Insightful vs. Hubstaff: Features, Pros, Cons & Pricing

Insightful and Hubstaff are often considered the top picks for companies looking for employee monitoring and productivity platforms.

Insightful can be a great fit for businesses needing detailed productivity analytics, while Hubstaff excels at efficient project time tracking and fundamental monitoring.

In this article, we’ll compare the features, benefits, drawbacks, and pricing of both platforms. We’ll also highlight why Teramind might be a better alternative for modern organizations with its more comprehensive suite of features.

Insightful and Hubstaff Overview

Insightful software is an employee monitoring tool designed to analyze workforce and productivity data and provide deeper insights, helping businesses make informed decisions to optimize worker performance.

It offers a wide array of features to monitor and analyze employee performance, including:

• Productivity scores and metrics: Insightful provides real-time productivity scores and performance metrics, breaking down active, idle, and break times to give business owners a precise understanding of employee work patterns.
• Productivity labeling and categorization: This feature automates the categorization of apps and websites into productive, neutral, or unproductive categories, allowing for accurate tracking of employee activities based on customized organizational criteria.
• Productivity trend analysis: Insightful’s advanced analytics generate comprehensive reports on productivity trends, enabling business owners to detect performance patterns, find productivity bottlenecks, and make data-driven business decisions on things like job scheduling.
• In-office/remote data segmentation: Insightful distinguishes productivity data between in-office and remote employees, offering insights and a complete knowledge base into how different work environments impact performance.
• Organizational-level productivity labeling: This feature helps with the application of productivity labels at an organizational level, with the flexibility to customize these labels for specific teams or departments. This also helps later with invoice creation.

Read more: The Top 7 Insightful Alternatives.

Hubstaff

Hubstaff is a time and productivity management software solution for companies to monitor remote and in-house teams.

• Time tracking and attendance monitoring: Hubstaff provides real-time tracking of billable hours and attendance, consolidating mobile, desktop, and previous time entries into a unified view to help managers get a clear picture of employee activity.
• Activity monitoring and screenshots: The software captures optional screenshots and monitors app and URL usage, giving managers insights into employee engagement without being intrusive.
• Online timesheets and payroll integration: Hubstaff automates the generation of detailed timesheets from tracked time through an intuitive interface, which can be used for online invoicing and payroll processing.
• Project tracking and task management: The tool allows managers to create and assign individual tasks to team members, focus time spent on each task, leverage idle time monitoring, and use extensive reporting to get a better understanding of efficiency.  
• Reporting and analytics: Hubstaff provides in-depth reports on employee productivity, time, and project status tracking.

Read more: Teramind vs. Hubstaff.

Why Teramind is a Better Alternative to Insightful and Hubstaff

Teramind proves to be a better solution to Insightful and Hubstaff due to its more advanced security features, including insider threat detection and data loss prevention capabilities. Unlike Insightful and Hubstaff, Teramind offers employee software monitoring with real-time alerts and automated responses to potential threats, ensuring a higher level of data protection and keeping an eye on compliance violations.

Some of Teramind’s key features include:

• Detailed user activity monitoring, including keystroke logging and video recording: Teramind captures every keystroke and records video sessions, allowing administrators to track and review all actions in real-time.
• Extensive analytics and reporting functionalities: Teramind provides actionable insights into user behavior tracking, productivity, and potential security threats, helping organizations make informed decisions based on extensive reports.
• Insider threat detection and prevention: Teramind can detect and prevent insider threats by continuously examining employee behavior and triggering automated responses to mitigate the threat immediately.
• Data loss prevention and content filtering: Teramind strengthens data security with features like content filtering and data loss prevention, blocking unauthorized data transfers and ensuring sensitive information is handled securely.
• Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS): Teramind is compatible with both Windows and macOS platforms, offering seamless monitoring and management across different operating systems.

Tool	Summary	Best For
Insightful	A productivity tracking and analytics platform that provides businesses with a holistic view of individual employees’ productivity.	Businesses that require comprehensive productivity insights and robust analytics.
Hubstaff	Simple time tracking and employee monitoring solution that helps businesses manage remote teams and track productivity.	Businesses primarily focused on a tool with time tracking apps and basic employee monitoring.
Teramind	A comprehensive employee monitoring, productivity tracking, and data loss prevention solution that offers robust features and customizable reporting features across multiple platforms.	Organizations seeking a comprehensive solution for employee monitoring, data security, and productivity optimization.

Insightful and Hubstaff Feature Comparison

While Insightful and Hubstaff offer similar functionalities, there are many differences in how these tools approach employee monitoring.

Check out the comparison table below to get a better understanding:

Feature	Insightful	Hubstaff
Productivity Tracking and Analysis	Insightful provides detailed productivity tracking and analysis features, including productivity scores, labeling, categorization, and trend analysis. It also offers organizational-level productivity labeling to identify areas for improvement.	Hubstaff offers basic productivity tracking through activity monitoring and screenshot capturing. It provides insights into employee productivity levels but lacks the advanced analysis capabilities of Insightful.
Time Tracking and Attendance Monitoring	Insightful does not offer dedicated time tracking or attendance monitoring features. Its focus is primarily on productivity analysis.	Hubstaff is designed primarily for time management and attendance monitoring. It offers features like online timesheets, payroll integration, and automated time tracking based on location or activity.
Project and Task Management	Insightful does not have built-in project tracking or task management capabilities.	Hubstaff offers basic project and task management features, allowing users to track time against specific projects and time-sensitive tasks.
Reporting and Analytics	Insightful provides extensive reporting and analytics capabilities focused on productivity KPIs. It offers insights into productivity trends, in-office/remote data segmentation, and organizational-level productivity analysis.	Hubstaff provides detailed reporting features and analytics focused primarily on time tracking data, such as actual work hours, project time, and employee activity. Its reporting capabilities are more limited compared to Insightful when it comes to productivity analysis.
Data Loss Prevention and Content Filtering	Insightful does not offer data loss prevention or content filtering features.	Hubstaff does not provide data loss prevention or content filtering capabilities.
User Activity Monitoring and Insider Threat Detection	Insightful does not offer user activity monitoring or insider threat detection capabilities.	Hubstaff offers basic user activity monitoring through screenshot capturing and website/app tracking, but does not provide advanced insider threat detection features.
Cross-Platform Compatibility	Insightful’s compatibility across different platforms is not specified.	Hubstaff is compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, providing cross-platform support for monitoring and offline time tracking.

Productivity Tracking and Analysis

When it comes to productivity tracking, Insightful stands superior to Hubstaff with its in-depth productivity scores, labeling, trend analytics, and segmentation tools. Hubstaff doesn’t provide any more advanced tracking features, but it does include screenshot technology and activity monitoring.

Time Tracking and Attendance Monitoring

Hubstaff excels in features like time tracking and attendance monitoring as it provides everything from online time sheets and streamlined integrations for payroll to automatic location-based time tracking. On the other hand, Insightful prioritizes productivity analytics and offers limited capabilities for time tracking.

Reporting and Analytics

Reporting tools can be found in both tools, but their approaches are a bit different. Insightful goes into more detail on company productivity data (e.g. trends, remote real-time data, and organizational-level productivity at scale), while Hubstaff’s reporting comes down to employee time tracking data (e.g. billable hours worked, project progress, and team activity).

Use Cases

Now, let’s take a look at the unique cases for these tools.

Insightful

• Businesses looking to gain detailed insights into employee productivity and identify areas for improvement: Insightful provides real-time data on how employees spend their time, distinguishing between productive and idle periods.
• Organizations that need to analyze workforce trends and compare in-office and remote team productivity: Companies can segment data based on working location, offering insights into how both in-office and remote employees perform, which is particularly helpful if you want to optimize your hybrid work model.

Hubstaff

• Companies with remote or distributed teams that need to track employee time and attendance accurately: Companies can efficiently track time and attendance for remote teams with features like automated timesheets, GPS tracking, and real-time activity monitoring.
• Businesses that require basic employee monitoring software and activity tracking for project management purposes: Hubstaff provides businesses with essential employee monitoring tools such as team activity levels, optional screenshots, and app/URL tracking.

Pros Compared

Now, let’s go through our pros comparison:

Insightful Pros

• Comprehensive productivity management and analysis features: Insightful offers advanced productivity tracking that includes real-time monitoring of employee activity, detailed idle time detection breakdowns, and customizable reports for employee performance to identify inefficiencies and optimize workflow.
• Detailed productivity labeling and categorization capabilities: Insightful enables precise tracking of employee activities by allowing businesses to categorize apps and websites based on how productive they are, giving a nuanced understanding of how work time is used and helping to eliminate distractions.
• Organizational-level in-depth insights: Insightful delivers comprehensive data-driven insights at an organizational level, enabling managers to monitor and compare workforce trends across different teams and geo-locations, with attention to privacy guidelines.

Hubstaff Pros

• Robust time tracking and attendance monitoring features: Hubstaff provides cutting-edge time tracking and attendance monitoring with features like GPS tracking, geofencing, and automated timesheets. This can help you improve your business’s profitability and build a trust-based culture within the team.
• Basic employee monitoring and activity tracking capabilities: Hubstaff’s employee monitoring tools include team activity level monitoring, screenshots, and app tracking, helping managers keep an eye on productivity and ensuring that work actual work hours are spent efficiently.
• Project planning and task management integration: This agile project management software integrates smoothly with other project management tools and includes its own built-in task scheduling system, allowing teams to track time directly on administrative tasks and projects.

Cons Compared

Now that we’ve covered the pros, let’s also take a look at the cons:

Insightful Cons

• Lacks dedicated online time tracking and attendance monitoring features: Insightful doesn’t provide any online time tracking or attendance monitoring features, which means it can’t capture and manage employee attendance as efficiently as some more specialized tools.
• No built-in project tracking or task management capabilities: Insightful lacks integrated project planning tools and task scheduling functionalities, meaning users cannot directly manage or track project progress within the platform.
• Limited data loss prevention and content filtering features: Insightful provides basic productivity tracking but lacks advanced data loss prevention and content filtering capabilities.

Hubstaff Cons

• Lacks advanced productivity analysis capabilities: Hubstaff’s productivity analysis features are rather basic, and they don’t have the depth and sophistication needed for detailed performance insights and long-term trend analysis.
• Limited reporting and analytics focused on productivity data: The platform’s historical reporting capabilities are more focused on automatic time tracking and attendance, offering limited options for detailed data analysis and custom report generation.
• No user activity monitoring or insider threat detection features: Hubstaff doesn’t have any tools for user activity monitoring or for managing insider threats, which means companies that prioritize data safety have more suitable options.

Pricing Comparison

Below, we’ll take a look at the pricing plans that Insightful and Hubstaff offer:

Insightful Pricing

• Productivity management: Starts from $6.40 per seat per month (annual billing / unlimited users).
• Time tracking: Starts from $8 per seat per month (annual plan / no user minimum).
• Process improvement: Starts from $12 per seat per month (annual billing / minimum of 50 users).
• Enterprise solution: Custom quote after you contact sales.

The premium plans can be customized and upgraded through individual add-ons. There are both annual and monthly plans offered.

Hubstaff Pricing

• Basic Plan: Starts from $4.99 per seat per month (annual billing / 2 seat minimum).
• Grow Plan: Starts from $7.50 per seat per month (annual billing / 2 seat minimum).
• Team Plan: Starts from $10 per seat per month (annual billing / 2 seat minimum).
• Enterprise: Starts from $25 per seat per month (annual billing)

Each pricing model also includes a 14-day free trial.

When to Use Insightful or Hubstaff

While both Insightful and Hubstaff are useful tools with many advantages, they’re used in slightly different scenarios.

• Insightful specializes in productivity analytics, allowing businesses to track active versus idle time, categorize activity tabs, and generate in-depth reports on workforce trends. This makes it ideal for those who need to understand employee performance metrics better and optimize workflows based on behavioral data insights.
• Hubstaff offers robust employee time tracking features, including GPS tracking, overtime calculations, and automated timesheet entries, along with basic employee activity monitoring like screenshots and app usage tracking. It’s well-suited for companies that prioritize accurate time reports and attendance monitoring, especially for remote or field teams.

Teramind: A Better Alternative to Insightful and Hubstaff

Teramind offers superior monitoring capabilities compared to Insightful and Hubstaff, with advanced features like detailed screen activity tracking, keystroke logging, idle time detection, and video recording. It also brings more security-based features with robust insider threat detection and data loss prevention.

Here’s a more detailed comparison below:

Feature	Insightful	Hubstaff	Teramind
Productivity Tracking and Analysis	Insightful provides detailed productivity tracking and analysis features, including productivity scores, labeling, categorization, and trend analysis. It also offers organizational-level productivity labeling to identify areas for improvement.	Hubstaff offers basic productivity tracking through activity monitoring and screenshot capturing. It provides valuable insights into employee productivity levels but lacks the advanced analysis capabilities of Insightful.	Teramind offers advanced productivity tracking and analysis features, including user activity monitoring, productivity reports, and customizable rules for measuring productivity.
Time Tracking and Attendance Monitoring	Insightful does not offer dedicated time tracking or attendance monitoring features. Its focus is primarily on productivity analysis.	Hubstaff is designed primarily for time tracking and attendance monitoring. It offers features like online timesheets, overtime calculation, payroll and invoicing integration, and automated time tracking based on location or activity.	Teramind provides comprehensive time tracking and attendance monitoring capabilities, including automatic time tracking, timesheet management, and detailed reports for attendance.
Project and Task Management	Insightful does not have built-in project or task management tools.	Hubstaff offers basic project and task management features, allowing users to track time against specific projects and employee tasks.	Teramind integrates with popular project management tools, allowing users to track time and productivity against specific projects and administrative tasks.
Reporting and Analytics	Insightful provides extensive reporting and analytics capabilities focused on productivity data. It offers comprehensive insights into workforce trends, in-office/remote data segmentation, and organizational-level productivity analysis.	Hubstaff provides real-time reporting and analytics focused primarily on time tracking data, such as billable and non-billable hours, project time, and employee activity. Its reporting features are more limited compared to Insightful when it comes to productivity analysis.	Teramind offers real-time reporting and analytics capabilities, including accurate reports on productivity, user activity reports, and customizable dashboards and data visualization options.
Data Loss Prevention and Content Filtering	Insightful does not offer data loss prevention or content filtering features.	Hubstaff does not provide data loss prevention or content filtering capabilities.	Teramind offers robust data loss prevention and content filtering features, including keyword monitoring, file transfer monitoring, and the ability to block or allow specific websites and applications.
User Activity Monitoring and Insider Threat Detection	Insightful does not offer user activity monitoring or insider threat detection capabilities.	Hubstaff offers basic user activity monitoring through screenshot capturing and website/app tracking, but does not provide advanced insider threat detection features.	Teramind offers advanced user activity monitoring and insider threat detection features, including keystroke logging, video recording, and behavior-based anomaly detection.
Cross-Platform Compatibility	Insightful’s compatibility across different platforms is not clearly specified.	Hubstaff is compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, providing cross-platform support for monitoring and time tracking.	Teramind supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing cross-platform compatibility for employee monitoring and productivity tracking.
Advanced Security Features	Insightful does not offer advanced security features.	Hubstaff does not offer advanced security features.	Teramind offers advanced security features like data encryption, role-based access control, and multi-factor authentication to ensure data security and employee privacy.
Customization and Automation	Insightful’s customization and automation capabilities are not specified.	Hubstaff offers limited customization and automation capabilities.	Teramind offers extensive customization and automation capabilities, allowing users to define custom rules, policies, and workflows based on their specific requirements.

How Teramind Stands Apart

Comprehensive Feature Set

Teramind provides a robust suite of features that include workforce analytics tools, productivity tracking, data loss prevention, and sophisticated security tools. This makes it a more comprehensive alternative to these two tools.

Data Loss Prevention and Content Filtering

This feature-rich software excels in data loss prevention and content filtering, which helps companies keep a close watch on data transfers. It allows businesses to block specific websites and apps, ensuring that content policies are strictly enforced.

Advanced User Activity Monitoring

Teramind’s user activity monitoring offers more than just basic tracking. It includes detailed features like keystroke analysis, screen captures, and real-time behavior tracking.

Customization and Automation

Teramind offers a lot of capabilities for customization and automation, giving users the ability to create custom rules, policies, and workflows tailored to their specific needs. all via a user friendly interface.

Which Software Wins?

Although similar, Insightful and Hubstaff prioritize different features. Insightful focuses on productivity analytics, while Hubstaff’s effective project planning software is a better choice for time tracking and attendance monitoring.

But if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that also combines productivity tracking, security features, data loss prevention, and workforce monitoring – Teramind is the ideal fit.