Factorial, Bixpe and Jibble compared for phone clock-in, geolocation and the reports the Inspección de Trabajo can ask from Spanish companies.
Since 2019, recording when every employee starts and finishes work has been mandatory in Spain, and the inspectorate can ask for the register at any time. Paper sheets and the office terminal no longer cut it when people work remotely, on site or on the move. A phone app stamps the entry, keeps the history for four years and exports the report a labour inspection demands. Beyond that legal floor the choices diverge: some tools are full HR suites that also handle holidays and documents; others do nothing but clock hours, and international apps bring generous free tiers with reports you have to verify against local rules yourself. The 3 apps in this guide were picked to cover both ends of that spectrum, from Spain-focused compliance to free clocking for small teams.
Factorial is the HR suite for Spanish SMBs: phone clocking with geolocation sits alongside holidays, documents and the team calendar in one place.
Widely used among small and medium businesses in Spain, it goes well beyond time tracking. Employees stamp in from the phone, request absences, check who is off and sign documents without leaving the app, while the company gets reports valid for the Inspección de Trabajo. Its App Store footprint is the largest here, with more than 17,000 reviews. The trade-off is scope and price: it is overkill if all you need is a register, it is charged per employee per month, and there is no permanent free plan, only a trial. It earns its place once shifts, leave and paperwork grow beyond spreadsheets.
Bixpe clocks employees in and out on a phone, with optional geolocation, legal-ready reports and a genuinely useful free version for small Spanish teams.
The Spanish app stays deliberately narrow: register entries and exits, attach a location, an optional photo or device detection, then export the time-tracking reports the law requires. Its free tier covers the basics, which is rare in this category and enough for a small business that only needs the register sorted. It also means no holidays, documents or team calendar are bundled in, and the interface feels less polished than Factorial's; anything beyond the core sits on the paid plan. Choose it when compliance is the whole job and you do not want an HR platform built around it.
Jibble gives unlimited free clocking with facial recognition and GPS to teams of any size, but its reports are not built specifically around Spanish law.
This international tracker is the most generous option on price: the free plan allows unlimited employees and entries, with face verification, GPS locations, timesheets and payroll export, and the app runs in Spanish. On Google Play it is the best-rated of the three. What it does not do is guarantee Spanish compliance out of the box, so before trusting it for an inspection you should check that its exports match local requirements, and it integrates far less with local accountants and payroll than domestic tools. Best for cost-conscious teams willing to verify the legal details themselves.
Pros
Free plan, unlimited employees
Facial recognition and GPS clock-in
Timesheets with payroll export
Cons
Not built around Spanish regulations
Few links to local payroll and advisers
You must verify its reports yourself
Download price only. In-app purchases and subscriptions may cost extra.
Questions & answers
Which time clock app should a company in Spain use?
For a small company that mainly needs the working-hours register, Bixpe or Jibble cover it, the first with a Spain-focused free tier and the second with unlimited users at no cost. When you also have shifts, holidays, absences and documents to manage, Factorial is the more complete choice because it folds all of that into one HR platform.
Is recording working hours really mandatory in Spain?
Yes. Since May 2019 it applies to every company and every employee, including full-time staff. Registers must be kept for four years and made available to workers, their representatives and the Inspección de Trabajo. Failing to keep them is classified as a serious offence, which is why the export feature matters more than the clock-in itself.
Can my employer force geolocation clock-in on me?
Geolocation is allowed when it is proportionate to the role, for example for people who work away from a fixed workplace, and the employer must inform the employee beforehand. Every app here lets location be switched on or off and generally limits it to the moment of clocking in, rather than tracking the full working day.
Are any time clock apps actually free?
Jibble offers a free plan with no limit on employees, and Bixpe has a free version with the core features. Factorial charges per employee per month, though it offers a free trial, so expect to pay once you want holidays, documents and the wider HR toolkit in the same place.
More related apps
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