By use case

Time tracking with a terminal, without a work phone and without biometrics

A terminal solves two problems at once: anyone without a computer in front of them can still clock, and nobody has to hand over their private phone. The difference between providers lies less in the device than in whether dedicated hardware is needed and what it costs on top.

As at:September 2026

The question behind the question

In the employee posts analysed, the two most common objections to digital time recording are being forced to use a private device and the worry about biometric recording. Both are legitimate. A private phone is private property, and a fingerprint is biometric data under Article 9 GDPR, whose processing is subject to special requirements.

Anyone looking for a terminal is therefore usually looking not just for a device but for a solution that does not start that argument in the first place. A card reader does that; a fingerprint sensor does not.

Six providers with an evidenced terminal solution

This overview is not a complete survey of the market: it lists the providers for which a statement on terminals with a source exists. For the remaining providers among the 23 compared, the evidence is missing, and a row with a question mark would be worse than no row.

Terminal offerings with sources, as of September 2026

  • MetronHR

    Hardware
    an Android device with NFC, supplied by you
    Costs extra
    no, included in the ordinary plan

  • TimeTac

    Hardware
    the provider's own hardware terminals
    Costs extra
    base fee plus a usage fee per module and person

  • askDANTE

    Hardware
    the provider's own terminals
    Costs extra
    hardware separately

  • MEP24

    Hardware
    terminals via an interface to Datafox
    Costs extra
    yes, recording to the minute with a terminal is an add-on module

  • Ordio

    Hardware
    a terminal in the range
    Costs extra
    yes, legally compliant time recording with a terminal starts with the Plus package from 129 euros per site

  • ZEP

    Hardware
    a terminal in the price calculator
    Costs extra
    yes, added on like absences and overtime

  • Timebutler

    Hardware
    a clocking terminal listed on the pricing page
    Costs extra
    scope varies by package

Third-party figures from the providers' pricing and feature pages, retrieved on 2 and 3 September 2026. Crewmeister names "time recording with app and terminal" without stating anything about hardware and is therefore not in the table.

What the choice comes down to

Not the device. A card reader is a card reader. What differs are three points that only stand out in daily use.

  • Dedicated hardware or your own device: anyone able to use a tablet that is already there has no lead time and no spare parts problem.
  • What happens in a network outage: a terminal without a buffer is useless during the fault, and the times are missing afterwards.
  • What is on the card: a number is not the same as a name with a photo, and that decides how involved codetermination becomes.

What MetronHR does at the terminal, and what it does not

The card is read, nothing else. No fingerprint, no facial image. The card carries a number, and what is stored is a check value from which it cannot be recovered. At the device only clocking is possible: no evaluations, no personnel data, no settings.

If the network fails, the terminal buffers and delivers afterwards. Every booking carries a consecutive number per device and the hash of its predecessor, so that a gap stands out and the same booking does not arrive twice.

Further reading:Pricing and feature pages of TimeTac, askDANTE, MEP24, Ordio, ZEP and Timebutler, retrieved on 02 and 03/09/2026 · MetronHR's terminal behaviour, checked against the data model and the device integration, 04/09/2026

Information about competitors comes from their publicly available pages and can change. This is not legal advice; for a specific case in your business it is better to ask someone with a licence to practise.

Frequently asked questions

What we get asked about this most often.

Not at MetronHR. The terminal with a card manages without any personal device. Anyone who wants to use the app anyway can do so voluntarily. With other providers it depends on the offering: where there is no terminal, only the app or the browser remains.

Not at MetronHR: an Android device with NFC is enough, and you can supply it yourself. TimeTac and askDANTE sell their own terminals, and MEP24 connects Datafox devices via an interface. That is not a disadvantage in itself, it just means lead time, a purchase and one more spare parts problem.

At MetronHR no, only the card is read. Whatever fingerprint or facial recognition an Android device brings from the factory is switched off in operation. That removes the assessment under Article 9 GDPR, and codetermination under section 87(1) no. 6 BetrVG becomes considerably simpler.

As a rule yes. We can only say for certain once we have seen one of your cards, and that is exactly what we do before you order. A blanket promise covering all card types would not be provable.

Nothing for the software, it is part of the ordinary plan. What you need is an Android device with NFC and a card for each person who clocks at the terminal. With several providers, by contrast, the terminal is a paid module or tied to a higher package.

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