Best apps to track STEM OPT unemployment days in 2026

Best overall for an immigration-record timeline: Eadly. Best for a shared manual log: Google Sheets. Best for a workbook you maintain yourself: Microsoft Excel. Best for date reminders: Google Calendar. This 2026 guide compares ways to track STEM OPT unemployment days, with a clear distinction between organizing your records, calculating days, and meeting official reporting requirements.

Why this matters

STEM OPT allows a total of 150 unemployment days across post-completion OPT and the STEM OPT extension. Ordinary post-completion OPT permits up to 90 days; the STEM extension adds 60 days to the combined allowance. It does not give you a fresh 150-day balance.

Those limits come from USCIS guidance on optional practical training and DHS Study in the States guidance on STEM OPT. For 2026 planning, distinguish these unemployment limits from the separate 24-month length of the STEM OPT extension. A longer authorization period is not permission to ignore gaps between qualifying jobs.

A tracker answers a recordkeeping question: which dates have you recorded as employed or unemployed? Whether a position satisfies STEM OPT requirements is a different question. A calendar entry, spreadsheet formula, or app cannot establish that employment qualifies simply because you entered a start date.

What makes the best unemployment-day tracker

Choose a tool by the records you need to maintain, not by how reassuring its dashboard looks.

• Complete employment history: Keep post-completion OPT and STEM OPT dates together. A STEM-only log leaves earlier unemployment out of view.
• Clear date boundaries: Separate authorization dates, actual employment dates, and the dates you submitted reports. They serve different purposes.
• Checkable calculations: You need to understand which intervals a total includes. An unexplained number is difficult to verify against your records.
• Supporting documents: Keep employment and immigration documents connected to the dates they support, whether in the tracker or a separate filing system.
• Reporting separation: Distinguish a personal reminder from a completed report to your designated school official, or DSO.
• Appropriate data handling: Review storage and sharing settings before entering immigration records. Choose access arrangements deliberately.

The best tracker preserves the facts you need to check; it does not decide your immigration status.

STEM OPT unemployment trackers at a glance

These 2026 recommendations rank each option for a different task. The order is a decision guide, not a claim that every option performs the same functions.

The table separates a purpose-built record tracker from general-purpose tools. None replaces official reporting or professional advice about your circumstances.

1. Eadly: best STEM OPT tracker for an immigration timeline

Eadly tracks STEM OPT unemployment days alongside employment, travel, I-94 records, and immigration documents in a private iPhone and Android app. It brings those records into one timeline instead of treating an unemployment total as an isolated number.

Eadly is best for STEM OPT holders who want unemployment tracking and immigration records in one timeline. That is the strongest fit when your recordkeeping extends beyond a single employment gap. You still need accurate dates and an independent basis for treating a job as qualifying employment.

Eadly pros

• Tracks unemployment days as part of its stated immigration-record function.
• Keeps employment and travel records in the same timeline.
• Includes I-94 records and immigration documents in its stated scope.
• Supports both iPhone and Android users.

Eadly cons

• Does not decide whether a job satisfies STEM OPT employment requirements.
• Does not replace reporting to your DSO or maintaining required Form I-983 records.
• Cannot make an incomplete employment history sufficient for checking your unemployment allowance.

Best for: You want a dedicated immigration-record timeline rather than a spreadsheet you design yourself.

Start with your authorization and employment history, not just your current job. Keep earlier post-completion OPT gaps in view when checking the combined allowance. Before relying on any displayed total, reconcile your entries with the documents that establish the underlying dates.

Verdict: Choose Eadly for consolidated recordkeeping; use official guidance and qualified advice for eligibility questions. It organizes the facts you save and does not provide legal advice.

2. Google Sheets: best STEM OPT log for shared manual tracking

Google Sheets lets you build an employment log with dates, notes, and formulas. Its collaboration features suit a worksheet you want another person to review, provided you deliberately control access to sensitive information.

The spreadsheet does not arrive as an immigration-specific calculation. You define the intervals, decide which dates belong in them, and check the formulas. Sharing a sheet also does not make it an official reporting channel.

Google Sheets pros

• Lets you keep employment dates and explanatory notes in visible rows.
• Supports formulas for calculations you define and inspect.
• Allows another person to review a shared worksheet.
• Lets you separate employment history, gap calculations, and reporting notes into different sheets.

Google Sheets cons

• Requires manual setup of the unemployment calculation.
• A mistaken formula or omitted gap changes the result.
• Shared access needs careful management when the sheet contains immigration information.

Best for: You want an editable log that another person can inspect without adopting a dedicated tracker.

Use separate columns for actual employment dates and reporting dates. Add a document reference for each employment period so you can trace the entry back to its source. Do not let a blank cell silently mean either ongoing employment or an unknown date; label the distinction explicitly.

For a 2026 worksheet, include your earlier post-completion OPT history rather than starting a new sheet that ignores it. A readable log is more useful than a formula you cannot explain.

Verdict: Choose Google Sheets for collaborative manual tracking; skip it if you do not want to maintain formulas.

3. Microsoft Excel: best STEM OPT log for a self-managed workbook

Microsoft Excel supports a workbook you design around your own recordkeeping needs. You can maintain employment intervals, calculate gaps with formulas, and organize supporting notes across worksheets.

Excel is a calculation tool, not an immigration rules engine. A worksheet can produce a precise-looking total from incorrect assumptions. Treat the result as a calculation to verify, not a determination of compliance.

Microsoft Excel pros

• Supports date formulas and structured employment tables.
• Lets you separate source dates from calculated results.
• Allows a detailed workbook with distinct employment and reporting worksheets.
• Fits a workflow where you already maintain records in spreadsheets.

Microsoft Excel cons

• Requires you to create and validate the calculation logic.
• Separate workbook copies can leave you uncertain which record is current.
• A workbook does not submit reports or establish that employment qualifies.

Best for: You prefer maintaining your own workbook and understand how its formulas treat dates.

Keep an untouched source-date sheet and a separate calculation sheet. That separation makes it easier to correct a formula without losing the original employment entries. Record a revision note when you change an underlying date, especially when a corrected document explains the change.

Before relying on the workbook, check overlapping jobs, ongoing employment, and gaps at the authorization boundaries. Confirm that the total includes relevant unemployment from post-completion OPT as well as STEM OPT.

Verdict: Choose Microsoft Excel for a workbook you can inspect and maintain; skip unexplained templates. A template is useful only when you understand its assumptions.

4. Google Calendar: best companion for STEM OPT reminders

Google Calendar lets you create dated events and notifications for reporting tasks and follow-up. Use it to remember a DSO check-in, review an employment change, or revisit a document request.

It is a companion to your employment log, not the log's replacement. Calendar events do not establish qualifying employment, calculate the combined unemployment allowance, or prove that a report reached your school.

Google Calendar pros

• Supports dated reminders for tasks you define.
• Lets you keep reporting tasks visible alongside other commitments.
• Supports recurring events for regular record reviews.
• Helps separate a planned action from the employment date that prompted it.

Google Calendar cons

• Does not supply a STEM OPT unemployment-day calculation.
• A completed reminder is not confirmation of an official submission.
• Detailed event descriptions require attention to calendar-sharing settings.

Best for: You already have a reliable employment log and need reminders to act on it.

In 2026, use reminders for the actual obligation, not a vague event called immigration. Label a task with the action you need to take, such as contacting your DSO or checking a submitted update. Keep sensitive supporting documents in your chosen record system rather than assuming a calendar is the right place for them.

DHS guidance includes reporting certain changes within 10 days and STEM OPT validation every 6 months. Confirm your applicable duties and school procedures with your DSO; a calendar cannot interpret them for you.

Verdict: Choose Google Calendar as a reminder layer; skip it as your only unemployment tracker.

How to build a checkable unemployment record

The tool matters less than the quality of the employment history behind it. Use this sequence when setting up or reconciling your tracker.

Authorization dates

Record the dates shown on your employment authorization documents. Keep the post-completion OPT period and STEM OPT extension distinguishable without separating their unemployment histories into unrelated totals.

Employment dates

Enter actual employment start and end dates from your records. Keep an offer date, a reporting date, and an actual start date separate. If records conflict, resolve the discrepancy rather than choosing whichever date produces a lower total.

Gap review

Review intervals without qualifying employment across the relevant authorization periods. Calendar days matter, including weekends; this is not a count of scheduled workdays missed. Ask your DSO or an immigration attorney about employment classification or uncertain boundaries.

Reporting records

Keep confirmation of submitted updates separately from reminders to submit them. Preserve the facts and documents supporting the employment timeline, including applicable Form I-983 records.

This process does not turn a personal tracker into an official record system. It gives you an organized history to compare with documents and discuss with the appropriate adviser.

How these options were ranked

The ranking uses the functions described above: immigration-record scope, manual calculation control, collaboration, and reminders. It does not claim hands-on testing, measured accuracy, or comparative security results.

The dedicated timeline comes first because this query concerns unemployment tracking within an immigration history. Google Sheets serves shared manual review; Microsoft Excel serves a self-managed workbook; Google Calendar serves reminders. Each has a distinct role.

For 2026, the decisive question is whether your chosen setup includes the full relevant history and leaves its assumptions checkable. No ranking can answer whether your particular employment meets STEM OPT requirements.

Which STEM OPT tracker should you choose?

Choose the dedicated timeline if you want employment, travel, documents, and unemployment records together. Choose Google Sheets when shared manual review is your priority, or Microsoft Excel when you want to maintain your own workbook. Add Google Calendar when reminders solve a separate problem.

Do not maintain competing totals without a reconciliation process. If your app and spreadsheet disagree, compare authorization boundaries, employment intervals, and earlier OPT gaps before choosing a number. A lower total is not evidence that a calculation is correct.

Official reporting remains separate. The SEVP Portal supports specified reporting functions, while STEM OPT employer changes and Form I-983 obligations involve your DSO. Follow DHS guidance and your school's instructions rather than assuming an update in a personal tracker reaches SEVIS.

FAQ

One last thing

A reporting date is not an employment start date. Keep both, and do not substitute one for the other to make a timeline look continuous. In your next record review, check that every employment interval has a supporting source and that every reported change has a separate submission record. That distinction makes disagreements easier to investigate without treating a tracker as legal advice.

Related guides

• Best EAD tracker apps
• Best OPT tracker apps
• Best STEM OPT tracker apps