Two Good Tools, Two Different Jobs
ClockShark and Piece Work Pro both serve contractors. But they were built to solve different problems. ClockShark is a GPS time tracking app for field workers. Piece Work Pro is a piece rate tracking and payroll tool for crews paid by the unit. Comparing them head-to-head is a little like comparing a tape measure to a speed square -- both useful, but you grab a different one depending on the task.
This article breaks down exactly what each tool does, where each one shines, and which one makes sense for your operation. I will be honest about both. ClockShark does some things really well. Piece Work Pro does other things really well. The question is which problem you need to solve.
What ClockShark Does
ClockShark is a time tracking and scheduling app built for field service and construction companies. It launched in 2014 and has built a strong reputation around one core feature: knowing exactly where your crew is and when they clocked in.
Core features:
- GPS time tracking -- workers clock in and out from their phones with GPS coordinates attached to every punch
- Geofencing -- set boundaries around job sites so you get alerts when workers clock in from unexpected locations
- Scheduling -- drag-and-drop crew scheduling with job assignments
- Job costing -- assign hours to specific jobs for labor cost tracking
- Integrations -- connects to QuickBooks, ADP, Gusto, and other payroll platforms
- Kiosk mode -- shared tablet clock-in for crews that share a device on site
If you have ever wondered whether your crew actually showed up at the right address at the right time, ClockShark answers that question definitively. The GPS tracking is genuinely best-in-class for construction.
What Piece Work Pro Does
Piece Work Pro is a piece rate tracking and payroll calculation tool built specifically for contractors who pay crews by the unit -- per square, per linear foot, per window, per unit installed. I built it because I was a roofer paying crews per square and could not find software that handled that math.
Core features:
- Piece rate tracking -- log units completed per worker, per job, per day with custom rates for each task type
- Automatic pay calculation -- enter pieces completed and the software calculates gross pay from your rate tables
- Time tracking -- clock in/out alongside piece counts for FLSA compliance
- Overtime on piece rate -- automatic regular rate method calculation that most payroll tools get wrong
- Minimum wage compliance -- automatic check every pay period to ensure piece earnings meet or exceed minimum wage for hours worked
- Job costing -- real labor cost per unit on every job, automatically calculated from piece entries
If you pay crews by the piece and need to know what you owe each worker, what each job actually cost in labor, and whether you are compliant with wage law, that is what Piece Work Pro was built for.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ClockShark | Piece Work Pro |
|---|---|---|
| GPS time tracking | Yes -- best-in-class with geofencing | Yes -- clock in/out with location |
| Geofencing | Yes | No |
| Piece rate tracking | No | Yes -- native, per worker, per job |
| Piece rate pay calculation | No | Yes -- automatic from rate tables |
| Overtime (piece rate method) | No | Yes -- FLSA regular rate method |
| Minimum wage compliance check | No | Yes -- automatic each pay period |
| Job costing | Yes -- hours-based | Yes -- unit-based (cost per square, per LF, etc.) |
| Scheduling | Yes -- drag-and-drop | No |
| Crew production reporting | No | Yes -- units per worker, per crew, per job |
| QuickBooks integration | Yes | No (export data for manual entry) |
| Mobile app | Yes (iOS and Android) | Yes (iOS and Android) |
| Offline mode | Yes | Yes |
| Kiosk mode | Yes | No |
| Free plan | No (14-day trial) | Yes -- Solo plan, free forever |
The table tells the story. ClockShark wins on GPS features and scheduling. Piece Work Pro wins on piece rate calculations and compliance. They overlap on basic time tracking and mobile apps.
Pricing Comparison
ClockShark
- Standard: $40/month base + $9/user/month
- Pro: $60/month base + $11/user/month
For a 6-person crew on the Standard plan: $40 + (6 x $9) = $94/month. For a 10-person crew on the Standard plan: $40 + (10 x $9) = $130/month.
ClockShark charges per active user, so inactive users do not count toward your bill.
Piece Work Pro
- Solo (1 user): Free forever. No credit card required.
- Team: $10/user/month (monthly) or $8/user/month (annual)
For a 6-person crew on the Team plan: 6 x $10 = $60/month (or $48/month annual). For a 10-person crew on the Team plan: 10 x $10 = $100/month (or $80/month annual).
Piece Work Pro has no base fee. You pay per user, period.
What the Numbers Mean
For a 6-person crew, ClockShark Standard costs about $34 more per month than Piece Work Pro Team (monthly pricing). That gap widens as your crew grows because of ClockShark's base fee. Whether the extra cost is worth it depends entirely on whether you need GPS geofencing or piece rate calculations.
Use our Crew Payroll Cost Calculator to see what your true labor costs look like including taxes, insurance, and workers' comp on top of software fees.
The Piece Rate Problem with ClockShark
Here is the fundamental issue. ClockShark tracks time. It tells you that Mike was on the Smith job from 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM. That is useful information.
But if you pay Mike $45 per square installed, ClockShark does not know how many squares Mike installed. It does not calculate his pay from production. It does not check whether his piece earnings met minimum wage for those 8.5 hours. It does not calculate overtime using the regular rate method required for piece rate workers.
To make ClockShark work for piece rate, you would need to:
- Track hours in ClockShark (it does this well)
- Track pieces completed somewhere else -- a spreadsheet, a paper tally, a text message from the foreman
- Calculate each worker's piece rate pay manually
- Check minimum wage compliance manually
- Calculate overtime using the piece rate method manually
- Enter the final pay amounts into your payroll system
That is a lot of manual steps. And manual steps are where payroll mistakes happen. I have seen contractors underpay overtime, miss minimum wage compliance, or just make math errors that cost them thousands over the course of a year.
With Piece Work Pro, steps 2 through 6 are handled automatically. The crew enters their completed units, the software applies your rates, checks compliance, and calculates what you owe.
Where ClockShark Wins
I want to be fair here. ClockShark genuinely excels at several things that Piece Work Pro does not focus on:
GPS Geofencing
If buddy punching is your biggest problem -- workers clocking in from home, clocking in for each other, saying they were on site when they were not -- ClockShark's geofencing is worth every penny. You set a virtual boundary around each job site, and the system only allows clock-ins from within that boundary. That alone can save thousands per year in ghost hours.
Scheduling
ClockShark's drag-and-drop scheduling lets you assign crews to jobs, manage shifts, and communicate changes. If you are juggling multiple job sites and need to move crews around daily, this is a real workflow improvement.
Payroll Integrations
ClockShark connects directly to QuickBooks, ADP, and Gusto. If you run hourly payroll through one of those platforms, the hours flow straight from ClockShark into your payroll system without manual entry.
Established Track Record
ClockShark has been around since 2014 and serves thousands of construction companies. The platform is mature, well-supported, and battle-tested at scale.
Where Piece Work Pro Wins
Native Piece Rate Calculations
This is the core difference. Piece Work Pro was built from the ground up for piece rate pay. You define rates per task type -- tear-off at $18/square, install at $45/square, cap at $3/LF -- and the software calculates gross pay automatically when workers log their completed units.
Try our Piece Rate Pay Calculator to see how piece rate earnings break down across different rates and production levels.
FLSA-Compliant Overtime
Overtime for piece rate workers requires the regular rate method, which is different from hourly overtime. Piece Work Pro handles this automatically. Most contractors I have talked to either skip this calculation or get it wrong -- and getting it wrong is one of the most common piece rate payroll mistakes that leads to wage claims.
Minimum Wage Compliance
Every pay period, Piece Work Pro automatically checks whether each worker's piece earnings meet or exceed minimum wage for the hours they worked. If a worker falls short, the system flags it and calculates the makeup pay. This is a compliance requirement that is easy to forget and expensive to miss.
Unit-Based Job Costing
ClockShark tells you how many hours your crew spent on a job. Piece Work Pro tells you how many units they produced and what each unit cost you in labor. For a roofer, the question is not "how many hours did the Smith roof take?" -- it is "what was my labor cost per square on the Smith roof, and did I make money?"
Our Job Profit Calculator can help you see the difference between tracking costs by hours versus by production units.
Price
Piece Work Pro is less expensive than ClockShark at every crew size, and it includes a free Solo plan for single users. For contractors watching margins closely -- and that should be all of us -- the savings add up.
Who Should Pick ClockShark
ClockShark is the right choice if:
- You pay crews hourly, not piece rate
- GPS verification of clock-ins is your top priority
- Buddy punching is costing you money and you need geofencing to stop it
- You need scheduling tools to manage multiple crews across job sites
- You already use QuickBooks or ADP and want seamless time data integration
- You do not need to track production units or calculate piece rate pay
If your crews get paid by the hour and you need to know exactly where they are and when they clock in, ClockShark is purpose-built for that.
Who Should Pick Piece Work Pro
Piece Work Pro is the right choice if:
- You pay crews by the piece -- per square, per unit, per linear foot
- You need automatic piece rate pay calculation from production data
- You need FLSA-compliant overtime calculated using the regular rate method
- You need minimum wage compliance checks every pay period
- You want job costing by production unit, not just by hours
- You want to see crew productivity in units produced, not just hours logged
- You want a free plan to start and lower per-user costs as you scale
If your payroll starts with "how many pieces did each worker complete?" then Piece Work Pro is the tool that answers that question and runs the math.
Can You Use Both?
Yes. Some contractors use ClockShark for GPS time tracking and scheduling, then use Piece Work Pro for piece rate calculations and job costing. The overlap is minimal -- ClockShark tracks where and when, Piece Work Pro tracks what and how much.
That said, running two tools adds complexity and cost. For most piece rate contractors, Piece Work Pro's built-in time tracking is sufficient. You do not get geofencing, but you get clock-in/clock-out with location data alongside your piece counts in a single app.
If GPS geofencing is a must-have and you also pay piece rate, running both tools could make sense. But start with the tool that solves your bigger problem first.
The Bottom Line
ClockShark and Piece Work Pro are both good tools. They are just built for different problems.
ClockShark answers: "Where are my crews and how many hours did they work?"
Piece Work Pro answers: "How many units did my crews produce, what do I owe them, and did I make money on this job?"
If you pay hourly, ClockShark. If you pay piece rate, Piece Work Pro. It really is that straightforward.
Ready to see how Piece Work Pro handles piece rate tracking and payroll for your crew? Start free -- no credit card required.