HiveDesk vs Toggl Track — Beyond Basic Time Tracking
Toggl Track is the best simple timer on the market. But if you manage a team and need screenshots, scheduling, attendance, leave management, and invoicing — Toggl does not have any of that. HiveDesk does, for $5/user/month.
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Quick Verdict
Choose Toggl Track if...
You are a freelancer, solo consultant, or small team that wants a clean timer with dozens of integrations and no monitoring. Toggl is the best simple time tracker on the market.
Choose HiveDesk if...
You manage employees or contractors and need workforce management alongside time tracking. Screenshots, scheduling, attendance, leave management, and invoicing are all included at $5/user/month — features Toggl does not offer at any price.
Pricing: What Does a 15-Person Team Actually Pay?
Toggl Track has a free plan for up to 5 users, but it is extremely limited — no billable rates, no timesheet estimates, no project templates. Most teams outgrow it quickly.
| HiveDesk | Toggl Starter | Toggl Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per user/month | $5 | $9 | $18 |
| 15-person team | $75/mo | $135/mo | $270/mo |
| Annual cost | $900 | $1,620 | $3,240 |
| Screenshots | Included | Not available | Not available |
| Shift scheduling | Included | Not available | Not available |
| Attendance tracking | Included | Not available | Not available |
| Leave management | Included | Not available | Not available |
| Timesheet approval | Included | Not available | Included |
| Invoicing | Included | Not available | Not available |
HiveDesk costs 44% less than Toggl Starter and 72% less than Toggl Premium — while including workforce management features that Toggl does not have at any tier.
Full Feature Comparison
| Feature | HiveDesk ($5/user/mo) | Toggl Track |
|---|---|---|
| Time Tracking | ||
| Start/stop timer | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app (Windows, Mac, Linux) | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes (iOS) | Yes (iOS, Android) |
| Browser extension | Yes (Chrome) | Yes (Chrome, Firefox, Safari) |
| Web app | Yes | Yes |
| Manual time entries | Yes | Yes |
| Idle detection | Yes | Yes |
| Monitoring & Visibility | ||
| Automatic screenshots | Yes | No |
| Adjustable screenshot frequency | Yes | No |
| Keyboard & mouse activity tracking | Yes | No |
| Activity level percentages | Yes | No |
| Workforce Management | ||
| Shift scheduling | Yes | No |
| Attendance tracking | Yes | No |
| Break time tracking | Yes | No |
| Leave/time-off management | Yes | No |
| Holiday calendars | Yes | No |
| Overtime tracking | Yes | No |
| Timesheets & Billing | ||
| Automatic timesheets | Yes | Yes |
| Timesheet approval workflow | Yes | Premium ($18/mo) only |
| Billable hours tracking | Yes | Starter ($9/mo) and up |
| Built-in invoicing | Yes | No |
| Labor cost tracking | Yes | Premium ($18/mo) only |
| Projects & Tasks | ||
| Project management | Yes | Yes |
| Task tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Time tracking per task | Yes | Yes |
| Project profitability reports | No | Premium ($18/mo) only |
| Integrations | ||
| Third-party integrations | Asana | 100+ tools |
| Reporting | ||
| Time reports | Yes | Yes |
| Team dashboards | Yes | Yes |
| Export (PDF, Excel) | Yes | Yes |
| App usage tracking | No | Yes |
Time Tracking
Both tools handle time tracking well, but they approach it differently.
Toggl Track is built around a minimal start/stop timer. Click the button, type what you are working on, and the clock runs. It syncs across devices, has a gorgeous interface, and browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari make it easy to start timers from almost anywhere. For pure time logging, the experience is polished and fast.
HiveDesk also provides start/stop time tracking across desktop, web, Chrome extension, and mobile apps. But HiveDesk is designed for managed teams rather than individual contributors. When an employee starts the timer, HiveDesk also captures periodic screenshots and monitors keyboard/mouse activity — giving managers visibility into how time is being spent, not just how much time was logged.
Bottom line: If you trust self-reported hours and just need a log, Toggl is excellent. If you need to verify that tracked time reflects actual work — especially with remote contractors or offshore teams — HiveDesk gives you that visibility.
Activity Monitoring
The single biggest difference between the two products.
HiveDesk captures automatic screenshots at configurable intervals while employees work. Managers can see what was on screen during any tracked time period. HiveDesk also tracks keyboard and mouse activity levels, giving a percentage-based view of how active someone was during each work session.
Toggl Track has no screenshot capability and no activity monitoring. It tracks which apps and websites were used (on the desktop app), but there is no way for a manager to see what an employee was actually doing during tracked time. Toggl is built on the assumption that you trust self-reported hours.
Why this matters: For contact centers, BPOs, and agencies billing clients for contractor hours, screenshots provide accountability. When a client asks "what was my team doing for 40 hours last week?" — HiveDesk has a visual answer. Toggl does not.
Shift Scheduling
HiveDesk includes built-in shift scheduling. Managers can create shifts, assign employees to specific time slots, and manage rotating schedules. Employees see their upcoming shifts, and the system tracks whether they show up on time. This is essential for contact centers and BPOs that need to staff specific hours across time zones.
Toggl Track has no shift scheduling functionality. If your team works scheduled shifts, you would need a separate tool — adding cost and complexity.
Why this matters: For any business where coverage matters (support centers, call centers, client-facing teams with SLAs), scheduling is not optional. With Toggl, you need to buy and manage an additional tool. With HiveDesk, it is built in.
Attendance and Leave Management
HiveDesk tracks attendance automatically based on time tracking data. Managers can see who is working, who is late, and who is absent. HiveDesk also includes leave management — create leave policies, set up holiday calendars, and let employees request time off through the system. Overtime tracking is built in as well.
Toggl Track has none of these features. It does not track attendance, does not manage leave or time-off requests, and does not support holiday calendars. If you use Toggl, you need separate tools for attendance and leave management.
Why this matters: Attendance and leave tracking seem simple until you are managing a distributed team across multiple time zones with different holiday calendars. Having it integrated with time tracking eliminates the spreadsheets and manual reconciliation.
Timesheets and Approval
Both tools generate timesheets from tracked time, but the approval workflow is where they diverge.
HiveDesk includes timesheet approval at $5/user/month. Managers review timesheets, approve or reject them, and approved timesheets flow into invoicing. This is the standard workflow for agencies and BPOs billing clients.
Toggl Track generates timesheets, but the approval feature is locked behind the Premium plan at $18/user/month. On the Starter plan ($9/user), you get time reports but no formal approval process. Toggl also has stronger project profitability reporting on Premium — something HiveDesk does not currently offer.
Bottom line: If timesheet approval is important to your workflow (it usually is for client billing), HiveDesk includes it at a fraction of the cost.
Invoicing
HiveDesk has built-in invoicing. Generate invoices directly from approved timesheet data, set billable rates, and send invoices to clients — all within the platform. For agencies and BPOs, this closes the loop from time tracking to payment.
Toggl Track does not have invoicing. You would need to export time data and use a separate invoicing tool like FreshBooks or QuickBooks.
Bottom line: If you bill clients for tracked hours, HiveDesk saves you a tool and the manual data transfer.
Integrations
This is Toggl's strongest advantage.
Toggl Track integrates with over 100 tools — project management apps (Asana, Jira, Monday, Notion), communication tools (Slack), CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot), and many more. If your team lives in a complex tool ecosystem, Toggl probably connects to it.
HiveDesk integrates with Asana. That is the only third-party integration currently available.
Bottom line: If integrations are critical to your workflow — particularly if you need time tracking embedded in tools like Jira, Notion, or Slack — Toggl is the better fit. If your team primarily works within HiveDesk for time tracking and workforce management, the limited integrations may not matter.
Project Management and Reporting
Both tools support organizing time by projects and tasks, assigning team members, and generating reports.
Toggl Track stands out with project profitability reports (available on Premium) that show revenue versus costs at the project level. It also provides app and website usage tracking, showing which tools employees used during the day. For teams focused on project-level financial performance, Toggl Premium offers useful insights.
HiveDesk provides project and task tracking with time reports, team dashboards, and exportable data. It does not have project profitability analysis, but it includes labor cost tracking — so you can see what you are spending on each project even if it does not calculate profitability against revenue.
Which Tool Is Right for You?
When to Choose Toggl Track
- You are a freelancer or solo consultant tracking your own hours. Toggl's free plan covers up to 5 users and the experience is streamlined for individual use.
- Your team does not need monitoring. If you trust self-reported hours and do not want screenshots or activity tracking, Toggl keeps things simple.
- You need lots of integrations. With 100+ integrations, Toggl fits into almost any tool stack.
- You want project profitability analysis. Toggl Premium offers revenue-versus-cost reporting at the project level.
- Simplicity is the priority. Toggl's interface is among the cleanest in the category.
When to Choose HiveDesk
- You manage a remote or distributed team and need visibility into what employees are doing during tracked hours.
- You run a contact center or BPO and need shift scheduling, attendance tracking, and workforce management — not just a timer.
- You bill clients for contractor hours and need screenshots as proof of work, timesheet approval workflows, and integrated invoicing.
- Budget matters. At $5/user/month with all features included, HiveDesk costs less than Toggl's most basic paid plan.
- You need attendance and leave management without adding another tool to your stack.
The Bottom Line
Toggl Track and HiveDesk are built for different problems.
Toggl is the best simple time tracker on the market. It is beautifully designed, integrates with everything, and works perfectly for freelancers and self-directed teams that just need to log hours.
HiveDesk is built for teams that need to be managed. If you are responsible for a remote workforce — whether that is a 10-person agency team or a 200-seat contact center — and you need screenshots, scheduling, attendance, leave management, and invoicing alongside time tracking, HiveDesk delivers all of that for $5/user/month.
The question is not which tool is better. It is whether you need a timer or a workforce management platform.
Want to explore more options? See our full list of 7 best Toggl alternatives for 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about HiveDesk vs Toggl Track.
It depends on what you need. Toggl Track is the best simple time tracker on the market — beautifully designed, with 100+ integrations, ideal for freelancers and self-directed teams. HiveDesk is better for managed teams that need workforce management: automatic screenshots, shift scheduling, attendance tracking, leave management, and invoicing — all included at $5/user/month. If you manage employees or contractors, HiveDesk delivers more functionality at a lower cost.
Toggl Track has a free plan for up to 5 users with limited features. The Starter plan costs $9/user/month and adds billable rates and project time estimates. The Premium plan costs $18/user/month and includes timesheet approval, project profitability reports, and labor cost tracking. A 15-person team pays $135/month on Starter or $270/month on Premium. HiveDesk costs $75/month for the same team with all features included.
For teams that need workforce management — not just a timer — HiveDesk is the best Toggl alternative. HiveDesk includes automatic screenshots, shift scheduling, attendance tracking, leave management, timesheet approval, and invoicing at $5/user/month. Toggl does not offer any of these features at any price tier. If you manage remote employees, contractors, or shift workers, HiveDesk gives you the visibility and management tools that Toggl lacks.
No. Toggl Track does not have screenshot monitoring or activity level tracking. It tracks which apps and websites were used on the desktop app, but there is no way for managers to see what employees were doing during tracked time. HiveDesk captures automatic screenshots at configurable intervals and tracks keyboard and mouse activity levels, giving managers visibility without requiring manual check-ins.
No. Toggl Track does not include shift scheduling, attendance tracking, or leave management. If your team works scheduled shifts, you would need a separate scheduling tool alongside Toggl. HiveDesk includes built-in shift scheduling where managers can create shifts, assign employees to time slots, and track whether they show up on time — all within the same platform.
Yes. HiveDesk offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. You can set up your team, projects, and tasks in under 10 minutes. While there is no direct data import from Toggl, most teams are fully operational on HiveDesk within a day. The transition is straightforward because HiveDesk covers everything Toggl does for time tracking, plus workforce management features you would otherwise need separate tools for.
No. Toggl Track does not have built-in invoicing. You would need to export time data and use a separate tool like FreshBooks or QuickBooks to generate invoices. HiveDesk includes built-in invoicing — generate invoices directly from approved timesheet data, set billable rates, and send invoices to clients without leaving the platform.
HiveDesk is significantly cheaper. HiveDesk costs $5/user/month for all features. Toggl Starter costs $9/user/month and Toggl Premium costs $18/user/month. For a 15-person team, HiveDesk costs $900/year compared to $1,620/year for Toggl Starter or $3,240/year for Toggl Premium. HiveDesk also includes features like screenshots, scheduling, and invoicing that Toggl does not offer at any price.
Only on the Premium plan at $18/user/month. Toggl Starter ($9/user/month) generates time reports but does not include a formal approval process. HiveDesk includes timesheet approval at $5/user/month — managers review and approve timesheets, and approved timesheets flow directly into invoicing.
Toggl Track integrates with over 100 tools including Jira, Notion, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Monday, and many more. HiveDesk integrates with Asana. If your workflow depends on embedding time tracking inside tools like Jira or Notion, Toggl is the better fit. If your team primarily works within a dedicated time tracking and workforce management platform, HiveDesk's limited integrations may not matter.
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