The Better Alternative to Hubstaff

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Hubstaff vs. timeBuzzer

Software

Hubstaff is a time tracking and productivity monitoring tool that combines work hour tracking with GPS location features and screenshots tracking.

Best for: Remote, Hybrid teams that need time tracking with GPS/ geofencing and employee monitoring features.

Feature highlights:

Advanced GPS/ geofencing features, activity & screenshot tracking, granular management controls, employee monitoring features

Hubstaff offers a desktop app for macOS and Windows and Linux.

It provides a simple timer and shows time entries in a list view. You can edit the so called “To-do” names, however it’s not possible to further edit the time entries in the app itsself. You need to go to the web app for that.

While the timer is active the app can log different data types like screenshots, mouse and keyboard activitiy, apps and URLs visitied.

To enable its core productivity monitoring and screenshot features, users are required to grant Security and Privacy permissions on their operating system, including access to screen and audio recording, bypassing the system private window picker and direct access to your screen and audio, which can include personal or sensitive information, as well as URL recording for browsers to access documents and data. This may feel intrusive and can raise privacy concerns among employees, as sensitive data can be sent to Hubstaff’s servers.

The app also includes includes notifications and reminders, as well as an idle detection feature in case users forget to stop the timer.

For on the go, Hubstaff offers a mobile app for iOS and Android.

The mobile app offers way more functionality than the desktop app. Apart from the timer feature, the mobile app also allows you to monitor deployments, analyze team activities, manage budets or audit time allocations — features that differ from those available in the desktop app.

timeBuzzer is a time tracking software with optional hardware that focuses on accurate project-based time tracking by making it effortless, intuitive, and hard to forget.

Best for: Freelancers, agencies and small to medium-sized service businesses that want to track and bill their projects.

Feature highlights:

Effortless project time tracking, customizable layer system, clear reports, easy-to-use team & role management & member assignments

Same like Hubstaff, the timeBuzzer desktop app is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Like Hubstaff, it provides a simple timer, but instead of a list view, time entries are displayed in a user-friendly horizontal timeline, giving users a clearer overview of their day. Also it allows to easily edit time entries via drag and drop, or add further time entries via click and drag, directly within the desktop app.

The desktop app also includes notifications and reminders, as well as idle detection to help users easily adjust time entries if they forget to stop the timer.

One key difference is that timeBuzzer deliberately avoids features such as screenshot capturing or other tools designed solely for surveillance, because we believe effective time tracking should be built on trust and user-friendliness.

For on the go, timeBuzzer also offers a mobile app for iOS and Android.

Like the desktop app, it provides a simple timer that lets users easily start and stop tracking time, as well as manage recorded time entries. The app is focused solely on time tracking, with advanced reporting and management features intentionally kept in the web app to maintain simplicity and avoid distractions. Its functionality matches that of the desktop app, ensuring a consistent and seamless user experience across both apps.

Hardware

Hubstaff is entirely software-based and does not support dedicated hardware for time tracking.

Users must manually start and stop timers in the app to log time on specific tasks.

timeBuzzer offers an optional desktop buzzer alongside its software, turning time tracking into something simple and fun — and making it easy to capture even short activities like e‑mails or phone calls that often go untracked.

Learn more about the desktop buzzer

Integrations

Hubstaff offers an open API and various integrations, including automation platforms, making it easy to connect with your existing tools.

timeBuzzer offers an open API and various integrations, including automation platforms, making it easy to connect with your existing tools.

Pricing

Hubstaff’s software subscription plans cost up to $25 per seat per month during the first year, with a 20% discount available for annual billing. Multiple pricing plans are available based on features, with optional add-ons such as additional insights and data retention extensions.

A 14-day free trial is available without requiring credit card details, along with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Cancellation: You can cancel your subscription at any time; it will remain active until the end of the billing cycle. Data retention is limited.

timeBuzzer‘s software subscriptions cost up to €10 per user per month, with a 20% discount for annual billing. The optional desktop buzzer costs a one-time fee of €59 per device and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free. Volume discounts are available when purchasing multiple devices.

A free 15-day trial of all the paid software features iis available without requiring credit card details. If you order at least one desktop buzzer to test, your software trial is automatically extended to 30 days!

Cancellation: You can cancel your subscription at any time. It will remain active until the end of the billing cycle, after which you’ll smoothly transition to our free limited version. Your data remains securely stored and fully accessible again the moment you resubscribe.

Support

Hubstaff, based in the USA, offers support in English via email and chat with response times ranging from 2 hours to 2 days, depending on the plan. Business hours for phone support are Monday to Friday, 3:00 am to 9:00 pm EST.

A Help Center is available in English, offering detailed documentation, FAQs, and video tutorials for self-service.

Support level varies by plan, with live chat support or enhanced assistance available only for paid users.

timeBuzzer, based in Germany, EU, offers support in English and German via email and scheduled calls within 24 hours, during business hours from Monday to Friday, 9 am–6 pm CET you usually can expect much faster response times.

A Help Center is available in English and German, offering detailed documentation, FAQs, and video tutorials for self-service.

All users receive equal, personalized assistance, and user feedback is actively incorporated into product development.

Conclusion

Hubstaff could be a good choice if you’re looking for a time tracking tool that combines comprehensive GPS/ geofencing functionality with extensive employee monitoring features, including screenshot capture and application tracking.

timeBuzzer could be the perfect fit if you’re looking for a time tracking tool that prioritizes ease of use, offers effortless, highly accurate tracking, and respects your team’s privacy.

Real people. Real results.

See how timeBuzzer makes a difference.

“Roughly speaking, we save about 3–4 hours per employee per week. We also tend to bill more — around 10% — because we can now record activities more accurately”

Christian Euler
HOCH3 GmbH

“We used to track our time with spreadsheets, which was a pain and often forgotten. With timeBuzzer, our time tracking is now more flexible and yet easier to use. Especially the billing of projects has never been so easy and reliable.”

Katrin Schuler
KP PressConsulting

“We save around 30–60 minutes per employee per day. Billing has also become significantly more precise – we can clearly show which services were delivered and avoid any uncertainties.”

Marc Lübbers
beeNoord Marketing