The shift to remote and hybrid work has created new challenges for Human Resources (HR) teams, particularly related to maintaining trust and operational structure across a distributed workforce. These issues can be simplified by using platforms like Hubstaff and Toggl Track. These challenges can be addressed through time-tracking and productivity platforms such as Hubstaff and Toggl Track.
Hubstaff focuses on operational accountability, offering detailed productivity analytics, activity logs, and real-time tracking to help teams make data-driven performance decisions. Toggl Track, by contrast, emphasizes autonomy and transparency, allowing users to self-manage through intuitive time tracking and visual reports rather than intrusive monitoring.
This guide compares how each platform supports workforce management, analyzing their strengths, key features, limitations, cost, and standout capabilities so you can find the best option for your business needs.
Hubstaff Vs Toggl: At A Glance
Feature
Hubstaff
Toggl Track
Time Tracking
Monitoring of activities, screenshots, and idle time to get accurate performance data
Start/stop timers and background tracking for effortless time logging
Payroll And Invoicing
Automates payroll and payments via PayPal, Wise, and Gusto
Turns billable hours into invoices and exportable client reports
Reporting And Analytics
Over 20 reports on productivity, attendance, and team productivity
Visual charts and dashboards to measure workload and profitability
Activity Tracking
Tracks app, URL, and device activity with optional screenshots
Logs background activity privately to promote trust and autonomy
Project And Task Management
Agile workflows with Kanban boards and automated task allocation
Client-based projects with real-time progress reporting and budget notifications
What Is Hubstaff?
Hubstaff is a workforce management and time-tracking platform that offers time tracking, payroll, attendance management, and productivity tracking features. This provides managers with a comprehensive view of employee activity by combining tracked hours with real-time data such as task progress, activity levels, time capturing screenshots, and break records. It helps create transparent timesheets that support accurate payroll processing and accountability.
Mostly, remote teams, small and mid-sized businesses, and freelancers mainly rely on Hubstaff for time tracking, productivity monitoring, and performance reporting. While primarily adopted by smaller teams, Hubstaff also scales for enterprise use through API integrations and multi-team dashboards.
Unique Features Of Hubstaff
Screenshots: Hubstaff is capable of capturing screenshots of an employee's screen at specified intervals. It shows what work is being accomplished and assists managers in tracking real-time productivity.
Job Sites: The software offers GPS time-tracking, which enables managers to set up geofenced job sites to track employees entering or leaving. It automatically records their clock-ins and clock-outs for accuracy.
Employee Tracker: Hubstaff's URL monitoring tracks the websites employees access during working hours and measures the amount of time spent on each one.
Pros And Cons Of Hubstaff
Pros:
Real-time activity tracking helps managers identify inefficiencies early and adjust workload for optimized team performance.
Enables managers to make data-driven performance decisions with real-time insights into productivity, task progress, and work quality.
Built-in and reminder alerts reduce time leakage by ensuring employees stay focused during logged-in sessions.
Cons:
Over-reliance on activity metrics penalizes planning or creative tasks that don’t involve constant clicks or typing.
Mobile and offline tracking inconsistencies lead to gaps or lost time data during connectivity drops.
What Is Toggl?
Toggl Track is a time tracking software designed to help organizations maintain accountability and visibility by tracking time across distributed teams, without introducing surveillance or micromanagement. It makes time logging simple for employees while providing managers with personalized reports that transform logged time into productivity and profitability insights.
Features like idle-time detection, reminders, background tracking automation, and more than 100 integrations help reduce administrative workload and ensure accurate time records. Toggl Track scales from freelancers and startups to enterprise teams through its multi-user plans, open API, and strong integration ecosystem with tools like Asana, Jira, Notion, and ClickUp.
Toggl is best suited for teams that prioritize autonomy, simplicity, and reliability over rigorous monitoring, providing a simple means to achieve higher productivity.
Unique Features Of Toggl
Calendar View: Toggl Track integrates with work calendars to create events as time entries, helping teams align schedules and manage workloads efficiently.
Offline Tracking: Tracks time without internet access and automatically syncs when connectivity is restored, ensuring no productivity data is lost for remote teams.
Shared Time Entries: Allows teams to share tracked hours with managers or clients for transparent reporting and streamlined performance evaluation.
Pros And Cons Of Toggl
Pros:
Generates customizable reports that uncover unprofitable projects and uneven workloads, helping you reallocate resources effectively.
Offers detailed project tracking to help estimate future timelines and improve billing accuracy.
Allows flexible manual or automated timers that enable users to maintain precise records and correct errors.
Cons:
Syncing glitches across devices can sometimes erase an entire day’s tracked data, undermining trust in reports.
Editing past time entries may be cumbersome, making it harder to promptly fix errors in fast-paced projects.
Hubstaff Vs Toggl: Head-To-Head Feature Comparison
1. Time-Tracking
Hubstaff: Focuses on accountability through detailed, measurable time logs. This makes payroll accurate and ensures that billing is based on actual progress. Moreover, idle-time detection and real-time timesheets prevent managers from overlooking any entries, providing reliable visibility during daily operations.
Toggl Track: Has a focused approach with minimal overhead, centering on time tracking and reporting. Background tracking features a simple start/stop timer that lets users keep track of progress without oversight. Managers can access individual and team-level reports to understand workload and productivity trends, enabling more balanced workload planning and performance evaluation.
Winner: Hubstaff takes the lead with its detailed activity tracking and real-time timesheets, offering managers greater accuracy and visibility into daily operations.
2. Payroll And Invoicing
Hubstaff: Combines time tracking with automated payroll to ensure employees are paid accurately and on time. Once team hours are imported, it generates invoices and sends payments through PayPal, Wise, or Gusto. Users can customize invoice styles, add client information, and record partial payments—minimizing manual reconciliation efforts.
Toggl Track: Simplifies how employees get paid by aligning billable hours directly with pay data, allowing users to track time across multiple clients, tasks, and projects. It easily converts billable hours into exportable reports and integrates with tools like QuickBooks for invoicing.
Winner: Hubstaff wins with its unified payroll and invoicing ecosystem, offering teams precision and automation in payment processing.
3. Reporting And Analytics
Hubstaff: Offers over 20 reports to analyze attendance, productivity, and payments in one place. Users can filter by employee, department, or date and schedule report emails. Workforce analytics also reveal workload disparities and burnout potential, helping managers make data-driven decisions and ensure accountability.
Toggl Track: Visualizes workforce data through customizable dashboards that let managers build charts and pivot tables. Supervisors can track productivity peaks, focus time, and billable vs. non-billable hours, identifying capacity issues and improving scheduling efficiency.
Winner: Toggl Track wins for its visual, flexible analytics that turn time data into actionable workforce insights.
4. Activity Tracking
Hubstaff: Monitors real-time team activity beyond simple clock-ins and clock-outs. Tracks keyboard, mouse, and application usage with optional screenshots to identify workflow patterns and idle time. These features help managers detect burnout risk and optimize workflows, especially in hybrid environments.
Toggl Track: Takes a self-managed and non-invasive approach. Instead of screenshots or constant surveillance, it logs background app and site activity privately, allowing employees to control what is shared. This promotes transparency and trust while giving supervisors automated productivity reports.
Winner: Tie — Hubstaff provides detailed accountability and real-time performance tracking, while Toggl Track promotes trust and autonomy through transparent self-regulation.
5. Project And Task Management
Hubstaff: Integrates Agile project management with time tracking to help teams measure productivity and manage tasks efficiently. It includes Kanban boards, automated task assignment, and real-time budget monitoring—allowing HR teams to track departmental performance seamlessly.
Toggl Track: Offers flexible project tracking, grouping tasks by client or project, and displaying progress in real-time. Automated cost alerts and customizable dashboards turn time data into insights about capacity, profit, and workload balance—helping leaders optimize staff usage.
Winner: Tie — Hubstaff enhances collaboration through structured team workflows, while Toggl Track supports individual productivity and flexibility.
How Much Do They Cost?
Hubstaff Pricing
Hubstaff offers four pricing tiers tailored to different organizational needs. All prices below are introductory for the first 12 months and require a minimum of two seats. Prices may change after the first year, with 30 days’ advance notice provided via email.
Starter - $7/seat/month
Grow - $9/seat/month
Team - $12/seat/month
Enterprise - $25/seat/month (billed annually)
A 14-day free trial is also available, with no credit card required. Moreover, all plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Toggl Pricing
Toggl Track provides flexible pricing plans suitable for individuals, small teams, and enterprises.
Free - $0 (up to 5 users)
Starter - $10/user/month
Premium - $20/user/month
Enterprise - Custom Pricing
Additionally, the platform offers a 30-day free trial for its paid plans, with no upfront payment required.
Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.
Final Verdict: Which Workforce Management Tool Should You Choose?
The decision between Hubstaff and Toggl Track comes down to how your HR strategy defines productivity and employee empowerment. If your organization prioritizes structured management, measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and real-time performance insights, Hubstaff provides data-driven oversight and operational structure to efficiently scale distributed teams.
On the other hand, if your company culture values flexibility, psychological safety, and autonomy, Toggl Track offers the level of independence that your staff may require to work at their best.
The choice depends on selecting software whose capabilities match your leadership philosophy and workforce maturity.
