Comparison

Circula vs Timebutler

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

Head to head
About

Circula

Streamline employee expense, credit card, and benefit management with this digital and automated solution. It offers seamless integrations with financial and HR systems, ensuring a compliant and efficient end-to-end process. Enhance employee satisfaction and strengthen your employer brand with hassle-free administration.

Highlights
  • Mobile app with OCR Scanner & web-app
  • Automated per diem calculation & currency conversion
  • Up-to-date travel expenses and tax guidelines
  • Automatic receipt control
  • Automatic expense creation & auto-receipt matching
  • Integrations to DATEV, Personio, TravelPerk
  • Configurable workflows & travel policies
Features
Read full description

With Circula, your business expenses manage themselves. Circula is the flexible spend management platform for European finance teams, bringing employee & travel expenses, corporate credit cards, accounts payable, and employee benefits together in one app. From the first receipt to the pre-accounted booking in your downstream system, Circula closes the loop. With Circula you can: • Get per diem rates for trips calculated automatically • Snap a photo of a receipt or invoice, no more manual data entry • Pay directly with physical or virtual company credit cards • Get invoices captured automatically and routed for approval • Approve your team's expenses on the go • Keep an overview of the benefits budget and use it with ease • Catch duplicates and policy violations before they become a problem • Export clean, GoBD-compliant data straight to financial and payroll accounting Compliance isn't an afterthought at Circula, it's part of every process from day one. Circula keeps data clean, tax-compliant, and audit-ready, without any manual effort. Thanks to Circula AI, more than 60% of all expenses are already export-ready at the moment of submission, with no manual work for accounting required. More than 3,000 companies and 250,000 users in over 25 countries worldwide trust Circula, including About You, DATEV, Deutsche Fußball Liga, Noerr, and Securitas. Circula was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Berlin. Download Circula today.

About

Timebutler

This app provides employers and employees with a unified view of schedules, worked hours, and leave/absence tracking. It aims to increase employee satisfaction through transparency and simplifies time management for businesses.

Highlights
  • Digital time clock for iPad
  • Minute-by-minute work hour registration
  • Employee scheduling by department/day/week
  • Leave and absence management
  • Employee self-service for leave requests
  • Export data for payroll
Features
Read full description

Timebutler geeft MKB-ondernemers grip op uren, roosters en verlof. Urenregistratie, digitale prikklok, personeelsplanning, verlofregistratie en verzuimregistratie zitten in één systeem. Medewerkers klokken in via de app op hun telefoon of via de prikklok op een tablet. Verlofaanvragen, overuren en roosterwijzigingen lopen digitaal: geen appjes, belletjes of Excel-sheets meer. Bespaar tot 5 uur per week op administratie. Als werkgever zie je realtime wat je mensen werken, wie er verlof heeft en wie er nog moet inklokken. Uren zijn met één klik te exporteren, klaar voor je salarisadministratie. Wat Timebutler doet: - Urenregistratie — Medewerkers leggen gewerkte uren, pauzes en overuren vast. Automatische berekening, met één klik te exporteren en klaar voor je salarisadministratie. - Digitale prikklok — Tablet bij de ingang of de eigen app op de telefoon. In- en uitklokken met één tik, op bestaande tablets of telefoons, geen speciale prikklok-hardware nodig. - Personeelsplanning — Plan per dag, week, afdeling of locatie. Wijzigingen zijn direct zichtbaar voor het hele team. - Verlofregistratie — Medewerkers vragen verlof aan via de app. Jij keurt goed in het dashboard. Saldo's lopen automatisch bij. - Verzuimregistratie — Ziekmeldingen, re-integratie en verzuimstatistieken op één plek. - Medewerker-app — Medewerkers zien hun rooster, uren en verlofsaldo in de app. Ze vragen verlof aan, geven beschikbaarheid door en melden zich aan voor open diensten. Wat Timebutler niet is: Geen HR-suite, geen recruitment-tool, geen performance-managementsysteem. Timebutler doet één ding goed: urenregistratie, personeelsplanning, verlof en verzuim voor het MKB. Voor wie: Nederlandse en Belgische MKB-bedrijven met 5 tot 30 medewerkers. Horeca, retail, zorg, bouw, financiële dienstverleners, vrijwilligersorganisaties. Gemaakt voor teams zonder HR-afdeling of IT-ondersteuning: eenvoudige bediening, geen training nodig. Wat het kost: € 3,- per medewerker per maand. Geen opstartkosten, geen verborgen kosten. Waarom Timebutler: Transparantie over uren, roosters en verlof voorkomt discussies op de werkvloer. Medewerkers die zelf hun rooster, uren en saldo's kunnen inzien hebben minder vragen en voelen zich serieuzer genomen. Die rust merk je als ondernemer direct: minder appjes, minder belletjes, minder Excel. Timebutler bestaat sinds 2015 en is een Nederlands product. Probeer Timebutler 30 dagen gratis.

Screenshots

Circula4 screens
Timebutler4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Circula at 46% against Timebutler's 0%. Circula also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Timebutler's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Circula ships an update every 3 weeks, Timebutler every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Circula versus Timebutler: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCirculaTimebutler
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (69 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews45.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings69 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size336 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCircula GmbHTimeButler

Customer experience

Circula

All ratings69 ratings
Positive92.8%
Neutral1.4%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive45.8%
Neutral20.8%
Negative33.3%

Timebutler

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

Circula

No in-app purchases

None

Timebutler

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Circula free?
Circula is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Timebutler free?
Timebutler is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Circula or Timebutler have ads?
Neither Circula nor Timebutler shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Circula or Timebutler?
Circula ships an update every 3 weeks, and Timebutler every 2 months. Most recently, Circula was updated on October 17, 2026 and Timebutler on October 5, 2026.

Other comparisons