Best Hours Tracker App Without a Subscription (2026)

The short answer, as of October 2026: the apps that still sell a one-time purchase are Supershift ($39.99 lifetime), WorkingHours ($9.99), Punch Time Clock ($7.99 premium) and Work Hours & Pay Calculator ($1.99 to remove ads). The two most-downloaded hours trackers are subscription only, and the one with the most reviews bills weekly. Below is what each app actually charges, what the free versions leave out, what their own reviewers complain about, and a checklist for choosing. PunchStamp, the app behind this site, is the pay-once option in the list and is covered in its own short section.

What the apps charge

We read 1,133 recent App Store reviews across nine apps and checked each listing and in-app pricing screen in October 2026. Prices change often; treat this as a snapshot.

Hours (One Wave) was last updated in 2020 and Clock In (Majestica) has a few hundred ratings and shifting prices, so neither is a safe pick.

What reviewers complain about

The one-star and two-star reviews repeat the same themes, and they are a better buying guide than the feature lists.

• Subscription anger is the top complaint, with 46 mentions across eight apps: weekly billing, price increases of several times the original, lifetime purchases later converted to subscriptions, and history locked behind a paywall after 21 days.
• Paywalled basics: export, an hourly rate, a second job, renaming a job, dark mode.
• Nag popups asking for a rating or an upgrade, 14 mentions across five apps.
• Data loss on a new phone or after an update, with no backup, 13 mentions across four apps.
• Update regressions that remove views people relied on. Punch Time Clock's 2025 redesign dropped daily totals from the main screen.
• Breaks handled wrong: counted as paid, a break button that fails, no paid or unpaid distinction.
• Overnight shifts that will not compute across midnight.
• Overtime math absent or wrong, 17 mentions across six apps. The most-downloaded app does not calculate overtime at all, even on the paid plan.

What people praise is the mirror image: simple and just works, one-time purchase, PDF or Excel export to send to a boss, multiple jobs with their own rates, breaks that work, and "caught my employer's pay error."

A checklist for choosing

Run any candidate through these before you pay.

1. Overtime rules that match your state. Federal overtime is 1.5 times your regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek. California adds daily overtime after 8 hours and double time after 12. If the app has one overtime setting, it will be wrong for someone.
2. Breaks marked paid or unpaid. Short rest breaks are paid time under federal rules; a real meal period of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid. The app should deduct only unpaid breaks.
3. Overnight shifts as one entry. A 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift should count as 8 hours on the day it started, without splitting at midnight.
4. Export with totals and no watermark. A time card you send to a manager or a labor board should carry your name, dates, in and out times, breaks, totals and notes. Email-only export, missing totals and watermarks are all common complaints.
5. Backup that survives a new phone without an account. iCloud backup you do not have to think about. "Came back to export my data. Gone. Years gone." is a real review.
6. No rating or upgrade popups. You will open this app twice a day for years.
7. Pricing you can read. Lifetime or annual shown plainly. Avoid weekly plans and trials that convert.
8. History that stays yours. If the free tier hides old entries, your record is only as good as your subscription.

Which app fits which worker

• One job, no overtime, just need a timer: Punch Time Clock's free timer or the free calculators on this site.
• Rotating schedule you need to plan ahead: Supershift, which is a planner with a fair lifetime price and the healthiest reviews of the group. It is not a time clock, so pair it with one.
• Several jobs, overtime, export to a boss, pay once: WorkingHours has the most complete feature set among the one-time purchases, though it has no account sync and a small user base.
• Freelancer billing clients: Toggl Track, which is free for one person but needs an account and has no overtime or pay-period logic.
• Hourly worker who wants a record that holds up: see the next section.

PunchStamp, the pay-once option

PunchStamp is a one-tap iPhone time clock built from the complaints above. Every punch is time-stamped on your device and edits keep the original, so the log is credible if your employer's record is disputed. Each job carries its own rate and overtime rules, breaks are paid or unpaid, overnight shifts are one entry, and the PDF export has totals, notes and the edit log with no watermark. Data stays on your phone with iCloud backup and no account. The free tier keeps unlimited history with two jobs and one export per pay period; Pro is $14.99 a year or $29.99 once, with lifetime shown next to annual on the single paywall screen. It is coming to the App Store. Until then, the time card and hours worked calculators on this site save your weeks on your device and export CSV or a printable card.