# timecockpit — Time Tracking & Attendance

timecockpit by software architects GmbH holds a panel rating of 2.5/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2.5/5), as of 2026-10-21. Provenance: provenance unknown; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: software architects GmbH (https://www.timecockpit.com)
- Category: [Time Tracking & Attendance](https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): provenance unknown
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/timecockpit
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/timecockpit/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/timecockpit/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-10-21 · evaluated 2026-10-21 · oldest source captured 2026-10-20

**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: software architects GmbH
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026
- Starting price: “Teams of up to 10 users pay a one-time €29.90 for the first year on the Starter plan” (vendor’s words) [S1]

## The panel's verdict

timecockpit is a web-based time tracking and attendance service from software architects GmbH. Strongest is project and billing at 7 to 8: customers, projects and tasks in a hierarchy, rates at each level, budgets in hours and money, and invoicing that freezes the valid rate at billing time and locks billed entries read-only. Working time law sits at 6 with no spread, on predefined German and Austrian rule sets with retroactive validation. Weakest are time capture at 3 with no spread and payroll export at 2 to 3: its mobile guide names 3G as the minimum connection and lists offline mode as planned, and the month leaves as Excel, Word or PDF — we found no public information on a named payroll system. Pricing transparency spreads 4 to 6, where judges weighed headline terms — €10.85 per user per month, daily billing, cancellation any day — against an unpriced enterprise tier and unstated VAT treatment. Sovereignty scores 7 to 8 on Azure hosting in Amsterdam and Dublin, with independently sourced sovereignty attributes unconfirmed; no material disagreement was computed.

**Speaks for it:**
- Customers, projects and tasks in a hierarchy with hourly rates settable at each level and budgets in hours and money
- Invoicing freezes the valid hourly rate at billing time, locks billed entries read-only and writes ZUGFeRD PDFs
- Predefined working-time rule sets for Germany and Austria with per-user limits, rest-period checks and retroactive validation in a violations view
- Daily billing with cancellation any day, a 30-day trial without a credit card, and a one-time €29.90 first year on the Starter plan for teams of up to 10 users
- A dedicated three-node database cluster per customer in Microsoft Azure data centers in Amsterdam and Dublin, which Microsoft certifies to ISO 27001, with a data processing agreement offered

**Held against it:**
- Mobile capture needs the network — the vendor's mobile guide names 3G as the minimum and lists offline mode and a native app as planned or under consideration
- Payroll handoff is Excel, Word or PDF plus a web API, and we found no public information on a named payroll system, surcharges for night, Sunday and holiday work, or a lock step before transmission
- The enterprise tier covering single sign-on, a sandbox database and a database in your own Azure subscription carries no published price, and VAT treatment is not stated
- Absence handling documents vacation, sick leave and compensatory time with approvals, but we found no public information on shift or duty rosters, automatic entitlement or carry-over
- Processors are named in the privacy statement rather than a full published subprocessor list, and independently sourced attributes for entity, ownership, residency and subprocessors came back unconfirmed

**Best for:**
- You run an agency or professional-services firm that bills project time and wants rates, budgets and invoicing in one tool
- You must check recorded time against German or Austrian working-time limits, per user and retroactively, from a violations view
- You want hosting in Microsoft Azure data centers in Amsterdam and Dublin with a dedicated database per customer and a data processing agreement
- You are a freelancer or a team of up to 10 users weighing a cheap first year — free for freelancers, a one-time €29.90 for teams on the Starter plan

**Avoid if:**
- Your crews book time where the network does not reach — the vendor's mobile guide names 3G as the minimum connection, and offline mode and a native app are planned or under consideration
- You need a maintained handoff to a named payroll system — the pages show Excel, Word and PDF exports and a web API, with interfaces to SAP or Microsoft Dynamics built on request
- You plan coverage in shift or duty rosters — the absence pages document vacation, sick leave and compensatory time with approvals, and we found no public information on rostering or coverage planning
- You must compute the full annual invoice from public pages — ask the vendor: the public pages we read do not show it

## 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 Operations Lead | The Payroll Officer | The Works Council Advocate | The Agency Owner | The Field Supervisor | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Capture in the real workplace | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 |
| Working-time law & audit record | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Absence & shift planning | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Project, cost-centre & billing | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Payroll handoff | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 |
| European sovereignty | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 2.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2/5** | **2/5** | **2.5/5** | **3/5** | **2.5/5** | **2.5/5** |

### The judges

- **The Operations Lead** (v1.0): Runs a 200-person operation with office, workshop and field staff, and has to record all of them since the BAG ruling. Wants capture that fits each of those groups and a roster that reflects reality. Unmoved by a beautiful desktop timer that half the workforce cannot use.
- **The Payroll Officer** (v1.0): Turns the recorded month into an payroll run and answers for it. Cares about surcharges for night, Sunday and holiday work, time accounts that reconcile, and corrections that arrive after the close. Treats "export to CSV" as an admission that the handoff was never designed.
- **The Works Council Advocate** (v1.0): Has co-determination over how working time is recorded (BetrVG §87 (1) 6) and will not approve a system that watches more than it measures. Asks what GPS actually stores, who can read an individual's day, what is logged and what can be switched off. Reads "productivity insights" as a warning.
- **The Agency Owner** (v1.0): Bills forty people's hours to clients and lives on the gap between recorded and billable. Wants project structure, rate cards that survive a mid-project change, budget warnings before the overrun, and an export the invoicing system takes. Attendance compliance is the floor, not the product.
- **The Field Supervisor** (v1.0): Supervises crews on sites with no reliable signal and no desks. Judges everything by whether it works in a basement at 6am: offline capture, a shared terminal, corrections a foreman can make without a support ticket. A cloud-only app is a tool that will be filled in from memory on Friday.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has read a great many pages claiming to be "BAG-konform" and wants to know which feature makes that true. Reads compliance claims for what they do not say: which module, at which tier, and whether the terminal in the photograph costs extra.

## 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**
- Analytics tool: Simple Analytics · no · no [S2]
- Cookie categories: Necessary · Preferences · Analytics & Marketing · External Media [S2]
- Data protection authority: Austrian Data Protection Authority [S2]
- DPA: yes [S3]
- DPA: yes [S1]
- Google analytics: Google Ireland Limited · yes · yes [S2]
- Google analytics retention: 14 [S2]
- International transfers: EU-US Data Privacy Framework adequacy decision · EU standard contractual clauses [S2]
- ISO 27001: Microsoft Azure data centers · yes [S3]
- ISO 27001: yes [S1]
- Microsoft advertising: Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited · yes [S2]
- Microsoft privacy applies: yes [S2]
- Scc: yes [S3]
- Third party disclosure: no [S2]

**Hosting**
- Data centers: Amsterdam · Dublin · Microsoft Azure · 35 · yes [S1]
- EU operated: yes [S2]
- Paas model: PaaS · Microsoft [S3]
- Provider: yes · Amsterdam · Dublin · Microsoft Azure [S3]
- Service platform: Microsoft Azure [S2]
- Since: 2010 [S1]
- SLA: Azure Service Level Agreements [S3]
- Website provider: EU · Microsoft Azure [S2]

**Integrations**
- Mcp server: Claude · ChatGPT · Copilot · yes [S1]
- Office interop version: 11.0.0.0 · Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel [S13]
- Request built: Jira · Azure DevOps · SAP · Microsoft Dynamics [S1]
- Web API: REST · OData · TCQL [S1]
- Youtube embed: yes · yes [S2]

**Legal**
- Controller: software architects gmbh · Birkenweg 16, 4060 Leonding, Austria [S2]
- Copyright entity: software architects gmbh [S4]
- Copyright holder: software architects gmbh [S7]
- Copyright holder: software architects gmbh [S9]
- Copyright holder: software architects gmbh [S8]
- Copyright holder: software architects gmbh [S6]
- Copyright holder: software architects gmbh · 2026 [S12]
- Copyright holder: 2026 · software architects gmbh [S11]
- Copyright holder: 2026 · software architects gmbh [S13]
- Copyright holder: software architects gmbh [S10]
- Entity: Kornstraße 7A, 4060 Leonding, Austria · software architects gmbh [S3]
- Entity: Kornstraße 7A, 4060 Leonding, Austria · software architects gmbh [S1]
- Founding location: 2010 · Leonding, Austria [S2]
- Notice last updated: 2026-09-04 [S2]
- Office address: Kornstraße 7A, 4060 Leonding, Austria [S2]
- VAT id: ATU65831825 [S2]

**Pricing**
- Cancellation: daily · yes [S1]
- Free trial: 30 · no [S1]
- Freelancer first year free: freelancers · yes [S1]
- Per user month: 10.85 [S3]
- Starter price: Starter · 10 · 29.9 [S1]
- Trial: 30 [S2]
- Trial: 30 · yes · no [S3]

**Product**
- Absence approval workflow: yes · Global Settings per absence type [S8]
- Absence calendar approval actions: Approve · Reject · yes [S9]
- Absence calendar audience: Employees checking own pending requests, Department Leads reviewing approvals, HR Admins reviewing absences across users [S9]
- Absence calendar columns: Category · Department · User · Absence · Description · Begin · End · Approved · Approve · Reject [S9]
- Absence calendar deeplink: https://web.timecockpit.com/app/lists/APP_DefaultAbsenceTimeCalendarList [S9]
- Absence calendar description: List combining vacation, sick leave, and compensatory time in one calendar-oriented list, useful for pending approvals and cross-user visibility [S9]
- Absence calendar filters: From · To · User · Department · Show All Users (HR-only) · Show Only Pending List [S9]
- Absence calendar role based visibility: yes [S9]
- Absence calendar visibility generalization: yes [S9]
- Absence entry granularity: yes · yes [S8]
- Absence types: Vacation/Special Vacation · Compensatory Time Off · Sick Leave [S8]
- Action single top level def: Action scripts must contain exactly one top level def statement; helpers must be nested functions [S13]
- Approval config places: Global Settings per absence type · User master data per user [S8]
- Approver roles: supervisor/department lead · HR-Admin [S8]
- Articles: yes [S10]
- Assign existing invoice: yes [S10]
- Assign no recalc: no [S10]
- Austria limits: 05.12.2023 · 30m after 6h, split options: 2x15m/3x10m · 12 · 12 · 60 [S6]
- Auto approval without requirement: yes [S8]
- Automatic invoice items: yes [S10]
- Automatic tracking: sidekick · Windows · macOS · yes [S1]
- Automatic tracking local: sidekick · yes [S3]
- B2b only: no [S2]
- Backup retention: 35 · yes [S3]
- Billable flag: APP_Billable [S11]
- Billed rate snapshot: hourly rate copied to APP_HourlyRateBilled; APP_Revenue calculated field shows revenue [S10]
- Bundled excel template: default Time Sheets list · installation folder · TimesheetListPivotAnalysis.xlsx [S12]
- Calendar role visibility: Time Tracking User sees absences of assigned department; absence type for colleagues not visible; own pending approvals only; cannot approve [S8]
- Colleague absence type privacy: yes [S8]
- Configurable limit parameters: Working Time Limits in the module User · max working time per day · max working time per week · break after · min break length [S6]
- Connection requirements: 3G · WLAN [S4]
- Consultation call: yes · Microsoft Teams · 30 [S3]
- Create invoice workflow: Create Invoice action in Unbilled Timesheets list assigns timesheets to invoice items [S10]
- Credit notes: yes [S10]
- Cross platform: yes · yes · yes [S5]
- Custom articles: yes [S10]
- Custom limits support: support@timecockpit.com · yes [S6]
- Custom print views ssrs: Microsoft Reporting Services (SSRS) · yes [S12]
- Customer hourly rate: APP_HourlyRate · yes [S11]
- Customization: customizable fields, forms, permissions, reports, workflows, data model, scripts [S1]
- Customization lists forms: copy in Customization module · no [S11]
- Data model extension: yes · no [S11]
- Data usage entry: 100 [S4]
- Dedicated database: 3 · yes [S3]
- Default articles: default articles: service time and travel time [S10]
- Default period expansion: current month · yes [S6]
- Default units: h (HUR) and km (KMT) [S10]
- Department lead visibility: Department Lead sees own department + led departments, sees absence types of colleagues, can approve/reject [S8]
- Earliest latest time config: yes [S6]
- Encryption: yes · yes · Microsoft [S3]
- Excel export built in: yes [S13]
- Excel export default format: yes · no · yes [S12]
- Excel export office automation: Microsoft Office automation in IronPython · yes [S13]
- Export as UI action: yes · Actions [S13]
- Export cancelable: CancellationToken · yes [S13]
- Export tcql query source: TCQL query result [S13]
- Export template mechanism: TemplateRow · Current · TCQL [S12]
- Export template or list definition: either a template file or a list definition; template takes precedence [S13]
- Export use case email report: Timesheet export scripts can automatically create per-user pivot table Excel reports and send them via email [S13]
- Features list: Project Time Tracking · Employee Time Tracking · Project Invoicing · Customization · Integration & Web API [S2]
- Future mobile features: offline mode · simplified views · voice entry · geolocation [S5]
- Future native app: under consideration [S5]
- Future native app: unter Prüfung [S4]
- Germany limits: 05.12.2023 · 30m after 6h, split options 2x15m. 45m after 9h, split options 3x15m · 10 · 48 [S6]
- Global tasks: 1.7 · no · yes [S11]
- Hierarchy: customers, projects and tasks administered hierarchically with customer on top [S11]
- Historic limit accuracy: yes [S6]
- Home screen shortcut: yes [S5]
- HR admin visibility: HR Admin can approve on behalf of department leads using filters Show all users, Department, User [S8]
- Improvements 2025: 2025 · verbessertes responsives Layout · PWA-Unterstützung für Mobilgeräte [S4]
- Invoice items: yes [S10]
- Invoice layout builder: Microsoft Report Builder [S1]
- Invoice pdf report: yes [S10]
- Invoicing: project invoicing from time bookings [S1]
- Keyboard mouse support: yes · yes [S5]
- Keyboard mouse support tablet: yes · yes [S4]
- Live timer mobile: yes [S5]
- Live timer mobile: falls verfügbar · yes [S4]
- Login credentials shared: Dieselben Zugangsdaten wie am Desktop [S4]
- Manual invoices: yes [S10]
- Market since: 2010 [S3]
- Mcp server: Microsoft Entra ID · yes · yes [S3]
- Mobile URL: https://web.timecockpit.com [S5]
- Multi invoice items 2023 10: 2023-10 [S10]
- Multi tenant: application layer · database per customer · yes [S3]
- Notification opt out: yes [S8]
- Notifications: yes · yes · yes [S5]
- Notifications: yes [S8]
- Per limit validation config: yes [S6]
- Per user limits: Weekly Hours of Work configuration · yes [S6]
- Permission system: yes [S3]
- Platforms: browser · PC · Mac · smartphones · tablets · no [S1]
- Project budget: APP_BudgetInHours · APP_Budget · yes [S11]
- Project controlling: project controlling with budgets, planned vs actual, billable vs non-billable hours [S1]
- Project hourly rate: yes · APP_HourlyRateActual [S11]
- Pwa desktop browsers: yes · yes [S5]
- Pwa desktop notifications: yes [S4]
- Pwa support: yes [S5]
- Pwa support: yes [S4]
- Quick excel export full client only: all records · selected items · full client only · yes [S12]
- Quick export templates: format data, add analysis or charts · yes [S12]
- Readonly after billing: yes [S10]
- Recommended browsers: Safari · Chrome · Chrome · Firefox [S5]
- Recommended browsers: Safari · Chrome · Chrome · Firefox [S4]
- Reconnect behavior: yes [S4]
- Rejected absence deletion: yes · yes [S8]
- Rejection behavior: yes [S8]
- Report export formats: every list · Excel · Word · PDF · automatically generated, contains all columns [S12]
- Rest period checks: night · weekend · public holiday · yes [S6]
- Retroactive approval: yes [S8]
- Reverse charge statements: printed for EU customers with 0% VAT invoices; different statement for non-EU customers; in English and German [S10]
- Sandbox database: yes · on request [S3]
- Service email rights: no [S2]
- Single signon: Microsoft Entra ID · yes [S3]
- SSO: Microsoft Entra ID [S1]

**Support**
- Consultation: yes · Microsoft Teams · 30 [S1]
- No newsletter: no · no [S2]
- Privacy contact email: support@timecockpit.com [S2]
- Support email: support@timecockpit.com [S4]

32 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/timecockpit

## Questions

### Is timecockpit European?

Not determined: the vendor’s pages as captured do not say where timecockpit is based.

### Where does timecockpit store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026.

### Does timecockpit have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to timecockpit?

As of 21 Oct 2026, the panel rates [TimeTac (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/timetac), [clockodo (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/clockodo) and [ZEP (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/zep) highest among the other 25 Time Tracking & Attendance 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 [TimeTac](https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/timetac) (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: [timecockpit alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/timecockpit/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 26 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.
- 2 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.
- 1 compliance 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.
- 1 pricing 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.
- 3 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor page: https://www.timecockpit.com (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S2] Legal notice — found from the homepage: https://www.timecockpit.com/legal-notice/privacy-policy/ (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S3] Security / trust page — found from the homepage: https://www.timecockpit.com/security-data-protection/ (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S4] Capture in the real workplace — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/de/doc/erste-schritte/mobile-zeiterfassung.html (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S5] Capture in the real workplace — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/doc/getting-started/mobile-guide.html (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S6] Working-time law & audit record — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/doc/employee-time-tracking/working-time-regulations.html (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S7] Working-time law & audit record — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/doc/reference/lists/working-time-limits.html (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S8] Absence & shift planning — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/doc/employee-time-tracking/absence-time-management.html (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S9] Absence & shift planning — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/doc/reference/lists/absence-calendar.html (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S10] Project, cost-centre & billing — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/doc/project-time-tracking/billing.html (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S11] Project, cost-centre & billing — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/doc/project-time-tracking/customer-project-task.html (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S12] Payroll handoff — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/doc/data-exchange/export.html (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S13] Payroll handoff — found from sitemap: https://docs.timecockpit.com/doc/scripting/export-data-to-excel.html (checked 2026-10-20)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "timecockpit — Time Tracking & Attendance", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-10-21. https://whats-best.ai/software/time-tracking/timecockpit

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/971?target=page