Comparison

AboutTime vs Building Start

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

Head to head
About

AboutTime

This mobile application facilitates remote time and attendance tracking for employees, capturing IN/OUT punches, GPS coordinates, and project-specific data. It offers robust management tools for accountability, security, and transparency in the field, integrating seamlessly with a desktop software solution.

Highlights
  • Remote IN/OUT time punches
  • GPS coordinate capture
  • Cost code tracking
  • Crew clocking
  • Job budget visibility
  • Asset assignment and tracking
  • Field notes and photos
Features
Read full description

IMPORTANT! To update this application please follow the steps below: 1) Sync existing data off all your devices in the field first. 2) Get updated to the latest SyncCenter 4.8.5 or later. 3) Update to the new application from the App Store. NOTE: You may want to turn OFF auto-updates from the App Store to prevent your employees from having their devices updated automatically if you prefer a controlled update process. This application only works with the AboutTime mobile time & attendance software. You will need to purchase a device license from About Time Technologies before you can use this application with your system. The AboutTime field clock is part of the award winning mobile time & attendance solution that can remotely process IN/OUT time punches for 10 employees up to 1000's of employees in small to very large enterprise level organizations. It has many management and productivity tools built in that help bring accountability, security, and transparency to the remote work environment. Time Management: - Sync only field collected data back to the office; only update device with the latest company data from the main office; or sync both at the same time over the internet. - Employees can authenticate with a 4 or 5 digit pin code. - Very easy and simple user interface and navigation. - Track 1000's of cost codes with powerful restriction capabilities in the back end software per job or per employee. - Powerful time limiter and rounding capability per job or company/division. - GPS coordinates collected on each IN/OUT punch. - Track what equipment you are working on. - Clock IN/OUT a crew at once. - Spot Check who's clocked in on a device at any time. - Digital timesheet entry of time or real-time collection of punches. - Redundant record recovery up to 15 days. Project Management: - Employee feedback functionality in the field, sent to the office on sync. - Enter production units on clock as you clock IN to another cost code, or out. - View up-to-date budget information on any job the device has access to see to see if you are ahead or behind budget from the field. - Job Photos from the field. - Job Cost Code Budgets to control cost from the field. - Fix time records if given privileges to do so from the field before sync to the office. - Allocation of cost codes between an employee's real IN/OUT punch. - Approval of time records with digital and physical signature in the field prior to sending to the office. - Per Diem tracking capability for employees. - Text or audio field notes from the field. Asset Management: - See what assets are assigned to employees in the field. - See what assets are assigned to a job in the field. - Track asset/equipment usage per job separate from employee time punches. Set hours, mileage and other info per date while the assets are used on the job. This is used commonly for billing equipment assigned to a job.

About

Building Start

This platform digitizes field testing for construction and engineering projects. It allows for centralized test plan creation and offline execution on field devices, synchronizing data back to the cloud upon completion.

Highlights
  • Centralized test plan authoring
  • Push test plans to field devices
  • Offline field testing capabilities
  • Data synchronization to cloud
  • Digital capture of construction projects
  • Support for TAB, Building Startup, Commissioning, Energy Audits
Features
Read full description

Building Start is a field services platform used in construction and engineering to perform centralized test plan authoring and management and push the test plan from the cloud to field devices to perform on-site field testing digitally. Once a field technician has been assigned a project, they can receive the project on their field device and perform the test plan and responses offline and synchronize them back into the cloud when they complete their work for the day. Building Start is widely used in the construction industry with over 30,000 construction projects digitally captured in such efforts as Test, Adjust & Balance (TAB), Building Startup, Building Commissioning (LEED, Green Building,etc) and Energy Audits.

Screenshots

AboutTime3 screens
Building Start4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Building Start at 3.4 against AboutTime's 1.9. Building Start also leads on monetization model (free vs paid) and review sentiment (50% vs 16%). AboutTime's advantage is ratings volume (36 vs 8) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Building Start holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 1.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 36 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 16% of AboutTime's written reviews are positive against 50% of Building Start's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
AboutTime versus Building Start: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAboutTimeBuilding Start
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.9 (36 ratings)3.4 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews16.2% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings36 — better8
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAbout Time Technologies, L.L.C.Building Start

Customer experience

AboutTime

All ratings36 ratings
Positive22.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative77.8%
Written reviews37 reviews
Positive16.2%
Neutral5.4%
Negative78.4%

Building Start

All ratings8 ratings
Positive62.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative37.5%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

AboutTime

No in-app purchases

None

Building Start

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AboutTime free?
AboutTime is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Building Start free?
Building Start is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AboutTime or Building Start?
Building Start is rated higher. AboutTime averages 1.9 out of 5 from 36 ratings, while Building Start averages 3.4 from 8 ratings.
Do AboutTime or Building Start have ads?
Neither AboutTime nor Building Start shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AboutTime or Building Start?
AboutTime ships an update monthly, and Building Start monthly. Most recently, AboutTime was updated on October 15, 2026 and Building Start on September 24, 2026.

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