Hubstaff – Timetracking not only for developers
In this post I will write about a time tracker called Hubstaff.
When we work, we need to track the time. (Unless you work on your own projects). I tried many time tracking apps in the last few months and stayed with Hubstaff.
If you used to track time you know that it is not always fun to do. Some webapps are complicated or some lack features. It takes some time to track your time. Hubstaff is a little bit different, here is why:
After you install the app (available for Windows / Linux / Mac / iOS / Android) you already could start tracking time. But at first you should add some projects. Add all your projects in your Hubstaff account so they are available in the tracking app. Then you start to work. Simply click on “play” Button to track a project and add a comments during that time to track what you really have done in that particular project. When ready, click on Stop and thats all.
Integrations
Usually developers have some kind of a task list they are working on. Unfortunately Hubstaff doesn’t have such a feature BUT it allows you to connect with other apps, for example Jira, Guthub, Trello or a lot more. Personally I am using it with Trello. In Trello I create my projects and all the tasks. You then connect your Trello account with Hubstaff, connect the Projects and thats it – now you can track your Trello projects easily in your Hubstaff app. Be warned: if you add projects to trello or other supported project management apps, they won’t appear right away. It will take max. 5 minutes for the sync.
Screenshots
If you want, Hubstaff will take screenshots for you while you work every few minutes. So you have the evidence that you really worked on customers project and not just surfen Facebook. It is also useful if you want to know more about what you did. If you have multiple screens, all of them will be monitored.
Reports
When your project is done, you can create a report. In that report you or your customer can see all the tasks that have been done. You can set a hourly rate for your work and it will all be shown in the report.
Is Hubstaff for a company or a single dev?
Personally I use it just for myself. But I can easily add another coworkers. So it is also ideal for a small company.
How much is it?
You can try Hubstaff for free in the next 2 weeks. After the test you need a pro account which costs you 5 $ or 9 $ per month. The more expensive pricing is for the ability to take automatic screenshots, Invoices, Payroll, etc..I am using that plan for 9 $ per month – it is really worth the money.
Conclusion
After using Hubstaff for few months. I can say that it is one of these tools where I gladly pay for. It helps me easily to track time on my projects. It is easy and allows with all the integrations available project managment apps like Jira or Trello to make the time tracking a breeze. One more thing about the support, if you login to your member area, there is a chat window on the bottom. When you have any questions you can talk to a real human asap. The friendly guys from Hubstaff helped me with all the integrations and after few minutes I was ready to track my time.
Click here to test Hubstaff for yourself, it gives you so much more I could write a book lol. And hey, they also have an API. yeee
