Free, subscription or on-premise licence: how time tracking and HR apps are priced, what a subscription should include and what free options leave out. Plus frequently asked questions.
Translated from Romanian. This article covers Romanian labour and tax law; the Romanian version is canonical and is updated first.
When you compare time tracking and HR apps, the first figure you see is the price per employee. It is rarely the one that matters. The real cost of a solution includes implementation, updates, support, time lost on corrections and the risk of not having your records in order during an inspection. A free app can turn out more expensive than a subscription, and a licence “paid once” can bring costs you don’t see in the offer. Below you’ll find how these apps are priced, what you should get for the money and how to compare two offers properly.
The starting point is simple: the law does not require you to use an app. It requires you to keep a record of working hours. Art. 119 of the Romanian Labour Code requires employers to keep, at the workplace, a record of the hours worked each day by each employee, with the start and end time of the working day, and to present it to inspectors on request. The form is up to you: a paper register, a spreadsheet or an app.
So the right question isn’t “do I need an app?”, but “which option gives me a correct record at the lowest total cost and the lowest risk?”. That is where the pricing model comes in.
The most common model: you pay monthly, depending on the number of employees and the modules used. Some simple apps charge only for time tracking; complete platforms also include leave, documents, contracts or payroll. Some vendors charge per employee, others a fixed account fee plus a per-employee component. When comparing, put the same features side by side, not just the prices. Monthly billing lets you adjust the number of users as the team changes; annual billing usually comes with a discount and less administration.
There are completely free apps and commercial platforms with a limited free plan (few users or basic features), designed as an entry point. They can be enough for a very small team with fixed hours and no staff turnover. The limits show quickly when you need approvals, payroll export, REGES-Online reporting or support.
You pay once for the licence and the software runs on your servers. In the long run it looks cheaper, but it comes with three constraints: the system stays isolated from other platforms, remote access is harder, and costs keep coming — servers, backups, updates, your IT team’s time.
Separately from the subscription or licence, many vendors charge for implementation: setup, data import, team training. The amount varies a lot between vendors and can completely change the first-year cost. Ask up front whether it’s included or charged separately.
A good subscription isn’t just access to an app. For what you pay each month, you should get:
A free app usually covers recording hours and a simple report. What’s typically missing: payroll export, leave managed according to Romanian rules, approval workflows, the link with REGES-Online and hiring tools. While the team is small it works; as it grows, you hit the ceiling.
Free apps usually have no support team. If data is missing, a calculation comes out wrong or something doesn’t work as expected, you’re on your own. And problems show up exactly at critical moments: when closing the month’s time records or before paying salaries.
A free app isn’t necessarily insecure — but often you don’t know where the data is, where it passes through or who can access it. And for employees’ personal data, the responsibility lies with the employer.
Employment law changes often. A free app usually has neither the obligation nor the resources to adapt in time. With a subscription, the technical adaptation is the vendor’s job.
Put the offers side by side on total first-year cost, not on the price per employee:
| What you compare | The question to ask |
|---|---|
| Subscription | Which modules and how many users does it include? How are employees who join or leave mid-month billed? |
| Implementation | Is it included? How much do setup, data import and training cost? |
| Support | Is it in Romanian? Who answers, how quickly and on which channel? |
| Internal time | How many hours a month does HR still lose on corrections, consolidations and manual exports? |
| Data | Where is it stored, which DPA do you sign, what do you get back if you leave? |
| Labour inspection | Can you export the record of a given day, with start and end times and the history of changes? |
If budget is the obstacle, also check which digitalisation funds are still available, what they cover and what traps the calls carry, in funding for SME digitalisation.
It depends on the number of employees, the modules you need and what’s included (implementation, migration, support). Apps that only do time tracking are cheaper than complete HR platforms, so a fair comparison is made on the same set of features and on total first-year cost.
No. What’s required is a daily record of hours worked, with start and end times, available at the workplace for inspectors (art. 119 of the Labour Code). You can keep it on paper, in a spreadsheet or in an app — the law doesn’t prescribe the tool.
For a very small team with fixed hours and no staff turnover, it may be. It stops being enough when you need approvals, payroll export, REGES-Online reporting, support or clear data protection documentation.
Monthly, if your headcount varies or the company is going through a reorganisation. Annual, if usage is stable — you usually get a better price and less administration.
Policies differ a lot between vendors. Ask in writing, before signing, how you get the data exported, in which format and when it is permanently deleted.
Anywhere from nothing to significant amounts, depending on the vendor and the volume. Ask up front — it changes the first-year cost significantly.
At Workly, prices are on request: you get an offer based on your actual number of employees and the modules you need — time tracking, leave, payroll with SAGA export, documents and the others — so you can compare the total cost, not just a rate. Support is in Romanian, and your time records are ready for an inspection at any time. You’ll find details about the packages on the pricing page.
Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Not legal or tax advice.
PNRR no longer takes applications, and digitalisation grants have moved to the 2021–2027 regional programmes. Which calls are announced, what they cover and where a project can go wrong.
Six motivation levers ordered by cost, from clarity and fairness to benefits: what the law requires, what doesn't work, how to measure the effect, and a 90-day plan for an SME.
Recruitment agency, temporary work agent, your own job ad or referrals: when each makes sense, the rules for job ads, GDPR for CVs and the steps from offer to the first day of work.
Workly newsletter
Get Workly news (new features and modules), the legislative changes that matter for HR and payroll, new document templates and the practical guides we publish on the blog, by email.
We'll show you how time tracking, payroll and the rest of the modules work for your company, in a short demo.
Request a demo