A Hubstaff alternative with no surveillance at all
Hubstaff tracks work with screenshots, activity levels, and GPS. Sandtime.io has none of that, on any plan, and is free for unlimited users with reminders, approvals, and locking included.
Hubstaff is a workforce monitoring and time tracking platform. It captures screenshots, activity levels, and app and URL usage, adds GPS tracking for field teams, and layers payroll, invoicing, and scheduling on higher plans. Its free plan covers one user and paid plans start at a two-seat minimum. Visit Hubstaff website
Best for teams that bill against time and need trust
Sandtime.io fits agencies, freelancers, consultants, and other service teams that need client-ready reports, project visibility, and cleaner invoicing without the seat tax or surveillance that often comes with legacy trackers.
Sandtime.io vs Hubstaff
| Feature | Sandtime.io | Hubstaff |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan size | Free for unlimited users | Free for one user; paid plans start at two seats minimum |
| Screenshots and activity levels | None, and none planned | Activity levels on every plan; screenshots from the free one |
| Location tracking | None | GPS and geofencing, as a paid add-on on Team and Enterprise |
| Automatic tracking | Self-reported hours only | Automatic app and URL tracking |
| Timesheet approvals | Included free | Team and Enterprise plans only |
| Reminders and timesheet locking | Included free | Higher plan feature |
| Multi-currency reporting | Included free, with historical rates | Payroll uses the organization's selected currency |
| Payroll and invoicing | Invoice-ready reports and exports | Invoicing on every paid plan; full payroll from Team up |
| Hosting | European Union, on OVHcloud | United States |
| Best fit | Trusted timesheets from people who report their own hours | Oversight of distributed and field teams |
Why teams switch from Hubstaff to Sandtime.io
Nothing to switch off
Hubstaff exists to watch how work happens. Sandtime.io has no screenshots, no activity levels, no keystroke logging, and no location tracking, on any plan, because it has none of those features at all.
No seat minimum, no seat bill
Hubstaff's free plan covers one person and every paid plan starts at two seats. Sandtime.io is free for unlimited users, so the whole team can track time without a purchase order.
The completion workflow, included
Reminders, one-click approvals from email, and automatic locking of past periods are the workflow that actually gets timesheets in. They cost nothing here.
Adoption instead of resistance
Teams stop working around a tracker they resent. Self-reported hours are a declaration people will stand behind, which is what makes month-end billing defensible.
This is a choice about what you are buying
Hubstaff is good at what it sells. The question is whether what it sells is what your team needs. If you adopted it for the timesheets and inherited the monitoring, you are paying for a capability that costs you goodwill every day it stays switched on.
Choose Sandtime.io when
You need complete, approved, locked timesheets and client-ready reports, and you would rather the team reported their own hours than be measured while they work.
Keep Hubstaff when
Screenshots, activity levels, or GPS are a contractual requirement, a client expectation, or genuinely how you manage field crews. Sandtime.io cannot meet that need and does not try to.
The adoption difference
Monitored teams learn to perform for the tracker. Self-reported hours are a declaration someone will defend in a billing conversation, which is the record you actually want at month end.
Pricing and plan details checked October 5, 2026
On the check date, Hubstaff’s pricing page listed Starter at $7 per seat per month, or $4.99 billed annually, with a two-seat minimum on every paid plan.
Hubstaff's pricing page lists the current per-seat plans, the two-seat minimum, and which plan unlocks screenshots, GPS, payroll, and scheduling. Plan limits and prices move, so check it before deciding.
Check Hubstaff's current pricing See how approvals work See Sandtime.io pricing · Hubstaff Automatic Payroll FAQ
Test the workflow before switching
The useful test is whether complete, approved hours reach billing on time. These are real Sandtime.io screens, not mockups of a competitor's product. The screenshots use the English interface; Polish and French interfaces are also available.
Record the work
Use one client project for a complete billing cycle. Track or enter hours yourself; Sandtime.io does not reconstruct work from app or website activity.
Close the week
Submit, approve, and lock the weekly timesheet. Friday email reminders require auto-locking and each user's notification opt-in; they are off by default.
Check the billing handoff
Compare the exported hours and amounts with your existing billing records before switching. Sandtime.io supplies reports and exports, not an invoicing engine.
Keep payroll, attendance, automatic capture, legal billing, and resource planning in the evaluation if your team depends on them. A simpler timesheet tool is not a replacement for those workflows.
See the worked timesheet-to-billing example
Screenshot source: the public Sandtime.io brand kit · Read the approval guide · Read the reminder conditions
Hubstaff alternative FAQs
Short answers about pricing, migration, and product fit.
Does Sandtime.io take screenshots or monitor activity like Hubstaff?
No. Sandtime.io has no screenshot capture, no activity scoring, no keystroke logging, and no location tracking. These are not disabled by default, they do not exist in the product, and they are not planned.
What if we actually need screenshots or GPS?
Then keep Hubstaff. If proof of activity is a contractual requirement or a client expectation you cannot renegotiate, Sandtime.io cannot meet it and no price advantage changes that.
How much does each product cost for a small team?
Hubstaff's free plan covers a single user and paid plans require at least two seats. Sandtime.io is free for unlimited users, with no seat charge and no credit card.
Does Sandtime.io replace Hubstaff payroll and invoicing?
No. Sandtime.io produces invoice-ready reports and Excel or CSV exports, but it has no payroll engine, no invoicing engine, and no scheduling. Teams that rely on Hubstaff for those should keep it or replace them separately.
Can Sandtime.io import Hubstaff data?
Not automatically. Keep Hubstaff as the historical archive, recreate active clients, projects, people, and rates in Sandtime.io, then reconcile one full reporting cycle before cutting over.
How should we explain the switch to the team?
Tell them what changed and why. Monitoring tends to be introduced without discussion and removed the same way. Saying plainly that hours are now self-reported, and that approvals and locking keep the records trustworthy, is most of the adoption work.
Comparing something else?
Teams weighing this one usually weigh these too.
Try one project before switching your team
Create a free workspace, record a billing cycle, and check the exported hours against your current records. Keep your existing tool until the workflow fits.