Comparison

HR Cloud | Streamlining HR vs Buddy Punch

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

HR Cloud | Streamlining HR

Manage HR tasks and connect with colleagues on the go. This app offers a streamlined interface for onboarding, company directory access, and attendance tracking. It also features social engagement tools to foster workplace culture and keep teams informed.

Highlights
  • On-the-go HR and onboarding tasks
  • Company directory with colleague information
  • Real-time attendance and out-of-office status
  • Push notifications for updates
  • Social engagement features (likes, comments)
  • Automated announcements for events
Features
Read full description

Developed for teams that work. Introducing the HR Cloud app! Now all of the power and capabilities that you love from HR Cloud are accessible anytime, anywhere through one simple mobile interface. FEATURES * Complete your HR & onboarding tasks on-the-go * Find & learn about your workmates with ease using the company directory * See who’s out of office * Push notifications that keep you up-to-date * ... and much more! A Digital Experience Built Just for You Get started right away with our easy-to-use system. There's no learning curve to bottleneck your processes. Just sit back, relax, and leave all the heavy lifting to us. Stay engaged and up-to-date while enjoying automations that save time and eliminate stress. Our industry-leading security protocols are SOC2 and TRUSTe certified so you can sleep peacefully at night. New! Connect Your Team With available add-ons like Workmates—our social engagement feature, your employees can like, comment, and share content with their fellow employees. Cultivate your workplace culture digitally by keeping employees in-sync and engaged. Attendance oversight is a breeze so nobody is left wondering where their team is. Whether they’re out sick, on vacation or working remote, the app instantly gets the whole team on the same page. Automate any birthday, work anniversary, or even new hire announcement posts for consistent relevant content on the company feed. HR Cloud provides that channel for even your most remote colleague to share in the joys of a thriving company culture. Word on the Street is... “HR Cloud has been a great resource for our company. With our business operating out of many different locations and senior leadership often working remotely, it has been great to have a system that can be accessed from anywhere and is easy for our employees to navigate.” – Anna M., VP of Human Resources

About

Buddy Punch

This employee time tracking app allows staff to clock in and out from any internet-connected device. It offers features like GPS tracking, geofencing, and photo punch-ins to ensure accountability. The app automatically calculates hours, overtime, and PTO, and integrates with popular payroll services.

Highlights
  • GPS time clock
  • Geofencing
  • Photo punch-ins
  • Automatic time calculations
  • Employee scheduling
  • PTO tracking
  • Payroll integrations
Features
Read full description

This app is for use with a paid Buddy Punch account. Buddy Punch is an employee time tracking app that's so easy to use that your grandma could do it. With our web and mobile apps, employees can clock in and out from anywhere. Combine that with the power of geofencing, GPS tracking, and photo clock-ins, and you'll always know your employees are where they're supposed to be when they're on the clock. MAIN FEATURES Time Tracking: Employees can clock in and out using any internet-connected device (computer, tablet, or phone). Flexible Punching: Employees don't need unique email addresses to use Buddy Punch. They can clock in/out using usernames and passwords, PINs, QR codes, or even facial recognition. Automatic Calculations: All punch data is compiled into timesheets with regular hours, overtime, and pay automatically calculated for you, making running payroll faster and easier than ever. Employee Scheduling: Create your work schedules in Buddy Punch to take advantage of even more features like attendance tracking, punch limiting, and automatic clock outs. PTO Tracking: Automatically calculate PTO accruals, deduct used PTO from balances, and add taken PTO to timesheets so employees get paid for their paid time off. Job Costing: Set up department codes in Buddy Punch to track the total time spent on specific jobs and projects, then run reports to help with budgeting and invoicing. Payroll Integrations: Send your timesheet data to QuickBooks, Gusto, Paychex, SurePayroll, and more in just a few clicks to make running payroll faster than ever before. ACCOUNTABILITY FEATURES GPS on Punch: Capture employees' locations when they clock in and out, then review those locations on their timesheets to ensure they were on-site when they punched. Geofencing: Create virtual borders around each of your job sites. With geofencing enabled, employees can only clock in and out when they're within the boundaries of a geofence. Real-Time GPS Tracking: Track employees' locations across the entire workday. See where they're located on a map at any given moment, and view breadcrumb trails of everywhere they traveled over the course of a day. Photos on Punch: Require employees to take a picture of themselves when they clock in and out to prevent buddy punching. All photos can be reviewed on employees' time cards. Notifications: Get an alert when an employee clocks in late, misses a shift, is nearing overtime, forgets to clock out — anything that's important for you to stay on top of. CUSTOMER SUPPORT Buddy Punch has one of the highest ratings on the market for the outstanding support we provide to our customers. All of our agents know the product inside and out and are available through live chat or email to get you set up quickly or answer any questions you have.

Screenshots

HR Cloud | Streamlining HR4 screens
Buddy Punch4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: HR Cloud | Streamlining HR at free against Buddy Punch's free with in-app purchases. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for HR Cloud | Streamlining HR against 4.9 for Buddy Punch. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 303 and 753 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 64% of HR Cloud | Streamlining HR's written reviews are positive against 60% of Buddy Punch's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HR Cloud | Streamlining HR ships an update every 3 weeks, Buddy Punch monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
HR Cloud | Streamlining HR versus Buddy Punch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHR Cloud | Streamlining HRBuddy Punch
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (303 ratings)4.9 (753 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.3% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings303753 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size58 MB107 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHR Cloud Inc.Buddy Punch LLC

Customer experience

HR Cloud | Streamlining HR

All ratings126 ratings
Positive98.4%
Neutral1.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive64.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative35.7%

Buddy Punch

All ratings742 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral0.8%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews35 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral2.9%
Negative37.1%

Bugs and requests

HR Cloud | Streamlining HR

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Buddy Punch

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • App crashes and shows blank white screen requiring reinstall
  • Keyboard overlay cuts off top half of screen during manual time entry
  • Punch confirmation shows success but punch never registers
  • App fails to punch in/out for lunch breaks
  • Network error messages after successful submission
Show 2 more
  • Difficult signup process
  • No account creation option available

Requested features

8 requests
  • Landscape/horizontal orientation support for iPad
  • Live real-time GPS tracking
  • View PTO balance in app
  • Geofencing for punch in/out
  • Status change without punching in/out
Show 3 more
  • Billing based on active punches rather than inactive employees
  • Better app-to-website synchronization
  • Account creation option in app

In-app purchases

None

HR Cloud | Streamlining HR

No in-app purchases

None

Buddy Punch

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HR Cloud | Streamlining HR free?
HR Cloud | Streamlining HR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Buddy Punch free?
Buddy Punch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HR Cloud | Streamlining HR or Buddy Punch?
Buddy Punch is rated higher. HR Cloud | Streamlining HR averages 4.8 out of 5 from 303 ratings, while Buddy Punch averages 4.9 from 753 ratings.
Do HR Cloud | Streamlining HR or Buddy Punch have ads?
Neither HR Cloud | Streamlining HR nor Buddy Punch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HR Cloud | Streamlining HR or Buddy Punch?
HR Cloud | Streamlining HR ships an update every 3 weeks, and Buddy Punch monthly. Most recently, HR Cloud | Streamlining HR was updated on October 24, 2026 and Buddy Punch on October 26, 2026.

Other comparisons