DeskTime

DeskTime is a Riga time tracker that grew out of Draugiem Group, a Latvian business incubator, back in 2011, and it takes the opposite approach from most of this list: it tracks automatically in the background from the moment a computer is switched on, categorising which applications and websites were used into productivity scores rather than waiting for a person to remember to press start on a timer for each task.

The Premium tier adds periodic screenshots and shift scheduling on top of that automatic capture, which is a genuine employee-monitoring feature set — the same territory as the US-built surveillance tools this directory otherwise steers buyers away from — but built and operated by a Latvian company holding both ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certification, rather than by an offshore vendor with no comparable accountability or EU establishment.

Pro starts at $5.50 per user per month and Premium at $8.25, both excluding VAT, with a 14-day free trial, one month free on annual billing, and custom Enterprise pricing above 200 users. That undercuts most of the timers on this list on price alone, which is part of how DeskTime competes against the free-to-cheap US monitoring tools it is really up against. Buyers considering the monitoring tier specifically should read this category's works-council guidance before switching screenshots on.

What DeskTime does well

• ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certified
• Automatic app and website tracking, no manual timer needed
• Screenshots and shift scheduling on Premium
• Latvian company, EU jurisdiction
• 14-day free trial

Where DeskTime falls short

• Screenshot and scoring features are genuine monitoring, needing a legal basis
• Not the choice for teams avoiding surveillance features
• Enterprise pricing only above 200 users
• Prices in dollars, not euros

Standout feature. The one European alternative here to the US monitoring-first tools, screenshots and productivity scores included.