Select Page

  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Uncategorized
  4. /
  5. Top Hubstaff Alternatives &...

Edited by: Kimberlee Leonard
 and Reviewed: Kimberlee Leonard

Top Hubstaff Alternatives & Competitors

Author: | Sep 11, 2023

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Go Sifter Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors’ opinions or evaluations.

Hubstaff is the workforce management tool of choice for many small business owners who need software that delivers time-tracking, reporting, scheduling, payroll, and invoicing features. However, there are several Hubstaff alternatives that offer similar and additional features that may be better suited to your company’s needs. We analyzed the best Hubstaff alternatives and chose the top eight productivity software for small businesses. 

The eight best Hubstaff competitors are:

  • Time Doctor: Best Overall
  • Toggl Track: Best for Freelancers
  • Harvest: Best for Invoicing
  • QuickBooks Time: Best Mobile App
  • Replicon PSA: Best Professional Services Automation Software
  • Insightful: Best for Businesses With Remote Workers
  • DeskTime: Best for Customized Productivity Reports
  • ActivTrak: Best for Productivity Coaching

Hubstaff vs. Alternatives Comparison Table

PriceReportingScheduling ToolsPayroll Processing
HubstaffFree 14-day trial, then prices start at $4.99/month per user, with a two-user minimum. ✔️✔️✔️
Time DoctorFree 14-day trial, then plans start at $5.90/month per user.✔️✔️✔️ (can integrate with payroll processing apps)
Toggl TrackFree 14-day trial, then Toggl Track offers a Free plan for up to five users, or paid plans start at $9/month per user.✔️❌ ❌ 
HarvestHarvest offers a free plan, or its paid plan starts at $10.80/month per user.✔️✔️ (can integrate with Forecast, a scheduling app)❌ 
QuickBooks TimePlans are 50% off for your first three months, or you can choose a 30-day free trial; paid plans start at $20/month, plus $8/month per user.✔️✔️✔️ (can sync time tracking data with payroll software)
Replicon PSA14-day free trial, then Replicon PSA is $20/month per user, or $40/month per user with ZeroTime.✔️✔️✔️(can export time tracking data to third party payroll processors)
InsightfulFree 7-day free trial, then plans start at $6.40/month per user.✔️✔️✔️(integrates with payroll systems)
DeskTimeFree 14-day trial, then you can sign up for a free plan or paid plans starting at $6.42/month per user.✔️✔️ (available with higher-tier plans)
ActivTrak14-day free trial, then you can choose ActivTrak’s free plan, or its paid plans start at $10/month (billed annually).✔️✔️✔️(only with Enterprise plan)

8 Best Hubstaff Alternatives

The eight best Hubstaff alternatives offer a variety of features to help increase productivity and grow your business, including time tracking, reporting, access to payroll processing, app integrations, employee activity monitoring, invoicing, and productivity insights. 

Time Doctor: Best Overall

Benefits

Time Doctor is the best Hubstaff alternative as it offers time tracking, reporting, and scheduling tools, and integrates with payroll processing apps. Time Doctor’s features include automatic attendance tracking and attendance reports that can help you keep a pulse on potential work-life balance issues and monitor overtime (OT) and weekend hours to help your employees avoid burnout. It will send you alerts when employees deviate from the schedule and allows you to view attendance insights for individuals, teams, or departments.

pros

  • Integrates with popular payroll processing apps
  • Regular screenshots and keyboard and mouse activity tracking can help you determine periods of employee inactivity during work hours
  • Sends reminders to users to track their time if they visit websites that may not be work-related

cons

  • No iOS app

Pricing and Plans

Time Doctor offers a free 14-day trial, after which users can choose from three subscription plans. Customers who pay annually get two months free. 

Basic: The Basic plan includes unlimited users and projects, activity tracking, and basic reporting, and starts at $5.90/month per user.

Standard: This plan includes everything in the Basic plan, plus break tracking, inactivity alerts, over 60 integrations, payroll features, and real-time email notifications, and starts at $8.40/month per user. 

Premium: The Premium plan includes everything in the Standard plan, as well as video screen recording, internet connection reporting, a dedicated account manager, and the ability for clients to log in, and starts at $16.70/month per user. 

Enterprise: The Enterprise plan is a customized plan for big organizations that need exceptional security and customer support options; pricing is available through Time Doctor’s sales team.

Toggl Track: Best for Freelancers

Benefits

Toggl Track is the best Hubstaff alternative for freelancers, as its Free plan offers unlimited time tracking, clients, and projects, and supports up to five users. No more guessing how much time you spent on a project because you forgot to turn your timer off: Toggl Track’s idle time detection feature will alert you when the timer is running but there is no computer activity.

pros

  • Idle time detection
  • Ability to track time in over 100 online tools with its browser extensions
  • Ability to assign billable rates by workspace, team member, or project to identify what activities are bringing in revenue

cons

  • Although the Free plan supports up to five users, companies with six or more users will have to pay for each user

Pricing and Plans

Toggl Track offers a free 30-day trial for all its plans, and 10% off when you choose annual billing. 

Free: The Free plan supports up to 5 users and includes:

  • Unlimited time tracking
  • Reports
  • Web, mobile, and desktop apps
  • Idle time detection
  • Integration with over 100 apps

Starter: The Starter plan starts at $9 per user per month and includes everything in the Free plan, plus:

  • Time rounding for reports
  • Ability to create project time estimates
  • Billable rates
  • Multiple calendar connections

Premium: The Premium plan starts at $18 per user per month and includes everything in the Starter plan, plus:

  • Time tracking audits
  • Project forecasts and analysis
  • Jira (project management software) and Salesforce (business software) integrations 

Enterprise: This custom-priced plan includes everything in the Premium plan, plus:

  • The ability to manage multiple workspaces
  • Priority customer support and training
  • Discounts for large teams that sign up for its annual plan

Harvest: Best for Invoicing

Benefits

On top of time tracking, Harvest also provides reporting, expense tracking tools, and invoicing. Harvest’s features enable you to create invoices based on the time and expenses tracked, easily accept payments online, and give your customers the option to pay you directly from their invoices.

pros

  • Integrates with over 50 apps
  • PayPal and Stripe integrations allow you to receive payments directly from your invoices
  • Can copy Harvest invoices and payments to QuickBooks Online or Xero for accounting purposes

cons

  • No payroll processing or integrations with any payroll apps

Pricing and Plans

Harvest offers a free plan that includes one user and two projects, or a paid plan starting at $10.80/month per user (10% off when billed annually) with unlimited users and projects. Teams of 50 or more students or users belonging to nonprofits, schools, or universities can get a discount. Teachers using Harvest in the classroom and students using Harvest for unpaid work can use Harvest for free.

QuickBooks Time: Best Mobile App

Benefits

QuickBooks Time is one of the best Hubstaff alternatives for businesses that need a mobile app that helps them track time. QuickBooks Time’s Workforce mobile app works with both QuickBooks Time and QuickBooks Payroll and enables you to track time and projects, create, edit, and publish schedules, set up geofencing, and view pay info from anywhere. Employees can view their pay stubs and tax information, submit paid time off (PTO) requests, and clock in and out from the app.

pros

  • The time kiosk feature allows employees to clock in and out using facial recognition technology
  • Employees can clock in and out with the Workforce app, even without Wi-Fi access
  • Ability to manage multiple timesheets

cons

  • The on-site time kiosk feature is not available on mobile devices

Pricing and Plans

QuickBooks Time plans are 50% off for the first three months, or you can try them out with a 30-day free trial. 

Premium: The Premium plan includes one free admin, scheduling, payroll and invoicing integrations, time off management, customer support via phone or chat, customizable reports, and a time kiosk, and is $20/month plus $8/month per user. 

Elite: The Elite plan includes everything in the Premium plan, plus mileage tracking, project management, and geofencing, and is $40/month plus $10/month per user. 

Replicon PSA: Best Professional Services Automation Software

Benefits

Replicon’s Polaris PSA is one of Replicon’s Professional Service Management Suite products. It serves project-based organizations, including consulting firms and financial, legal, and IT businesses. Replicon’s Polaris PSA software offers analytics, project, client, and resource management, time and expense tracking, and billing all in one package. 

pros

  • Integrates with customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and accounting software
  • Replicon’s automated time tracking feature, ZeroTime, provides AI-powered timesheets and multi-source employee time data collection
  • 24/7 customer support

cons

  • Replicon offers 18 different time tracking and attendance projects, and determining the right product for your needs can be confusing

Pricing and Plans

Replicon’s Polaris PSA plan includes project and resource management, time tracking, reporting, scheduling, and invoicing, and costs $20/month per user. You can add ZeroTime for an additional $20/month per user to get automatic data capture and classification and automatic timesheet creation. You can try Replicon’s plans for free for 14 days.

Insightful: Best for Businesses With Remote Workers

Benefits

Insightful offers time and attendance software that automatically tracks remote employees’ time whenever they log in or out of their devices. Employees can also manually track their time or add any time they missed. Insightful allows you to track multiple projects and teams, and generates project, budget, and employee time reports so that you can better analyze your staff’s performance. 

pros

  • Real-time monitoring gives you the ability to track remote employees’ online activity
  • Can categorize and monitor websites and apps and view productivity charts based on how often employees visit or use the sites and apps
  • Employees can turn Insightful on and off at will to ensure privacy during nonwork hours

cons

  • Online chat is not available 24/7

Pricing and Plans

Insightful offers a 7-day free trial for its Employee Monitoring and Time Tracking plans. 

Employee Monitoring: Includes up to 30 screenshots an hour, activity tracking, time and attendance, reporting, and live customer support, and starts at $6.40/month per employee.

Time Tracking: This plan includes everything in the Employee Monitoring plan, plus project management, and starts at $8/month per employee.

Automatic Time Mapping: The Automatic Time Mapping plan includes everything in the Time Tracking plan, plus industry-specific time tracking and on-demand screenshots. It starts at $12/month per employee.

Enterprise: This plan includes everything in the Automatic Time Mapping Plan, plus unlimited screenshots and a dedicated account manager. You can contact Insightful for custom pricing for its Enterprise plan. 

DeskTime: Best for Customized Productivity Reports

Benefits

DeskTime enables you to create customized productivity reports to analyze your employees’ performance and identify areas that could use improvement. You can create reports that show:

  • The productivity of each individual
  • The productivity of your entire team
  • Performance changes over time 
  • Time spent in meetings

DeskTime also provides automatic time tracking, scheduling, project management, booking, and third-party integrations.

pros

  • All plans include an integrated web timer that enables you to track time directly from your browser without having to install software
  • Can allow DeskTime to only track from specific IP addresses
  • The cost tracking feature allows you to calculate project costs and view project progress and employees’ earnings

cons

  • No payroll processing feature

Pricing and Plans

DeskTime offers a free 14-day trial and one month free when you sign up for its annual plan. 

DeskTime Lite: This plan is free for one user and includes:

  • Automatic time tracking
  • Website tracking
  • Mobile app

Pro: The Pro plan starts at $6.42/month per user and includes everything in DeskTime Lite, plus:

  • The ability to track activities by productivity
  • The ability to track idle time
  • Project management
  • Custom reports

Premium: This plan starts at $9.17/month per user and includes everything in the Pro plan, plus:

  • Automatic screenshot
  • Shift scheduling
  • An absence calendar
  • Booking capabilities
  • Integrations with popular project management apps
  • IP restrictions 

Enterprise: This custom-priced plan includes everything in the Premium plan and:

  • Priority customer support
  • Onboarding services
  • Unlimited projects
  • Unlimited data history
  • Custom API

ActivTrak: Best for Productivity Coaching

Benefits

ActivTrak’s employee monitoring and data-driven coaching suggestions make it a solid choice for businesses that need personalized productivity guidance. ActivTrak’s virtual productivity coach provides weekly progress reports that show areas that need improvement. It analyzes your team’s performance and makes suggestions designed to help you:

  • Identify work-life balance issues
  • Increase productivity
  • Streamline everyday processes

pros

  • The time tracking feature allows you to categorize apps and websites by team, role, or job function for analysis purposes
  • Automated time tracking means employees don’t have to manually clock in and out
  • Integrates with popular employee and project management software

cons

  • If you want access to enhanced customer service and training, you have to purchase additional support
  • No monthly plans

Pricing and Plans

ActivTrak offers a 14-day free trial, after which users get automatically enrolled in its Free plan, which they can then choose to upgrade from. Discounts are available for multi-year contracts and for nonprofits and educational organizations. All plans get billed annually.

Free: Includes reports, automated classification of website and app activity, website blocking, 30 days of data history, and access to onboarding resources for up to three users.

Essentials: The Essentials plan includes everything in the Free plan, plus productivity classification, unlimited users (five user minimum), six months of data history, automated user management, and digital support, and starts at $10/month per user. 

Professional: This plan includes everything in the Essentials plan, plus 12 months of data history, remote vs. on-site productivity analysis, team productivity tracking, inefficiency, and distraction analysis, and Virtual Coach recommendations, and starts at $17/month per user.

Enterprise: Everything in the Professional plan plus 24 months of data history, the ActivConnect add-on, and all integrations. You can contact ActivTrak for custom pricing for its Enterprise plan. 

Add-ons

ActivConnect: This add-on allows you to export data and integrate with other apps for an additional $3/month per user.

Screen Details: Provides screenshots and alarms for $2/month per user.

Data History: You can purchase data history in increments of one year for up to three years for $1/month per user. 

Additional Support Plans: You can contact ActivTrak for pricing information for its enhanced support plans. 

How We Evaluated Hubstaff Alternatives

We looked for time-tracking software that provides you with the ability to track idle time, evaluate productivity based on the apps and websites employees use and visit, and take screenshots of remote employees’ device screens. We then chose Hubstaff alternatives that offer more than just time tracking: analysis and reporting, employee scheduling, and integration with project management and payroll processing apps are key productivity features that help save you time and money. Finally, we selected software that offers plans that can grow with your business, whether you’re a freelancer, small business owner, or enterprise organization.

FAQs

What is better than Hubstaff?

Time Doctor is the best Hubstaff alternative overall because it provides time tracking, reports, scheduling, employee activity monitoring, and integration with payroll processing software. However, if you’re looking for software that offers affordable plans for freelancers and contractors, Toggl Track is a great pick. Harvest makes invoicing easy, while QuickBooks Time’s mobile app is essential for employers who need to track time and modify schedules on the go. Replicon’s PSA software is best for project-based organizations and consulting firms that need a professional services automation package, while Insightful provides real-time monitoring that is indispensable for employers with remote workers. DeskTime offers customized productivity reports that can help you analyze employee data, and ActivTrak helps guide your employees to make better use of their work time.

Which tracking software is the best?
People Management Skills: Top 15 You Should Know

People Management Skills: Top 15 You Should Know

People management skills are usually in high demand and short supply. If you are a business owner in charge of employees you should look into the skills needed for management. There are lots of ways to not only be there for your staff in times of crisis, but create a...

read more
Employee OffBoarding Checklist: 7 Simple Steps

Employee OffBoarding Checklist: 7 Simple Steps

An employee offboarding checklist is a handy tool to have as a small business owner. Workers in your company will leave, either voluntarily or involuntarily. With an employee offboarding checklist–sometimes called a “termination checklist”–you won’t skip any part of...

read more