Buddy Punch and SKEDS overlap on scheduling but solve different problems, so it helps to be clear about the difference. Here is a fair comparison to help you choose.
What Buddy Punch is good at
Buddy Punch is a straightforward time tracking and employee scheduling tool, popular with US businesses running hourly teams. Punching in via phone or kiosk with GPS and geofencing, drag-and-drop shift schedules, PTO tracking and payroll-ready exports are its bread and butter, and it does them simply and well. It tracks people and hours rather than customer jobs, quoting, dispatch and invoicing are not what it is for.
Where SKEDS focuses
SKEDS is a job scheduling and management platform built around a live dispatch board, an offline field app, and site safety and invoicing in one place, localised for 11 markets. If recurring maintenance, built-in health and safety, and local tax and accounting matter to you, that is where SKEDS puts its weight.
Compare them point by point
Here is what SKEDS offers against the things worth checking on any tool. We have filled in our own column and left Buddy Punch for you to confirm, because their plans and features change over time.
| Capability | SKEDS | Buddy Punch |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling & dispatch | Drag-and-drop board with day, week and team views, plus travel time | Check Buddy Punch’s current plan |
| Field app & offline | iOS, Android and web; crews can open jobs, add photos and complete safety checks offline, then sync | Check Buddy Punch’s current plan |
| Health & safety | SWMS, hazard boards, incident reports and PPE checks built in and attached to each job | Check Buddy Punch’s current plan |
| Invoicing & accounting | Quote to job to invoice, syncing both ways to Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and local ledgers | Check Buddy Punch’s current plan |
| Recurring & repeat jobs | Repeat-job templates and scheduled series for maintenance contracts | Check Buddy Punch’s current plan |
| Inventory | Track materials and allocate stock to a job as parts are used | Check Buddy Punch’s current plan |
| Local fit | 11 markets with local currency, tax handling and language | Check Buddy Punch’s current plan |
| Migration | Guided import of clients, jobs, quotes and price lists, plus generic CSV | Check Buddy Punch’s current plan |
| Pricing model | Per user, per month, no lock-in, with a 14-day free trial | Check Buddy Punch’s current plan |
How to decide
If you mainly need clean time and attendance for payroll, Buddy Punch is a sensible pick. If you need the jobs themselves managed, scheduled, dispatched, made safe and invoiced, that is SKEDS territory. The honest answer is still to try the one you are leaning toward on a real week of your own work. SKEDS offers a free 14-day trial and a guided import, so you can move your clients and jobs across and compare like-for-like rather than from a feature list. Not sure where to start? Our comparison guide walks through the criteria.
A note on fairness
We have described Buddy Punch in general terms and our own product specifically. Features and pricing for other products change often, so confirm the current details on Buddy Punch’s own site before deciding. SKEDS is not affiliated with Buddy Punch, and nothing here is meant to disparage it.
Try SKEDS on your own jobs
Import your data, schedule a week, and send an invoice, all inside the free trial.
Start free trial