Hubstaff is a time-tracking platform that businesses and contractors use to monitor their productivity. It was designed with remote, field, and office workers in mind.
This software keeps track of how long each user spends on a certain task, collects data about the user’s activity, and helps ensure each user is paid correctly for the work they do. Depending on your budget and needs, Hubstaff can also help you take care of scheduling, project management, freelancer recruiting, and client management among other functions.
Hubstaff offers many great features, but that doesn’t mean it’s the perfect fit for your business. Keep in mind your unique needs while evaluating Hubstaff’s capabilities to help you make the right decision.
Jump to:
- Hubstaff features
- What are advantages of using Hubstaff?
- What are disadvantages of using Hubstaff?
- What is Hubstaff’s pricing?
- Who should use Hubstaff?
Hubstaff features
Like many time-tracking solutions, Hubstaff’s features help you and your team keep track of how much time is spent working.
Time tracking
Time tracking is at the core of Hubstaff’s capabilities. Users can download native apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, or iOS devices or add a Google Chrome extension to access the Hubstaff interface. Then, time tracking is as easy as clicking one button to start or stop a timer. Accurate time-tracking information is then compiled in digital timesheets that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.
Productivity monitoring
Hubstaff can also monitor the activity of your team’s devices while time tracking is activated. Specifically, Hubstaff can measure keyboard and mouse activity, take screenshots, record URL visits and app usage, stop time tracking when the device is idle, and track the device’s geographic location. These metrics can be customized for individual users and provide context for each user’s productivity.
Dashboard and reports
Hubstaff’s dashboard allows you to get high-level insights about your team’s activity and projects at a glance. It also provides information about individual team members’ progress throughout the day.
Additionally, Hubstaff’s reports allow you to dig deeper into trends and outliers that may be affecting your business’s overall productivity. You can customize reports to share directly with your clients to keep them in the loop on your billable hours. Although, in some cases, users have noted the reports aren’t as advanced as they’d like. That may be a key consideration when evaluating Hubstaff for your company.
Payroll
Hubstaff uses the accurate time-tracking and productivity data to simplify payroll processes. You can set individual pay rates for each employee or contractor, then Hubstaff determines the precise amount to pay each person for the amount of time they worked. When you integrate Hubstaff with a payroll provider like Gusto or PayPal, you can automate payroll processing altogether.
GPS tracking
GPS tracking is an important feature for field service workers. Hubstaff allows you to set geofences around your worksites, then keeps track of all employees and contractors who enter that vicinity.
It can automatically clock employees in when they arrive at the site and clock them out when they depart. You can also configure the platform to send you an alert in the case of no-shows and late arrivals.
What are the advantages of using Hubstaff?
There are a few unique advantages that make Hubstaff stand out from the rest.
Optional add-ons for comprehensive productivity
Other tools in Hubstaff’s portfolio include Hubstaff Tasks for project management and Hubstaff Talent for contractor recruiting.
Hubstaff Tasks is an agile project management solution that helps your team visualize workflows and avoid bottlenecks. It may not be the best solution for advanced project management needs, but it’s a nice advantage if you’re looking for maximum versatility in the business tools you use.
Hubstaff Talent is a free job board service that connects businesses looking to fill open roles with remote freelancers and contractors around the world. Anyone can use it to find remote talent, even if they don’t use Hubstaff’s other products.
However, having this recruitment tool embedded in the same platform as the time-tracking and project management offerings makes it easy to manage all of your staffing needs in one place.
Also read: Top Project Management Software for SMBs
Employee engagement
A unique component of Hubstaff’s platform is the customizable badging capability that helps with employee engagement. You can choose from three badges to acknowledge your team’s performance: Efficiency pro, Productivity champ, and Time hero. Each badge has customizable criteria, like number of completed to-dos, activity goals, and number of working hours.
These badges incentivize employees to track their time accurately and make the most out of their working hours. It also helps you identify your top performers, so you can acknowledge their accomplishments in other ways like bonuses and promotions.
What are disadvantages of using Hubstaff?
There are a few disadvantages to keep in mind while considering Hubstaff as well.
Limited integrations
Compared to some standalone time tracking solutions, Hubstaff’s integrations are relatively limited. In total, Hubstaff only offers 30 integrations, whereas an alternative like Toggl Track supports more than 100 integrations and browser extensions.
The only customer relationship management (CRM) solution Hubstaff supports, for example, is Salesforce. If you use a different platform like HubSpot or Zoho to manage your clients, you won’t have the same kind of efficiency with sharing information between the two systems.
The breadth of integrations that Hubstaff offers is also limited. You’ll find integrations with applications for project management, communication, accounting, CRM, and help desk, but there are no options for IT and web development, documentation, or business intelligence.
Use case restrictions
Another drawback to consider is that Hubstaff may not be a good fit for all use cases. For example, some users who spend a lot of time on video calls might be frustrated by the constant idle time notifications. And companies looking for advanced tracking might not find the right controls they need.
Hubstaff is best suited for companies in the field service industry or those that work primarily with freelancers and contractors.
What is Hubstaff’s pricing?
Hubstaff’s pricing is broken down into two primary categories depending on your needs: Hubstaff Time for basic needs and Hubstaff Desk for office-based roles. For each category, you have a free option that offers limited features for one user only. There is also a Hubstaff Field solution for field service organizations that can be combined with Hubstaff Desk to address a variety of needs.
| Hubstaff Time | Hubstaff Desk | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ✅ | ✅ |
| Starter | $7 per user per month for 2 users | $7 per user per month for 2 users |
| Pro | $10 per user per month for 2 users | $10 per user per month for 2 users |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Contact sales |
Hubstaff Field
- Field: $10 per user per month for 2 users
- Desk + Field: $10 per user per month for 2 users (currently on sale)
- Enterprise: Contact sales
Who should use Hubstaff?
With Hubstaff, you can track the amount of time spent on each task across your organization. This allows you to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement. It also helps you ensure you’re paying your employees for the right amount of time they worked and billing your clients correctly as well.
If you’re in the field service industry or work primarily with freelancers and contractors, Hubstaff might be the right time-tracking tool for you. However, if you’re looking for advanced needs or widespread integrations, you might find a better fit with an alternative solution.
Read next: A Buyer’s Guide to Time-Tracking Software
