Hubstaff Review 2025: Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons (and a Better Alternative)

Hubstaff has earned its reputation as a leading time tracking and workforce management tool, helping thousands of remote and hybrid teams improve accountability and simplify operations.

Its features span across time tracking, workforce management, field workforce management, and employee productivity, covering everything from timesheets and payroll to GPS tracking, scheduling, app/URL monitoring, and even achievement badges that keep morale high. With 30+ integrations, it fits neatly into diverse workflows.

Still, Hubstaff isn’t without flaws; pricing feels steep, bugs and clunky UI frustrate users, and monitoring features can raise trust issues. In this review, we’ll weigh its pros and cons while also considering whether alternatives like Desklog offer a more productivity-focused approach.

Hubstaff at a Glance

Founded in 2012, Hubstaff has established itself as one of the most widely recognized platforms in the time tracking and workforce monitoring space. It serves a diverse range of industries including IT, marketing agencies, software development, remote teams, and field services.

As of 2025, Hubstaff reports adoption by 95,000+ businesses worldwide, positioning itself strongly among organizations that prioritize detailed monitoring over lighter productivity-first approaches.

While many businesses appreciate its robust set of tracking and reporting features, others see Hubstaff as a monitoring-heavy platform, particularly with its reliance on screenshots, activity rates, and GPS tracking. This makes it ideal for companies seeking close oversight but less appealing to those that value trust-based productivity management.

What Pricing Plans Does Hubstaff Offer?

Hubstaff offers four core pricing tiers:

• Starter – $7/seat/month (2-seat minimum): Basic time tracking and productivity tools for small teams at a low cost.

• Grow – $9/seat/month (2-seat minimum): Adds advanced reporting and one integration for growing teams.

• Team – $12/seat/month (2-seat minimum): Includes payments, scheduling, and unlimited integrations, Hubstaff’s most popular plan.

• Enterprise – $25/seat/month (billed annually): Custom setup, account provisioning, and dedicated support for complex organizations.

In addition to these tiers, Hubstaff sells add-ons like advanced insights and additional screenshot storage at extra cost.

While the lower-cost Starter plan seems attractive, Hubstaff’s true value emerges only at higher-priced plans, where more robust features are unlocked. Even then, the constant need for add-ons can make it feel expensive.

Between per-user fees, tiered limitations, and add-on charges, Hubstaff’s pricing often stacks up quickly. For budget-conscious teams, it can feel less like scalable software and more like death by subscription, especially when compared to leaner, productivity-first alternatives.

Hubstaff Key Features in 2025

Time Tracking & Activity Levels

Hubstaff’s foundation lies in its time tracking tools, offering both manual and automated tracking options. Users can log time directly from the desktop app, mobile app, or browser extension, while automated tracking ensures accuracy by recording hours in the background. Each session is paired with an activity score, a percentage based on keyboard strokes and mouse movements, which managers often use to measure engagement levels.

The advantage is simplicity: employees can easily clock in/out, while businesses gain transparent records for timesheets, projects, and payroll. However, activity scoring remains controversial. It offers surface-level visibility but doesn’t always reflect true productivity, especially for creative or strategic work where screen activity may be lower.

Employee Monitoring

Hubstaff provides screenshots, app/URL tracking, and activity monitoring as part of its employee oversight features. Screenshots can be captured at random intervals or customized for frequency, while mouse and keyboard tracking feeds into activity scores.

For some managers, these features build accountability and reduce “time padding.” But for employees, they often raise trust and privacy concerns. The screenshot tool, in particular, can feel intrusive, and over-reliance on mouse/keyboard metrics risks creating a surveillance-first culture rather than a productivity-focused one. The trade-off makes this one of Hubstaff’s most debated aspects.

GPS & Geofencing

Hubstaff’s GPS location tracking is a standout for industries with mobile or field-based staff, such as construction, logistics, and retail. The platform enables managers to view live maps of employees’ locations, track travel routes, and confirm attendance on job sites.

The geofencing feature automates clock-ins and clock-outs when employees enter or leave designated areas, ensuring accurate payroll without manual input. For businesses with distributed or on-the-move teams, this eliminates guesswork and improves accountability. Still, constant GPS tracking can add to the platform’s reputation as a monitoring-heavy tool.

Payroll & Invoicing

By connecting time tracking data with pay rates, Hubstaff simplifies payroll with automated calculations, payment scheduling, and multi-currency support. Teams can integrate with providers like PayPal, Wise, and Payoneer to process payments directly, whether employees are local or international.

For small to medium-sized teams, this reduces admin burden significantly. But for agencies or larger organizations, payroll functionality can feel restrictive. It lacks the advanced HR and compliance features found in dedicated payroll software, making it a convenient but not complete solution.

Sprint Management

Available within Hubstaff Tasks, the sprint feature introduces Agile-style project management. Teams can set defined timeframes (usually 1–7 weeks), allocate tasks, and track progress in the Sprints Overview dashboard. This gives leaders visibility into workload distribution while encouraging teams to hit goals with focus and urgency.

It’s particularly useful for businesses running multiple projects simultaneously, though it’s more of a lightweight Agile solution compared to specialized tools like Jira or ClickUp.

Work Orders

Hubstaff’s Work Orders digitize job assignments, replacing manual scheduling or paper-based systems. Managers can assign tasks with clear details (client name, job description, timeline, location), track status in real time, and receive updates through the mobile app.

The structured system simplifies workflows, improves accountability, and makes audits easier. It’s especially beneficial for service-based businesses that manage multiple jobs daily, but it may feel unnecessary for knowledge-work teams already relying on project management software.

Integrations

Hubstaff integrates with 30+ tools, spanning project management, payment processing, and collaboration platforms. Popular connections include Trello, Asana, Basecamp, GitHub, QuickBooks, PayPal, and Slack.

These integrations help embed Hubstaff into existing workflows, though the platform still falls short compared to competitors that support broader, more flexible API ecosystems. Some users also note that advanced integrations require higher-priced plans, adding to overall costs.

Pros & Cons of Hubstaff

While Hubstaff is known for its feature-rich approach to workforce monitoring, it’s not always the perfect fit for every business. A clear look at its advantages and limitations can guide smarter decisions.

Who Hubstaff Is Best For?

• Enterprises with large operational teams: Hubstaff’s robust tracking, payroll, and reporting tools scale well for bigger teams that need strict accountability across departments.

• Logistics & field management companies: GPS tracking and geofenced job sites make it a strong fit for businesses with mobile or field-based staff in industries like construction, delivery, and transport.

• Managers prioritizing control and accountability: Features such as screenshots, activity scores, and app/URL monitoring give leaders detailed oversight, making it appealing to those who want measurable visibility.

• Agencies with distributed contractors: Agencies handling multiple clients and freelancers benefit from centralized time logs, automated invoicing, and easier proof of work for billing.

• Companies with compliance-driven environments: For industries where documented proof of work hours is critical, Hubstaff’s monitoring-first approach ensures accuracy and verifiable records.

Where Hubstaff Falls Short?

• Hybrid and remote teams that need trust-first tracking: Heavy monitoring tools, especially screenshots and activity rates, can feel invasive and harm employee trust in flexible work cultures.

• Agencies and freelancers needing advanced financial insights: While Hubstaff offers invoicing, it lacks deep profitability analysis and client-level financial reporting that many agencies require.

• Startups scaling quickly: The per-user pricing model and costly add-ons can escalate expenses fast, making Hubstaff less budget-friendly for lean or fast-growing teams.

• Creative and knowledge-based teams: Activity scores based on keystrokes and mouse use don’t reflect true productivity for roles where brainstorming, design, or strategy work matters most.

• Businesses seeking simple, lightweight tools: With its complex features and monitoring-heavy design, Hubstaff may feel overwhelming compared to simpler, productivity-first alternatives.

Desklog as a Hubstaff Alternative

Desklog is an advanced time tracking software built as a powerful alternative to Hubstaff, offering automation, transparency, and flexibility at an affordable cost. By replacing manual entries with automated time tracking, it ensures precise logging of hours while delivering real-time task monitoring and detailed reporting. Teams can track both billable and non-billable hours, manage task assignments, and set deadlines with ease, making project estimation accurate and invoicing smooth.

Unlike rigid tools, Desklog is designed with offline tracking for hybrid and field teams, plus privacy-first monitoring where screenshots remain optional and consent-based. Its integrated attendance management and wellness module encourage healthier work-life balance, prevent burnout, and promote overall employee wellbeing.

With features like built-in invoicing, profit & loss calculation, and automated timesheets, Desklog not only simplifies billing but also provides Desklog insights for smarter financial decisions.

Combined with a transparent free plan and cost-effective upgrade options, the platform empowers startups, freelancers, and growing businesses to increase productivity, collaborate effectively, and maintain a healthier workflow.

Key Features

Conclusion

Hubstaff is a powerful workforce monitoring tool with complete tracking and reporting capabilities, but it comes with a higher price and leans heavily on surveillance features. It is best suited for teams with GPS-heavy operations or logistics-focused workflows. On the other hand, Desklog is ideal for organizations looking for an affordable, privacy-first productivity tracker that supports offline work while providing detailed insights into tasks and team performance. Ultimately, the right choice depends on whether your priority is strict monitoring or fostering a balanced, trust-based approach to productivity.