ClickUp 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 ClickUp or review of Hubstaff. Anyway, let’s get cracking…
This Review Covers:
- What’s the difference between ClickUp and Hubstaff?
- What are ClickUp and Hubstaff’s Time Tracking Features?
- How much do ClickUp and Hubstaff Cost?
- Who are the Target Users of ClickUp and Hubstaff?
- What Platforms do ClickUp and Hubstaff support?
- How do ClickUp and Hubstaff do Time Auditing and Reporting?
- How do ClickUp and Hubstaff do Scheduling and Budgeting?
- Do ClickUp and Hubstaff have Employee Monitoring?
- How do ClickUp and Hubstaff do Payroll and Invoicing?
- Are ClickUp and Hubstaff’s user interfaces easy?
- So, which one is better: ClickUp or Hubstaff?
What’s the difference between ClickUp and Hubstaff?
ClickUp is primarily a project management app, though it can also function as a time tracker. It’s designed to be a comprehensive solution with various productivity tools, including project trackers, document organizers, reporting dashboards, and more. It allows users to organize tasks, track progress, collaborate with team members, and other activities that improve collaboration and productivity.
There’s a good reason – or, rather, several good reasons – why ClickUp is consistently rated as one of the best project management apps out there. However, I do wonder how well its time tracking capabilities can stand up to top-of-the-line time tracking apps.
Meanwhile, Hubstaff offers many of the same features as ClickUp. It 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.
ClickUp is more pricey than Hubstaff, 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 ClickUp Features
- Integrates with other time tracking apps
- Streamlined team collaboration and communication features
- In-app video recording
- Agile Dashboards and other project management features
- Unlimited storage offered by paid plans
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 ClickUp and Hubstaff’s Time Tracking Features?
ClickUp
In addition to its project management features, ClickUp offers a pretty impressive time tracker. It’s a global timer, which means that users will be able to continue logging time even when they switch from one device to another. Users will also be able to retroactively add time and manually edit time entries.
One of the things I like best about ClickUp is that if you prefer another time tracking app, it doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to use ClickUp. It integrates with several other time trackers, including Toggl Track, Time Doctor, Clockify, Harvest, and yes, even Hubstaff.
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 ClickUp and Hubstaff Cost?
Both apps are generous with their free 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 ClickUp free?
ClickUp has a free plan, but it doesn’t have a free trial. This means that if you want to check out the features included in the paid tiers, you’ll have no choice but to pay because there’s no free trial to give you a sneak peek. So, if you end up not liking the software and its premium features, that’s money down the drain.
If you sign up for the free plan, you’ll be able to add up to five users, but you won’t have access to the app’s team sharing features. You’ll also only have 100 MB of file space.
The paid tiers start at $5 per user per month, and large enterprises with several teams can get custom pricing with add-ons that the other tiers don’t have. All the paid tiers allow an unlimited number of users and unlimited file storage.
Is Hubstaff free?
You can sign up for a 14-day free trial that allows you to access Hubstaff’s time tracker and other features without having to enter your credit card details. When your free trial expires, you won’t get automatically 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 less expensive than ClickUp. Meanwhile, Hubstaff Field has no free tier and starts at $10 per user per month.
Like ClickUp, 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 ClickUp and Hubstaff?
Who Uses ClickUp?
At first glance, it may seem like ClickUp isn’t a good fit for freelancers. Its features will likely benefit organizations with several employees or different teams that need to collaborate on projects. However, freelancers can actually also get a lot of use out of ClickUp, especially if they’re juggling a lot of clients and projects.
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.
Hubstaff can take screen recordings and track keyboard and mouse activity, among other productivity-tracking capabilities.
What Platforms do ClickUp and Hubstaff support?
| Platforms | ClickUp | Hubstaff |
| Windows desktop app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac desktop app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux desktop app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apple app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser extension | ✓ | ✓ |
How do ClickUp and Hubstaff do Time Auditing and Reporting?
ClickUp
In addition to time tracking, ClickUp offers advanced reporting features that allow you to generate time tracking reports. You can also filter these reports so they’ll show the data that are most relevant to your business.
Good thing that ClickUp’s templates are included in all plans, including the free and premium tiers, because the Audit Project Plan Template can make audits a lot more doable. This template can help maintain accountability and track progress effectively.
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.
Hubstaff doesn’t have the same auditing template feature as ClickUp, but its auditing and reporting functions are nonetheless useful and helpful in identifying how your organization’s processes need to improve.
How do ClickUp and Hubstaff do Scheduling and Budgeting?
ClickUp
If you’re the type that color-coded all your notes at school, you’ll love ClickUp’s scheduling feature. You can drag and drop unscheduled tasks to your calendar and assign different colors to different tasks. This way, you’ll be able to get an idea of how your day, week, or month will go with just a glance.
ClickUp also offers project budget management templates that help you with pre-budget planning, resource management, requests and approvals, and more.
Hubstaff
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 ClickUp and Hubstaff have Employee Monitoring?
ClickUp
As a project management app, ClickUp certainly isn’t the first app I would think of if I need an employee monitoring app. However, it integrates smoothly with other time tracking apps that do have these features, including Time Doctor and Hubstaff.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a time tracker that offers project management and employee monitoring features. It can track mouse and keyboard activity and log the websites employees visit and the apps they use while the timer is running. The app also takes screenshots of employees’ screens every 10 minutes.
How do ClickUp and Hubstaff do Payroll and Invoicing?
ClickUp
ClickUp’s templates strike again with the Project Plan Template for Payroll Implementation. This template will help you organize all the things you need for a hassle-free pay period. It includes the project management plan, payroll system, payroll processing, and more.
Invoicing is also pretty easy and falls under the Billing section of the software, so it’s a lot less complicated than the payroll template.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff can help you pay employees by integrating apps like Quickbooks, PayPal, Payoneer, and Wise. You can pay and send invoices through Hubstaff itself, and adding payment methods is fairly simple.
Are ClickUp and Hubstaff’s user interfaces easy?
ClickUp
I’m impressed by how comprehensive ClickUp is as a time tracking and project management app. However, the sheer number of features it has can be overwhelming. Thus, one of the biggest drawbacks of ClickUp is that there’s a substantial learning curve. You can spend months using the app and still have features left to learn.
That can be both a good thing and a bad thing. While ClickUp aims to improve efficiency and reduce the time organizations spend on projects, users might end up needing more time just to learn how to use the app’s features.
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: ClickUp or Hubstaff?
This was a tough decision, especially because both apps have a lot to offer. However, I’ll have to declare ClickUp the winner of this particular round. Yes, it’s admittedly more difficult to master because of how feature-rich it is. Its treasure trove of features, templates, and functions, however, is exactly what sets it apart from Hubstaff and other time tracking and project management software.
Also, let’s not forget that ClickUp integrates with many time tracking apps, including Hubstaff. So, in this way, you don’t actually have to choose between the two, especially if you like Hubstaff’s time tracker better. However, ClickUp’s global time tracking tool might be the better choice for employees that need to use different devices in different locations.
