Hubstaff vs Time Doctor: Price, Seat Minimums and Caps

Hubstaff or Time Doctor? Compare prices by tier, seat minimums, screenshot caps, add ons, SSO and support, with yearly costs for 10, 25 and 50 seats.Meta title: Hubstaff vs Time Doctor: Full Comparison (2026)

Last updated: October 6, 2026. Prices checked October 2026.

Hubstaff is cheaper at the entry and middle tiers on annual billing, $4.99 against $6.67 and $10.00 against $11.67. Time Doctor is cheaper if you need SSO, because Premium at $16.70 includes it and Hubstaff needs Enterprise at $25. Hubstaff also has a two seat minimum and caps screenshots on lower plans.

Key takeaways

• Hubstaff Starter at $4.99 is $1.68 below Time Doctor Basic at $6.67, but Starter caps screenshots and app tracking at 500 per seat per month.

• Approvals, scheduling, time off, overtime and payroll sit on Hubstaff Team at $10.00 and Time Doctor Standard at $11.67, a gap of $1.67 per seat, or $1,002.00 a year at 50 seats.

• Hubstaff needs at least two seats on Starter, Grow and Team. The Time Doctor pricing page shows no seat minimum.

• SSO costs $25 per seat on Hubstaff Enterprise, but Time Doctor Premium at $16.70 includes it, or you can add it to Basic or Standard for $200 per account per month.

• Neither tool has a free plan. Both offer a 14 day trial without a credit card, and Hubstaff adds a 30 day money back guarantee.

Which is cheaper, Hubstaff or Time Doctor?

Hubstaff is cheaper at the first two tiers, and Time Doctor Premium is cheaper than Hubstaff Enterprise, so the answer depends on which tier you need.

All prices are per seat per month. The rows are lined up by position, not by features, and that is the trap. Hubstaff has four plans with a Grow tier in the middle, while Time Doctor has three public plans. Hubstaff Team at $10.00 is not a match for Time Doctor Premium at $16.70, as the next sections show.

For the full price list of each tool, see our Hubstaff pricing breakdown and Time Doctor pricing breakdown.

What do the entry plans include?

Hubstaff Starter at $4.99 gives you activity levels and capped app and URL tracking, while Time Doctor Basic at $6.67 gives you screenshots and basic reports.

Hubstaff Starter, $4.99 annually

• Timesheets and a multi platform timer app

• Screenshots, capped at 500 per seat per month

• Activity levels

• Apps and URLs tracking, capped at 500 per seat per month

• Up to 5 clients and 500 tasks

Time Doctor Basic, $6.67 annually

• Automatic time tracking with online and offline tracking

• Screenshots

• Projects and tasks report, timeline report and hours tracked

• Groups and teams

• Three months of historical tracking data

One thing stands out. On Time Doctor, the activity summary, web and app usage and productivity ratings all start on Standard at $11.67. On Hubstaff, activity levels come with Starter and app tracking too, up to the cap. If app and URL data is your reason to buy, the gap between the cheapest plans is $1.68, but the gap to Time Doctor Standard is $6.68.

Illustrative example for 10, 25 and 50 seats on annual billing: the formula is seats x annual price x 12.

The Hubstaff figures assume you pay for every seat you add, and they do not include the cap trade off covered below.

What do approvals, scheduling and payroll cost?

Hubstaff Team at $10.00 covers them, and Time Doctor Standard at $11.67 covers them too, so Hubstaff is $1.67 cheaper per seat.

On Hubstaff Team you get timesheet approvals, scheduling and attendance, time off and holidays, overtime, work breaks and full payments and payroll. On Time Doctor Standard you get schedules, attendance, time approvals, leave and break tracking, payroll and work life balance metrics. Starter and Grow list payroll as Limited, so Team is the first full payroll plan on Hubstaff.

Illustrative example: same formula, seats x annual price x 12. At 50 seats the gap is $1,002.00 a year. Hubstaff Team also removes the screenshot and app caps, which Time Doctor Standard does not mention on its page. Does your team need payroll in the tracker, or only the hours?

How do seat minimums and caps change the bill?

Hubstaff makes a solo user pay for two seats and caps Starter and Grow tracking, while Time Doctor shows neither limit on its pricing page.

Illustrative example: one person on Hubstaff Starter pays 2 x $4.99 x 12 = $119.76 a year, because of the two seat minimum. One person on Time Doctor Basic would pay 1 x $6.67 x 12 = $80.04 a year if no minimum applies. We could not find a Time Doctor minimum on the page, so confirm that with them before you buy.

The cap matters more for monitoring heavy teams. Starter allows 500 screenshots per seat per month, and Grow allows 1,500. Illustrative example: at one capture every 10 minutes you get 6 an hour, so a 500 cap lasts about 83 hours, which is half of a 160 hour work month. Hubstaff sells a More screenshots add on at $2.50 per seat, or $3 on monthly billing, for teams that need more. Would you rather know the cap in advance or find it mid month?

If you are still deciding how much monitoring your team actually wants, read our roundup of the best employee monitoring software in 2026 first.

What do the add ons and extras add?

Both tools sell extras on lower plans, and the biggest price difference is SSO, which Hubstaff keeps for Enterprise and Time Doctor sells as a $200 add on or includes on Premium.

Prices are per seat per month unless noted. The two sets of add ons do not match one for one, so read each row as a rough guide, not an exact swap.

Now the SSO math, because it is the biggest gap. Illustrative example: 10 seats on Hubstaff Enterprise cost 10 x $25.00 x 12 = $3,000.00 a year. The same 10 seats on Time Doctor Premium cost 10 x $16.70 x 12 = $2,004.00, and 10 seats on Time Doctor Basic with the SSO add on cost 10 x $6.67 x 12 + $200 x 12 = $3,200.40.

Hubstaff Enterprise also adds SCIM provisioning, SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliance, an assigned account rep and concierge set up, so it is not a plain SSO price. If those are on your checklist, Enterprise is the plan to quote.

How do support and billing terms differ?

Hubstaff lists email response times and puts chat on Team, while Time Doctor adds live chat, email and callback support on Standard.

Billing is close. Time Doctor says annual billing includes two free months, equal to a 16.6% discount, and Hubstaff labels its annual toggle 2 months free. Hubstaff Starter saves $24.12 per seat over a year and Time Doctor Basic saves $15.96, so Starter rewards the yearly commitment more. Hubstaff also backs a 30 day money back guarantee. This post does not cover Time Doctor refund terms, so check them before you pay for a year.

Which tool fits which team?

Choose Hubstaff for payroll and scheduling at the lowest price per seat, and Time Doctor if you need SSO, a bigger team plan or no seat minimum.

Hubstaff fits you if

• You want approvals, scheduling and full payroll at $10.00 a seat

• You have two or more people to track

• You want unlimited screenshots and app tracking on Team

• You like a 30 day money back guarantee

Time Doctor fits you if

• You need SSO without paying Enterprise prices

• You work alone or with a very small team and a seat minimum would hurt

• You want live chat, email and callback support from Standard

• You want a dedicated account manager at 50 or more users

Neither is the right pick for everyone. Our roundup of the best employee time tracking software compares more options, and our Time Doctor vs Clockify post covers the other big rival.

Where does WorkSnaply fit?

On annual billing, WorkSnaply Professional at $6.39 is $1.40 above Hubstaff Starter and $0.28 below Time Doctor Basic, and it includes monitoring.

Disclosure: we build WorkSnaply, so read this section with that in mind. Every price comes from the vendor pages listed in the Fact Check table.

If full payroll is the reason you are shopping, Hubstaff Team and Time Doctor Standard both cost less than WorkSnaply Enterprise at $15.19. If you want a single user start without a second seat, WorkSnaply Starter at $3.19 has a 1 user minimum. See WorkSnaply pricing for every plan, and how screenshots and activity monitoring work in WorkSnaply to see what gets captured.

Related reading

• Hubstaff pricing, seat minimums and screenshot limits

• Time Doctor pricing, plan by plan

• Time Doctor vs Clockify, which costs less

• All pricing guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hubstaff cheaper than Time Doctor?

On annual billing, yes at the first two tiers. Hubstaff Starter is $4.99 against $6.67 for Time Doctor Basic, and Hubstaff Team is $10.00 against $11.67 for Time Doctor Standard. Time Doctor Premium at $16.70 is cheaper than Hubstaff Enterprise at $25.

Which tool has a seat minimum?

Hubstaff needs at least two seats on Starter, Grow and Team. The Time Doctor pricing page shows no seat minimum, so confirm it with Time Doctor.

Which tool includes payroll?

Both. Hubstaff has full payments and payroll on Team at $10.00 and lists it as Limited on Starter and Grow. Time Doctor includes payroll on Standard at $11.67.

Does Hubstaff cap screenshots?

Yes on lower plans. Starter allows 500 screenshots per seat per month and Grow allows 1,500, while Team and Enterprise show no cap. The Time Doctor pricing page shows no cap.

Which tool is cheaper if I need SSO?

Time Doctor. Premium at $16.70 per seat includes SSO, and you can add SSO to Basic or Standard for $200 per account per month. Hubstaff offers SSO only on Enterprise at $25.

Do Hubstaff and Time Doctor have free plans?

Neither pricing page shows one. Both offer a 14 day trial without a credit card, and Hubstaff adds a 30 day money back guarantee.

Fact Check