SCREENish vs Time Doctor: Which Time Tracker Fits Your Team? (2026)
SCREENish and Time Doctor both track work hours with screenshots and activity levels, but they are built for different buyers. Time Doctor is the deeper analytics suite — productivity ratings, executive dashboards and more than 60 integrations — sold in four tiers that run from roughly $6.67 to $16.70 per user per month on annual billing as of mid-2026. SCREENish takes the opposite approach: one flat price of $5.00 per employee per month with every feature included, from Android GPS tracking to mouse-jiggler detection with human review.
| Feature | SCREENish | Time Doctor |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (annual billing) | $5.00 per employee/month flat — everything included, EU VAT included | From $6.67 per user/month (Basic); $8 month-to-month |
| Pricing model | One plan, all features | Four tiers: Basic, Standard, Premium, Enterprise |
| Free trial | Yes — no credit card required | 14 days on Premium — no credit card required |
| Screenshots | Included; employees can delete their own screenshots | Included on all plans; video screen recording as a paid add-on on higher tiers |
| Activity measurement | Activity levels from input presence only — never keystroke content | Keyboard and mouse activity; productivity ratings and web/app usage from Standard |
| Fake-activity detection | Activity Review included — human review, never automatic accusations | Unusual Activity Report — higher tiers or paid add-on |
| GPS tracking | Android GPS included at no extra cost | Not offered as of mid-2026; mobile apps record timer hours only |
| Payroll | Payroll and accounting reports included | From the Standard plan |
| Client access | Read-only project sharing included | Client login access on Premium |
| Built-in team chat and calls | Team Huddle: peer-to-peer calls, chat and file transfer — never recorded | Not built in |
| Integrations | Few third-party integrations | 60+ integrations |
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome extension, Android (no iOS yet) | Windows, macOS, Ubuntu Linux, browser app, Android, iOS |
| Data retention | Screenshots kept 45 days | 3 months (Basic) up to 2 years (Premium/Enterprise) |
When Time Doctor is the better choice
Time Doctor has been in the employee-monitoring market for well over a decade, and its reporting depth is genuinely hard to match. The Standard and Premium plans add web and app usage reports, productivity ratings that classify tools as productive or unproductive, work-life balance metrics, and an executive dashboard that rolls team trends up for leadership. If management analytics is the main reason you are buying a tracker, Time Doctor is one of the strongest options on the market.
It also wins on ecosystem. As of mid-2026 Time Doctor advertises more than 60 integrations, including project tools such as Asana, Trello and Jira, payment platforms such as PayPal and Payoneer for contractor payouts, and HR systems such as BambooHR and Workday for syncing employee records and approved time off. SCREENish offers far fewer third-party integrations, so if your workflow depends on plugging the tracker into an existing software stack, Time Doctor is the safer pick.
Finally, Time Doctor supports iOS alongside Android, offers video screen recording as an option on higher tiers, and retains data for up to two years on Premium — compared with SCREENish's 45-day screenshot retention. Teams with long compliance or audit windows should weigh that difference seriously, and larger organisations may value Time Doctor's dedicated Enterprise tier and bigger vendor footprint.
When SCREENish is the better choice
Pick SCREENish when you want predictable cost and zero tier shopping. Everything — screenshots, activity levels, payroll and accounting reports, real-time monitoring, client project sharing — ships in the single $5.00 plan, so features Time Doctor reserves for its Standard and Premium tiers are simply included. You can adjust your employee count at any time, so you never pay for empty seats.
SCREENish is also the only option of the two with GPS. Its Android app records location, time, notes and photos for field staff at no extra cost, inside the same worklog approval flow used for desktop time. Time Doctor's mobile apps record timer hours only, and the platform does not offer GPS tracking as of mid-2026.
Just as important is the monitoring culture. SCREENish measures activity only from whether the computer is in use — never from what is typed or clicked. Its Activity Review system flags suspected mouse jigglers and auto-clickers for human review, but it never issues automatic accusations and never rejects time on its own. Optional face recognition (currently in beta) works only with explicit employee consent that can be withdrawn at any time. And Team Huddle gives distributed teams peer-to-peer calls, chat and file transfer that are never recorded and never touch SCREENish servers.
Pricing compared
As of mid-2026, Time Doctor sells four plans. On annual billing, Basic costs $6.67 per user per month, Standard $11.67 and Premium $16.70; month-to-month rates are $8, $14 and $20 respectively, with a custom-priced Enterprise tier on top. Every plan includes screenshots, but several of the features teams compare most often are gated: payroll and productivity ratings start at Standard, client login access requires Premium, and the Unusual Activity Report and video screen recording are available on higher tiers or as paid add-ons. Current details are on the Time Doctor pricing page, and its 14-day Premium trial needs no credit card.
SCREENish charges a flat $5.00 per employee per month with everything included — screenshots, activity levels, Activity Review, Android GPS, Team Huddle, client project sharing and payroll reports — and for EU customers VAT is already included in the price. There are no tiers to compare and no add-ons to price in: a 10-person team pays $50 per month, versus $116.70 on Time Doctor Standard or $167 on Premium with annual billing. Full details are on the SCREENish pricing page, and the free trial requires no credit card.
Frequently asked questions
Is SCREENish cheaper than Time Doctor?
Yes. As of mid-2026 SCREENish costs a flat $5.00 per employee per month with every feature included, while Time Doctor runs from $6.67 to $16.70 per user per month on annual billing. To match what SCREENish includes — payroll, client access and fake-activity detection — most teams would need Time Doctor's Standard or Premium tier plus add-ons.
Does Time Doctor offer GPS tracking?
No. As of mid-2026 Time Doctor does not offer GPS location tracking; its Android and iOS apps record timer hours only, without collecting phone activity or location. SCREENish includes Android GPS tracking — location, time, notes and photos — at no extra cost, which matters for teams with field staff.
Can both tools detect mouse jigglers and auto-clickers?
Yes, with different approaches. Time Doctor's Unusual Activity Report is available on its higher tiers or as a paid add-on. SCREENish includes mouse-jiggler and auto-clicker detection in its flat price, and every flag goes to human review — no time is rejected and nobody is accused automatically unless a manager decides to act.
What does Time Doctor have that SCREENish lacks?
Time Doctor offers 60+ integrations, an iOS app, optional video screen recording, productivity ratings and data retention of up to two years on Premium. SCREENish has fewer integrations, no iOS app yet, and keeps screenshots for 45 days — trade-offs it makes to stay simple and inexpensive while including GPS, Team Huddle and consent-first face recognition for $5.00 flat.