We tested 20+ Hubstaff Alternatives. Here are the Best 8 in 2025 (2 Tools are FREE!)
Hubstaff is one of the most popular time tracking platforms on the market right now. However, it’s not the only time tracking software out there, and you don’t have to forcefully use it.
Maybe it's too expensive and too invasive. Or maybe you just want something simpler that fits your team better.
Thankfully, we have plenty of alternative solutions available.
These tools can track time, boost employee productivity, and simplify workflow for everyone. Be it a freelancer, a remote team, an agency, or a growing business.
In this write-up, we've looked deep into them and picked the best ones with genuine pros, cons, and pricing.
The Best Hubstaff Alternative Apps
How We Picked the Apps
Our focus was on the following criteria:
Easy to Use
We started by finding answers to these questions:
- Can you set it up fast?
- Can you start tracking time right away?
If an app felt slow or confusing, we skipped it.
Good Value
We looked at features versus price.
Free plans, hidden costs, sneaky upgrades. We saw everything. Then picked tools that give you more for your money.
Time Tracking That Works for You
You might want automatic time tracking or manual time editing of their timer features. Some teams also need break detection and focus timers.
So, we found tools that work in different ways. That means anyone with any team size can find what they are looking for.
Privacy You Control
Not everyone wants their managers to count every second or constant employee activity monitoring. That’s why we included tools that let you choose between light tracking and full monitoring.
Reports That Actually Help
Can you see where your time really goes?
The best tools show trends and budgets. They give you useful insights through data analytics.
If a tool only showed basic stats, we moved on.
Does More Than Just Time
We’ve also listed tools that go beyond time tracking. For example, billing clients, payroll & invoicing, or project management.
Works for Everyone
Every app had to work for solo workers and big teams. We read reviews. We checked their support. And made sure they grow with you.
Last but not least, this catalog isn't paid for by anyone. We made it to save you time and money. Whether you work alone or manage a big team, something here will be your solution.
Why You Should Look for Hubstaff Alternatives
Time tracking should be an aid for organizations to boost employee productivity. Not something that feels like spyware. And Hubstaff has become just that. It has turned into a total nightmare for many employees across different industries.
Users are continuously seeking alternatives to Hubstaff, and here's why:
Too Clunky
Some teams find Hubstaff's interface hard to use or confusing. Others run into technical issues like bugs, slow loading times, or a mobile app that doesn't do much. When these problems happen, it's tough to get your whole team on board with using the software, and it can mess up your daily work routine.
Monitors Too Much
Hubstaff focuses on screenshots, mouse tracking, idle alerts, activity levels, and such. It’s okay to some degree. But the problem begins when managers only consider employees’ output rather than their impact on the business.
For example, Dima B, senior customer service specialist, said, “While Hubstaff seems to add value to managers and HRs, it is demotivating to employees."
Also, another user, Mohammed, said that it is not a tracker. Rather, it’s a full-blown surveillance tool. And many employees in his company threatened to resign. At the end, Hubstaff was abolished.
As you can see, it leads to micromanagement. Therefore, stress and fear spread like a plague among the employees.
Heavy monitoring lowers trust and causes burnout. This is hurting business in the long term. To such an extent that employee turnover increases.
High Price
Hubstaff’s free plan is applicable for a single user. So, small businesses must pay $7+/user/month to use this software effectively. And expenses grow with your team.
This software appears underwhelming as some competitors like Apploye offer lower per-user pricing. And up to 10 users can use it for completely free.
But that’s not all.
Say, you need more screenshot capability, data retention, silent tracking, etc., you have to pay for each feature individually. That’s on top of your monthly or yearly plan.
Ethical Concerns
Numerous accusations, like intrusive monitoring and payment issues, made Hubstaff an unreliable company to many customers. And it’s evident from user experiences. They are blamed for their “Shady” practices.
For instance, Deanna Visperas, Founder/CEO of RemoteGenies, thinks Hubstaff’s billing scheme is questionable. She had trouble downgrading or cancelling her plan.
That said, the most serious allegation against Hubstaff is data hostage.
Erick Perez from California shares that he paid, yet he didn’t get the data from Hubstaff. They kept it. It’s a complete violation of employee privacy.
Learn more about:
Employee Monitoring Ethics: What’s Legal, Fair, and What’s Not
Poor Customer Support
Hubstaff struggles to provide a good customer support experience. At least that’s what is evident from the user reviews.
“Worst first impression! Glad I am not investing with them, TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE”, a remark by Leena Shah.
Businesses also struggled due to incompetent customer service.
Like the LA Web Dev Firm, they got information from the support team after 8 months. There were only email exchanges during this period.
Quick Look at The Best Hubstaff Alternatives
tracking
Quick Take: Apploye is the only one that ticks all the right boxes. It’s simple, affordable, and feature-rich.
Top 10 Best Hubstaff Alternatives in 2025
1. Apploye - Best Free Hubstaff Alternative for Time Tracking and Employee Monitoring
Meet Apploye. It’s cheaper, faster, and supports small teams with better free plans. And it’s way ahead of Hubstaff.
Here’s why:
Apploye Gives You More Control But Less Stress
You decide how much to track. Whether you want screenshots or not, Apploye provides full control. And respects employee privacy at the same time.
Like, you can monitor employee screens by taking auto-screenshots randomly or turn off the feature completely.
You can also enable screen recording to take things to the next level.
Now, the Pomodoro Timer lets users have breaks at preferred intervals. Regular breaks let them work stress-free. This practice builds a calm and focused culture. And supports time off management.
Save Money as You Scale With Apploye
Currently, the most affordable option for time tracking and employee monitoring is Apploye. The free plan is better than some of the paid tools, like Hubstaff. You get premium features for free.
For example, app and website usage tracking, custom reports, employee activity and behaviour analytics, etc., are baked right into the free tier.
The most exciting part is that you can track up to 10 people for free. This is perfect, especially for startups and small businesses.
Now, as your business grows, the basic plans start with $3.5/user/month. No hidden charges or upgrades. Enjoy the best features from day one, which other tools might sell you for a premium.
Eventually, in our testing, Apploye turned out to be the best value for money time-tracking software in the market right now.
Apploye Brings Accountability & Trust
Trust is the fundamental pillar for a successful business. So is being responsible. Apploye helps you achieve both without any problems.
It shows you who worked and when. Also, what tasks they have finished with project time tracking. The system records time logs, idle time, and tracks work hours through its team dashboard.
Everything stays in one easy place.
But that does not mean your workers will feel watched all the time.
Here’s why: you pick what tracking you want to use. Let your employees know about it. This ensures complete transparency and maintains employee privacy.
This approach builds trust with your team. People work better when they feel respected. They focus on their tasks because the work means something to them.
At the same time, managers still get the information they need and make better decisions to guide their teams.
Apploye Focuses on Outcomes, Not Just Activity
It’s not only about tracking movements. Apploye improves efficiency in the best way possible through productivity monitoring.
Just like Florin T., CEO and founder of NarimSoft LTD, mentions, “Great for planning and tracking the productive time spent by the development & sales team on different projects and activities."
You can see where time goes, which project costs more, and how teams perform.
All of these insights are presented in a clear and intuitive dashboard. Then make adjustments where necessary.
And it works. Users like Mohammed D., co-founder of DouglasAcademy, say Apploye boosted employee productivity by 28% in a year.
Faster Payrolls with Less Work
Turn your time into money with Apploye. Beyond time tracking, you can track billable hours with custom rates.
With the auto tracker-generated timesheets, a single click will create payrolls. Client invoicing is simplified as well.
However, this tool still has some limitations.
Some Drawbacks of Apploye
Mobile App Could be More Robust
While Apploye does have a mobile app, it might not yet be as polished or feature-rich as Hubstaff’s mobile solution, especially in terms of GPS tracking.
Limited Integrations
Apploye doesn’t yet offer as many integrations with popular project & payment management or communication tools as Hubstaff does.
Still, Apploye can integrate with the most popular project management tools like Jira, Asana, and ClickUp.
User Review
Pricing
2. Time Doctor – Best for Productivity Monitoring
Catch office distractions and build better work habits with Time Doctor. It provides data analytics that show how your team works. So, you can boost output.
This tool sends alerts when someone gets off task or roams around on unproductive websites. It features advanced distraction management capabilities and logs idle time in real-time.
And we found it helps to regain focus without making employees feel watched.
User Review
Pricing
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3. Harvest - Best for Time Tracking with Invoicing
Track time and convert it to money. Harvest does this pretty well. It is designed to bill clients, manage multiple projects, and enable faster payments.
Harvest keeps time tracking simple with strong invoicing and cost tracking tools. You can view project budgets. Create client-ready reports and send invoices directly from the team dashboard. At least that’s what we have experienced. The entire process is seamless.
That said, it plays well with tools like Asana, Trello, and QuickBooks. Many users also compare it to Toggl Track for its simplicity and invoicing capabilities.
User Review
Pricing
Explore more:
4. TimeCamp – Best for Budgeting and Timesheets
This software tracks time and logs hours for each project, client, or task.
You can split up billable hours from regular work. And TimeCamp generates invoices for you. Besides, it sees which tasks take the most time via detailed data analytics.
You see, many companies juggle several projects at once. We also do it extensively. Others charge clients by the hour. TimeCamp helps both of them stay organized. It keeps your work and costs lined up perfectly.
User Review
Pricing
Read more about:
Best TimeCamp Alternatives
For more details, check our list of the best Clockify alternatives.
5. DeskTime - Best for Time Tracking and Productivity Insights
It is a time-tracking software that sorts your websites and programs into two groups. Sort them as either productive or unproductive. This feature is known as Productivity labeling. So, you see how your team actually spends time each day.
DeskTime also has other useful tools. You get a Pomodoro Timer for focused work sessions. There's shift scheduling to organize work hours. Plus, it offers private time settings when you need personal breaks and time off management.
The whole system runs quietly behind the scenes with real-time activity monitoring. Your team can focus on work while DeskTime handles the tracking automatically.
User Review
Pricing
Further explore :
6. Clockify – Free Time Tracking Tool
For a free time tracker, we discovered Clockify as a good option. And there's no limit on users for this particular feature. This is why startups love it. So do small teams. For moderately large teams like ours, it’s a bit lackluster, to be honest.
However, your team can log hours easily with manual editing. You can manage tasks. And track billable work hours as well.
Again, the tool is simple to use and works on your computer or phone.
User Review
Pricing
Get more information on:
7. Insightful - Best for Employee Monitoring and Productivity Analysis
Insightful gives you real answers about your team's work habits. At the same time, it ensures employee privacy. You get clear data analytics without having to watch over everyone's shoulder all day.
It tracks time and shows which apps/websites people use most. You can see employee productivity patterns, too. Just turn on screenshots to get a glimpse.
The system also tracks what's happening right now with real-time monitoring. And maps the time automatically. It works great for remote teams and mixed office setups.
User Review
Pricing
Further read:
8. QuickBooks Time - Best for Payroll-Ready Time Tracking
If you use QuickBooks for payroll or accounting, QuickBooks Time is your go-to Hubstaff alternative. It helps teams clock in and out, track hours by job, and sync data straight to QuickBooks.
The tool supports GPS tracking, geofencing, shift scheduling, and employee alerts. It’s ideal for field teams, construction crews, and service-based businesses that rely on accurate job costing at client job sites.
User Review
Pricing
At a glance:
Verdict: Pick Apploye as the Hubstaff Alternative
Hubstaff dominates with its time tracking features. It’s the most famous one out there. But we and many customers alike feel that pricing and features do not align with each other.
Enter Apploye. It offers everything you need as a time tracking software, but better. Plus, you get a complete employee monitoring tool.
The free plan includes crucial features like screenshots, auto timesheets, and time tracking for up to 10 users. Most other software will sell these for a price.
Whether you are a freelancer or own a small team, everything is sorted. And at this point, it’s redundant to say how easy it is to use Apploye.
The clean, fresh UI with a fast interface flies past Hubstaff any day. Simply put, Apploye is in a league of its own. And that is true in terms of customer support as well. It’s phenomenal.
Frequently Asked Questions About HubStaff Alternatives
Apploye is the best free alternative to Hubstaff. It offers free basic time tracking and reporting, and screenshots all at no cost. TimeCamp and Toggl Track also offer free plans, but with more limited features or user caps. If you need basic tracking without employee monitoring, these are great options to start with.
Apploye is the most cost-effective choice for managing teams. It offers advanced features like screenshots, app/URL tracking, and payroll starting at $3.5/user/month with a free plan for up to 10 users. Clockify and TimeCamp are also affordable options.
The primary difference is Apploye offers more flexibility and control compared to Hubstaff. It lets you customize tracking (like optional screenshots and screen recording), manage payroll, and monitor apps/URLs with less invasiveness. Unlike Hubstaff, which often feels like surveillance, Apploye emphasizes privacy, affordability (free for up to 10 users), and a cleaner, faster interface.
Apploye is a lesser-known yet highly effective time tracking tool that combines powerful features like real-time tracking, activity levels, screenshots, screen recording, payroll, and invoicing. All of these are accessible through an easy-to-use interface.
Apploye, Time Doctor, and Insightful are excellent for remote team monitoring and time tracking. They offer features like activity tracking, productivity insights, screenshots, and customizable privacy controls to balance accountability and trust.
Apploye offers a reliable free plan with time and basic project tracking. And generates timesheets automatically for up to 10 users. Clockify and TimeCamp also include a good free option for timesheets.
Apploye is the best time tracking software in the USA due to its rich feature set that includes advanced time tracking, screenshots, payroll, productivity analytics, and project budgeting. All of these are presented within a clean, intuitive interface. It offers unbeatable value with affordable pricing, deep customization, and strong privacy controls, making it ideal for both small businesses and large remote teams.
TimeCamp is a passive or automatic time tracker because it runs in the background with minimal user input. Captures app/website usage, screenshots, and idle time. A similar feature is coming soon on Apploye.