Harvest
- Base seat price, plus fees on invoices, projects, clients and tasks
- Same team size, different bill depending on usage
- Some reviewers report increases of up to 600%
harvest alternative
Harvest is great at turning hours into invoices. Since its Bending Spoons acquisition, that’s come with usage-based fees on every invoice, project, client and task, some reviewers report increases up to 600%. TrackingTime keeps the same workflow, one flat per-user price, no usage fees, ever.
why switch
Harvest now stacks usage fees on top of a per-seat base, for every invoice, project, client and task, so two teams the same size can land on very different bills. TrackingTime charges one flat per-user price with no usage fees, and only for active users, so freelancer or seat fluctuation never spikes the total. The free plan follows the same logic: Harvest’s is down to 1 seat and 2 projects, while TrackingTime’s supports unlimited users and unlimited projects.
The gap widens further up the stack. Harvest gates profitability reporting and timesheet approvals behind its $14 Enterprise tier, on top of usage fees, where TrackingTime unlocks profitability and approvals at $6.50.
Project management follows the same pattern: a board, a project timeline, a company-wide view of every project, task comments and files come built in with tracking, none of which exists inside Harvest at all.
Beyond billing, TrackingTime also works as a lightweight HR back office, time cards, PTO with accrual, holidays and attendance, plus dedicated project retainers and unlimited external client users, none of which Harvest offers.
side by side
Harvest gets hours into an invoice. TrackingTime does too, without a bill that moves with usage.
The single biggest reason teams leave Harvest today is the bill. Its per-seat base now carries usage fees on invoices, projects, clients and tasks, and seats can’t be removed mid-cycle. TrackingTime is flat per active user, no usage fees, no seat penalties.
| TrackingTime | Harvest | |
|---|---|---|
| Flat per-user pricing | ✅ | ❌ (per seat + usage fees) |
| Fees on invoices / projects / clients / tasks | ❌ None | ✅ Charged above thresholds |
| Pay only for active users | ✅ | ❌ |
| Free plan | Unlimited users + projects | 1 seat, 2 projects |
This is Harvest’s home turf, and it’s strong, invoicing and payments are available on every plan. TrackingTime matches the essentials, one-click tracking, automatic tracking, billable rates, invoicing from Pro, with the same non-invasive approach.
| TrackingTime | Harvest | |
|---|---|---|
| One-click + manual time tracking | ✅ | ✅ |
| Automatic tracking (AutoTrack) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Billable + non-billable hours | ✅ | ✅ |
| Invoicing | ✅ (Pro) | ✅ (all plans) |
| Payment integrations (Stripe/QuickBooks/Xero) | Partial | ✅ (mature) |
| Expense tracking | ✅ (Pro) | ✅ |
Harvest tracks time against projects but has no in-app project management, resource scheduling lives in a separate product (Forecast). TrackingTime is an actual PM surface, a board, a project timeline, a company-wide view of every project, plus task comments, files and custom fields, with tracking built in.
| TrackingTime | Harvest | |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks + assignments | ✅ | Partial |
| Board / Kanban view | ✅ | ❌ |
| Project timeline view | ✅ | ❌ (separate Forecast product) |
| Company-wide project timeline | ✅ | ❌ |
| Task comments, to-dos + files | ✅ | ❌ |
| Custom fields | ✅ | ❌ |
Beyond billing, TrackingTime doubles as a lightweight back office. Time cards, PTO with accrual, holidays, a full approval workflow, project retainers and external client logins, none of which exist in Harvest, where approvals only appear at the $14 Enterprise tier.
| TrackingTime | Harvest | |
|---|---|---|
| Time cards & attendance | ✅ | ❌ |
| PTO / time off + accrual | ✅ | ❌ |
| Project retainers | ✅ | ❌ (flat fixed-fee only) |
| Timesheet approval workflow | ✅ ($6.50 Pro) | ✅ ($14 Enterprise) |
| Unlimited client users (portal login) | ✅ ($10 Business) | ❌ |
TrackingTime unlocks profitability and margin reporting at $6.50 (Pro) and enterprise governance, SSO, audit logs, at $10 (Business). Harvest reserves profitability, approvals and SAML SSO for its $14 Enterprise plan, with usage fees on top.
| TrackingTime | Harvest | |
|---|---|---|
| Profitability & margins | ✅ ($6.50 Pro) | ✅ ($14 Enterprise) |
| SSO (SAML / Azure AD / Google) | ✅ ($10 Business) | ✅ ($14 Enterprise) |
| Audit log | ✅ ($10 Business) | ✅ ($14 Enterprise) |
FAQS
Straight answers about the repricing, fees and what’s actually included.
After Harvest was acquired by Bending Spoons, its pricing shifted to a per-seat base plus usage-based fees on invoices, projects, clients and tasks. Many existing customers saw their bills rise sharply, some G2 reviewers report increases of up to 600%, because costs now scale with usage, not just team size.
For most teams, yes, and more importantly, it’s predictable. TrackingTime charges one flat per-user price with no usage fees, starting at $4.50/user/mo. Its top self-serve plan ($10, with SSO and audit logs) costs less than Harvest’s $14 Enterprise tier, before Harvest’s usage fees even apply.
Yes. TrackingTime includes billable rates, invoicing and expense tracking. Harvest’s payments ecosystem is more mature, but TrackingTime covers the core time-to-invoice workflow, without usage-based fees.
For teams whose work is organized as projects and tasks, yes. TrackingTime includes a board, project timeline, company-wide project view, task comments and files, with native tracking, plus PTO, approvals and retainers Harvest doesn’t offer.
Time entries can be imported, and projects and clients recreated in minutes. The full team can be invited on the free plan first, upgrading only when invoicing, approvals or enterprise controls are needed.