Taking a Closer Look at Hubstaff: An Honest Guide
Unearth the potential of Hubstaff, a leading choice for employee management and productivity tracking in 2023. Our in-depth guide provides a detailed overview of its key features, user testimonials, customer support services, pricing plans, and compliance measures, aiming to help you determine if this software fits your business requirements. Perfect for remote teams and traditional office setups alike.
Welcome to our detailed guide on Hubstaff, a premier choice in the realm of employee management and productivity tracking applications.
In this comprehensive review, we will explore Hubstaff's distinguishing features, user testimonials, the platform's user experience, customer support services, various pricing models, and security and compliance measures.
Whether your team is distributed across the globe or working in a traditional office environment, our impartial guide aims to offer a deep dive into Hubstaff's technology for remote workers designed to maximize productivity and manage remote work. Our goal is to help you ascertain if Hubstaff aligns perfectly with your business requirements.
Standout Features of Hubstaff
Hubstaff offers a range of standout features that streamline workforce management and boost productivity. A key feature is the capability for tracking employee hours which enables businesses to monitor work hours on each project and task across various platforms. This aids in maintaining accurate time logs and complements the creation of online timesheets, which provides a detailed breakdown of each employee's work hours, optimizing performance.
Additionally, Hubstaff’s monitoring software for PC offers over 17 distinct types of time reports, giving a granular understanding of how employees allocate their work hours. In terms of productivity, Hubstaff integrates features like customizable screenshots, attendance tracking, employee monitoring, and a productivity tracker that calculates rates based on mouse and keyboard usage.
Furthermore, Hubstaff introduces unique features such as Achievement Badges and Idle Time Discard to enhance morale and efficiency. The achievement badges offer a virtual means to recognize and reward efficiency. Meanwhile, Idle Time Discard lets users remove non-productive time with one click, ensuring only productive work hours are represented. Collectively, these features position Hubstaff as a robust tool for workforce management, providing profound insights into employee performance while facilitating efficient time tracking and management.
What users are saying:
Users have often praised Hubstaff for its wide range of features. The time tracking feature has been lauded for its accuracy and for providing detailed insights about how time is being spent during work hours. It is particularly appreciated by remote teams and freelancers who need to keep a precise record of their working hours.
User Experience (UX)
Hubstaff's user experience (UX) is predominantly appreciated for its ease of use, intuitive interface, and robust customer service. Furthermore, its integration capabilities with popular tools, support for remote work, and invoicing features are considered significant assets, contributing to the overall user experience.
What users are saying:
Hubstaff is largely perceived as a reliable tool for time tracking, monitoring, and improving productivity. It's highly valued for its ability to deliver granular insights into employee activities and enhance productivity. It's deemed effective in tracking projects, proving activity levels, and ensuring data security. However, users have pointed out that interface navigation and pricing could be improved. Some have raised concerns about website usability, task entry process, and configuration options.
Customer Support
Hubstaff's customer support follows a tiered system designed to cater to a wide range of customer needs, ranging from small businesses to larger corporations.
Basic Support, which is available to all Hubstaff customers, provides access to a Help Center, live chat, email support, scheduled calls, and 24/7 Help Center access. All paid subscriptions come with this level of support.
A level above is Premium Support. This could be compared to the enhanced support offered by Hubstaff's team, such as prompt and effective assistance and the professionalism demonstrated by the customer service agents. This level of support helps to quickly resolve issues, providing a better customer experience.
Enterprise Support is a tier designed for larger businesses, adding more value to the Premium Support tier. This could potentially include dealing with the more complex issues that have been reported by users, such as system crashes during logins, issues with downloading reports, and discrepancies in time calculations between candidates and administrators.
What users are saying:
The reviews about Hubstaff's customer support are mixed. Users appreciate the quick and effective responses from the customer support team, and the professional attitude demonstrated by agents.
However, there have been reports of challenges, including difficulty in cancelling subscriptions, delayed responses from the support team, and instances where users were charged for the entire year despite requesting cancellation before the trial period ended. Some users have also reported system crashes during logins, downloading errors in reports, and discrepancies in time calculations between candidates and administrators.
Despite these challenges, many users generally find value in Hubstaff's capabilities and the provided customer support.
Pricing Plans
Hubstaff presents a range of pricing plans to meet different business requirements, each delivering a unique blend of features.
For businesses or freelancers seeking an affordable solution to track work remotely, Hubstaff's Basic edition is an excellent choice. Priced at $7 per user per month, users are granted access to key productivity and time tracking features like time tracking, screenshots, keyboard and mouse activity monitoring, and employee payments. This edition also includes 24/7 support, offering the necessary help when it's needed the most.
The Premium edition, reasonably priced at $10 per user per month, extends the Basic plan's functionalities by integrating features like app and URL tracking, GPS tracking, scheduling, expense tracking, invoices, and more. This plan also offers unlimited integrations, making it an even more versatile tool for teams on the go.
Hubstaff's Enterprise edition, tailored for larger corporations, comes with VIP support and increased limits, ensuring their needs are met at all times. While the cost for this plan isn't explicitly stated, it's likely to be determined based on specific business requirements.
There is also a free employee monitoring software plan, which is ideal for freelancers and includes limited features.
What users are saying:
Sentiments about Hubstaff's pricing vary. Some users find it affordable and reasonable for the features it provides, while others felt that the costs could add up for larger teams or for those requiring more advanced features. Some smaller companies or freelancers also consider it relatively pricey.
Security and Compliance
Hubstaff places a high priority on data protection, implementing robust security measures such as data encryption in transit and at rest, strong passwords, and well-structured access controls. To ensure system reliability, the company conducts continuous and incremental backups, maintains redundant systems across multiple locations, and has automatic failover measures.
Participating actively in a bug bounty program, Hubstaff maintains up-to-date code libraries and has a comprehensive incident response procedure for potential data breaches. The company also follows a data retention policy to limit data exposure.
What Users Like about Hubstaff
Users of Hubstaff have shared a variety of positive remarks in their reviews. On GetApp, users appreciate the ability to track employee presence whether on-site or remote. The platform's ease of use, excellent customer service, and suitability for contractors are also notable positives.
Users on G2 also appreciate the software's ability to track employee activity and provide regular screenshots. Additionally, Hubstaff's reliability in managing remote workers and offering transparency and efficiency in tracking activities and time has been recognized.
Users on Capterra have offered similar feedback:
What Users Don’t Like about Hubstaff
On GetApp, user reviews reflected discontent with a lack customizable settings and integration options:
Users on G2 express frustrations about bugs and technical difficulties that sometimes lead to inaccurate time tracking:
On Capterra, some users fine the software to be on the pricey side with a less than intuitive user interface:
Final Thoughts
Hubstaff presents itself as a potent tool with a rich suite of features that streamline operations, improve productivity, and foster effective employee management, regardless of where team members are located. Its time tracking capabilities, granular reporting, employee monitoring, and other unique features like Achievement Badges and Idle Time Discard make it a strong contender in the market.
That said, it's essential to remember that no tool is without its challenges. User experiences vary, with some applauding Hubstaff's feature-rich offering and others critiquing certain aspects such as interface usability and pricing. It's clear that Hubstaff continually works to address these areas of concern, evident by their ongoing support and engagement with user feedback.
Overall, the value Hubstaff’s remote work monitoring software offers is significant, especially for remote teams and organizations seeking a well-rounded solution to manage workforce productivity.
In the end, it's not about finding a perfect tool; it's about finding the right tool that seamlessly integrates with your business workflows and supports your team in reaching its maximum potential. We hope this honest guide offers valuable insights to aid you in your decision-making process.