# Time and attendance for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, September 2026

Gane Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "time and attendance system" and as "employee time tracking software", six framings each, to twelve models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/core/time-and-attendance/2026-09/smb

This is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition, published September 17, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/core/time-and-attendance/smb/index.md

**Standing:** Homebase leads with 21% of first choices; verdict contested. 43 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Homebase](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/homebase/index.md) | 21% | 3% | 36 |
| 2 | [Harvest](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/harvest/index.md) | 14% | 8% | 12 |
| 3 | [Jibble](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/jibble/index.md) | 12% | 0% | 16 |
| 4 | [Clockify](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/clockify/index.md) | 9% | 5% | 39 |
| 5 | [Connecteam](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/connecteam/index.md) | 9% | 3% | 30 |
| 6 | [Toggl Track](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/toggl-track/index.md) | 9% | 0% | 17 |
| 7 | [QuickBooks Time](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/quickbooks-time/index.md) | 5% | 16% | 32 |
| 8 | [TimeCamp](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/timecamp/index.md) | 5% | 0% | 11 |
| 9 | [Deputy](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/deputy/index.md) | 2% | 5% | 20 |
| 16 | [Buddy Punch](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/buddy-punch/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 11 |
| 17 | [OnTheClock](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/ontheclock/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 11 |
| 18 | [When I Work](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/when-i-work/index.md) | 0% | 8% | 13 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 70 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: Homebase; alternatives ADP RUN, AttendanceBot, Gusto
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Harvest; alternatives Clockify, Gusto, Memtime, Rippling
- Perplexity Sonar: Homebase; alternatives Connecteam, Rippling, TrackingTime
- Grok 4.20: Toggl Track; alternatives Clockify, Connecteam, Harvest, Hubstaff
- Mistral Small: Connecteam, Homebase; alternatives Rippling, StratusTime
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Connecteam, TimeTrex; alternatives Clockify, Deputy, QuickBooks Time, TimeCamp
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Homebase; alternatives Hubstaff, QuickBooks Time, When I Work
- Kimi K2: Homebase; alternatives Buddy Punch, Clockify, Gusto, QuickBooks Time
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Connecteam, Homebase; alternatives Clockify, Harvest, QuickBooks Time, TimeCamp
- MiniMax M2.5: Rippling; alternatives Clockify, Hubstaff, TimeTrex, Toggl Track

## Sources the answers cite

64 of 72 answers came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- forbes.com: 41 answers, 65 citations
- selectsoftwarereviews.com: 32 answers, 32 citations
- joinhomebase.com: 27 answers, 46 citations
- techrepublic.com: 27 answers, 27 citations
- timetrex.com: 21 answers, 27 citations
- business.com: 21 answers, 21 citations
- peoplemanagingpeople.com: 21 answers, 21 citations
- uschamber.com: 21 answers, 21 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://forbes.com/advisor/business/software/best-time-attendance-software (34 answers)
- https://selectsoftwarereviews.com/buyer-guide/time-and-attendance-software (31 answers)
- https://techrepublic.com/article/best-time-and-attendance-software (27 answers)
- https://uschamber.com/co/run/human-resources/time-and-attendance-software (21 answers)
- https://business.com/categories/time-and-attendance-software (20 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/time-and-attendance-software (19 answers)
- https://joinhomebase.com/blog/time-and-attendance-software (19 answers)
- https://forbes.com/advisor/business/software/best-time-tracking-software (16 answers)
- https://myhours.com/best-time-tracking-software-small-business (16 answers)
- https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-time-and-attendance-software (16 answers)

## Warned against

- QuickBooks Time: 5 of 32 labels negative. "QuickBooks Time: A native integration with QuickBooks payroll, but may not be suitable for businesses that do not use QuickBooks." (Llama 4 Maverick, negative prompt)
- ADP Workforce Now: 3 of 3 labels negative. "Small businesses frequently report frustration with ADP... Overkill for small teams... Trustpilot rating: Around 1.2–1.3/5" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)
- Eddy: 3 of 3 labels negative. "Reviewers have noted issues with TCP TimeClock Plus, Eddy, greytHR, and Keka regarding slow customer service" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Keka: 3 of 3 labels negative. "Reviewers have noted issues with ... Keka regarding slow customer service and unresolved technical problems." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, September 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/hr.