 6.6 out of 10
N/A
Paychex Flex, of Paychex' Online Payroll Services, is a cloud-based human resource management and payroll platform. Paychex offers core and specialized services, and scales to meet the needs of small businesses, SMBs, and large enterprises.
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Pricing
ClockifyPaychex Flex
Editions & Modules
Clockify Free
$0
forever, unlimited everything
Clockify Plus
$9.99
per month, per workspace
Clockify Enterprise
$9.99
per month, per user, per workspace
Clockify Premium
$29.99
per month, per workspace
Clockify Server
Starts at 450
Paychex Go
$59
per month/+$4 per employee
Paychex Flex Service
Contact sales team
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ClockifyPaychex Flex
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
Additional DetailsUnlimited usage and number of users for free. Paid plans are solely for access to additional features. Self-hosting software on own servers available.
More Pricing Information
Features
ClockifyPaychex Flex
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Clockify
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
6.7
247 Ratings
16% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.0197 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.1220 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings6.8155 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.3154 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.9138 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings7.5132 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Clockify
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.5
288 Ratings
6% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings9.0271 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings9.1136 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings7.2156 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings9.2270 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings8.5193 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.9105 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Clockify
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
7.0
144 Ratings
14% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings6.3102 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.5136 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.3110 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Clockify
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.5
249 Ratings
5% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.6228 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings9.0239 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.7111 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.7168 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Clockify
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
7.8
40 Ratings
1% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings7.840 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Clockify
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
6.1
164 Ratings
22% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings5.8134 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings6.8154 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.683 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Clockify
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.0
158 Ratings
0% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.0151 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings7.9100 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Clockify
-
Ratings
Paychex Flex
8.5
59 Ratings
9% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings9.732 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings9.730 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings6.823 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings6.730 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings6.828 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings9.633 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings9.853 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ClockifyPaychex Flex
Small Businesses
FunctionFox
FunctionFox
Score 8.3 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
TimeCamp
TimeCamp
Score 8.7 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ClockifyPaychex Flex
Likelihood to Recommend
5.2
(11 ratings)
7.7
(298 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.9
(42 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(240 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.3
(10 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(4 ratings)
7.7
(245 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(11 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.6
(8 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.3
(10 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(31 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(32 ratings)
User Testimonials
ClockifyPaychex Flex
Likelihood to Recommend
CAKE.com, Inc
I would recommend this for someone who is a freelancer with multiple clients, but would not recommend to a company who has multiple employees doing the same job every single day. It'd be easier to have them clock in on one platform, like Square, for example, which automatically can take out taxes (for W9 employees)
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Paychex, Inc.
In my experience, Paychex Flex is well suited for small to medium sized businesses. It has been helpful in streamlining the onboarding process and it is easy to update and maintain employee profiles and records. It has worked will in a non-profit environment where there is clergy pay and housing, which can get quite complicated. I cannot think of a scenario where it would be less appropriate.
Read full review
Pros
CAKE.com, Inc
  • Clockify records exact times on a per project basis when you click Start/Stop.
  • User interface is very easy. It is easy to add a project on the fly, change the times I just recorded if I forgot to click Stop for example. The interface is intuitive and gives me the flexibility I need.
  • Reporting gives me everything I need from times, hours per project, billable or not, per client and any tags I've created. This provides enough flexibility for many different use cases.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • I like I can enter payroll and if I need to leave the program, I can resume at a later time and my information is saved.
  • I like the analytics & reports features.
  • I like how all my employees have easy access to their portal.
Read full review
Cons
CAKE.com, Inc
  • Personally, I don't like the Windows app. It isn't as fast to respond to the Start/Stop button clicks so I found myself hesitating on changing screens for example. I didn't like having to think about if I should check if it is recording time or not. I use the web page and it is fast and accurate.
  • I could see people wanting a small separate browser window to keep the Start/Stop button. It looks best in the browser in nearly a full-size screen. It could look nicer/easier to use when shrunk to a smaller browser screen size. The ease of use for me and ability to add in a detailed description for a specific time period I just worked or am working on overrides the browser screen size. It is just a personal preference.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • Reporting writing is difficult to figure out
  • Employee turnover inside Paychex was a problem, until we were assigned to Neil Williams - since that time it has settled down
  • Pressure to convert personal connection with payroll advisor to using automated service
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
CAKE.com, Inc
I'm using the free version at the moment and loving it. What a great product, easy, responsive and has better up time than Yahoo Mail. :) What isn't there to like?
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
Overall I like the features that Paychex Flex offers. I am sure that there are other features that I am unaware of, so I am excited to see if there is more that Flex is capable of to make my job easier. The basic features are really user friendly and easy to access. If there ever is an issue customer service is great
Read full review
Usability
CAKE.com, Inc
I can use it effectively on day 1. Day 3 I added more options and back-filled my previous time tracking. I saw how to add Projects and clients and found a way that works well for me. I ran a report for the 3 days I was using it and extrapolated how it would work after 6 months. I saw benefits to being able to search anything, and run reports using several filters including user defined tags, clients, projects
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
Some things could be streamlined. For example, we could do custom options for the "add items" tab which has so many options that we never use. "Medical Pay" could be something that the system remembers for the applicable employees. Salaried employees' salaries should definitely be auto-filled. Overall the system works well but I think it could be improved to be easier to use and read.
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Reliability and Availability
CAKE.com, Inc
I have never had an issue logging in or it not being available. I use Clockify every work day during the week, frequently starting/stopping projects. I've had past experience with other systems that suddenly aren't usable for an hour and that is something I have never experienced with Clockify. They are doing something right on their backend. Nice job, Clockify folks
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Paychex, Inc.
We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.
Read full review
Performance
CAKE.com, Inc
I already mentioned how it feels light across the wire. Pages load fast in the web browser. I have not tried the browser plug-in nor the mobile app. I give it a 9 instead of 10 as the desktop app seemed to hesitate when I clicked the start/stop of a project/task
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Paychex, Inc.
Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.
Read full review
Support Rating
CAKE.com, Inc
I dealt very little with customer support because Clockify is so easy to use. That being said, the few times I did, I got fast responses and any issues that I did have were solved in a very fast manner.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
Our dedicated representative is one of the main reasons we are sticking with Paychex Flex. If it were not for this person, other platforms could provide the same/similar functionality. It is the ability to speak with someone that understands our business and is willing to get questions answered in a timely fashion that keeps us with Paychex Flex.
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In-Person Training
CAKE.com, Inc
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
We did online training only
Read full review
Online Training
CAKE.com, Inc
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.
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Implementation Rating
CAKE.com, Inc
No answers on this topic
Paychex, Inc.
Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.
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Alternatives Considered
CAKE.com, Inc
Harvest is very similar to Clockify. The only difference is that Harvest also has an invoicing and billing system built into it. So if you're billing your clients based off of time directly, Harvest may be a better option as far as that goes. Of course, Harvest only has minimum billing increments of 6 or 10 minutes, there is no 10-minute option so that's something where Clockify has them beat. They are both very easy to use.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
We still use QB Desktop Pro to maintain a Check Register / Overall Balance for the company, but once having tried QB Payroll Online for about 3 months prior to finding Paychex Flex I can tell you that there's just no comparison. QB online is VERY EXPENSIVE and not so user-friendly. I hated every minute of those 6 payrolls we ran through QB online.
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Scalability
CAKE.com, Inc
Because it feels light on the wire and runs so smoothly with great up-time. I have to assume that the same is true as it scales. I'm a single user so maybe I don't see if there are any scalability issues. With the way it seems architected to run so quickly across many platforms (desktop, mobile, web, browser plug-in), I have to think that it is using recent technology that provides scalability options
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Paychex, Inc.
Employees can log in at home and get up to date information on their FSA balance and any medical bill reimbursements they may have uploaded. At renewal time they have the ability to make changes to their FSA or for new employees star the enrollment.
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Return on Investment
CAKE.com, Inc
  • The free plan really did everything we needed for the 6 months or so we used it. Without Clockify, we would have had to pay roughly $40+/month for a software tool.
  • When we upgraded to the paid version, it was still only $10/month and helped us be able to have minimum billing increments which is a huge monetary increase.
Read full review
Paychex, Inc.
  • I do not believe we have saved anything additionally. The time we've had to spend to get things to hopefully work is sad. This is the reason we've had to turn off all extra "products" of Paychex Flex. Time and Attendance is horrible. Benefits management is horrible. The user experience is horrible.
  • One thing I do not understand is why are updates for states, cities, counties, school districts, etc. not automatically updated? Should we not get a big red flag if we have an employee living/working, being paid in CA, but they aren't set up for CA sick time? If it is required to be on the paycheck stub to show the balance of the sick time, why would we not be notified that we are out of compliance?
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ScreenShots

Clockify Screenshots

Screenshot of Time trackerScreenshot of TimesheetScreenshot of Time tracking appsScreenshot of DashboardScreenshot of ReportsScreenshot of Projects

Paychex Flex Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of