Our Full Review
Harvest has been the gold standard for time tracking + invoicing since 2006. While competitors focus on one or the other, Harvest does both exceptionally well—and makes the connection between them seamless.
After extensive testing across agencies and consultancies, our verdict: Harvest is the best all-in-one solution for businesses that bill clients for time and expenses. The invoicing alone justifies the price.
Who Should Use Harvest?
- Agencies and consultancies billing clients by the hour
- Freelancers and contractors who need professional invoicing
- Professional services firms tracking billable vs non-billable time
- Teams needing expense tracking integrated with time and invoices
Who Should Look Elsewhere?
- Teams on tight budgets — Clockify offers similar time tracking for free
- Internal time tracking only — if you don't invoice clients, Harvest is overkill
- Large teams (50+) — per-user pricing becomes expensive fast
- Project-heavy workflows — dedicated project tools offer more PM features
Time Tracking
Harvest's time tracking is simple and effective:
- Running timers — one-click start/stop from web, desktop, or mobile
- Manual entry — fill in time after the fact with duration or start/end times
- Timesheets view — weekly grid to review and fill gaps
- Reminders — notifications to log time if you forget
- Timer shortcuts — restart recent entries with one click
- Notes and details — attach context to every time entry
The interface is clean and intuitive. New users are tracking time within minutes, not days.
Invoicing Excellence
This is where Harvest truly shines:
- One-click invoice creation — select unbilled time/expenses, generate invoice instantly
- Professional templates — customizable invoice designs with your branding
- Payment processing — integrate Stripe or PayPal for online payments
- Auto-reminders — scheduled follow-ups for overdue invoices
- Multi-currency — bill international clients in their currency
- Retainer tracking — manage prepaid hours and retainer balances
- Estimates/quotes — send estimates that convert to invoices
The invoicing workflow is thoughtful. You're not copying data between systems—time tracked becomes line items automatically. Clients can pay directly from the invoice. Reminders go out automatically.
Expense Tracking
Harvest's expense management is equally polished:
- Mobile receipt capture (photo of receipt with auto-details)
- Attach expenses to projects and clients
- Mark as billable or non-billable
- Include expenses on invoices with markup
- Mileage tracking with automatic rate calculation
For consultants who incur client expenses (travel, meals, software), having this integrated with time and invoicing is a workflow lifesaver.
Reporting & Analytics
Harvest's reporting is comprehensive:
- Time reports — who worked on what, billable vs non-billable, profitability
- Budget tracking — set project budgets by hours or fees, track progress
- Team capacity — visual view of who's overloaded, who has availability
- Invoice reports — outstanding, paid, overdue with aging details
- Expense reports — categorized spending, billable expenses pending invoice
- Visual dashboards — charts and graphs for quick insights
The reports are actionable. You can quickly spot unprofitable projects, under-utilized team members, or overdue invoices.
Integrations
Harvest connects to the tools you already use:
- Project management: Asana, Basecamp, Trello, Monday, Jira
- Accounting: QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks
- Communication: Slack notifications for time tracking
- Browser extensions: Chrome, Firefox, Safari
- API: Build custom integrations
- Zapier: Connect to 1000+ apps
The integrations are well-implemented. Track time directly from Asana tasks or Trello cards without switching tools.
Pricing
Harvest has simple, transparent pricing:
Free Trial: 30 days, full features, no credit card required
Pro Plan: $12/user/month (annual) or $13/month (monthly)
- Unlimited projects and clients
- Invoicing with online payments
- Expense tracking
- Visual reports
- Integrations
- Email and chat support
That's it. One plan, all features. Simple.
Cost examples:
- 5-person agency: $60/month ($720/year)
- 15-person consultancy: $180/month ($2,160/year)
- Solo freelancer: $12/month ($144/year)
Support & Reliability
Harvest has been around since 2006. They're reliable:
- 99.9%+ uptime historically
- Email and live chat support
- Extensive help documentation
- Regular feature updates
- Weekly data backups
Support is responsive and helpful. The product is mature and stable—rare showstopping bugs.
The Bottom Line
Harvest is expensive compared to free alternatives like Clockify. But you're paying for polish, seamless invoicing, and excellent expense tracking all in one place.
For agencies, consultancies, and freelancers who bill clients, Harvest pays for itself quickly. The time saved on invoicing and the professional client experience are worth the $12/user/month.
If you only need basic time tracking for internal purposes, cheaper options exist. But if billing clients is core to your business, Harvest is the best integrated solution available.