7 Best Hubstaff Alternatives for Employee Time Tracking [2024]

If you’ve ever scrolled through a list of the best time tracking apps, you likely came across Hubstaff. However, some users are moving to alternative platforms for the following reasons:

• Limited integration capabilities: Though it offers many integrations, users have faced unresolved glitches while integrating with project management tools like Asana and Trello.
• Intrusive time tracking: Its employee monitoring features (like screenshotting and idle time detector) discourage users from using the app, impacting employee morale and trust in the long run.
• Lacks business-focused analytics: It doesn’t offer useful insights for improving business outcomes and profitability.

We scoured the market for Hubstaff alternatives that address these pain points, tested them for two weeks, and compiled them in this article. We then rated each app on four commonly discussed categories for your convenience:

• Ease of Use
• Time Tracking
• Analytics
• Pricing

Now let’s start with a quick summary of the best Hubstaff alternatives.

Best Hubstaff alternatives: Executive Summary

What is Hubstaff?

Unhappy with existing workforce tracking tools, Dave Nevogt and Jared Brown started Hubstaff in 2012 to develop a better way for remote teams to track employee hours and measure productivity. 

The platform offers a comprehensive time tracking solution, including a simple time clock that lets employees track time from their browser, desktop, or mobile. The time data is automatically fed into timesheets so managers can process payroll, invoice clients, and analyze costs. 

However, Hubstaff relies heavily on employee monitoring software (like real-time activity tracking, idle time detectors, and employee screenshots) to ensure that the work gets done. Also, despite its focus on dashboards and reports, we found it doesn’t offer any helpful information on improving business profitability — it focuses more on employee productivity instead.

Considering its key features and drawbacks, Hubstaff is best for managers looking to monitor and improve the productivity of on-site workforces. But new users will find its busy dashboard difficult to navigate. Also, employees may not be big fans of its many monitoring features.

We also used this as a base when building our list of Hubstaff alternatives. 

More on that next!

How we curated our list of Hubstaff alternatives

We first compiled a list of the best time tracking apps based on user reviews on review sites and our own experience. Then, we tested each app by tracking time with them while writing this article.

We assessed each platform based on four criteria commonly discussed on review sites and forums online:

• Ease of Use — How easily can team members adopt the new platform?
• Time Tracking — Is tracking time on the app easier than Hubstaff?
• Analytics — Does the tool offer more valuable insights and reports than Hubstaff?
• Pricing — Does it offer more value for money than Hubstaff?

We set up a writing project on each app and tracked the time to perform various tasks like research, writing, editing, and such. While doing this, we also recorded our experience while keeping the four criteria in mind.

At Toggl, we don’t believe in employee monitoring. But if you’re looking for an alternative to Hubstaff, known for its employee monitoring features, it’s likely that surveillance features are important to you.

Which is why we divided our list into two sections…

❗DISCLAIMER:

With that out of the way, let’s jump into the app reviews!

Hubstaff Alternatives without Employee Monitoring 

Even if employee monitoring is a priority, experience tells us a work culture built on trust brings out the best in your employees. 

If you agree, here are a few time tracking apps that get the job done while respecting employee autonomy and privacy.

Note: If this is definitely not your cup of tea, you can jump directly to our list of Hubstaff alternatives with employee monitoring.

1. Toggl Track – Best Hubstaff alternative overall

In 2006, Alari Aho and Krister Haav founded Toggl as a full-fledged time tracking & productivity platform designed to bring the best out of your team. Eventually, the time tracking app was renamed to Toggl Track once Toggl Plan and Toggl Hire were launched.

Toggl offers simple time tracking tools with auto-tracking features so you can easily fill in timesheets. But where Toggl truly shines is in its Analytics and Insights tools, offering a unique window into work habits to improve productivity. Combine this with Toggl’s many integrations with third-party tools and extensions and you have a solution that seamlessly integrates time tracking into your digital workflow. Toggl does this without using any employee monitoring features to uphold its commitment to an individual’s privacy.

Toggl Track is perfect for large teams and enterprises looking to provide decision-makers with data-driven insights that improve productivity and profitability while creating a culture of growth, performance, and trust.

Time Tracking: Toggl Track is the best Hubstaff alternative without employee monitoring.

Toggl Track lets you track time using a web app, desktop app, or mobile app. Since all three sync up, your time data is up to date in real-time across all three. The desktop app has two automatic time tracking features to make entering time data easier:

• Autotracker, which records your time based on preset conditions.
• Timeline, which tracks your computer activity so you can copy them into your timesheet directly. 

Toggl doesn’t offer any employee monitoring software, such as screenshots. Instead, it nudges employees to track time with Reminders, offers idle time detection for better time management, and helps them improve productivity with Pomodoro focus sessions.

It tops that off with in-depth reports on tracked time so you can understand where you can improve your business’ profitability — which we’ll explore next.

Analytics: Toggl Track is the best Hubstaff alternative for insights into your business profitability.

Toggl Track has three built-in analytics dashboards: Reports, Analytics, and Insights. 

Hubstaff has three similar dashboards, but they work differently from Toggl’s. To better understand both, we’ll compare each Toggl dashboard with their Hubstaff equivalent. 

Reports give you a quick overview of the time spent and earnings. You can visualize the data as a bar chart, list, or donut chart. It also has basic filters so you can analyze what employees are working on. 

On the other hand, Hubstaff offers a wide array of predefined reports (1) around time and activity, work sessions, budgets, etc. Though quite detailed, it doesn’t offer any real way to compare the time data like Toggl. It’s more helpful in creating productivity reports for employee performance reviews.

Toggl also offers a completely customizable reporting feature called Analytics. You can create custom dashboards with multiple visualization options like tables, pivots, donut charts, and more. It’s a great tool to slice and dice your time data for deeper insights into how employee productivity is impacting your business. 

Hubstaff doesn’t have a customizable reporting feature like Toggl. It displays employee monitoring data in the Activity tab (shown below). Screenshots are taken in 10-minute intervals and are color-coded to highlight employee work during that interval.

Finally, you have the Insights feature in Toggl. It uses time data to show workforce trends by project, team, and client. You can make data-driven business decisions by comparing profitability across projects, employees, and date ranges.

Hubstaff has a similar Insights feature but focuses more on employee productivity. As you can see in the screenshot below, it lets you know if employees are meeting productivity KPIs and where they’re spending most of their time. 

While productivity is important, we believe measuring the value of your employee’s output matters more than the actual work hours. That’s why Toggl chooses to focus on measuring employee profitability over productivity. 

Ease of Use: Toggl Track is the best Hubstaff alternative for simpler workflows.

Toggl Track’s web app has a clean layout with a time clock at the top, followed by your time data below. You can visualize the data in a list, week, or calendar view. 

Anything that isn’t time tracking related is only available on the web app. This includes reports, employee tasks, billable hours, and team activity. Its decentralized approach means employees can focus on their work while managers can monitor everything from the web app. 

Meanwhile, Hubstaff uses widgets detailing your earnings, time data, employee activity, and so on. You can add, remove, and rearrange them to your specifications. 

Though this offers a lot of flexibility, setting it up takes time. Moreover, the timer is relegated to a small space at the top left corner, making it difficult to find (it took us 20 minutes and a Google search).

Toggl Track Pricing

Toggl’s pricing starts at $10/mo/user with access to task tracking, project templates, and calendar sync. Hubstaff is cheaper at $9/mo/user but it gets more expensive as you scale. For example, you get access to all Toggl features in its Premium plan at $20/mo/user while upgrading to the Enterprise plan at $25/mo/user to get similar features on Hubstaff. 

Use Toggl Track if:

• You’re looking for software that prioritizes time tracking.
• You want valuable insights to help improve your business. 
• You want to create a work culture that values privacy and trust.

2. Paymo – Best Hubstaff alternative for project time tracking

Like Hubstaff, Paymo lets you automatically track time for individual tasks using the web, mobile, or desktop app. 

But what makes Paymo a great Hubstaff alternative is it combines time tracking with project management features like project templates, Kanban boards, and expense tracking. Moreover, you can use the time data to create and send accurate invoices while tracking any payments directly on the platform.

Paymo Pricing 

Paymo’s free version is better than Hubstaff since it offers somewhat more features. For example, you can add up to five clients and unlimited tasks on Paymo, while Hubstaff only allows three clients and 100 tasks total. 

There isn’t much separating the two when it comes to paid plans. Paymo’s pricing starts at $9.9/mo/user, while Hubstaff starts at a flat $9/mo/user. However, when you compare their offerings, growing businesses will find more value for money using Paymo than Hubstaff.

Use Paymo if:

• Your development team needs a project planning tool with time tracking features.
• You’re looking for a time tracking app that can scale with your business.
• You’re looking for feature-rich software with an affordable pricing plan. 

3. Harvest – Best Hubstaff alternative for tracking contractor time

Harvest offers a neater user interface than Hubstaff. The time tracker is conveniently located in the main dashboard, along with the timesheet and edit options. It isn’t crowded with reports and insights either, like Hubstaff’s dashboard. Instead, it focuses on what’s important: tracking time. 

Additionally, its invoicing feature lets you create detailed invoices showing expenses at a task, employee, and project level — useful for clients asking for a detailed invoice. The minimalistic interface and invoicing make it an ideal time tracking tool for billing contractors. 

Harvest Pricing 

Harvest’s free plan is perfect for freelancers just starting out since you get access to all its features, including reports, invoicing, and payments. However, you’re limited to only two projects. 

As you add more clients, you must upgrade to the paid Pro plan at $12/mo/user. It’s more expensive than Hubstaff’s Starter plan ($7/mo/user) but offers more value for money since freelancers and contractors will only need one seat. 

Use Harvest if:

• You want to send detailed invoices to your clients.
• You’re a freelancer or contract looking for a simple time tracker.
• You’re looking for a time tracking software with a comprehensive free version.

Need more info? We’ve written an in-depth comparison of Harvest vs Toggl, where we look closely at how Harvest’s features compare to Toggl Track. Check it out!

4. Timely – Best Hubstaff alternative with AI-powered time tracking

Hubstaff uses geolocation to start your timer automatically but it doesn’t know what you’re working on. 

Timely solves this using AI to track time and accurately update timesheet entries. It uses previous time entries to understand your work patterns and associate specific actions with the correct project and task. 

It’s a perfect tool to ensure work hours are recorded even if you’re someone who forgets to start their time tracker. In case of inaccuracies, you can always jump in and edit entries. 

However, we couldn’t confirm if that’s the only way Timely uses your data. At Toggl, we take transparency regarding data privacy guidelines very seriously, which is why we added Timely at the bottom of our list despite such an amazing feature.

Timely Pricing

Timely doesn’t have a free version. Its paid plans are slightly costlier than those of Hubstaff, starting at $11/mo/user but you can only track up to 20 projects. But, to manage your projects, you’ll need to purchase Tasks as a paid add-on which costs an additional $5/mo/user. 

Meanwhile, Hubstaff includes task management and other features in its Grow plan for $9/mo/user. Hubstaff is cheaper, but Timely offers more functions at its price, so it’s worth taking the time (no pun intended!) to see if Timely meets your requirements before deciding. 

Use Timely if:

• You are looking for powerful AI features to automate time entries. 
• You want to simplify time tracking while retaining employee privacy.
• You want a detailed reporting feature to analyze employee work habits.

Want to know more about Timely? We’ve written an in-depth comparison of Timely vs Toggl, where we dive deeper into Timely’s features and how they compare to Toggl Track. Check it out!

Hubstaff Alternatives with Employee Monitoring

At Toggl, we stand against employee surveillance and micromanagement. We believe in a trust-based culture empowering employee freedom and privacy — which you see in our culture and our time tracking software.

But if you made it this far and still haven’t found a time tracking app, employee surveillance is probably high on your list of needs. 

So, here’s a list of our top picks for Hubstaff alternatives with employee monitoring!

5. Clockify – Best alternative for small teams

Clockify and Hubstaff offer similar time tracking features including a Pomodoro timer, idle time detector, geolocation, and gps tracking. But look closely, and you’ll see Clockify’s features are a bit less advanced than Hubstaff’s. 

For example, Clockify automatically tracks which apps and URLs your employees visit while the timer is running. 

But it doesn’t include this information in reports. So, tracking this information doesn’t offer managers (or employees) any real value.   

However, not including this information in reports isn’t necessarily bad, especially if you’re a small team where constant micromanagement breeds a lack of trust. Moreover, managers still get access to screenshots to analyze your employee schedule.

Clockify Pricing 

Clockify offers a completely free version with unlimited time tracking, time clock, and auto tracker. On the other hand, Hubstaff only has a 14-day free trial, after which you’ll need to subscribe to a paid plan starting at $7/mo/user. However, you still only get access to features that Clockify offers for free, making Clockify a more pocket-friendly alternative, especially for small teams with a limited budget.

Use Clockify if:

• You’re a small team with a limited budget.
• You’re looking for a free time tracking tool with unlimited users.
• You’re only looking for simple employee tracking features like screenshots.

Want to know more? We’ve written an in-depth comparison of Clockify vs Toggl, where we inspect how Clockify features compare to Toggl Track. Check it out!

6. Time Doctor – Best alternative for distraction management

Like Hubstaff, Time Doctor lets you classify sites as “unproductive.” If you visit any unproductive sites during work hours, the software will highlight them in their reports. However, Time Doctor also helps remote teams focus during work with its built-in distraction management tool, something Hubstaff doesn’t offer. 

It sends notifications reminding employees to get back to work if they visit any site listed as unproductive. All this information is compiled in its “Poor Time Usage” report so you can assess employee productivity individually. 

Time Doctor Pricing 

Time Doctor and Hubstaff have almost identical pricing plans. Both start with a 14-day free trial after which you can opt for a paid plan, starting at $7/mo/user.

However, Time Doctor provides more value for money with features like project planning and tasks that are available with its Basic plan. Meanwhile, you can only access these features on Hubstaff’s more expensive plans.

Use Time Doctor if:

• You want to measure your team’s productivity. 
• Your team works remotely on time-sensitive tasks.
• You’re looking for a platform that offers more value for money than Hubstaff.

Note: Looking for more details on how Hubstaff and Time Doctor compare? Check out our in-depth comparison of Hubstaff vs Time Doctor vs Toggl!

7. DeskTime – Best Hubstaff alternative for personal use

DeskTime’s automatic time tracking feature lets you track time spent on various applications including Google Docs, Word, Excel, Photoshop, and more. It’s a great Hubstaff alternative if you like analyzing and optimizing how your employees spend their time.

Like Hubstaff, TimeDoctor also offers screenshots and a GPS tracking feature to monitor your employee behavior. However, unlike Hubstaff, it supports screenshot blurring to somewhat protect employee privacy. Employees can also enter “Private mode” to pause software monitoring for some time. 

DeskTime Pricing 

DeskTime offers a free version for one user, which is great for personal time tracking. For more features like automatic time tracking, productivity calculation, and project tracking, you’ll need to subscribe to a paid plan starting at $7/mo/user.

Though it’s similar in pricing and features to Hubstaff, it doesn’t limit URL tracking and reports like Hubstaff’s Starter plan. However, you’ll need to upgrade to the Premium plan for screenshots, while Hubstaff offers the same in all its plans.  

Use DeskTime if:

• You’re looking for employee monitoring tools to measure your productivity.
• You want a time tracking software freelancers would be comfortable using.
• You want in-depth reports on employee productivity.

In summary

From our research, there are only seven alternatives to Hubstaff that you should seriously consider.

All seven approach time tracking in one of two ways: time tracking built on trust and autonomy or time tracking built on micromanagement using employee surveillance features.

We recommend you test them all yourself to find the right fit for your needs. But based on our testing, we recommend you go with one of these three:

1. Choose Toggl Track if you’re a large team or enterprise looking for a time tracking tool that provides in-depth insights into your employees’ work habits while respecting privacy. Its free version is also a great solution for freelancers and micro teams.

Get started with Toggl Track’s 30-day free trial!

2. Choose Paymo if your product or development team is looking for a time tracking tool that integrates project management, invoicing, and reporting features in one platform. 

Learn more about Paymo!

3. Choose Harvest if you’re a lean business or freelancer who needs a simple, paid, and all-in-one time tracking solution to track time and invoice contractors.

Learn more about Harvest!