Kickidler vs Hubstaff: Which Employee Monitoring Platform to Choose in 2026?

Both KeepActive and Hubstaff are recognized leaders in the employee monitoring and productivity analytics space.

While Hubstaff focuses heavily on timesheets, basic activity percentages, and GPS tracking for field workers, KeepActive (prev. Kickidler) stands out as a comprehensive, transparent monitoring and productivity solution that’s easier to deploy, significantly more affordable, and incredibly robust for both SMBs and enterprise teams.

KeepActive vs Hubstaff Comparison: Features and Pricing

Both KeepActive and Hubstaff offer multiple tier plans designed to scale with your business.

Let’s not forget about the benefits for enterprise clients. With KeepActive, you will certainly have several benefits in price and support compared to Hubstaff's steep scaling costs, especially as your team grows.

We’ve made a comparison of functionality and pricing, as well as user satisfaction levels and real reviews of both Hubstaff and KeepActive below.

Disclaimer: All information is taken from public information published on their own websites or review platforms like G2 and Capterra.

Comparison of Starter Plan of Hubstaff vs Time Tracking Plan of KeepActive

Feature/Aspect	KeepActive Time Tracking	WorkTime Basic	Comment
Price	Starting from $2.80	Starting from $4.99	KeepActive Time Tracking is over twice cheaper than Monitask Pro.
Time tracking			Both track time effectively, but KeepActive includes powerful offline activity logging without complex setup.
Timesheets
Idle time out (automatic detection of inactiviity)
Background timer			Timer is always available to play in the background with KeepActive and it depends to the company management how they decide to customize it.
Employee Productivity Metrics		Limited on this plan	Both provide an advanced interface on productivity metrics. KeepActive provides a newly designed productivity heatmap and comparison metrics.
Screenshots		Limited to 500	With KeepActive, you can configure screenshot frequency yourself and it is unlimited. Hubstaff limits you to a set number of screenshots per month on its Starter plan and offers additional cost for more screenshots.
Mouse and Keyboard activity
Apps & URLs tracking		Limited to 500	With KeepActive, appa and URLs tracking is unlimited.
Live View of Activities			KeepActive gives Live visibility of employees with the functionality of taking manual screenshots and live view of employee activities through Activity history which can easily be downloaded and analysed.
Insights			Hubstaff provides insights on an additional pay.
Manage shifts and attendance			With the new version of KeepActive, it has become even easier to manage shifts and attendance of employees.
Manage time off&holidays
Work breaks			With the new version of KeepActive, you may insert several breaks per employee.
Tasks		Limited to 500
Scheduled Reports
Workforce Analytics, including categorized work time, daily timeline, behavioral highlights
Support
Public API
Concierge set up	Additional One time Pay	Additional Pay
Interface branding			Hubstaff provides this feature on Enterprise plans only.

As a summary we can certainly say that with less money a company gets more functionality if it chooses KeepActive.

Hubstaff has other 3 plans depending on company needs- Grow, Team and Enterprise plans.

Now let’s compare Hubstaff’s Grow and Team Plans that actually are way more advanced than its Starter plan but again higher in rate than KeepActive.

Grow plan of Hubstaff includes only several more features compared with the Starter plan. Mainly, these are the features that KeepActive already offers its clients in its Time Tracking plan with less budget. For example, tasks, reports, idle timeout, work breaks, email support. Therefore, let’s skip the Grow plan comparison and go with the comparison of KeepActive’s Employee Monitoring plan and Hubstaff’s Team plans.

Comparison of KeepActive’s Employee Monitoring plan and Hubstaff’s Team plans

Feature/Aspect	KeepActive Employee Monitoring	Hubstaff Enterprise Plan	Comment
Price	$5.5	$12.00	KeepActive is more than twice as affordable. Taking KeepActive’s 3-year plan lowers the cost to just $3.70 per user.
Live View & Historical Playback			KeepActive gives full History Activity to witness all activities recorded and exported. Hubstaff does not have video playback.
Video and Optional Audio Recording
Payments & payroll
Remote Control
Keystrokes			KeepActive offers exact keystroke logging. Hubstaff strictly tracks keyboard activity levels, not the actual keystrokes.
Insights		Limited to a 3-month trial
Chat Support	Limited		KeepActive provides chat support in the website page not in the software.

Comparison of KeepActive’s DLP plan and Hubstaff’s Enterprise plans

Hubstaff’s Enterprise plan includes advanced project management and payroll tools and compliance certificates for certain industries. But it highly lacks data loss prevention functionally provided by KeepActive.

Feature/Aspect	KeepActive DLP	Hubstaff Enterprise Plan	Comment
Price	$8.25	$25.00	KeepActive's DLP plan is 3 times more affordable than Hubstaff's Enterprise tier, providing actual security tools rather than just compliance checkmarks.
Protect All Data Types and IP			KeepActive features advanced file operation rules and data exfiltration prevention.
OCR			Only KeepActive searches text inside images and videos.
Activity Blocking			Hard blocking for apps, websites, and files is a KeepActive exclusive compared with Hubstaff.
Location, GPS tracking

Why Look for a Hubstaff Alternative?

When looking at real reviews from G2 and Capterra, Hubstaff users frequently cite a few common frustrations:

Steep Pricing: 

Small businesses and agencies complain that pricing climbs quickly. Essential workforce management tools are locked behind the more expensive Team and Enterprise plans, or require paid add-ons. 

Buggy Timers and Connections: 

Users report that the tracker can stop unexpectedly after updates, and that the mobile tracking features drain battery life and suffer from poor indoor GPS signals. 

Poor Customer Support: 

Multiple reviews cite slow response times, with standard support taking 2+ days to respond, making technical or integration issues frustrating to resolve. 

Rigid Mechanics and setup: 

Users note that the app can feel too rigid; if someone forgets to start or stop a timer, it restricts manual edits depending on admin settings, leading to tracking gaps and payroll headaches. 

The Reality of KeepActive 

KeepActive is frequently praised by users for delivering enterprise-level security and monitoring without nickel-and-diming for basic features.

• Unmatched Visibility: The platform captures every move of an employee's workday, acting almost like a CCTV system for screens, which reviewers say drastically reduces timesheet disputes.
• Affordability: G2 and Capterra reviewers consistently highlight the value for money; features like live video recording, remote access, and keylogging are offered at a fraction of what competitors charge.
• Deep Surveillance: Because KeepActive is a true DLP and monitoring hybrid, some users note the surveillance is incredibly robust—perfect for security and compliance, though potentially intensive depending on your management style.

See reviews in G2 on KeepActive

KeepActive is built for modern workforces — remote, hybrid, and in-office — providing real-time transparency, data security, and actionable insights in one intuitive platform.

• ✅ Easy setup in 15 minutes
• 💻 Works on Windows, macOS, Linux
• 📊 Detailed productivity and behavior reports