Hourly is a combination of payroll and time management software teamed with a workers’ comp insurance package. It’s been designed to let business users save time and potentially save money by offering a more efficient way of working. The Palo Alto-based fintech outfit has been expanding its appeal rapidly and offers two packages; Payroll and Time Tracking, or a combination of the two. With many businesses and workers requiring the services of software just like Hourly, its added appeal lies in the way it can be controlled through your mobile phone. 

• Want to try Hourly? Check out the website here

Hourly software was initially developed by a group of business owners who couldn't find a solution for their needs. So, since launching back in 2018 the Hourly brand has grown to help business owners and contractors who need to tackle payroll and benefits admin, without too much in the way of effort. It’s working hard to match rival products such as Gusto and OnPay.

Hourly payroll and time tracking: Pricing

There are three plans associated with the Hourly portfolio. Time Tracking is a package designed to reduce payroll errors and increase productivity according to Hourly, and this costs $8 a month per active user, along with a $40 per month base cost. Next is Payroll, which offers the ability to run payroll from anywhere and do it pretty rapidly to boot. That costs $10 per month per active user and comes with a $60 per month base fee. 

The third option is something of a combination package, featuring as it does both Time Tracking and Payroll. This is listed as Hourly’s most popular package, which is hardly surprising as it costs $14 per month for each active user along with an $80 per month base charge. Hourly does also offer a free trial and can give you a demo of the software too if that’s more suitable.

Hourly payroll and time tracking: Features

As mentioned above, there are three packages that you can sign up for, with obviously the combination model being the one to go for if you’re looking for most efficiency and the best cost savings. The Time Tracking package comes with the ability to track time for all of your workers; there are automatic timesheets and GPS clock-ins and tracking too. 

Add in the ability to monitor overtime and breaks, plus the option to create detailed reports and audit logs and you’ve got a fairly potent package. Meanwhile, the Payroll package comes with unlimited payroll runs, direct deposit and paper checks, automatic tax filing and the handling of 1099s and W-2s. 

It offers salaried and hourly handling plus garnishments and benefit management too. If you plump for the combination of both Time Tracking and Payroll you can also add in smart works comp insurance, plus priority phone support and HR support too.

Hourly payroll and time tracking: Performance

The real benefit with the Hourly software package is that it can be used to track time plus handle payroll from anywhere. If you’re looking to improve productivity and require extra convenience then this level of performance is really going to deliver value over time. It’s easy to see that the people who've created this software were obviously the ones who had a need for it in the first place. Hourly covers all bases in real time and, if you’ve got it setup on your cell phone, it’s possible to manage all of your tasks no matter where the location happens to be.

Hourly payroll and time tracking: Ease of use

If you’ve been used to picking through timesheets and spreadsheets in order to process payroll and collate hours worked by employees or contractors then you’ll find Hourly hugely beneficial. The software has been cleverly designed to provide a real time picture of staff movements, allowing you to manage hours worked, time taken off and so on. 

The reporting aspect of Hourly is also a really practical feature, with the ability to drill down into specific worker files and carry out checks on hours, overtime and more with very little in the way of effort. All told, Hourly should help to shave off plenty of time from your payroll and time tracking duties. The main dashboard is also very easy to get to grips with, so the initial learning curve should be fairly painless too.

Hourly payroll and time tracking: Support

There’s a very decent Hourly knowledge base that can be accessed via the website and which serves up a healthy supply of articles. In fact, using this resource you can take a really deep dive into the workings of the Time Tracking and Payroll packages, and also investigate workers comp information too. In addition, there’s a neat Hourly blog, which offers some useful insights for small business owners on all sorts of everyday matters. Registered users do, of course, also have access to live support, via email, chat and phone options.

Hourly payroll and time tracking: Final verdict

Hourly is a great solution for business owners with employees and who currently struggle with the labor-intensive aspect of both payroll and timesheets. Hourly has bundled both into the one combination package, which looks like the more sensible option to go for rather than choosing either one as a standalone solution. 

What's more, get them both together and you’ll save some money too. Combine that with the savings in time that Hourly promises to deliver and the return on your investment could turn out to be fairly healthy. 

Better still, Hourly has been created so that you can manage your employees from anywhere, with a strong focus on mobile management. If you’re out and about a lot, or simply want the convenience of managing everything via your cell phone or tablet, then Hourly looks even more appealing.

• We've also highlighted the best accounting software

Workful is an interesting option if you’re a small business owner that needs to maximize your time management by covering payroll, HR and timesheet needs inside one package. The software solution has been around for four years now, is perhaps best known for its payroll potential and was developed by the same people who brought us TaxSlayer software. However, the online package does quite a lot more than that and, thankfully, offers its services for an affordable amount of money. 

• Want to try Workful? Check out the website here

What’s more, Workful aims to deliver a simple to use system that should hopefully be relatively low maintenance. The package comes with a pretty straightforward setup process, plus there’s also plenty of help available from support services. Add it all together and Workful is an impressive proposition that should grow more appealing as you pick through the features outlined below.

Workful payroll and HR: Pricing

The Workful ethos seems to be one of keeping things simple, and that follows through to the area of pricing. Currently, Workful offers a free 30 day trial, and following that you can sign up for the paid-for service, which costs $25 a month plus $5 for each employee per month. The single pricing tier is helpful as you know exactly where you stand with Workful because it includes the core aspects of the package, which revolve around payroll, time tracking and also packs in plenty of employee tools too.

Workful payroll and HR: Features

Considering the affordability offered by Workflow the set of features it comes with is impressive and covers a variety of bases. For the payroll aspect of the package there are unlimited payroll runs, multiple pay rates, built-in time tracking, state/federal tax forms and integration with QuickBooks. You can also prepare W-2 and 1099 forms, create reports, produce electronic paystubs and carry out direct deposits. 

In addition, users get an employee portal for W-4’s, onboarding tools, check printing and everything can be access from any location. Time tracking follows suit with more on the features front, including payroll syncing, automatic calculation of overtime and hours plus PTO tracking. It also delivers customized policies and there are multiple accrual methods. 

Employee tools add another edge to the feature set, with the aforementioned employee portal allowing easy onboarding, expense tracking and a place to store documents and file for mileage reimbursement.

Workful payroll and HR: Performance

For a system that is going to be accessible by both managers and employees the Workflow concept is a strong one. The employee portal allows workers to easily access information, via the web with an app that emulates the exact same experience. That means it can be accessed from anywhere, and gives managers the option of carrying out tasks like making reimbursements via payroll, tracking time-off requests and creating calendar events and notifications. 

Overall then, Workflow has been nicely developed to offer a simple but effective package that is especially useful thanks to its access-from-anywhere appeal.

Workful payroll and HR: Ease of use

The bulk of your activity, and naturally that of your employees will happen in and around the central dashboard area. This is an aspect of Workful that has been spruced up more recently, so the latest iteration packs in more functionality and features while also offering a much more straightforward user experience. 

The menu that runs down the left-hand side of the main window allows access to core options, such as payroll and the time clock, but it also lets you dip into employee data areas, locate and store documents as well as delivering expense and mileage tools. In addition, there’s a reports tab plus the ability to tweak and customize settings when and if it’s necessary.

Workful payroll and HR: Support

If you’re signed up for the Workflow package you also get the benefit of access to its support network. This opens up with a great central help hub, which contains the option for searching through articles and videos about the software and all of its features. On top of that, the help center enables you to get in touch with the support staff during regular business hours. 

In fact, it's possible to chat, send an email or give the support team a call depending on your question or technical issue. There’s also a very decent online community that can be found with the support area, plus there’s a blog that delivers some practical insights into both the software and the people and businesses who use it.

Workful payroll and HR: Final verdict

Workful delivers an excellent package that will primarily appeal to the small business community, not least of which because of its affordability. There are plenty of power tools for tackling everyday SME challenges too though, with the ability to handle payroll, HR and time handling with little in the way of fuss and bother. It’s hardly surprising to find these efficiency-based tools come from the same people who developed TaxSlayer all those years ago. 

The experience shows in this package, and while it’s something of a work in progress there’s definitely enough on offer here to make Workflow worth considering if you’re a small business owner. It’s doing battle with the likes of Gusto and OnPay, but there’s no reason why there isn't room in this marketplace for another practical software solution.

• We've also highlighted the best accounting software

Patriot is an online solution for handling both accounting and payroll tasks. It’s ideally suited to small business owners thanks in particular to its highly praised support, which can help provide ongoing help and also assist your business in configuring the system to work in the first place. The company itself has been around for over three decades, so it clearly has plenty of experience on both the accounting and payroll fronts. 

• Want to try Patriot? Check out the website here

The real bonus with Patriot, however, is that it seems to have retained its original roots feel, with a keenness on providing a great level of customer service and support. Adding to that ongoing appeal is Patriot’s easy-to-use design and a user interface that aims to provide business owners with an affordable accounting solution that’s reasonably stress-free too.

Patriot: Pricing

Patriot continues to offer consistent pricing across its product portfolio, which allows business owners to choose from the package that suits their needs the best. Currently, there are two accounting packages, with Accounting Premium being the most popular choice. This comes with all the features required for tracking business expenses, money and invoices. It currently costs $25 per month. A cheaper alternative is Accounting Basic, which costs $15 per month and lets you keep a less comprehensive record of money going in and out of your business. 

Meanwhile, the payroll side of things features a full service payroll package, which starts at $30 per month, plus $4 per employee/contractor. This package can let you run payroll, while Patriot takes care of payroll taxes. There’s a basic payroll edition too, which effectively does the same job, but you handle both payroll and payroll taxes yourself. This package starts at $10 per month plus $4 per employee/contractor.

Patriot: Features

Despite its value appeal Patriot still comes armed with plenty of features, with some of the key options outlined below. On the accounting front, this is topped by that free expert support, while functionality is extensive too. Features include unlimited payments to vendors, the ability to create and print 1099s and 1096s, optional 1099 e-filing, expense and income tracking, the option to produce unlimited customer invoices, accept credit card payments, record payments, import bank transactions automatically and integrate your accounts with payroll. 

Therefore, the payroll aspect adds another level of value, so if you’re combining the two there’s free expert advice and setup. That's before we get to free direct deposit, the ability to set up an employee portal, workers’ comp integration, unlimited payrolls, the ability to handle all pay frequencies, cover multiple locations, make use of customizable hours, money and deductions alongside integration with other accounting software packages. The whole system is mobile-friendly too, which makes it convenient for people on the go.

Patriot: Performance

Users report that Patriot runs like a dream, which is hardly surprising given that the company has been plying its wares for so long. Given that the service handles a lot of data, particularly when it comes to employee details, Patriot also goes to great pains to remind us that security is its number one priority. Data is encrypted, audited annually and the company also adheres to all federal privacy, anti-fraud and security laws.

Patriot: Ease of use

Setting up any accounting or payroll product for the first time can be daunting, so Patriot gains praise for its ability to get you started and keep things ticking over further down the line. The company has done a great job in making improvements to the usability of the software, especially now that it has implemented a beefy setup wizard that can help new users get up and running faster. 

If you’ve got employees to think about and want to be sure that information input into the system is correct and where it should be then this wizard is a real bonus. Of course, setting things up is always going to be the hardest part of the process due to the need for adding employee data for the first time. However, Patriot has really come up trumps with the latest incarnation of its package.

Patriot: Support

The level of support that comes with the Patriot experience is what seems to drive many of its customers to keep using the online accounting and payroll service. Knowing that you’ve got people who can talk you through the various processes, features and functions is a valuable asset and Patriot consistently secures positive results on this front. 

While it is possible to soldier on and do everything yourself, with the benefit of plenty of online guidance, the support options are plentiful, including free phone, email and chat availability whenever you need them. However, the icing on the cake is having the ability to call on a Patriot expert to get you through any tricky stages, with the opportunity for hands-on, live help proving invaluable.

Patriot: Final verdict

Patriot is an excellent software option for business users searching for a duo of solutions on the accounting and payroll front. The company has had a long time to perfect its formula, and while it continues to make improvements including within the user interface, the core tools inside this package come very recommended. The pricing is competitive, the user experience makes it one of the easiest to understand packages out there and the way it uses support is a real bonus. 

In addition, having team members on hand to smooth the transition into using it makes Patriot very appealing. Overall then, this is an accounting and payroll package that should be investigated, especially if you're looking for the extra benefit of that hands-on, real-time support.

• We've also highlighted the best accounting software

Wondershare is one of the big names when it comes to creative tools and PC utilities. So, it’s no wonder that its Wondershare Recoverit excels as one of the best photo recovery apps.

The data recovery software has a superb interface, and behind that you’ll find a robust set of features that can recover photos and video – and, if you’re happy to pay for higher levels, you’ll benefit from video repair options and bootable recovery tools too. There's even support for recovering from NAS and Linux devices depending on the version you buy. 

On paper, there’s plenty to like. 

If you run your own business or just want data recovery for personal files, it’s easy to download and anyone can start using Wondershare Recoverit. There’s more data stored on computers, in photos, and over videos than ever before. Recoverit helps you protect that information so you don’t accidentally delete or have it stolen from you. We’ll cover the basic plan options you can choose from and the features that are included.  

Wondershare Recoverit: Plans & pricing

• Pricier than some alternatives, and with a restrictive free version 

Wondershare Recoverit does a rock-solid job at finding photos, but its pricing sits towards the top-end of the photo recovery market. While it’s worth paying if you want to restore important imagery, that’s worth bearing in mind if you’re on a budget.

The essential product includes photo and data recovery, deep scanning and free tech support, but it costs $69.99 for a one-year, one-PC license and $119 for lifetime access. Both prices lift Recoverit above many of its entry-level contemporaries in the data recovery market.

The Standard product adds the ability to recover pictures from crashed systems and lets users create bootable, portable versions of Recoverit on USB memory sticks, but it costs $79.99 for a one-year license and $139 for a lifetime license. 

At the top end is the Premium product, which takes all of those features and adds advanced video recovery, merging and repair tools, not to mention NAS, RAID and Linux recovery. That package costs $99.99 for a year of access or $159.99 for lifetime, but it does support two PCs rather than one. 

Wondershare claim that 'Premium' is the most popular version of this product but we’d only recommend it if you need those extra video repair abilities or are dealing with a non-Windows/Mac file system. 

We also don’t recommend the free download of Recoverit – its data limit of 100MB is tiny when compared to other free data recovery tools and trials. During our tests we also found that the free version wouldn't recover individual files of less than 100MB - we hit a software paywall each time we tried. 

This said, you can use the free version of Recoverit to run a "Quick Scan" and preview your files to see if recovery is possible before paying. If you do this though, remember the utility's preview feature will only play the first 30 seconds of any audio/video file and the first page of certain documents like XML files. 

Wondershare Recoverit: Interface

• An impressive interface, but perhaps TMI on-screen

Recoverit has one of the best interfaces you’ll find anywhere in the photo recovery scene. Boot the app, and you’ll see separate sections for your hard disks, SSDs, and external devices – a distinction that many other apps don’t make. 

There’s also a section at the bottom where you can quickly access the Recycle Bin, desktop or specific folders, so you’ll be able to reach common scanning scenarios quickly. That’s also welcome because lots of apps don’t allow you to scan an individual folder.

The Recoverit interface is very impressive. In fact, there’s so much information on the website that if you’re new to browsing photo and data recovery software, you might feel a bit overwhelmed. However, after looking around you’ll see how easy it is to view the plans and look at pricing. 

If you have questions, there’s an option to launch the FAQ on the Wondershare website. We found that when we entered a query though it displayed answers from external websites as well as the developers.

The online 'User Guide' on the other hand does sit on the Wondershare website and is extremely clear and well laid out. 

Recoverit does have customer support, available round the clock. You can easily reach out and chat over the website or send an email if you have additional questions. 

This is really important especially if you’re new to the world of data recovery. If you already know what to do, then it’s also easy to start with one of the paid plans.

Wondershare Recoverit: Features

• Good range of options and filtering for ease of use

If you want to recover a specific type of data, Recoverit allows you to. All you need to do is use the filtering function that’s set up in the software and you’ll have access to specific documents or files. Data recovery can go as fast as a few minutes. However, if you have tons of information to restore then it could take hours. 

There’s a great computer crash recovery feature which allows you to restore data lost on your hard drive. Even though this is a viable option, it’s always better to backup your data (and then it’s easy to restore) than lose your data and try to retrieve it. 

You can recover information lost on a wide variety of devices. Recoverit works on your computer or laptop, camera, drone, music player, even old camcorder. The software is great for recovering files or images that were accidentally lost. 

We were especially impressed to see how Recoverit runs simultaneous searches, displaying both found data and "Unsourced Files". These were files that are recoverable but are missing their metadata like filename, time stamp, size and so on. 

Wondershare Recoverit: How we tested

For our data recovery tests we used a virtual machine with a clean install of Windows 11. The only third-party tools installed besides Wondershare Recoverit were VLC Media Player and GIMP. We used the free version of the utility to run the tests. 

Data files

The files we chose for recovery are an album of Mozart's Music available from the Internet Archive. 

We did this as we wanted to see how the utility performed with a wide variety of files.The album included 4 music files (2 in Mp3 and 2 in FLAC) format, 6 JPG image files of album covers (with thumbnails) and 4 PNG image files. The files also included 2 XML files, a torrent file and an 'SQLite' file containing details of the album. There were 25 files in total. 

We copied the files in the music album to a 512MB virtual NTFS-formatted hard drive, which was then attached to the Windows 11 virtual machine.

Data tests

The tests were performed one after the other on three separate virtual drives:

1. File deletion: the album files were simply deleted from the drive and the Recycle Bin emptied. No other data was copied to the drive. We then tried to recover the files. 

2. Delete & format: The files were deleted as outlined above and we also performed a 'Quick Format' using the 'Disk Management' utility built into Windows 11. We then tried to recover the files from the formatted partition. 

3. Recover corrupted files: We used the freeware program 'Victoria' to overwrite the volume header of the drive containing the files with zeroes. The drive didn't mount automatically in File Explorer and showed as being unpartitioned in Windows "Disk Management" utility. We then checked if the utility could see it and if so, recover the files. 

We do not believe that running data recovery tools in a virtual environment has a significant effect on how they function. Still, if you're considering buying software we encourage you to read all reviews thoroughly and make sure that the developer offers a refund policy.

Wondershare Recoverit: Test results

Our very first test was run on a drive where the files had simply been deleted from the Recycle Bin. The "Quick Scan" feature found 28 files. These included the original 25 deleted files and their filenames, as well as 3 systems files. All files opened without any issue.

We next tested the drive which had been formatted after the files had been deleted. Wondershare Recoverit discovered 26 files in that case. These files were categorized as "Unsourced", in that their original names and other metadata weren't available.

The utility didn't recover all 25 the original deleted files this time. Of the 26 that were recovered, 4 were system files. The good news is that all the JPG and PNG files were recovered and opened without issue. The same was true for the two MP3 files, XML files and the .sqlite file. The two FLAC audio files and the torrent file weren't recovered this time.

Our final test was on the file with the corrupted volume header. Wondershare Recoverit spotted the "Lost Partition" right away and when we clicked it, performed a "Quick Scan". A total of 50 files were found but all but 21 showed as being unrecoverable, even when we clicked into them to try to repair them. 

This is where "Unsourced Files" came to the rescue again. Here we found 21 of the 25 original files, minus their filenames. The FLAC audio files, one JPG thumbnail and the torrent file were missing. All the rest opened without issue. 

Wondershare Recoverit: Photo recovery

• Huge format and device support make this a versatile option, even if it’s not too quick

As you've seen, the user can easily see images and other files that Recoverit has found during the scanning process. You're also able to instantly start restoration just by clicking in a damaged file – perfect if you can already spot the photos you need. Results are filterable with a broader range of variables than on most other apps, so it’s easier to find your lost images, and you’ll get warned if your disk or drive has any issues.

It’s very easy to use, and Wondershare’s app delivers thorough, in-depth scanning results. This is no surprise when you consider that Wondershare uses 35 data recovery patents to get the job done.

We’ve only got minor issues with scans using this app: In our latest review we were only performing quick scans in a small virtual drive, so results were displayed in seconds. Still, in previous reviews we found scans of larger drives are not particularly fast, especially if you deploy a deep scan.  

Photo previews aren’t very well-supported. That’s irritating if you want to look at files before committing to restoration. This is also crucial if you're simply installing Wondershare Recoverit to check if it can detect your missing files before paying for a subscription. As we mentioned, the free version of the app also refused to restore any files for us, even those well below the promised 100 MB quota. 

Still, there are many impressive aspects to Recoverit beyond the interface. It’s been verified to work with more than 2,000 different devices, including PC and Mac drives and SSDs, USB memory sticks, SD cards, cameras and external hard drives – it’ll hunt down photos on virtually anything. It also supports more than 1,000 different file formats, which is extensive. Photographers will be pleased to see RAW, PSD and CRW files among all of the key mainstream formats.

This app works with formatted drives, raw disks, partitions, and drives with invalid partition tables or excessive fragmentation. It works on Windows and Mac, too. Support is also excellent: it’s available 24 hours per day, and it’s free.

There are loads of extra features available, although some are only included at higher payment tiers. You’re able to create bootable disks and USB drives to recover photography from crashed PCs, and there’s also video repair, scanning and fragment merging on offer. Sadly, those video repair options don’t extend to photographs.

If you do want video repair, you can select "Enhanced Recovery" from within the Utility. This will only work for drives though : you can't choose specific folders. The utility also only supports the more common video formats like MP4, MOV and AVI. There's a feedback option if you want to request more obscure formats like Theora (OGV).

If the files you've recovered are corrupted, you can also try to repair them with Wondershare's Repairit. This is available as a desktop app, online and via e-mail as a service. 

The desktop version is priced at $69.99 a month, $79.99 for a one-year license or $99.99 for lifetime access, so it just adds cost. There is a free version which you can use to check if repair is possible before handing over your money. 

Wondershare Recoverit: Final verdict

There’s no doubt that Wondershare Recoverit is one of the market's classiest and most capable photo recovery solutions. Its interface makes it easy to use for beginners, and its range of features and effective scanning make it suitable for pro-tier photo recovery, too.

Wondershare Recoverit is data recovery software that works on practically any device. Even if you want to restore video on your old camcorder, you can use Recoverit to do so. If you want to protect data because you work from home, or just want to know your photos and videos are safe, then you can easily try the free download to see if it’s the right software for you.  

Beyond the thorough scanning you’ll find plenty of support for different file systems and formats alongside 24/7 support. Negatively, though, you get video repair but no photo repair at higher tiers, photo previews could be better, and scans could be a bit quicker for larger drives. We were also disappointed to see that the promised quota of 100MB of free recovery wasn't possible, though the 'Preview' feature did allow us to view most file formats. 

None of those issues are dealbreakers, though, especially if you want to use Wondershare Recoverit to recover photos and home or in a small business rather than a big enterprise. This is an effective product that combines powerful performance with impressive ease-of-use, so it should be at the top of your list.

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Wondershare Recoverit: Alternatives

There are many various data protection options available. SecureTrust Data Loss Prevention, McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention, Check Point Data Loss Prevention are just a few. 

What’s great about Recoverit is how easy it is to download and use. You can download the free version and start using it right away to see how it works. You can restore up to 100 MB free without even purchasing the plans. While it’s easy to download the software, the interface is still complex and might take beginners a while to figure out. 

Overall, Recoverit is a great data recovery option especially if you want to try one for free before making a purchase.  

We've tested the best free file recovery software