TimeCamp vs Hubstaff: Which Is Better for Team Time Tracking in 2026?

TimeCamp is the better pick for most teams that bill clients. It has a free plan with unlimited users, lower per-user prices on annual billing and invoicing from Starter. Hubstaff wins when managers need proof of work: screenshots, activity levels, payroll and GPS for field crews. Neither gives one person a private record of their own day. Dayflow covers that, on a Mac.

TimeCamp is a timesheet and billing tool. It fills in time from what people do on their computers and has a free plan that covers unlimited users. Hubstaff is a monitoring tool for managers who want proof of work, with screenshots, activity levels and GPS for field crews, and it has no free plan at all.

Disclosure: we make Dayflow, a free, open-source Mac app that records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds and has AI write the day into a readable timeline. It is not a team tracker. It appears here as a third option for one gap the other two leave open. This comparison is based on each vendor’s own pricing and product pages as read on October 4, 2026. Dayflow details reflect version 2.2.0.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price	Platforms
TimeCamp	Teams that bill clients and want a free starting point	Desktop app tracks apps and websites automatically and assigns time by keyword, plus manual timers and timesheets	Free plan; paid from $3.99 per user per month billed annually	Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
Hubstaff	Managers of remote, in-office and field teams who want proof of work	Start and stop timer with activity levels, screenshots, app and URL tracking, GPS	From $4.99 per seat per month billed annually, 2 seat minimum; no free plan	Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Chrome, Web
Dayflow (ours)	One person on a Mac who wants a private record of their own day	Background recording at one frame every 10 seconds; AI writes a timeline	$0, MIT licensed; optional Pro at $20 a month	Mac only, macOS 14 or later

Key takeaways

• On annual billing, TimeCamp costs less per user at every self-serve tier, and it has a free-forever plan with unlimited users. Hubstaff has no free plan and a 2-seat minimum.
• Hubstaff is the stronger choice when the point of tracking is oversight. Screenshots, activity levels, payroll and GPS job sites are central to its product.
• TimeCamp leans toward billing and planning: invoicing, attendance and time off from Starter, then budgets and resource planning from Premium.
• Both send tracked data to the vendor’s cloud. TimeCamp offers self-hosting only on Enterprise.
• Dayflow does not do team time tracking. It covers a different job: a private, readable record of what one person did on their Mac.

What TimeCamp does better

It is cheaper to start. The Free plan is free forever with unlimited users, though TimeCamp does not itemize its limits on the page we read. Paid plans start at $3.99 per user per month billed annually. Hubstaff’s cheapest plan is $4.99 per seat and requires at least two seats.

It is built around timesheets that fill themselves in. TimeCamp’s desktop app tracks apps and websites automatically and assigns that time to projects by keyword. Manual timers and timesheets sit alongside it for anything the rules miss. The pricing page lists app and website tracking from the Premium plan. That detail came from a summarized read, so confirm it on TimeCamp’s pricing page before you plan around it.

More of the business side comes in the box. Starter includes invoicing, attendance and time-off management. Premium adds budgets, billable time and resource planning. Ultimate adds screenshots, timesheet approvals and expenses. A small agency can run client billing out of TimeCamp without a separate invoicing tool.

Screenshots are opt-in. TimeCamp’s screenshots are optional and admin-enabled, and they sit on the Ultimate plan. A team that wants hours without screen captures never has to turn them on.

There is a self-hosted path. Enterprise offers self-hosted deployment and a private cloud. Hubstaff’s pages list no equivalent. Enterprise pricing is on request.

The AI drafts timesheets, at a cost. The AI Time Tracker, part of what TimeCamp calls its Time Intelligence Center, suggests timesheet entries from activity. It is billed by token usage. TimeCamp estimates the charge at about $6 per user per month and gives $10 in trial credits. Budget for that separately, because it is not part of the plan price.

What Hubstaff does better

Proof of work is the core product. Hubstaff pairs its timer with screenshots, activity levels, and app and URL tracking. Tracked data is uploaded so managers can review it in dashboards and reports. If a client or an operations lead needs evidence that billed hours were worked, Hubstaff is designed for that conversation.

Pay runs from the same place. Hubstaff lists payments, payroll and invoices among its strengths. Payroll does not appear among the features TimeCamp lists. For BPOs, virtual assistant services and agencies paying contractors by the hour, that removes a step. Check Hubstaff’s pricing page for which plan includes each piece.

It covers field teams. GPS location tracking and geofenced job sites are available as an add-on. TimeCamp’s listed features include nothing comparable for crews working away from a desk.

Scheduling and integrations. Hubstaff lists project budgets, scheduling and more than 35 integrations.

Monthly billing is cheaper at the upper tiers. If you will not commit to a year, Hubstaff Grow at $9 per seat billed monthly undercuts TimeCamp Premium at $9.99 month-to-month, and Hubstaff Team at $12 undercuts TimeCamp Ultimate at $13.99.

A low-risk trial. The trial runs 14 days with no credit card, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee after you pay. TimeCamp offers a free trial on paid plans but does not state its length on the pages we read.

An AI aimed at managers, and a menu of add-ons. Hubstaff’s AI feature is unusual activity detection, part of the Insights add-on. Add-ons such as Insights, Tasks and Silent app start at $2.5 per seat per month. That flexibility cuts both ways. Several features are paid add-ons on lower plans, so the list price is often not the final price.

Head-to-head table

Capability	TimeCamp	Hubstaff	Dayflow
Automatic capture	Desktop app tracks apps and websites, assigns time by keyword (listed from Premium); optional screenshots on Ultimate	Timer-based, with activity levels, screenshots, and app and URL tracking while it runs	Records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds in the background
Timers and timesheets	Manual timers and timesheets; approvals on Ultimate	Start and stop timer in desktop and mobile apps	Background recording rather than timers; export a date range as Markdown
Invoicing and payroll	Invoicing from Starter; payroll not listed	Payments, payroll and invoices	None
Team reports and approvals	Team plans priced per user; timesheet approvals on Ultimate	Manager dashboards and reports	None
Website blocking	Not listed; see the vendor’s pricing page	Not listed; see the vendor’s pricing page	None
AI features	AI Time Tracker fills timesheets; billed by tokens, about $6 per user per month by the vendor’s estimate	Unusual activity detection in the Insights add-on	AI writes a readable timeline of the day; can miss or misread work
Data location	Vendor cloud; self-hosted or private cloud on Enterprise	Vendor cloud, uploaded for managers	Recordings and timeline stay on your Mac; analysis local or cloud, your choice
Free tier	Free forever, unlimited users	None; 14-day trial	Free app, $0
Platforms	Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android	Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Chrome, Web	Mac only, macOS 14 or later
Open source	No	No	Yes, MIT

Pricing compared

Tier	TimeCamp	Hubstaff
Free	$0, free forever	No free tier
Entry	Starter: $3.99 per user per month billed annually, or $5.49 month-to-month	Starter: $4.99 per seat per month billed annually, or $7 billed monthly, 2 seat minimum
Middle	Premium: $6.99 billed annually, or $9.99 month-to-month	Grow: $7.50 billed annually, or $9 billed monthly, 2 seat minimum
Top self-serve	Ultimate: $9.99 billed annually, or $13.99 month-to-month	Team: $10 billed annually, or $12 billed monthly, 2 seat minimum
Enterprise	On request	$25 per seat per month, billed annually
Extras	AI Time Tracker billed by tokens, about $6 per user per month (vendor estimate)	Add-ons from $2.5 per seat per month

Dayflow, for reference, is $0 with an optional Pro plan at $20 a month.

For team time tracking with invoicing, the cheapest plan that fits is Starter on both. On TimeCamp, one person pays $47.88 a year billed annually ($3.99 x 12), or $65.88 paying month-to-month. On Hubstaff, one seat costs $59.88 a year billed annually. The 2-seat minimum means the smallest possible account costs $119.76 a year, or $168 on monthly billing. For a larger team, multiply the per-user figure by headcount and check each vendor’s pricing page for volume terms.

At the top self-serve tier on annual billing the gap nearly closes: $119.88 per user a year for TimeCamp Ultimate, $120 per seat for Hubstaff Team. Then the extras decide it. TimeCamp’s AI, at the vendor’s own estimate of about $6 a month, adds roughly $72 per user per year. Any Hubstaff add-on adds at least $30 per seat per year. If you want a rough sense of what tracked hours are worth before committing, the real hourly rate calculator is a quick check.

When should you choose TimeCamp?

• You bill clients by the hour and want invoicing in the same tool, at the lowest per-user price on annual billing.
• You want to start free. The free plan has unlimited users, so a whole team can try it before anyone pays.
• Your team prefers timesheets filled from activity over a timer they must remember to start.
• You want screenshots available but off by default.
• Your security team may eventually require self-hosting. Only TimeCamp offers it, on Enterprise.
• You need attendance and time-off tracking next to project hours.

When should you choose Hubstaff?

• Clients or leadership require evidence of work: screenshots, activity levels, and app and URL logs.
• You pay contractors or staff from tracked hours and want payroll built in.
• Part of your team works in the field and you need GPS and geofenced job sites.
• You are an agency, BPO or virtual assistant service, which is the audience Hubstaff names.
• You have at least two people to track, so the seat minimum costs nothing extra.
• You want to trial the full product without a credit card.

Where do both fall short?

Both tools are built so data flows up to an organization. TimeCamp turns activity into timesheet entries and invoices. Hubstaff uploads activity for managers to review. That is the right design for team time tracking. It does nothing for the person being tracked who wants an honest, private account of their own day: what they actually worked on, where the afternoon went, what to say in tomorrow’s standup.

Both are also closed source and vendor-hosted. TimeCamp’s self-hosting is limited to Enterprise. Hubstaff’s pages offer no self-hosted option.

This is the gap Dayflow covers, for people on a Mac. It records the screen at one frame every 10 seconds and keeps the full recordings and timeline on your Mac. AI then writes the day into a readable timeline. Analysis can run fully on-device through Local AI, using Ollama or LM Studio. You can also send selected screenshots to your own cloud provider or to Dayflow Pro. Under our privacy policy, Pro deletes screenshots after processing and may retain activity data for sync. Local and cloud processing covers the tradeoffs in detail. Nothing goes to a manager unless you export it.

People use that record to reconstruct timesheets (a Mac timesheet without manual entry) or to write status updates (automatic standup updates). If your interest in tracking is closer to self-knowledge than oversight, time tracking without surveillance lays out the difference. For a wider view of personal options, see our roundup of Mac time trackers.

When is Dayflow the wrong pick?

For the job in this article’s title, Dayflow is the wrong tool. Be clear about where it loses:

• You need to see a team’s hours in one place. Dayflow has no team reports, admin view or approvals. Use TimeCamp, or Hubstaff if you also want screenshots and activity levels.
• You need to invoice clients. Dayflow has no invoicing. TimeCamp includes it from Starter.
• You pay people from tracked time. Dayflow has no payroll. Hubstaff lists payments and payroll.
• Anyone on the team uses Windows, Linux or a phone for work. Dayflow runs only on macOS 14 or later. TimeCamp covers web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.
• You track field crews. Use Hubstaff, whose GPS and geofencing add-on is built for that.
• You want proof that holds up with a client. Dayflow’s AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work and need checking before you share them. Hubstaff’s screenshots and activity levels are built to be evidence.

Dayflow also has no website blocking. If distraction blocking is the goal, none of the three tools here lists it.

The bottom line

For most teams doing ordinary team time tracking, TimeCamp is the better pick. It is cheaper per user on annual billing, it is free to start for any team size, and it puts invoicing, attendance and time off within reach on the entry plan. Its AI is a separate token-based charge, so price it in if you plan to use it.

Choose Hubstaff when tracking exists to prove work and pay people. Its screenshots, activity levels, payroll and GPS make it the stronger tool for agencies, BPOs and field teams, as long as you accept no free plan and a two-seat minimum.

Dayflow, which is ours, does not compete for the team job. It is for the individual on a Mac who wants their own record of the day, kept on their own machine, at $0.

Frequently asked questions

Is TimeCamp cheaper than Hubstaff?

On annual billing, yes, at every self-serve tier on each vendor's pricing page as of October 2026. TimeCamp Starter is $3.99 per user per month billed annually, against $4.99 per seat for Hubstaff Starter. On monthly billing the order flips at the upper tiers. TimeCamp also has a free-forever plan with unlimited users, and Hubstaff has none. TimeCamp's AI Time Tracker is billed separately by token usage.

Does Hubstaff have a free plan?

No. Hubstaff lists no free tier. It offers a 14-day trial with no credit card required and a 30-day money-back guarantee. After that, the cheapest plan is Starter at $4.99 per seat per month billed annually, or $7 billed monthly. Starter, Grow and Team all have a 2-seat minimum, so the smallest account pays for two seats.

Does TimeCamp take screenshots of employees' screens?

Only if an admin turns it on. TimeCamp's screenshots are optional and admin-enabled, and the pricing page places them on the Ultimate plan. That plan costs $9.99 per user per month billed annually, or $13.99 month-to-month. Ultimate also adds timesheet approvals and expenses. Hubstaff treats screenshots and activity levels as core features rather than an opt-in extra.

Which is better for payroll, TimeCamp or Hubstaff?

Hubstaff. It lists payments, payroll and invoices among its main strengths, so tracked hours can turn into pay inside the same tool. TimeCamp's plan list covers invoicing, attendance, time off and expenses, but payroll is not among the features it lists. If paying contractors from tracked hours is the main job, Hubstaff fits more directly. Check Hubstaff's pricing page to see which plan includes it.

Can a solo freelancer use Hubstaff?

You can, but you pay for two seats. Hubstaff's Starter, Grow and Team plans all have a 2-seat minimum. On Starter billed annually, that comes to $119.76 a year for one person. TimeCamp has no seat minimum listed and has a free-forever plan. That makes TimeCamp the cheaper way for one person to try team-style time tracking with invoicing.

Does TimeCamp's AI time tracking cost extra?

Yes. TimeCamp's AI Time Tracker, part of its Time Intelligence Center, fills timesheets from activity and is billed by token usage. The vendor estimates the cost at about $6 per user per month. New accounts get $10 in trial credits. That charge sits on top of the plan price, so a team on Starter plus AI could pay more than double the Starter list price.

Can Dayflow replace Hubstaff for tracking my team?

No. Hubstaff is the better tool for that job. Dayflow is a single-person Mac app with no team reports, no payroll, no approvals and no invoices. Nothing it records reaches a manager unless the person chooses to share it. If you need to see hours, screenshots or activity across a team, or pay people from tracked time, use Hubstaff or TimeCamp.

Can TimeCamp be self-hosted?

Yes, but only on the Enterprise plan. TimeCamp is a vendor-hosted cloud service on its other plans. Enterprise adds self-hosted deployment and a private cloud option, and its price is on request. Hubstaff is a web service only, with tracked data uploaded for managers to review in dashboards and reports. Hubstaff's pages list no self-hosted option.

Do TimeCamp and Hubstaff work on Mac?

Both do. TimeCamp runs on web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. Hubstaff runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Chrome and web. That cross-platform reach is a real advantage for mixed teams. Dayflow, by contrast, runs only on macOS 14 or later, so it cannot cover teammates on Windows or Linux.