Jira tracker · Side-by-side review

Planim Time vs Hubstaff

Hubstaff is a manager's purchase: screenshots, activity scoring, app and URL capture, optional GPS, built-in payroll. Planim Time is the engineer's: a menu-bar timer that writes Jira worklogs and captures nothing else. Different buyers, different tools.

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Updated 2026-05-13 Written by the Planim team
Best for Jira-first teams
Tracker pricing Free forever tier
Privacy Token in OS keychain
Offline tracking Local SQLite, sync later
The verdict

Manager's purchase, engineer's purchase

Hubstaff and Planim Time both push hours onto Jira issues, and that's roughly where the overlap ends. Hubstaff is built for the manager who needs evidence: configurable screenshots every ten minutes, an activity score that counts mouse and keyboard input, optional URL and app capture, GPS for mobile crews, payroll built into the same surface. That's a legitimate product with legitimate buyers: distributed contractor workforces, field-service teams, agencies that owe clients hourly proof-of-work. We're not writing this page to argue Hubstaff is wrong for those buyers; we're writing it because senior IC engineers and in-office squads often end up on Hubstaff anyway, because someone in procurement searched 'time tracker for Jira' and clicked the loudest result. Planim Time is a native desktop tracker that writes worklogs directly to Jira through your personal API token, with two-way sync. No screenshots. No activity rate. No URL or app log. No GPS. The daily ritual is start, work, stop, push, and the manager reads the worklog in Jira like everyone else. Pick Hubstaff when the work has to be auditable to an outside reader who isn't on the team. Pick Planim Time when the worklog itself is the audit, and the engineer owns the timer.
Feature scorecard

Where evidence-mode helps, and where it taxes the work you actually want done

Both tools end up writing Jira worklogs. One captures the path your hands took to get there; the other just captures the hours.

Feature Planim Time Hubstaff
01Core posture Trust-based: timer, worklog, nothing else captured Evidence-based: screenshots, activity rate, app and URL capture, optional GPS
02Screenshots Never 1–3 per 10 minutes on every paid tier; optional blur; employees can delete a shot (which deletes the associated time)
03Activity score None. Your activity is your worklog Mouse and keyboard input percentage. Reading code, reviewing PRs and meetings often register as low or idle
04App and URL tracking None Captured while timer runs if the workspace enables it; per-user enforcement
05Jira integration model Two-way worklog sync through your personal API token, on every tier OAuth via Jira Application Links; requires a Jira admin to set up; bidirectional, but drops seconds on write-back
06Jira team-managed (next-gen) projects Supported Not supported. Only company-managed (classic) projects work
07Jira subtasks Supported Not supported in the Jira integration
08Worklog precision Full duration as Jira sees it, second-precision Seconds dropped on write-back ('Jira does not count seconds during the writeback' per Hubstaff's own docs), so totals drift over time
09Jira hosting Cloud today; Server 8.x+ and Data Center on the same flat per-seat price Cloud and Server documented; Data Center not listed in Hubstaff's integration docs
10Pricing $0 Free, $10/mo Pro, $8/seat/mo Team (min 2 seats) $4.99 Starter, $7.50 Grow, $10 Team, $25 Enterprise (per seat/mo, annual billing, 2-seat minimum)
11Tier required for Jira integration Free tier supports two-way Jira sync Grow ($7.50/seat/mo annual) or higher. Starter cannot use the Jira integration
12Free tier Full Jira tracking, two-way sync, manual Push All. Free forever, no user cap 14-day trial of Starter, then paid. No permanent free tier
13GPS, geofencing, job sites No Yes, mobile-only; primarily Team and Enterprise
14Payroll No. Exports CSV for your accounting stack Built-in pay rates, PayPal / Wise payouts, QuickBooks and Gusto integration on Team
15Credential storage OS keychain (Keychain, Credential Manager, Secret Service) OAuth credentials in Hubstaff's cloud account
16Background agent Foreground app with menu-bar / tray icon; no helper process needed Background agent for screenshot, activity, app and URL capture; auto-start on boot option
17Idle detection Idle prompt; you decide what to keep Triggers on zero input; meetings and reading are commonly mis-flagged
18Daily report One-click copy grouped by Jira issue; CSV export Timesheets, screenshot reels, activity reports, Insights analytics on Team and above
19Compliance posture Local SQLite, OS-keychain token; no SOC-2 listing yet SOC-2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR; SSO and SCIM on Enterprise
Core posture
Planim Trust-based: timer, worklog, nothing else captured
Hubstaff Evidence-based: screenshots, activity rate, app and URL capture, optional GPS
Screenshots
Planim Never
Hubstaff 1–3 per 10 minutes on every paid tier; optional blur; employees can delete a shot (which deletes the associated time)
Activity score
Planim None. Your activity is your worklog
Hubstaff Mouse and keyboard input percentage. Reading code, reviewing PRs and meetings often register as low or idle
App and URL tracking
Planim None
Hubstaff Captured while timer runs if the workspace enables it; per-user enforcement
Jira integration model
Planim Two-way worklog sync through your personal API token, on every tier
Hubstaff OAuth via Jira Application Links; requires a Jira admin to set up; bidirectional, but drops seconds on write-back
Jira team-managed (next-gen) projects
Planim Supported
Hubstaff Not supported. Only company-managed (classic) projects work
Jira subtasks
Planim Supported
Hubstaff Not supported in the Jira integration
Worklog precision
Planim Full duration as Jira sees it, second-precision
Hubstaff Seconds dropped on write-back ('Jira does not count seconds during the writeback' per Hubstaff's own docs), so totals drift over time
Jira hosting
Planim Cloud today; Server 8.x+ and Data Center on the same flat per-seat price
Hubstaff Cloud and Server documented; Data Center not listed in Hubstaff's integration docs
Pricing
Planim $0 Free, $10/mo Pro, $8/seat/mo Team (min 2 seats)
Hubstaff $4.99 Starter, $7.50 Grow, $10 Team, $25 Enterprise (per seat/mo, annual billing, 2-seat minimum)
Tier required for Jira integration
Planim Free tier supports two-way Jira sync
Hubstaff Grow ($7.50/seat/mo annual) or higher. Starter cannot use the Jira integration
Free tier
Planim Full Jira tracking, two-way sync, manual Push All. Free forever, no user cap
Hubstaff 14-day trial of Starter, then paid. No permanent free tier
GPS, geofencing, job sites
Planim No
Hubstaff Yes, mobile-only; primarily Team and Enterprise
Payroll
Planim No. Exports CSV for your accounting stack
Hubstaff Built-in pay rates, PayPal / Wise payouts, QuickBooks and Gusto integration on Team
Credential storage
Planim OS keychain (Keychain, Credential Manager, Secret Service)
Hubstaff OAuth credentials in Hubstaff's cloud account
Background agent
Planim Foreground app with menu-bar / tray icon; no helper process needed
Hubstaff Background agent for screenshot, activity, app and URL capture; auto-start on boot option
Idle detection
Planim Idle prompt; you decide what to keep
Hubstaff Triggers on zero input; meetings and reading are commonly mis-flagged
Daily report
Planim One-click copy grouped by Jira issue; CSV export
Hubstaff Timesheets, screenshot reels, activity reports, Insights analytics on Team and above
Compliance posture
Planim Local SQLite, OS-keychain token; no SOC-2 listing yet
Hubstaff SOC-2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR; SSO and SCIM on Enterprise
Decision guide

Pick by who reads the report and what they're looking for

Hubstaff's reader wants proof of attention. Planim Time's reader wants accurate hours. Choose by which question the report has to answer first.

Pick Planim Time if

You want hours on Jira issues, not evidence of attention.

  • Your team is senior IC engineers whose day is reading code, reviewing PRs, and thinking. Hubstaff's activity score logs all three as idle
  • You run a salaried in-office team where screenshot evidence of attention would be both insulting and useless
  • Your Jira projects are team-managed (next-gen): Hubstaff's Jira integration explicitly excludes them, while Planim Time supports both team- and company-managed
  • Your worklogs need to include subtasks: Hubstaff's Jira integration doesn't support them, Planim Time does
  • Worklog totals need to match Jira to the second. Hubstaff drops seconds on write-back, so Hubstaff-side and Jira-side totals drift apart over a sprint
  • You contribute to open source, freelance for multiple clients, or run a small studio where the engineer owns the timer, not the company
  • Your team would push back hard on screenshots, activity rates and URL logging, and you'd rather not have that fight
  • You don't want a background agent capturing app and URL events on every developer laptop just to record start and stop times
Pick Hubstaff if

You owe a client, a manager, or a payroll system documented proof of work.

  • You manage a distributed contractor workforce and your contract expects screenshots, activity rates and proof-of-work
  • Your field crews (construction, cleaning, delivery, on-site service) need GPS, geofencing and automatic clock-in on arrival at a job site
  • You bill clients hourly and the contract requires screenshot reels as evidence at the end of the week
  • You need payroll baked in: pay rates inside the tracker, automatic payouts via PayPal or Wise, QuickBooks or Gusto integration
  • Your buyer needs SOC-2 Type II, HIPAA and SSO/SCIM as a procurement checkbox
  • Your industry is one where workforce monitoring is regulated and expected, not merely permitted
  • You need Insights-style workforce analytics aimed at headcount management decisions
Where Hubstaff wins

What we don't pretend Planim Time does

If your workflow needs any of these, Hubstaff is the honest pick.

  • GPS, geofencing and job-site tracking. Hubstaff is built for crews moving between sites. Planim Time doesn't track location, and won't.
  • Built-in payroll. Hubstaff Team closes the loop from tracked hour to paycheck via PayPal, Wise, QuickBooks and Gusto. Planim Time leaves payroll to your existing stack.
  • Screenshots as a billable deliverable. Agencies that owe clients visual proof of work use Hubstaff's screenshot reel as the deliverable. We can't replicate that, and we won't.
  • Enterprise compliance posture. Hubstaff Enterprise has SOC-2 Type II, HIPAA, dedicated CSM, and SSO/SCIM. Planim Time doesn't ship that surface yet, and procurement reviews where those checkboxes are mandatory will eliminate us.
  • Workforce analytics dashboards. Hubstaff's Insights tier gives managers headcount-style productivity dashboards. Planim Time's team view is built for the team's own retro, not for headcount decisions.
  • Mobile clock-in. Hubstaff's mobile apps let workers start and stop a shift from a phone. Planim Time is desktop-only.
  • Brand presence in HR and ops procurement. Hubstaff is a default option in workforce-management RFPs. Planim Time isn't on those vendor lists yet.
Questions answered

Planim Time vs Hubstaff: FAQ

Does Planim Time take screenshots like Hubstaff?
No, and that's deliberate. Planim Time captures the timer's start time, stop time, Jira issue key and your worklog description. No screen capture, no activity rate, no URL log, no app capture, no keystroke counts. The desktop app does the minimum required to write an accurate Jira worklog and stops there. Hubstaff's screenshots, activity score and app capture are configurable but on by default on every paid tier above Starter; if your buyer needs that surface, Hubstaff is the right tool. If they explicitly don't, Planim Time was built for that case.
How does a manager verify engineers are working without Hubstaff's activity score?
By reading the Jira worklog. That's the part of the day that turned into a deliverable. Hubstaff's activity score measures mouse and keyboard input over a window, which is a poor proxy for engineering work: reading a long pull request, debugging at a whiteboard, or being in a meeting all read as low activity, while alt-tabbing between Slack DMs reads as high. Planim Time's bet, and we'll state it openly, is that the worklog is a better signal than the input rate, and engineers self-report more accurately when they aren't being scored. If that bet doesn't fit your team's reality, Hubstaff is the honest choice, not a feature gap we'll close.
Will Hubstaff's Jira integration work with my team-managed Jira projects?
No. Hubstaff's integration documentation explicitly excludes team-managed (next-gen) Jira projects. It only supports company-managed (classic) projects. Modern Jira Cloud teams default to team-managed, so this excludes a large chunk of current Jira customers. Subtasks are also unsupported. Planim Time supports both team- and company-managed projects, and tracks against subtasks normally.
Are Hubstaff's Jira worklog totals exact?
Not quite. Hubstaff's own documentation acknowledges that Jira does not count seconds during the writeback, so totals drift between Hubstaff (which tracks seconds) and Jira (which receives rounded minutes). For an individual day it's small; over a sprint or a billable month, a few drifted minutes per engineer per day compound. Planim Time writes the full duration as Jira sees it, so the worklog and the desktop tracker stay in agreement. If your team bills by the hour or runs accountancy reports off Jira worklogs, this difference is meaningful.
Can I migrate Hubstaff data to Planim Time?
The hours Hubstaff wrote as Jira worklogs are already on the Jira issue; Planim Time's two-way sync pulls them into the desktop app on first sign-in, so worked-hours history is preserved. What doesn't migrate is Hubstaff-specific: screenshot reels, activity scores, app and URL logs, GPS tracks, payroll history. Most of that data also doesn't belong in a Jira-only tracker; if you need to keep it for audit, export from Hubstaff and archive before you switch. Engineering teams typically switch in a day; teams that lean on Hubstaff's payroll loop usually keep both running until the next pay cycle clears.
Is Planim Time cheaper than Hubstaff?
For an engineering team that doesn't need monitoring, yes, by a meaningful margin. Hubstaff's two-seat minimum on every paid tier, plus Grow being the first tier with the Jira integration ($7.50/seat/mo annual), means a small team starts at $15/mo before any other feature is enabled. Planim Time's Free tier covers the same two-engineer team with full two-way Jira sync at $0. If you do need screenshots, GPS and payroll, Hubstaff Team is doing more for its $10/seat than Planim Time tries to. Compare on what you actually plan to use, not on the headline number.
Does Planim Time have any employee monitoring features at all?
No. Not screenshots, not activity scoring, not URL tracking, not GPS, not idle-time-as-evidence. We chose this deliberately, and we don't plan to add any of it, including under enterprise procurement pressure, which is the usual path that flips a tracker into a monitor. If your buyer requires employee monitoring for client billing, payroll evidence or regulatory compliance, Hubstaff is the honest answer, not a feature gap we promise to fix.
Will the Hubstaff agent slow my engineers' laptops?
Multiple public reviews have flagged performance complaints, including at least one specifically reporting an M-series MacBook running slower and overheating with the Hubstaff agent active. We can't independently verify the cause, and mileage varies by configuration, but the trade is structural: an agent that samples activity, captures screenshots and watches app windows is doing more background work than a foreground menu-bar timer. Planim Time is the menu-bar timer; the only background work it does is reconciling Jira worklogs every few minutes.
Does Hubstaff have a permanent free tier the way Planim Time does?
No. Hubstaff offers a 14-day free trial of the Starter tier, after which it becomes paid. There is no permanent free plan. Planim Time's Free tier is the actual product: full Jira time tracking, two-way worklog sync, manual Push All, no time limit and no user cap. The trade-off is what each tool gates: Hubstaff gates the basic surface and ships its full monitoring stack across paid tiers; we ship the basic timer free and gate team-stats and per-user worklog views behind Pro.
If your engineers don't need to prove they were at a keyboard, the screenshots are paid for and unused

Try a Jira tracker that doesn't watch the screen

Install the desktop app, paste your Jira API token, start a timer. No screenshots. No activity rate. No URL or app capture. Hours land on Jira issues through your own token. The Free tier covers a full evaluation, no credit card, no admin install.

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