Overview
As a CEO of a B2B software company my team and I are constantly looking at the best B2B software to know what’s going on in the market. That means we’re often researching about and/or playing around with their products, you know, it’s part of our job. Here, I share our findings of that research, letting you know the best products we’ve seen. I hope it helps you make the right decision…
Clockify vs Hubstaff – which one is better? You know, big picture, they are pretty similar. Both apps obviously track time and both work great for individuals and businesses of all sizes. However, there are some key differences that you have to be aware of before deciding which one to go for. In this article, I’m going to be honestly comparing the two apps to help you decide which time tracking software is the best fit for you or your business.
BTW, you may want to check out my review of Clockify or review of Hubstaff. Anyway, let’s get cracking…
This Review Covers:
- What’s the difference between Clockify and Hubstaff?
- What are Clockify and Hubstaff’s Time Tracking Features?
- How much do Clockify and Hubstaff Cost?
- Who are the Target Users of Clockify and Hubstaff?
- What Platforms do Clockify and Hubstaff support?
- How do Clockify and Hubstaff do Time Auditing and Reporting?
- How do Clockify and Hubstaff do Scheduling and Budgeting?
- Do Clockify and Hubstaff have Employee Monitoring?
- How do Clockify and Hubstaff do Payroll and Invoicing?
- Are Clockify and Hubstaff’s user interfaces easy?
- So, which one is better: Clockify or Hubstaff?
What’s the difference between Clockify and Hubstaff?
Clockify offers a fairly simple and user-friendly solution for your project management and time tracking needs. Users are able to improve their productivity and manage tasks effectively. They’ll be able to easily keep track of time spent on projects, generate analytical productivity reports, and many more without breaking a sweat.
Clockify is aggressively priced, I like that, especially if you consider the wide range of features it offers. It won’t cost you much, but you’ll get a lot of use out of it for free or for not too much.
Meanwhile, Hubstaff offers many of the same features as Clockify. But, in addition to these features, Hubstaff provides users with a clean and intuitively designed interface that’s easy to figure out. I really like it. It’s also an efficient project management app that keeps managers and employees up to date on the progress of their projects.
Hubstaff is more pricey than Clockify, no doubt, and when you use it you can easily sense why. It’s feature-rich, well thought out, and well designed, and these things really matter when you or your time use these kinds of apps.
Standout Clockify Features
- Exceptional project management capabilities
- Expense tracking feature
- Over 80 integrations with project management, invoicing, and calendar apps
- GPS capability
- PIN-secured Kiosk feature
Standout Hubstaff Features
- Sprint management and project management capabilities
- Flexible pricing options
- Over 50 integrations with project management, invoicing, and calendar apps
- GPS capability
- Expense tracking feature
What are Clockify and Hubstaff’s Time Tracking Features?
Clockify
Clockify users can start tracking time once users log into their devices. It also has a kiosk feature, which allows employees to clock in and out of work with the help of a PIN. Because of this feature, the app works great as a time tracking and attendance software.
Managers can also allow employees to manually edit their time entries.
Hubstaff
The Hubstaff app is easy to use and users can start and stop tracking time with just the click of a button. It also has an offline tracking feature, which means that it will keep tracking time even if you start having internet connectivity issues. The timer will then sync up once your internet connection is restored.
Employees will also be able to go back and manually edit time entries if they’ve made a mistake or accidentally left the timer running.
How much do Clockify and Hubstaff Cost?
Both apps are generous with their free time tracking plans, so you get essential time tracking and productivity management features without ever spending a dime. If you need additional features for your business, you’ll get more add-ons the more you spend.
Is Clockify free?
Like Hubstaff, Clockify has a free tier and you can also try it out by signing up for a free trial. You won’t have to enter your credit card details to sign up. You can thus let the trial expire without worrying about your card getting charged, or you can enter your card details if you want to subscribe.
The app charges a reasonable $3.99 per user per month for its lowest paid tier if you’re billed annually. It’s one of the least expensive time trackers on the market.
You can sign up for a 14-day free trial that allows you to access Hubstaff’s time tracker and other features. Like Clockify, Hubstaff won’t ask you to enter your credit card details. When your free trial expires, you won’t get automatically get charged for a month’s subscription. Hubstaff also comes in three different versions: Hubstaff Time, Hubstaff Desk, and Hubstaff Field. Hubstaff Time and Hubstaff Desk both have a free tier, and the paid tiers start at $5.83 per user per month. It’s thus not that much more expensive than Clockify. Meanwhile, Hubstaff Field has no free tier and starts at $10 per user per month.
Is Hubstaff free?
Additionally, Hubstaff offers something I don’t often see with time tracking apps – a custom pricing plan. You can also get certain features added to your plan without having to upgrade to a higher tier.
Who are the Target Users of Clockify and Hubstaff?
Who Uses Clockify?
This app is an excellent choice for freelancers and businesses of all sizes. It’s particularly well-suited for hybrid teams that work onsite as well as remotely. Teams can use the kiosk feature when working on-site, and they can use the mobile app when working remotely.
The app also has GPS capabilities, another feature that makes it an outstanding choice for teams that have to go from site to site. It can therefore meet your employees’ time tracking needs regardless of where they are.
Additionally, it has employee monitoring functions. It’s thus the better choice for managers who want to keep track of their employees’ productivity, and it’s also more useful for teams who need to work at different locations.
Who Uses Hubstaff?
Though Hubstaff can accommodate individual freelancers and contractors, its features make it more suited for teams and businesses of different sizes. It’s best utilized for project management and employee monitoring, so individuals might not be able to take advantage of the full scope of Hubstaff’s features.
Like Clockify, Hubstaff can take screen recordings and track keyboard and mouse activity, among other productivity-tracking capabilities.
What Platforms do Clockify and Hubstaff support?
| Platforms | Clockify | Hubstaff |
| Windows desktop app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac desktop app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux desktop app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apple app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser extension | ✓ | ✓ |
How do Clockify and Hubstaff do Time Auditing and Reporting?
Clockify
It allows managers to start time entry audits that will flag any time entries that look suspicious. If a time entry is too long or too short, the app will flag it and bring it to the manager’s attention. Managers will also see how much time employees spend on each task.
However, the app’s reporting feature tends to be inaccurate or lacking in detail.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff offers seven different report categories, so managers will be able to extract the exact kind of information they need. The app can generate reports on time and activity, payments, project budgets, attendance, and more.
Compared to Clockify, Hubstaff’s reporting feature can go into more detail.
How do Clockify and Hubstaff do Scheduling and Budgeting?
Clockify
It has a project timeline feature as well as a team scheduling feature. Managers will be able to assign tasks to individual employees on a day-to-day basis. You’ll also be able to easily see which teams are scheduled on which blocks of time.
You can also use this app to create time and financial budgets for your projects. Furthermore, you’ll be able to see if your project is on track time-wise and money-wise.
Hubstaff
Similarly to Clockify, Hubstaff allows managers to create teams, schedule shifts, and assign projects to individual employees. However, Hubstaff also has a sprint planning feature so you won’t have to use another app for sprints, like Jira.
You’ll also be able to set budgets and allocate time for particular projects. This way, you can monitor how much time and money have been spent on these projects and evaluate if they’re still on track.
Do Clockify and Hubstaff have Employee Monitoring?
Both Clockify and Hubstaff have employee monitoring features that allow organizations to keep track of their employees’ activity and track their productivity. They’ll take screenshots as well as track keyboard strokes and mouse clicks. Both apps will also track the websites and apps that users visit.
Clockify in particular can take screenshots every 5 minutes, though it’s not a default setting and it has to be turned on by a manager. Hubstaff, on the other hand, takes screenshots every 10 minutes.
How do Clockify and Hubstaff do Payroll and Invoicing?
Clockify
The app has a few integrations for payroll and invoicing, including Quickbooks, PayPal, Payoneer, and Wise. You can generate timesheets for accountants to use for payroll, as well as client invoices. There’s also an option to create custom invoices whenever necessary.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff can also help you pay employees through the same gateways as Clockify. You can pay and send invoices through Hubstaff itself, and adding payment methods is fairly simple.
Are Clockify and Hubstaff’s user interfaces easy?
Clockify
The app’s interface is more complicated than Hubstaff’s and its menu can be a bit convoluted. Users will likely need more time to learn how to use Clockify than Hubstaff.
Hubstaff
I found Hubstaff’s user interface to be clean, streamlined, and very intuitive. Its dashboard wasn’t difficult to navigate at all, and its menus are simple and easy to learn.
So, which one is better: Clockify or Hubstaff?
To me, the clear winner here is Hubstaff. Sure, it’s mostly similar to Clockify and has a lot of the same features, but has a much better UI, and that matters a lot. While Clockify is a good app, its unrefined UI and inadequate reporting feature are its biggest downfalls.
Hubstaff’s paid tiers are also not much more expensive than Clockify’s, and I also liked that you can create custom price plans for enterprises. You also have the option to choose add-ons instead of upgrading to a more expensive tier, which seems like a smart pricing scheme.
