Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ioBroker VS HourStack

Compare ioBroker VS HourStack and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

ioBroker logo ioBroker

flexible and modular application for the IoT and Smarthome

HourStack logo HourStack

The simple, visual solution to effective time management.
  • ioBroker Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-22

More than 500 different modules(adapters) that can be interconnected with each other. E.g. Homematic or KNX can control HUE or sonos and vice versa.

  • HourStack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-04-05

HourStack is a transparent, easy-to-use time management tool customized to your team's current workflow. The all-in-one visual calendar helps you see, plan, and track your team's time across tasks and projects in a complete view. Easily schedule tasks, accurately track time, pull actionable reports, and customize your workspace and permissions.

Use HourStack on its own to track and schedule time, or enhance the experience via integrations. By integrating HourStack, you can continue to use the software you love โ€”Asana, Trello, Todoist, Google Calendar, and moreโ€” and get simple and flexible time tracking functionality across them all in a centralized view. No technical skills needed, no complicated integrations, and no more duplication of entries.

Take a tour of all of the features and get a free 14-day trial at HourStack.com(no credit card required).

ioBroker

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
free
Platforms
Linux Windows Mac OSX REST API JavaScript
Release Date
2015 October

HourStack

$ Details
paid Free Trial $9.0 / Monthly (When billed annually)
Platforms
Browser iOS
Release Date
-

ioBroker features and specs

  • Open Source
    ioBroker is an open-source platform, which means it is free to use and continuously improved by a community of developers. This allows for transparency and flexibility in the usage and modification of the software.
  • Modular Architecture
    The platform supports a modular approach through adapters, which makes it highly extensible and allows users to add functionality as needed without bloating the system.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    ioBroker can run on various operating systems, including Linux, Windows, macOS, and even on lightweight devices like Raspberry Pi, making it highly versatile.
  • Wide Range of Adapters
    It supports a wide variety of adapters for different devices and services, enabling users to integrate numerous smart home products and protocols seamlessly.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    ioBroker offers an intuitive and user-friendly web interface, making it accessible for users with varying levels of technical expertise.
  • Automation Flexibility
    The platform supports powerful automation capabilities, allowing users to create complex automation rules and scenarios tailored to their needs.

HourStack features and specs

  • Scheduling
    Set and Shift Schedules to Optimize Workflow
  • Time Tracking
    Accurately Track Time Across Tasks and Projects
  • Reporting
    Understand Time Utilization and Improve Efficiencies
  • Integrations
    Designed to Integrate Seamlessly with Your Favorite Tools
  • Teams
    Customize Your Team's Settings and Permissions
  • Workspaces
    Manage Multiple Workspaces

Analysis of ioBroker

Overall verdict

  • Yes, ioBroker is a good choice for those looking to create a cohesive smart home environment with diverse device compatibility and flexibility. Its open-source nature allows for extensive customization, though it might require some technical know-how to set up and maintain.

Why this product is good

  • ioBroker is a popular open-source platform for integrating various smart home devices and systems. It supports a wide range of devices and services through adapters, making it highly versatile and customizable. Its web-based interface is user-friendly, and it allows developers to create custom scripts and dashboards. The community support is robust, offering numerous forums and resources for help and extension possibilities.

Recommended for

    ioBroker is recommended for tech-savvy users who are comfortable with DIY configurations and those looking for a cost-effective solution to integrate various smart home devices. It's also suitable for developers interested in extending its capabilities through custom scripts and adapters.

ioBroker videos

ioBroker: Rock64 Langzeit-Review - Bereue ich den Kauf?

More videos:

  • Review - iObroker Teil1 | Grundlagen/รœbersicht | Review Smart Home Kombination 2019 [GERMAN/DEUTSCH]
  • Review - SMARTE ZENTRALE | ioBroker als kostenlose SmartHome-Automation

HourStack videos

HourStack: Improving Your Workflow

More videos:

  • Review - HourStack: Standard Integrations

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ioBroker and HourStack)
Data Dashboard
100 100%
0% 0
Time Tracking
0 0%
100% 100
Home
100 100%
0% 0
Time Management
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing ioBroker and HourStack.

What makes your product unique?

ioBroker's answer

  • Multi-Host support for Scalability and better connectivity (you can connect many ioBroker hosts together),
  • Comprehensive visualization(Vis, iQontrol, ...),
  • Flexibility (jsonl for simplisity as DB or Redis as high performance DB),
  • ioBroker is highly flexible and customizable...

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

ioBroker's answer

  • Compatibility: ioBroker supports a vast range of devices and protocols, making it one of the most versatile smart home automation systems available. It is compatible with many popular brands and can integrate with virtually any smart device, offering a level of flexibility that might not be available with other platforms.

  • Open Source: As an open-source platform, ioBroker is free to use and continuously updated and improved by a community of developers. This allows for greater customization, transparency, and control over your home automation setup.

  • Scalability: ioBroker is designed to handle complex smart home setups. No matter how many devices you have or plan to add in the future, the platform is designed to scale and manage a large and diverse range of devices efficiently.

  • JavaScript and Blockly support: For those comfortable with programming, ioBroker offers the option to write scripts in JavaScript. For users who prefer a graphical interface, Blockly is available. This versatility can be appealing for both beginners and experienced users.

  • Data Logging: ioBroker has extensive data logging capabilities, allowing users to store, analyze, and visualize data from their smart devices over long periods of time. This can be incredibly valuable for monitoring energy usage, tracking trends, and optimizing your smart home setup.

  • Community and Support: ioBroker has a strong and active community of users and developers who can provide assistance, share ideas, and help troubleshoot any issues you may encounter.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

ioBroker's answer

Mostly users are german speaking, but all documentation is primary in english.

What's the story behind your product?

ioBroker's answer

ioBroker is an open-source Internet of Things (IoT) platform that was developed with the aim to provide a unified and flexible solution for smart home automation. It's primarily driven by a community of enthusiasts and developers contributing to its ongoing development and expansion.

The project was initiated to overcome the limitations of existing smart home platforms, particularly the inability of many platforms to integrate with a wide variety of devices and brands. ioBroker was designed with a focus on compatibility, scalability, and flexibility, aiming to provide a solution that can integrate a vast array of smart devices, regardless of manufacturer or protocol, and handle complex home automation setups.

While the platform was initially more popular among the tech-savvy due to its need for more technical involvement, over time, efforts have been made to make it more user-friendly and accessible to a wider audience.

As an open-source project, the ongoing development of ioBroker is dependent on the contributions of its community, including software developers and end-users, who continually work on refining the software, expanding its compatibility with different devices, and improving its features.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

ioBroker's answer

JavaScript, Redis, Mqtt, MUI-UI.

User comments

Share your experience with using ioBroker and HourStack. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ioBroker and HourStack

ioBroker Reviews

16 Open Source Home Automation Platforms To Use In 2020
ioBroker appeared on the open source home automation spectrum at the beginning of 2017, but it went on to become one of the fastest growing communities in the game. With more than 21,000 users happy to chime in, ioBroker is a strong proposition that offers a total of around 300 integrations. That's great considering that the software is completely free to use. Why not give...
Source: ubidots.com

HourStack Reviews

49 Best Timesheet Alternatives - Features, pros & cons, pricing | Remote Tools
By integrating HourStack, you can continue to use the software you love รขย€ย”Asana, Todoist, Google Calendar, and more รขย€ย” and get simple and flexible time tracking functionality across them all in a centralized view. No technical skills needed, no complicated integrations, and no more duplication Pricing When to use HourStack Relevance to remote workers Remote workers use...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, HourStack seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 4 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ioBroker mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of ioBroker yet. Tracking of ioBroker recommendations started around Mar 2021.

HourStack mentions (4)

  • Show HN: General Task, a free task manager for builders (beta)
    This is a solid take on task management. We've got some similar features in https://hourstack.com with dragging and dropping tasks from other platforms into a calendar (team or personal). However, our focus is on tracking time against those tasks once scheduled and then reporting, invoicing, etc. Against the work completed. So different end goals. Best of luck to you as it looks like you've got a great start. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • Search fo a day Planer with one importan funktion.
    I would take a look at Plan (free), Hourstack (paid) or Sunsama (paid). Source: over 4 years ago
  • Ask HN: How do you track your billable working hours?
    The team and I are building HourStack - https://hourstack.com. We are focused on scheduling and tracking time at the task level, which works well with billable hours. We also integrate with task, event, and issue platforms so you can drag existing tasks onto your calendar to schedule and track time against them. This can be quite nice when working with clients across different platforms like Asana, Trello, and... - Source: Hacker News / almost 5 years ago
  • Be happier with your time by tracking how you spend it...
    Calendars - newdaynew.me or hourstack.com- calendar tracking is useful, but does make things rigid and remove some flexibility or freedom to how you spend you day - like putting in your calendar 3 hours of X when you may not be in the best mood to do that. Source: about 5 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ioBroker and HourStack, you can also consider the following products

openHAB - "empowering the smart home" - vendor and technology agnostic open source home automation

Toggl - Toggl is an online time tracking tool. It features 1-click time tracking and helps you see where your time goes. Free and paid versions are available.

Home-Assistant.io - Home Assistant is an open-source home automation platform running on Python 3.

Harvest - Simple time tracking, fast online invoicing, and powerful reporting software. Simplify employee timesheets and billing. Get started for free.

Google Home - Set up, manage, and control your Chromecast, Chromecast Audio and Google Home devices.

Hours - Boosting productivity through live, virtual co-working.