Buddy Punch vs FieldStar
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- GPS time clock
- Geofencing
- Photo punch-ins
- Automatic time calculations
- Employee scheduling
- PTO tracking
- Payroll integrations
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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.
FieldStar
This app assists field crews with data collection, photo capture, and monument management. It also helps with route planning, time tracking, and expense reporting for immediate availability to production teams.
- Data collection
- Photo capture
- Monument management
- Route management
- Time clock
- Expense reporting
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FieldStar is the field crews data collection companion to SurveyStars. Capture photos, data, monuments, manage your routes, time clock, expense and weekly submissions. All job file information captured is immediately available to the survey production team.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Buddy Punch at 4.9 against FieldStar's 2.9. Buddy Punch also leads on ratings volume (719 vs 10) and review sentiment (60% vs 50%). FieldStar's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Buddy Punch holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Buddy Punch has 719 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Buddy Punch's written reviews are positive against 50% of FieldStar's.
Buddy Punch ships an update monthly, FieldStar weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and July 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Buddy Punch | FieldStar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (719 ratings) — better | 2.9 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 719 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 106 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Buddy Punch LLC | Spencer Hedeen |
Customer experience
Buddy Punch
FieldStar
Bugs and 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
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- 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
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- Billing based on active punches rather than inactive employees
- Better app-to-website synchronization
- Account creation option in app
FieldStar
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Buddy Punch
No in-app purchases
FieldStar
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Buddy Punch free?
Is FieldStar free?
Which has better reviews, Buddy Punch or FieldStar?
Do Buddy Punch or FieldStar have ads?
Which is updated more often, Buddy Punch or FieldStar?
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