Comparison

ESS Mobile vs On

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

Head to head
About

ESS Mobile

This app offers flexible time tracking for employees, allowing them to punch in/out, review hours worked, check schedules, and manage benefit balances. It facilitates communication with supervisors for attendance-related matters and supports various time entry methods.

Highlights
  • Flexible time tracking
  • Review hours worked
  • Check schedules and benefit balances
  • Request time off
  • Enter tips and mileage
  • Communicate with supervisor
Features
Read full description

ESS Mobile is a smart, adaptive app that, when used with your employer's Attendance on Demand system, provides employees with flexible time tracking options. You have access to the information needed to track your hours worked and review schedules or benefit balances. Notifications can be sent when your time card needs action, such as the addition of a missing punch. Messages can be exchanged with your supervisor to record attendance-related activities like an absence or if you will be late for your shift. Using ESS Mobile hourly employees may be able to punch in and out, request time off, or enter tips. For employees that simply report total hours worked multiple time sheet views are available. Additional operations such as entering mileage, expenses, or tips are also available. Contact your payroll administrator or Attendance on Demand service provider for additional details. Note: ESS Mobile uses location services to obtain your location during app usage. Continued use of the app or background GPS tracking can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

On

Easily manage employee time punches, track expenses with receipt photos, and view real-time in/out status. Features optional GPS tracking for accurate location-based time entries.

Highlights
  • Mobile time punching
  • Offline punch syncing
  • Expense tracking with receipt photos
  • In/Out board status
  • Enforced geo-tracking
  • Group punching
Features
Read full description

On-Time Web Mobile™ brings the ease of use and power of the On-Time Web™ platform to your iOS mobile device. Once signed in under your user account, making a punch is as simple as opening the app and hitting a button! You can even make punches without an active internet connection and they will automatically be synced with On-Time Web when one is available. Create punches and browse recent punch history, all from your mobile phone while on the road or on the job site. You're always logged in so making the punch is fast and easy. On the job site and need to punch yourself and your 20 workers out for lunch? With On-Time Web Mobile™ the ability to clock in yourself and your employees is just a touch away. NEW: Expense tracking arrives to On-Time Mobile as an add on to our standard package. This tool gives employees the ability to easily enter expenses, attach pictures of receipts and submit them for approval all from their device. NEW: Want to keep track of who's at work, who's not, and what they're up to? The new In/Out Board functionality allows you to see the status of all your employees at a glance. NEW: Concerned about where your employees are making their mobile punches? With the addition of enforced geo-tracking you can choose to not let your employees record a time entry without having a valid GPS-provided location available. This way you can always be sure that time is recorded accurately. To enable geofence and geotracking capabilities this app utilizes the GPS in the background. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Screenshots

ESS Mobile3 screens
On4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ESS Mobile at 1.7 against On's 1.3. ESS Mobile also leads on ratings volume (355 vs 6). On's advantage is iOS requirement (9.3 vs 18.6). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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

ESS Mobile holds the better App Store score, 1.7 against 1.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ESS Mobile has 355 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 3% of ESS Mobile's written reviews are positive against 0% of On's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ESS Mobile ships an update every 3 months, On every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ESS Mobile versus On: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterESS MobileOn
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.7 (355 ratings) — better1.3 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews2.9% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings355 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.69.3 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB201 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAttendance on Demand, Inc.Customware, Inc

Customer experience

ESS Mobile

All ratings324 ratings
Positive14.2%
Neutral3.7%
Negative82.1%
Written reviews104 reviews
Positive2.9%
Neutral1.0%
Negative96.2%

On

All ratings6 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative83.3%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral33.3%
Negative66.7%

Bugs and requests

ESS Mobile

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • Connect button treats input as editable text field
  • App fails to load or shows blank white screen
  • Location services report incorrect location
  • Login credentials rejected despite correct information
  • Clock-in button disappears or becomes non-functional
Show 12 more
  • App freezes when entering information
  • Cannot proceed past login screen
  • App crashes on latest iOS versions
  • Automatic logout without user action
  • Cannot clock in to new job within one minute of clock out
  • Punch functionality only works on second attempt
  • Controls render off-screen on certain devices
  • App incompatible with iOS 15
  • Timesheet data fails to load
  • Notifications sent to wrong phone numbers
  • Pay stubs missing tip percentage and hourly information
  • Redundant navigation buttons on same page

Requested features

12 requests
  • Face ID or biometric authentication
  • Remember me/stay logged in functionality
  • Current time display on home screen
  • Manager approval system for early out/late in requests
  • Ability to view all punch times and historical data
Show 7 more
  • Support for multiple employers without app reinstallation
  • Landscape mode support
  • Easy password reset functionality
  • Loading indicators for better UX
  • Visible phone number management (primary/secondary)
  • Better accessibility and menu navigation
  • Improved pay stub formatting and clarity

On

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

ESS Mobile

No in-app purchases

None

On

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ESS Mobile free?
ESS Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is On free?
On is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ESS Mobile or On?
ESS Mobile is rated higher. ESS Mobile averages 1.7 out of 5 from 355 ratings, while On averages 1.3 from 6 ratings.
Do ESS Mobile or On have ads?
Neither ESS Mobile nor On shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ESS Mobile or On?
ESS Mobile ships an update every 3 months, and On every 2 months. Most recently, ESS Mobile was updated on November 6, 2026 and On on November 1, 2026.

Other comparisons