The Best Employee Monitoring Software for 2022

• With remote work increasingly the norm rather than the exception, keeping tabs on employee productivity and efficiency is more difficult – yet more important – than ever.
• A number of companies now offer packages that monitor everything from keystrokes to external drive access, generating live and prescheduled reports.
• While these packages might seem broadly similar on paper, there are marked differences in day-to-day use, with some better suited to specific tasks than others.
• This guide is for business owners, directors and HR managers who want to learn the differences between the best employee monitoring software tools.

Employee monitoring software gives small business owners and managers invaluable insights into how employees spend their time at work. The best employee monitoring software can track web browsing and application use, block content and applications, capture screenshots of user activity, and provide insightful reports. 

To help you find the best solution for your business, we've reviewed the best software applications on the market in 2022. In doing so, we considered affordability, ease of use and the features that help you monitor employee activity, productivity and cybersecurity.

Did you know?: We think of employee monitoring as a modern phenomenon, but Henry Ford was an early adopter of its principles over a century ago.

Pricing for employee monitoring solutions varies according to the features you need and how many employees you have. For example, a startup that needs basic features and has one or two employees may be able to use a free option, whereas businesses that need top-shelf features may pay up to $150 per user per year. On average, however, you can expect to pay between $60 to $80 per user per year. 

Pricing is usually calculated on a per-user basis and billed either monthly or annually. This includes the software, updates and tech support. Some vendors charge a one-time licensing fee and then bill separately for annual software updates and support plans. 

When you're comparing pricing, here are four factors you need to look for to ensure the bill isn't an unwelcome surprise:

• User minimums: Some companies allow you to buy just one or two licenses, but some require a minimum of five or 10.
• Add-on features: If you want specific advanced features, such as geolocation, you may have to pay extra for them.
• Extra fees: Additional fees aren't common, but it's important to look for them before you sign up so you know exactly which fees you're agreeing to. Check for setup fees – which may be hundreds of dollars – and IP renewal fees.
• Contract requirement: Many employee monitoring software providers offer month-to-month plans, and some offer a discount if you pay annually. As with any service, check if you have to sign a contract. If that's the case, ask for a copy of the contract and review it, paying particular attention to the term length and the cancellation procedure. 

Key takeaway: Employee monitoring software can be billed monthly or annually, ranging from free to $150 per user per year.

Employee monitoring software may incorporate many features, and the ones you need depend on how you want to monitor your employees. 

Consider your reasons for wanting to install this software. Do you want to make sure employees aren't surfing the internet and scrolling through Facebook when they're on the clock? Do you worry about confidential information or trade secrets being leaked? Are you looking for a way to monitor cybersecurity risks? You also need to decide if you'll be actively using this software or if you need notifications when it detects prohibited activity and other policy violations.

• Content blocking: There are obviously some types of websites your employees shouldn't visit during working hours, or even at all when they're using work-issued computers. The content blocking feature allows you to block those types of websites and individual URLs. Some software allows you to set time limits for certain sites and designate times when blocks are lifted, such as if you allow your employees to visit social media or shopping sites during their lunch breaks. Others allow you to set access permissions by individual or user group.

Did you know?: It's easy to give employees too much access to sensitive or confidential data, which can have damaging consequences.

• App and website tracking: This feature shows you which applications your employees use – such as Microsoft Word or Excel – and the URLs of the websites they visit. It also records how much time they spend on each app, site or program.
• Keylogging: With this feature, you can see every keystroke your employees make in emails, instant messages, Word documents or online.
• Screenshots, video or live feed of monitors: Want to see what your employees are working on? Most employee monitoring solutions take random screenshots of employee monitors (and many support multiple screens). Some record video of monitored activity, and a few even offer a live view.

Tip: Monitoring features like keylogging and screenshots can land you in hot water if you accidentally capture an employee's private information (medical records or bank account numbers, for instance). To protect your business, establish a policy with your employees that there should be no expectation of privacy on company devices.

• USB and print monitoring: If you're worried about data leaks, these are must-have features. You'll receive an alert if the software detects a thumb drive or portable hard drive being inserted into a company computer. Print monitoring means the software tracks the files that have been printed from each computer.
• Productivity tracking: There are various ways to track employee productivity. For instance, some software tracks productivity by detecting keyboard and mouse activity. Others require employees to track their work time against tasks or client projects.
• Mobile apps: If you travel or have employees working across multiple time zones, it's convenient for the software to have a mobile app for alerts and anytime access. Some apps are platform-specific, however, so make sure the software is compatible with your phone if this feature is important to you.

Employee monitoring software offers several potential benefits to your business.

Employee Engagement and Attendance

Software monitoring features like website tracking, content filtering and screen capturing can provide insights about the content your employees are engaging with, including which websites and applications they spend most of their time on. Are they staying engaged with work-related websites, or are they getting distracted watching YouTube videos? You might even notice an employee is spending their day filling out job applications. With employee monitoring software, you can see (and block) the websites your employees use and discover any performance or engagement issues. 

Did you know?: Communication and feedback are key to successfully rolling out and maintaining employee monitoring software. A 2005 study by Alder and Ambrose concluded that being monitored improves job satisfaction, provided employees receive positive feedback when they perform well.

Employee Productivity

Software monitoring features like keystroke logging, mouse activity tracking and webcam recording can show you how active your employees are on their work computers. Is their device idle for long periods, or are they actively engaging in work activity throughout the day? Although employee activity monitoring features vary by platform, it can be useful to have some idea of which employees are working at any given moment.

Company Security

Software monitoring can help with security and legal disputes as well. If you've recorded and archived employee behavior, it could help you back up a claim if an employee files a complaint against the company or a co-worker. Managing website permissions and monitoring USB usage and print jobs can help you prevent leaks of confidential data. Employees will be restricted from viewing malicious websites or behaving maliciously themselves. 

FYI: Network monitoring software can secure your entire network, instead of tracking individual devices only. This software allows you to track the functionality of all network components, such as firewalls and routers, to reduce or eliminate network downtime.

Your choice of employee monitoring software will depend on various factors. We outline some of the key areas to consider below.

Devices

If your company uses PCs exclusively, you can choose any of the 10 packages we've reviewed. However, if your employees routinely work on mobile devices, it's crucial to ensure your chosen platform offers both iOS and Android compatibility. Similarly, if employees often use USB sticks, check whether portable devices can be monitored and scanned. Some platforms are unable to monitor peripherals like printers and data keys.

Additional Services

In an attempt to differentiate their packages, some software providers have incorporated extra services, such as onboarding and offboarding tools, payroll and performance management, and COVID-19 vaccination tracking. This might be superfluous, but if you don't already have software providing these services, it may be worth considering a package like BambooHR, which brings different HR tools under one roof. [We recently reviewed the best time and attendance software of 2022.]

Support and Assistance

While some of the best employee monitoring software providers offer a variety of ways to get in touch, others provide web support only. Some offer customer support 24/7, but others don't. In fairness, this is rarely a sector where after-hours or overnight support is pivotal for maintaining productivity, but ensure you're happy with the variety of support on offer – and when it's accessible – before signing up.

Usability

Given the wealth of metrics tracked by the best employee monitoring software packages, it's important to ensure that you're not overwhelmed by the scope and scale of a particular platform. If Insightful's second-by-second raw data generation or Veriato's disengagement analytics are too granular, you might feel more comfortable with Hubstaff's basic monitoring or InterGuard's choice of six types of report views on its dashboard.

Cost

It would take a very detailed spreadsheet to outline all the plan options and costs associated with signing up for employee monitoring software. However, key areas to consider include how many employees are covered, whether you're signing up for a month-to-month arrangement or an annual contract, if there is a free trial available, and whether you have to upgrade to a more expensive package to unlock certain features. The freemium model is commonly used, with the likes of ActivTrak offering free plans for a couple of users. Work Examiner offers decreasing fees per user, which will particularly appeal to businesses with 25 to 100 employees.

What is employee monitoring software?

Employee monitoring software is a cloud-based or on-premises solution that tracks and records employees' computer behavior. This software shows business owners and managers how employees use their company computers or other work devices. For example, it can monitor the websites they visit and the applications they use, track their work hours, block harmful or unproductive websites and apps, and even record events as they occur on the screen. Employee monitoring software is commonly used to improve productivity, engagement and company security.

How does employee monitoring software improve a remote workforce?

Remote work presents certain challenges for employees and managers, and employee monitoring software can alleviate certain issues surrounding attendance, productivity and security. When employees are in the office, a manager can easily take a stroll to get an idea of who is at work and what they are working on. Employee monitoring software gives managers a way to accomplish something similar remotely, by holding employees accountable for working when they say they are.

Working from home comes with a variety of distractions that aren't as relevant at the office (child care, housework, errands, etc.), but not all employees will admit they're having trouble focusing. Employee monitoring software can show you who is being productive and who needs extra guidance or assistance. It can also inform you what hours of the day work best for your team, and what technology they need to be productive.

A remote workforce brings additional security threats to your business. If an employee is accessing company information from an unsecured public Wi-Fi connection or using their company-owned device to access harmful content, your company is vulnerable to security breaches. Monitoring software helps to block harmful content and identify potentially high-risk remote employees.

Should you tell employees that they are being monitored?

This is often discretionary. Some states have limitations and requirements regarding this, but there are no current federal laws that require you to tell your employees if they're being monitored. Either way, it's usually a good idea to tell them, especially as getting employees on board with the software often achieves better results. For example, if the purpose of your monitoring software is to improve employee productivity, explain it that way. Your team is likely to work harder if they know their actions are being tracked and reviewed. This is also a good opportunity to discuss acceptable and unacceptable use of company devices, which can reduce the likelihood of harmful or unproductive activities taking place.

Help your staff to remain focused with our guide to distractions that damage workplace productivity.

When businesses shifted to working from home, those with newly remote teams faced unprecedented challenges in terms of ensuring employees remained productive. Consequently, there was an increased demand for employee monitoring software. 

Since remote work has become more prevalent, it has been widely acknowledged that working from home increases productivity, rather than diminishing it, leading many employers to make these arrangements permanent. As more businesses move to a permanently remote or flexible work arrangement in 2022 and beyond, we anticipate a continued need for these solutions. 

Although employee monitoring can be a sensitive subject, its rise in popularity has caused more employees to accept and embrace it. That is due in part to employers communicating the benefits of monitoring software, such as cybersecurity protection, and the advanced features that these solutions offer.

Although employers can use server-based monitoring software, cloud-based software has become a more popular employee monitoring trend due to its affordability and ease of use.  Many employee monitoring software providers are expanding their cloud-based options as a result, and some are cloud-only. With employees working from various locations, there's also growing demand for tools like GPS tracking and app activity tracking to maintain employee safety and company security.

As employers prioritize employees' well-being, they are relying on monitoring software features for assistance. For example, instead of requiring employees to work a specific set of hours, employers can offer flexible schedules to let employees work whenever suits them best. Employee monitoring software can then track employee productivity to ensure they are working the required amount of time and completing their assigned work. Through features that monitor if an employee is working too many hours, employee monitoring software can also help identify which employees are at risk of experiencing burnout. 

Learn how to choose the right employee monitoring software for your business's circumstances.

Neil Cumins contributed to the writing and research in this guide.