# Best Employee Monitoring Software 2026 | Capterra > Find the top Employee Monitoring software of 2026 on Capterra. Based on millions of verified user reviews - compare and filter for whats important to you to find the best tools for your needs. Source: https://www.capterra.com/employee-monitoring-software --- # Best Employee Monitoring Software Last updated on March 30, 2026 How to find the right Employee Monitoring Software? Learn more from our team about Employee Monitoring Software pricing features and benefits in our Employee Monitoring Buyers Guide Verified Insights Provider data verified by our Software Research team and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) ## What is employee monitoring software? Researched by: [Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/capterra/) Updated on March 30, 2026 [Employee monitoring software](https://www.capterra.com/employee-monitoring-software/) allows businesses to keep tabs on their workers, ensuring they’re staying on task and using company resources appropriately. Through these systems, users can track app and website usage, take screenshots of employees’ computer screens, generate regular reports on worker productivity, and more. * * * For more information consult our [Employee Monitoring Buyers Guide](#buyers-guide-content) Page 1 of 9 ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Filter (218) Products: Sort By: Sponsored * * * Plan Type Free Trial Popular 85% of professionals opt for a 30-day trial before the software purchase Other subsciption plans: Free Version Monthly Subscription Annual Subscription One-Time License Key Features All key features Popular We have selected the most important and critical features as defined by Capterra user reviews AI Copilot Alerts/Notifications Attendance Tracking Browsing History Employee Activity Monitoring Generative AI Keystroke Recording Location Tracking Productivity Analysis Remote Access/Control Reporting & Statistics Screen Activity Recording Task/Project Tracking Time Tracking Timesheet Management Deployment Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based Desktop Mac Desktop Windows Desktop Linux On-Premise Windows On-Premise Linux Desktop Chromebook Mobile Android Mobile iPhone Mobile iPad I'm looking for Employee Monitoring Software that is: [Free](https://www.capterra.com/employee-monitoring-software/s/free/)[For Mac](https://www.capterra.com/employee-monitoring-software/s/mac/) Table of Contents - [The benefits of employee monitoring software](#the-benefits-of-employee-monitoring-software) - [Typical features of employee monitoring software](#typical-features-of-employee-monitoring-software) - [The cost of employee monitoring software](#the-cost-of-employee-monitoring-software) - [Considerations when purchasing employee monitoring software](#considerations-when-purchasing-employee-monitoring-software) - [Relevant employee monitoring software trends](#relevant-employee-monitoring-software-trends) ## The benefits of employee monitoring software - **Higher productivity**: Knowing they’re being monitored by their employer, employees will be less likely to procrastinate or waste time on non-work activities. - **Better performance insights**: Managers can get a clearer picture of how their employees are doing to use in performance evaluations. - **Hard evidence**: If you suspect an employee is doing something illegal or against company policy, employee monitoring software can provide hard evidence to support your claim. It can also protect you during litigation. * * * ## Typical features of employee monitoring software - **Activity monitoring**: See what employees are doing on different devices in real time. - **Email monitoring**: Keep records of what employees are sending through work email addresses. - **Idle time monitoring**: Monitor at what times and for how long employees are away from their work device. - **Screen activity recording**: Save video recordings of what’s happening on employees’ screens. - **Keystroke recording**: Log what workers are typing. - **Time tracking**: Track how much time employees are spending on various projects, or in various programs and apps. - **Productivity analysis**: Visualize and run reports on productivity trends for employees and teams over time. - **Alerts and notifications**: Get alerted when an employee is doing something they’re not supposed to be doing. * * * ## The cost of employee monitoring software Most products in the employee monitoring software market are priced on a per employee, per month basis. Pricing can be divided into three pricing tiers based on starting prices:  **Price ranges\*:** - $3 - $5 - $5 - $10 - $10+ _\*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest priced offering found on vendor websites on April 7, 2020. These ranges correspond to the 25th, 75th, and 100th percentiles of pricing information gathered from vendor websites of sample products._  The above list summarizes pricing for the base plans of most products.  * * * ## Considerations when purchasing employee monitoring software - **Know your legal situation**: In most cases, employee monitoring is legal. However, there are some exceptions depending on factors such as working with federal contractors or if employees use their own equipment for work purposes. Talk to your legal counsel about your specific situation and desired use case for employee monitoring software. - **Figure out a plan for access and escalation**: Decide early on who will have access to employee monitoring privileges, and the situations in which those privileges can be used. Be sure to establish what things uncovered through employee monitoring software should be escalated to HR or the authorities. - **Be proactive in communicating with employees**: Not only is it required in most states for you to tell your employees if they’re being monitored, it’s also just a good idea. You don’t want to break employee trust. Write out a policy detailing how you’re monitoring employees and why, then get their consent before implementation. * * * ## Relevant employee monitoring software trends - **The rise of the remote workforce prompts renewed interest in employee monitoring**. As [more and more people](https://qz.com/work/1392302/more-than-5-of-americans-now-work-from-home-new-statistics-show/) exercise the option to work from home, companies are investing in employee monitoring products to ensure these remote workers are staying on task outside of the office. - **Turning employee data into personalization and optimization**. 92% of employees are open to being monitored if they get [some sort of benefit](https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/future-workforce/workforce-data-organizational-dna) out of it. Companies are responding by giving back with employee monitoring data; using it to personalize digital systems to workforce preferences, and optimize them for productivity. * * * **Sources** Products evaluated for the pricing calculation were taken from [Capterra’s employee monitoring software directory](https://www.capterra.com/employee-monitoring-software/), sorted by number of reviews, as well as Google search results for “remote work software.” The pricing ranges exclude freemium versions of the products. The features highlighted were identified based on their relevance and the percentage of products in [Capterra’s directory](https://www.capterra.com/employee-monitoring-software/) that offer them.  The following sources were used for this document: 1\. [Slowly but surely, working at home is becoming more common](https://qz.com/work/1392302/more-than-5-of-americans-now-work-from-home-new-statistics-show/), Quartz at Home (Date accessed: April 28, 2020) 2\. [Decoding Organizational DNA](https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/future-workforce/workforce-data-organizational-dna), Accenture (Date accessed: April 28, 2020) 3\. [Tech Answers: The Ins & Outs of Employee Monitoring](https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/employee-monitoring-questions/), Software Advice (Date accessed: April 28, 2020)