# clockin — Absence Management

clockin by clockin GmbH holds a panel rating of 2/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 1.5/5), as of 2026-10-15. Provenance: EU-Made; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: clockin GmbH (https://www.clockin.de)
- Category: [Absence Management](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): EU-Made
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/clockin
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/clockin/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/clockin/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-10-21 · evaluated 2026-10-15 · oldest source captured 2026-10-01

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: clockin GmbH
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Starting price: “ab 3,59 €” (vendor’s words) [S1]

## The panel's verdict

clockin is time tracking with absence management from clockin GmbH, marketed as "Made in Germany" to field and trade businesses. Its strongest criterion is payroll handover, scored 6 at both the top and bottom of the range: work times and absences transfer automatically to the DATEV Rechenzentrum for both DATEV Lohn und Gehalt and LODAS, payslips and SV certificates flow back to employees, and master data synchronises both ways. Requests and approvals scored 5-6, crediting deputy naming with a conflict check and a calendar that keeps absence reasons anonymous by default. Weakest is sick leave and the electronic certificate of incapacity, which topped out at 2: judges found no public information on eAU retrieval, certificate handling or child sick days, while confirming correct § 3 EFZG handling. Leave policies split from 2 to 4, the lower scores stressing that mid-year entitlement changes are calculated by the user. Sovereignty scored 2-3 — hosting location and subprocessors undocumented — and pricing transparency scored 3, with "ab 3,59 €" carrying no stated basis.

**Speaks for it:**
- Payroll handover scored 6, with work times and absences transferring automatically to the DATEV Rechenzentrum and digital payslips returning to employees' phones.
- Requests and approvals scored 5-6, with a named deputy on each request, a rule blocking an already-absent deputy, and automatic email to deputy and supervisor.
- The default calendar permission shows colleagues only as absent, with the reason anonymous and visibility scoped per department.
- Hourly leave accounting can be enabled, deducted pro rata against each employee's stored target working hours.
- Sickness with continued pay follows the § 3 EFZG calendar principle across weekends, and the no-continued-pay type zeroes target hours so no negative balances build.

**Held against it:**
- Sick leave and the electronic certificate of incapacity scored 2, and we found no public information on eAU retrieval, certificate handling or child sick days.
- Leave policies scored 2-4, with mid-year entitlement changes calculated by the user and entered manually, and no public information on carry-over expiry, public holidays per federal state, or special and parental leave types.
- Pricing transparency scored 3: "ab 3,59 €" appears without a stated basis, and the named optional services are listed without prices, so the annual invoice is not computable.
- Sovereignty scored 2-3, and we found no public information on hosting location, subprocessors or certification behind the "Made in Germany" claims.
- Absence data protection scored 4: the permission that reveals reasons also grants processing of requests, and we found no public information on retention settings for absence records, access logging of health data, or a data processing agreement.

**Best for:**
- You run DATEV Lohn und Gehalt or LODAS and want work times and absences to reach your payroll office automatically, with digital payslips returned to employees.
- Your team manages absences from phones and needs named deputies, reminders and a calendar that keeps reasons anonymous by default.
- You account for leave in hours rather than days, especially for part-time staff with varying target working hours.
- You run a field or trade business and want absences recorded in the same system as time tracking, feeding the timesheet handed to payroll and the health insurer.

**Avoid if:**
- You need the electronic certificate of incapacity flow in place before signing — sick leave and the eAU scored 2 and we found no public information on retrieval.
- You expect entitlements to prorate automatically at mid-year contract changes, joiners or leavers — the help pages tell the admin to calculate the new entitlement.
- You must verify hosting location and a subprocessor list during procurement — sovereignty scored 2-3 and the captured pages carry only "Made in Germany" claims.
- You need a computable annual invoice up front — only "ab 3,59 €" is public, with no tier prices or tier contents.

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price.

| Criterion | The Team Lead | The Managing Director | The Payroll Accountant | The Data Protection Officer | The HR IT Integrator | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Entitlements & German leave rules | 2/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Requests, approvals & team calendar | 3/5 | 3/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Sick leave, eAU & continued pay | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| Payroll handover, time tracking & API | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Health data, access & works council | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| European sovereignty | 1.5/5 | 1/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2.5/5** | **1.5/5** | **2/5** | **2/5** | **2/5** | **2/5** |

### The judges

- **The Team Lead** (v1.0): Approves leave for twelve people across two shifts and finds out about clashes too late. Wants requests and approvals on the phone, a named substitute on every request, minimum-staffing warnings before approval, and a team calendar that shows who is away without showing why.
- **The Managing Director** (v1.0): Runs a forty-person company in two federal states without an HR department and is liable when leave is calculated wrong. Wants part-time entitlements prorated correctly, the right public holidays per site, carry-over that lapses only after employees were told, and the eAU handled without a phone call to every health insurer.
- **The Payroll Accountant** (v1.0): Closes payroll in DATEV every month and corrects whatever arrived late. Wants absences exported with the right payroll codes, the eAU result attached to the sick day, the six-week continued-pay limit counted per illness, and past months locked once they are paid.
- **The Data Protection Officer** (v1.0): Treats every sick day as special-category data, because the law does. Asks who can see a reason or a certificate, how long absence records are kept and deleted, whether access is logged, where the data is hosted, and which subprocessors send the push notification that says someone is ill.
- **The HR IT Integrator** (v1.0): Wires the absence tool to payroll, time tracking, the identity provider and the calendar. Wants a documented API and webhooks, maintained connectors for the named German payroll systems rather than a CSV, SSO, and balances that agree with the time-tracking system on both sides.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Knows "eAU supported" can mean a photo upload, "DATEV integration" can mean a CSV, and "GDPR-compliant" can mean every manager sees every diagnosis-adjacent note. Reads for who actually retrieves the certificate, which leave rules are computed rather than typed in, and whether the carry-over expiry notice exists at all.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Ownership | Not determined | — | — |
| Data residency | Not determined | — | — |
| Subprocessors | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Data subject rights: access · rectification · erasure · restriction · objection · portability [S4]
- DPA: part of the AGB · yes [S4]
- Encryption: yes [S4]
- GDPR: yes · yes · yes [S3]
- GDPR conform: yes · yes [S1]
- Made in germany: yes [S1]
- Made in germany: 100% made in Germany [S6]

**Data**
- Consent logging: timestamp of consent · timestamp of confirmation · IP address · content of consent statement [S4]
- Retention principle: personal data deleted when no longer necessary for the purposes of processing [S4]

**Hosting**
- Made in germany: 100% made in Germany · clockin GmbH [S6]
- Made in germany: Product is marked 100% made in Germany [S8]
- Made in germany: Made in Germany [S12]
- Made in germany: Product states 100% made in Germany [S15]
- Made in germany: 100% made in Germany [S8]
- Made in germany: 100% made in Germany [S10]
- Made in germany: 100% made in Germany [S11]
- Made in germany footer: yes · 3.59 · yes [S1]

**Integrations**
- CSV import: CSV import documented in related help articles [S11]
- Datev: DATEV interface documented in support center [S15]
- Datev: Lohnbüros und Steuerberater · yes [S6]
- Datev: DATEV Schnittstelle · yes [S10]
- Datev interface: A DATEV interface exists, documented for payroll offices and tax advisors [S8]
- Datev interface: DATEV interface exists (support section) [S8]
- Datev services: Three DATEV data services: payroll import (work times & absences), payroll evaluation (payslips & SV certificates in clockin), master data exchange (two-way sync) [S12]
- Datev software supported: DATEV Lohn & Gehalt · LODAS [S12]
- Datev times transfer: yes · work times · absences · DATEV Rechenzentrum [S12]
- Interfaces: yes [S1]

**Legal**
- Commercial register: Münster · HRB 17578 [S5]
- Company: clockin GmbH [S11]
- Controller: Rektoratsweg 36, 48159 Münster · clockin GmbH [S4]
- Copyright entity: clockin GmbH · 2026 [S14]
- Disclaimer: general information, not legal advice [S10]
- Disclaimer no legal advice: general information only, not legal advice [S10]
- Dispute resolution: no [S5]
- Editorial contact: Jonas Tünte [S5]
- Entity: clockin GmbH [S10]
- Entity: clockin GmbH [S15]
- Entity: clockin GmbH [S10]
- Entity: clockin GmbH [S11]
- Entity: clockin GmbH [S15]
- Entity name: clockin GmbH [S5]
- Entity name: clockin GmbH [S8]
- Governing language: Deutsch [S10]
- Made in germany: Product labeled 100% made in Germany [S15]
- Origin claim: 100% made in Germany [S14]
- Privacy contact: datenschutz@clockin.de [S4]
- VAT id: DE320468881 [S5]

**Pricing**
- Addon conversation notes: yes · 25 [S2]
- Addon phone assistant: yes · 35 [S2]
- Addon shift planning: 27 [S2]
- Addon VAT: no [S2]
- Addon video documentation: yes · 30 [S2]
- Discount terms: 5 · 10 [S2]
- Enterprise price: individueller Preis · 50 [S2]
- Expert price: user/month · Expert · EUR · 8.99 · 24 months [S2]
- Pro price: user/month · Pro · EUR · 6.29 · 24 months [S2]
- Starter price: user/month · Starter · EUR · 3.59 · 24 months [S2]
- Starting price: 3.59 [S1]
- Team starter price: user/month · Team Starter · EUR · 3.59 [S3]
- Trial: 14 · yes [S1]
- Trial: 14 · yes · yes [S3]
- Trial: 14 · no [S2]
- Trial no payment: no · no [S1]

**Product**
- Absence admin reports: Admins can approve/reject requests and create absence reports [S3]
- Absence app approval: Requests can be approved via app [S3]
- Absence app request: Employees can request absences via app [S3]
- Absence change cancel: Employees can edit or delete planned absences in the absence calendar [S3]
- Absence deputy activation: Feature must be activated once in Bürocenter settings under Funktionsverwaltung via 'Abwesenheitsvertretung' checkbox [S9]
- Absence deputy conflict rule: A deputy who has an absence registered at the same time cannot be selected [S9]
- Absence deputy default scope: By default all colleagues of own department are deputies; other departments/employees can be released as deputies [S9]
- Absence deputy email notification: Deputy and supervisor of absent employee receive automatic email notification about the deputy assignment [S9]
- Absence deputy feature: Absence deputy (Abwesenheitsvertretung) feature: users can designate a deputy when requesting an absence [S9]
- Absence deputy reminder: Employee permissions can set after how many consecutive absence days a reminder to select a deputy appears [S9]
- Absence deputy visibility: 'Vertreten durch' info shown where the absence request can be viewed, e.g. under 'Meine Abwesenheiten' [S9]
- Absence desktop management: Absence management via desktop version [S3]
- Absence individual reasons: FAQ mentions adding individual absence reasons (question listed) [S3]
- Absence reason visibility: Seeing absence reasons requires the "Mitarbeiter > Abwesenheiten" permission, which also allows processing absence requests [S8]
- Absence reports: Absence reports available [S3]
- Absence team calendar: Central overview of all team absences in employee calendar [S3]
- Activity configuration: Per-employee selection of stampable activities such as Arbeitszeit, Pause, Fahrtzeit, Dienstgang [S14]
- Activity configuration: Employees can be restricted to specific activities (Tätigkeiten) for clocking [S15]
- Activity configuration: Permissions restrict which activities an employee may clock; configurable under Einstellungen > Unternehmen > Tätigkeitskonfiguration [S15]
- AI assistant clocki: clocki · yes [S6]
- AI features: chatbots · text recognition · automated evaluations [S4]
- AI shift planning: Automatisierte KI-Schichtplanung [S1]
- App distribution: Apple App Store · Google Play Store [S4]
- App permissions: App permissions control e.g. whether employees may correct their own times or must enter a PIN when stamping [S14]
- Calendar default view: With default permission, employees only see that a colleague is absent; the reason remains anonymous [S8]
- Calendar department access: Department access settings determine whose absences are visible; without selection an employee sees only their own absences [S8]
- Calendar department scope: Department access determines whose absences are visible; without it, the employee sees only their own absences [S8]
- Calendar permission visibility: With the standard 'Kalender' permission, employees only see that a colleague is absent; the reason stays anonymous [S8]
- Calendar role permissions path: Role permissions can alternatively be adjusted under Einstellungen > Vordefinierte Rollen [S8]
- Calendar sharing permissions: Employees can be granted access to the "Kalender" menu item via permissions, so colleagues can see when others are absent [S8]
- Calendar sync export article: Support center lists a related article on calendar synchronization and export [S8]
- Camera documentation: documentation functions via camera/photo/video access [S4]
- Cloki support: clocKI AI assistant available around the clock in Bürocenter menu [S7]
- Company count: 9,000 companies [S12]
- Contractual vacation annual and next year: Employee record, Vertragsdaten section · yes · yes [S6]
- Cookies consent tool: yes [S4]
- Core modules: Zeiterfassung · Schichtplanung · Projekte · Aufträge · Videodokumentation · Telefonassistent · Abwesenheiten · Kunden · Einsätze · Checklisten [S1]
- Customer count: 9000 [S1]
- Datev interface: yes [S7]
- Datev interface: DATEV interface exists (support category for payroll offices and tax advisors) [S14]
- Department restricted access: yes [S14]
- Digital payslips: Payroll statements delivered digitally to employees via DATEV data service [S12]
- Gps settings: Per-employee GPS settings: whether geo-marks are recorded or tracking is completely disabled [S14]
- Gps tracking: GPS tracking can be enabled company-wide and adjusted per employee in permissions [S15]
- Gps tracking: GPS tracking can be enabled company-wide and adjusted individually per employee [S15]
- Hours tracked: 175 [S1]
- Individual permissions: Admins can set individual permissions per employee determining what they may see and which functions they can use [S14]
- Languages: Deutsch · English [S1]
- Leave default day based: day-based [S7]
- Leave hourly enabled: yes · pro-rata on stored target working hours per day [S7]

**Support**
- AI assistant: AI assistant clocKI answers around the clock in the Bürocenter menu [S6]
- AI assistant: clocKI assistant in Bürocenter · bottom left menu · 24/7 [S10]
- AI assistant: AI assistant clocKI answers around the clock, in the Bürocenter menu bottom left [S11]
- AI assistant: clocKI · 24/7 · yes [S14]
- AI assistant: AI assistant answers around the clock [S15]
- AI assistant: yes · 24/7 [S7]
- AI assistant availability: clocKI AI assistant answers around the clock, found bottom left in the Bürocenter menu [S8]
- AI assistant clocki: AI assistant clocki answers around the clock [S8]
- AI chat assistant: AI assistant 'clocKI' answers around the clock in seconds, found bottom left in Bürocenter menu [S9]
- Channels: Beratungsgespräch · Kostenlose Produktdemo (Webinar) · Support-Center · Videokurse [S1]
- Clocki 24h: clocki assistant answers around the clock; tickets can be created for questions [S14]
- Clocki bot: clocki bot answers 24/7 in Bürocenter menu; tickets available [S11]
- Clocki bot: clocki assistant answers around the clock; tickets can be created for questions [S15]
- Premium support: yes · yes [S2]
- Setup service: yes [S1]
- Setup service: Setup service offered [S12]
- Ticket: Support tickets can be created for questions, wishes, or ideas [S6]
- Ticket: ticket · yes [S10]
- Ticket: ticket · yes [S11]
- Ticket: yes [S14]
- Ticket: ticket · yes [S7]
- Ticket channel: ticket · support contact [S7]
- Ticket creation: Users can create a support ticket for questions, wishes, or ideas [S9]
- Ticket creation: ticket [S6]
- Ticket creation: Support tickets can be created for questions, requests, or ideas [S8]
- Ticket submission: yes [S8]
- Ticket system: Support tickets can be created [S15]
- Ticket system: clocki chat · ticket creation [S10]

63 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/clockin

## Questions

### Is clockin European?

Yes. whats-best.ai classifies clockin as EU-Made.

### Where does clockin store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026.

### Does clockin have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to clockin?

As of 15 Oct 2026, the panel rates [Kenjo (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/kenjo), [flair (2.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/flair-hr) and [HRlab (2.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/hrlab) highest among the other 16 Absence Management products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Kenjo](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/kenjo) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [clockin alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/clockin/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 41 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 12 subprocessors facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 10 integrations facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 legal facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 support facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 hosting fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.
- 6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://www.clockin.de/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S2] Pricing page: https://www.clockin.de/preise (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S3] Absence feature: https://www.clockin.de/funktionen-von-clockin/funktion-abwesenheiten (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S4] Privacy policy: https://www.clockin.de/rechtliches/datenschutz (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S5] Legal notice: https://www.clockin.de/rechtliches/impressum (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S6] Entitlements & German leave rules — found from sitemap: https://support.clockin.de/resturlaub-und-urlaubsanspruch-hinterlegen (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S7] Entitlements & German leave rules — found from sitemap: https://support.clockin.de/wie-kann-ich-urlaub-in-stunden-abrechnen (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S8] Requests, approvals & team calendar — found from sitemap: https://support.clockin.de/was-sehen-meine-mitarbeiter-wenn-ich-ihnen-den-kalender-freigebe (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S9] Requests, approvals & team calendar — found from sitemap: https://support.clockin.de/wie-kann-ich-eine-vertretung-in-clockin-festlegen-wenn-ich-eine-abwesenheit-einstelle (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S10] Sick leave, eAU & continued pay — found from sitemap: https://support.clockin.de/krankheit-ohne-lohnfortzahlung (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S11] Sick leave, eAU & continued pay — found from sitemap: https://support.clockin.de/warum-wird-krankheit-mit-lohnfortzahlung-auch-am-wochenende-gewertet (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S12] Payroll handover, time tracking & API — found from sitemap: https://www.clockin.de/funktionen-von-clockin/schnittstellen/datev (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S13] Payroll handover, time tracking & API — found from sitemap: https://support.clockin.de/api-h%C3%A4ufig-gestellte-fragen (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S14] Health data, access & works council — found from sitemap: https://support.clockin.de/welche-berechtigungen-gibt-es (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S15] Health data, access & works council — found from sitemap: https://support.clockin.de/schritt-5-berechtigungen-festlegen (checked 2026-10-13)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "clockin — Absence Management", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-10-21. https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/clockin

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/538?target=page