Softwr

Productivity · head to head

Hubstaff vs Milanote

Hubstaff logo

Hubstaff

Productivity

Time tracking and team management for remote teams

From
$5.99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Milanote logo

Milanote

Productivity

Board-based visual workspace for creative planning, free up to 100 items for the whole account

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Milanote has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Hubstaff no pricing amounts published on pricing page; specific dollar amounts for plans not disclosed; Milanote the free plan caps the entire account at 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads rather than capping per board, so one properly worked project exhausts it and the tool stops working rather than degrading gracefully.
  • They diverge on capability: Hubstaff covers Time tracking with timer, Milanote covers Infinite board canvas.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hubstaff and Milanote actually diverge.

Attributes where Hubstaff and Milanote differ
AttributeHubstaffMilanote
Starting price$5.99/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, IOS, Android, MacOS, WindowsWeb
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Hubstaff

  • Time tracking with timer
  • Activity monitoring
  • GPS location tracking
  • Screenshots
  • Reports and analytics
  • Invoicing
  • Team management

Only in Milanote

  • Infinite board canvas
  • Mixed content
  • Nested boards
  • Templates
  • Web clipper
  • Shared boards with comments
  • Free plan

Both cover

  • Mobile apps

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Hubstaff

  • Productivitynot Milanote
  • Collaborationnot Milanote
  • Task managementnot Milanote
  • Organizationnot Milanote

Milanote

  • Moodboards and visual references for a branding or design project, gathered from the web and arranged for a client review.not Hubstaff
  • Storyboarding a video or planning a shoot, where the whole sequence needs to be visible at once.not Hubstaff
  • Structuring a book, script or long article by physically moving sections around until the order works.not Hubstaff
  • A shared board where a small creative team reacts to work in progress without the overhead of a project tool.not Hubstaff

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Hubstaff

  • No pricing amounts published on pricing page; specific dollar amounts for plans not disclosed
  • Per-seat pricing structure means users charged per team member regardless of active tracking use
  • Billing model includes prorated charges on annual plans but full rates for new monthly users, creating potential cost complications

Milanote

  • The free plan caps the entire account at 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads rather than capping per board, so one properly worked project exhausts it and the tool stops working rather than degrading gracefully.
  • The value of a board is its arrangement, and arrangement is the one thing export does not carry, so a PDF gives you a picture and a text export gives you the words while nothing reconstitutes the board in another tool.
  • Pricing is per person and the tool spreads naturally to reviewers and clients who only look and comment, so a team plan ends up covering people who never create anything.
  • There is no database layer, no properties, no filtering and no dependency tracking, so a project that starts on a Milanote board has to be re-entered somewhere else the moment it acquires owners and dates.
  • Offline support is minimal, so a board full of references is effectively unavailable without a connection, which is a real problem for a tool aimed at people who work on location and in meetings away from a desk.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hubstaff

$5.99/month
  • FreeFree
    • Basic time tracking
    • Limited to 1 user
    • Basic reports
  • Starter$5.99/month
    • Time tracking
    • Team management
    • Reports
  • Pro$9.99/month
    • Everything in Starter
    • GPS tracking
    • Activity monitoring

Milanote

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 100 notes, images or links
    • 10 file uploads
    • Unlimited shared boards
  • Individual$9.99/month
    • Unlimited notes, images or links
    • Unlimited file uploads
    • Unlimited shared boards
  • Team$49/month
    • Unlimited notes, images or links
    • Unlimited file uploads
    • Unlimited shared boards

Which should you pick?

Choose Hubstaff if

  • You need time tracking with timer.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
  • You also want activity monitoring.
Hubstaff review

Choose Milanote if

  • You need infinite board canvas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want mixed content.
Milanote review

Questions people ask

Is Hubstaff or Milanote better?
Neither clearly leads. Hubstaff starts at $5.99/month and Milanote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hubstaff or Milanote?
Milanote has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $5.99/month for Hubstaff and Free for Milanote.
Does Hubstaff or Milanote run on more platforms?
Hubstaff runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows. Milanote runs on Web.
Can I use Milanote for free?
Yes. Milanote has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Hubstaff starts at $5.99/month.
What is Hubstaff best used for?
Hubstaff is most often used for productivity, collaboration, task management, organization. Of those, productivity and collaboration are not what Milanote is typically brought in for.
What can Hubstaff do that Milanote cannot?
Hubstaff covers Time tracking with timer, Activity monitoring, GPS location tracking, Screenshots. Milanote covers Infinite board canvas, Mixed content, Nested boards, Templates. Both handle Mobile apps.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hubstaff: How much does Hubstaff cost?

Specific pricing amounts are not published on the pricing page. Hubstaff offers monthly and annual billing options with a per-seat pricing structure, a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans, and a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Source
Milanote: How long does the free plan last?

Indefinitely. It is limited by quantity rather than by time: 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads for the account as a whole, so it ends when you hit the cap rather than on a date.

Hubstaff: Is there a free trial for Hubstaff?

Hubstaff offers a free 14-day trial with no credit card required, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans excluding the free trial period.

Source
Milanote: Can I export a board?

You can produce PDFs and images of a board and extract the text, but the spatial arrangement is not portable, so nothing you export reconstructs the board in another tool.

Hubstaff: How does Hubstaff billing work when adding team members mid-cycle?

For annual plans, Hubstaff prorates charges when adding seats mid-cycle. For monthly plans, full rates apply for new users with no prorating offered.

Source
Milanote: Is it a project management tool?

No. There are no dates, dependencies or workload views. It suits the thinking phase, and the work has to be handed to a tracker once it becomes a plan.

Hubstaff: Can Hubstaff plans be canceled anytime?

Plans can be canceled anytime by contacting support or archiving the associated organization. Users removed from monthly plans do not receive prorated refunds.

Source
Milanote: Do collaborators need paid accounts?

Shared boards are unlimited even on the free plan, and the paid question is about who creates rather than who looks. Confirm the current plan terms before rolling it out to a client's team.

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