Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a fully-featured time tracking and workforce management platform for remote, field, and hybrid teams. It combines automatic timers, idle detection, app/URL tracking, and optional screensho…
💬 Verdict
Hubstaff is a robust choice for businesses that need detailed time tracking with integrated payroll and invoicing, especially for remote, field, or agency teams. If you're a freelancer or small team that just needs basic timesheets, look elsewhere — the free plan is too limited, and the paid features may be overkill. Bottom line: Hubstaff delivers excellent ROI when you need to turn tracked hours into paychecks and client bills with minimal manual work.
Hubstaff
Plans start at $7/month
📊 Pros & Cons
Pros
- 👍 Detailed time tracking with idle detection, app/URL activity, and optional screenshot capture.
- 👍 Built-in payroll and contractor payment options directly from recorded hours and pay rates, not just a timesheet export.
- 👍 Wide integration ecosystem for accounting, project management, and communication tools, plus an API and Zapier connector.
- 👍 Mobile GPS with geofences and location-based reminders for field teams.
- 👍 Strong reporting around productivity, project budgets, client profitability, and team attendance.
Cons
- 👎 Screenshot and activity monitoring can feel invasive and may not fit privacy-conscious or highly creative jobs.
- 👎 The most useful features like payroll, unified view, integrations, and custom rules are paywalled behind higher-priced tiers.
- 👎 Free plan is limited to one user and includes only basic time-tracking features, so many teams will need a paid plan immediately.
- 👎 For simple time tracking alone, Hubstaff's setup and controls can feel like overkill compared to a lightweight timer.
- 👎 Customer support has historically been slower on lower tiers, and the mobile app occasionally has GPS sync quirks.
🎯 Use Cases
Hubstaff tracks active and idle time, app/URL usage, optional screenshots, and per-project hours, giving managers a complete view of remote work.
You can set billable rates per project/client, track accurate hours, and generate invoices from timesheets, with integrations to QuickBooks and Xero.
Mobile GPS records where work happens, and geofences can control or validate clock-ins for field service and contractor jobs.
Higher tiers support pay rates, payroll reports, and payments to employees/contractors, reducing manual timesheet-to-payroll work.
Hubstaff calculates labor costs against project budgets in real time, making it useful for professional services teams and agencies.
🔌 Integrations
🔍 Deep Dive
Higher-tier plans charge more per user per month, and years with discount promotions may renew at full list price. Payroll disbursements can also incur fees depending on the payment method and country, though these are not obvious until checkout.
Moderate — the basic timer is easy, but configuring pay rates, integrations, tracking rules, and privacy settings requires thought.
Freelancers or small teams that only need a simple start-stop timer and do not want optional monitoring or payroll features.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Hubstaff cost?
Hubstaff offers a free single-user plan and paid per-user subscription tiers. Advanced features like payroll, invoicing, and team management require higher-priced plans, so total cost depends on team size and feature needs.
Can Hubstaff track time automatically without employees clicking a start/stop button?
Yes. Desktop and mobile apps have automatic timer options, but most teams use a start/stop timer or manual time entry. Hubstaff also records idle time, app/URL usage, and can prompt activity to keep tracking accurate.
Does Hubstaff take screenshots? Can that feature be disabled?
Hubstaff can take optional screenshots at random intervals, but admins control this setting and can enable/disable it per team or user. It can also be set to only capture blurry screenshots or disable screenshots entirely.
Can I run payroll for employees and pay contractors through Hubstaff?
Hubstaff has payroll and contractor payment features on higher tiers, including pay rate rules, automatic timesheet-to-payroll processing, and payments to workers in supported countries. For full coverage in your region, check current Hubstaff documentation.
Does Hubstaff integrate with QuickBooks, Asana, Jira, or Slack?
Yes. Hubstaff provides native integrations with many popular accounting and project management tools, plus a Zapier integration for hundreds of others. QuickBooks, Xero, Asana, Jira, Trello, Slack, and Teams are common integrations.
How accurate is GPS tracking for field teams?
Hubstaff's mobile app uses device GPS and records location during time sessions, with optional geofences and location reminders. Accuracy is generally good outdoors, but like all GPS systems, it can be less precise indoors or with poor device signal.
Does Hubstaff work offline?
Hubstaff can record offline time entries and sync them when a connection returns. Desktop and mobile apps allow time entry while offline, but live GPS and app/URL tracking features need an internet connection.
