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Arcoro Time (ExakTime) vs SmartBarrel

Two construction time-tracking products that both offer jobsite clocks and payroll exports, with different emphases. Arcoro Time (formerly ExakTime) is a GPS time-tracking app and rugged time clocks tied to Arcoro Payroll and HR, with published per-employee prices. SmartBarrel is biometric time tracking built around AI facial verification on a portable TimeClock, a shared kiosk or workers' phones, with no published prices. Largely like-for-like on crew time capture; not like-for-like on how each verifies who clocked in or on pricing. Vendor pages read Nov 1, 2026; desk research from vendor sites, no winner.

DESK RESEARCH FROM VENDOR SITES. Compiled from vendors' public websites (accessed Nov 1, 2026). Vendor claims are not verified by Means & Methods Lab. No scores or rankings.

In short: Arcoro Time (formerly ExakTime) (GPS time tracking for construction crews; vendor publishes prices) vs SmartBarrel (Biometric time tracking; no public prices (quote / sales)). Facts last checked Nov 1, 2026. No winner declared; desk research from vendor sites.

Side by side

Arcoro Time (ExakTime) vs SmartBarrel: vendor-published facts side by side
Sheet rowArcoro Time (formerly ExakTime)SmartBarrel
CategoryGPS time tracking for construction crewsBiometric time tracking
AI role (our label)Not AI-firstAI features added to established product
What it doesGPS-verified time tracking for contractors and construction crews, renamed from ExakTime to Arcoro Time; exaktime.com redirects to arcoro.com/exaktime. The product page lists geofenced clock-ins limited to a job site or breadcrumb tracking, project and cost-code hours, tool and equipment tracking with incident/repair notes, a daily employee work report across job sites, regular vs overtime hours by site, start/stop detail per employee, Photo ID Capture and a tablet kiosk option, and connection to Arcoro Payroll or your payroll provider. Integrations named: QuickBooks, Sage, ADP, Acumatica, Foundation and Viewpoint. The FAQ says GPS is active only while an employee is on the clock. The site says Arcoro has served construction since 2018, while the page footer dates the time-tracking product to 1999 (vendor wording; ExakTime predates the rename). The only AI mention we found is AI-powered support tools in Arcoro's support center; the time-tracking product itself is not described as AI. Payroll-loss figures and customer quotes on the page are vendor content and are not used.Biometric time tracking for construction, using AI facial verification across three clock-in methods: the portable TimeClock 4.0 (workers clock in with a phone number, fob or RFID badge; IP65-rated, weatherproof and magnetic; AC, solar or battery powered; LTE connected, with no fasteners, power or Wi-Fi needed per the vendor), Kiosk Mode (a shared phone or tablet, geofenced, works offline) and Punch Mode (workers' own phones, with a time-stamped text after each punch). The vendor says a photo is captured at each check-in and compared with earlier photos, no photo upload is needed to onboard, and it works with hard hats and safety glasses. Also lists automatic timesheets with rounding, break, overtime and double-time rules, cost codes and production quantities, budget vs actual and burned vs earned hours, daily logs, GPS location verification, audit logs of time changes, PPE detection, safety and compliance (incident reporting and broadcast communication) and expenses (per diem, mileage, truck allowance, reimbursements). Integrations: Procore, CMiC, Viewpoint Vista and Spectrum, Foundation, Sage, QuickBooks, ComputerEase, Plexxis, BuildOps, Power BI and an API. Accuracy, rating and savings figures and customer quotes are vendor content and are not used.
Who it's forConstruction contractors and payroll administrators replacing paper time cards with GPS-verified, cost-coded time.Trade contractors, including union and temp labor.
Pricing (as publicly stated)Vendor-listed prices (Arcoro Time pricing page): Time Essential from $9, Time Professional from $12 and Time + Payroll from $20 per employee per month, with an annual contract and annual payment terms; monthly and quarterly payment terms are also available, and volume pricing is offered for organizations with 200+ employees. Time Essential covers mobile time and attendance, GPS/location tracking, meal-break tracking, custom forms and alerts; Time Professional adds job-assignment scheduling and PTO administration; Time + Payroll adds paying employees through Arcoro Payroll. A free trial is offered. Confirm current terms with the vendor.No public prices: the vendor site has no pricing or plans link, /pricing and /plans return a not-found page, and the calls to action are Book Free Demo and Get a Demo. Confirm pricing with the vendor.
User reviewsNo reviews yet. Read or writeNo reviews yet. Read or write
Vendor links
Sources

Facts last checked: Nov 1, 2026. Prices change; check the vendor page before relying on them.

Where the vendor descriptions differ

  • Time capture (vendor pages): Arcoro Time lists GPS geofencing that limits clock-ins to a job site, breadcrumb geotracking, project and cost codes, equipment tracking with incident and repair notes, a daily employee work report and employee time cards; its site menu also lists Photo ID Capture and Rugged Time Clocks. SmartBarrel lists the portable TimeClock 4.0 (IP65-rated, AC, solar or battery powered, built-in cellular, no Wi-Fi needed), Kiosk Mode on a shared phone or tablet with geofencing that works offline, and Punch Mode on workers' own phones.
  • Where the AI is: Arcoro Time is tagged Not AI-first; its page mentions AI only in customer-support tools. SmartBarrel is tagged AI features added to established product: every clock-in method uses AI facial verification, comparing each check-in photo with earlier photos to prevent buddy punching, and it lists PPE detection among its features.
  • Beyond hours: SmartBarrel lists production quantities, earned vs burned hours, real-time headcounts, daily logs, safety incident reporting, broadcast communication and per diem, mileage and truck allowance tracking. Arcoro Time's plans add meal-break tracking, custom forms and alerts (Essential), job-assignment scheduling and PTO administration (Professional) and paying employees through Arcoro Payroll (Time + Payroll).
  • Integrations: Arcoro Time names QuickBooks, Sage, ADP, Acumatica, Foundation and Viewpoint, and lists Procore among its partners. SmartBarrel names Procore, CMiC, Viewpoint Vista and Spectrum, Plexxis, Foundation, Sage, ComputerEase, QuickBooks, Power BI and an API.
  • Pricing (checked Nov 1, 2026): Arcoro Time lists Time Essential from $9, Time Professional from $12 and Time + Payroll from $20 per employee per month billed annually, with monthly and quarterly payment terms, volume pricing for 200+ employees and a free trial. SmartBarrel publishes no prices (/pricing returns a not-found page; Book Free Demo). Hardware costs for either vendor's time clocks are not shown on the pages read.
  • Not used here: Arcoro's 'since 1999' and number-one claims and customer quotes, and SmartBarrel's 100% accuracy line, per-worker savings, payroll-correction and hours-saved figures and customer quotes (vendor material). Facts for both tools come from vendor websites (desk research).

Paraphrased from the sources listed above. Vendor claims are reported as claims.

What users say

The facts above come from vendor websites. Whether either tool is any good for your work is something only people who use them can say. These are member reviews, all ratings shown, never edited or removed for being negative.

Used either of these? Share your take

Good or bad, an honest review from an estimator, PM or super helps the next team more than another vendor demo. You post under a handle; your email is never shown.

Questions to ask in your review

  • How each identifies the worker at a shared clock: Arcoro's photo ID capture versus SmartBarrel's AI facial match
  • What the time-clock hardware costs from each vendor, and what SmartBarrel charges per worker or per site
  • How each handles worker consent and retention rules for facial images or GPS data in your state
  • What did you use it for, on what kind of work and project size?
  • How long did setup and training take, and who on your team did it?
  • What does it cost you in practice, compared with what the sales call said?

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