Harvest Alternatives: Exploring the Top Competitors in Time Tracking Software

When it comes to project management, being able to properly keep track of time spent on projects is crucial to staying under budget and managing client expectations. Harvest helps users do so with the help of its time tracking, invoicing, and reporting features. 

That said, the software comes up short in all other aspects that contribute to effectively managing projects. Why rely on costly integrations when you can switch to a project management tool that’s all in one?

To help with your search for the perfect fit for your needs, we’ve highlighted the top 10 Harvest alternatives for project management in 2023. 

Why look for a Harvest alternative? 

Designed for time tracking and budgeting, Harvest depends on third-party tools for task management and project planning – which sometimes lead to syncing lags and other issues. 

The absence of a planner, for example, is a challenge for project managers who need to precisely track time spent on specific tasks, resulting in more work and extra tools.

Let’s take a look at a few other reasons why you might want to consider a Harvest alternative:

#1 Difficult to use the timer function

Time tracking is one of Harvest’s primary functions. Surprisingly, the main complaint among users and online reviewers is that it’s too easy to forget that you have a timer running when you log out for the day. 

Leaving a timer running means you’ll need to go in and edit past time entries, which isn’t always easy to do on Harvest.

Some users have also reported issues like discrepancies between the time recorded via timer and the time logged on the reports page. 

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#2 Limited invoicing options

Although Harvest comes with an invoicing feature, the platform doesn’t have the option to automate and set recurring invoices without a third-party tool like other platforms in the market.  

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#3 Reports aren’t very robust 

Harvest offers reports and analytics, but they aren’t that insightful after all. Generating a full-year report, for example, isn’t an option, which is often a drawback to project managers looking to create end-of-year reports.

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The top 10 Harvest alternatives to consider 

With 2023 ahead, we’ve reevaluated our list of Harvest alternatives to account for new software products and updates. Here’s what we found to be the 15 best Harvest alternatives for the new year: 

1. Rodeo

​​Rodeo was designed to bridge the gap between projects and finances, resulting in a comprehensive project management solution. Because budgets are at the core of projects, every project you create in Rodeo starts with setting up a budget. 

Similar to Harvest, Rodeo offers time-tracking, budgeting, reporting, and invoicing. What is unique about Rodeo, though, is that the tool is a true all-in-one solution that includes estimating, expenses, task management, planning, and much more.

Why do companies choose Rodeo over Harvest?

Let’s take a look at some of the unique features Rodeo offers compared to Harvest:

Set up recurring invoices for your peace of mind 

If invoicing is a large factor when looking for a project management tool, then you will love Rodeo’s invoicing feature. After you create a project and its budget, you have the option to either send an estimate to the client – which then can be turned into an invoice upon approval – or turn it into an invoice.  

Work with projects and clients on a retainer? Rodeo allows you to automate this process by setting up recurring invoices. Choose the project, client, starting and end date, and the frequency you want to send it and Rodeo will do the rest.  

Manage your projects with Rodeo's planning and task management features

Since Rodeo offers its own planner and task manager, keeping track of project health, budget, and timeline is simple and in real-time. 

Rodeo’s task feature will help you manage and optimize your team’s capacity by allowing you to choose collaborators based on their skills and availability. Every task activity and time tracked are directly tied to a project and budget, giving you insights into every step and phase of a project.

Plus, Rodeo also comes with a built-in messenger to help improve project collaboration without the need to switch between platforms. Teams can stay connected while sharing live updates of projects and task status.

Get real insights with comprehensive reports

Having an all-in-one tool means you get insights into every step of your process through powerful reporting capabilities. With Rodeo, you can run reports to check employee productivity, log hours against activities, and have a detailed view of each closed project. These insights can then be leveraged to better forecast timelines and create realistic budgets. 

Another unique aspect of Rodeo’s reports is being able to calculate project margins and determine whether your projects are profitable. How great is that?

Additional features: 

• Phase-based budgeting
• Customizable client-ready estimates 
• Time tracking
• Expense and purchase order tracking 
• Client contact management 
• Integration with QuickBooks (US) and Xero (UK)

Pricing: 

With no minimum seats required and role-based pricing, Rodeo’s pricing structure is very straightforward. For a starting price of $29.99 per month, you’ll receive full admin access to the platform for 1 user. This price includes access to all of Rodeo’s features except planning and tasks, which can be purchased as an add-on for $4.99 per user/month. 

From there, you can purchase additional user seats based on the level of access each employee needs: 

• Additional full user license: +$14.99 per user/month
• Additional standard user license: +$8.99 per user/month

2. nTask 

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nTask is another all-in-one project management software tool that features a robust set of functionalities ranging from time tracking to to-do lists and task management, all of which help users keep their projects organized. Common criticisms of nTask revolve around its interface, which is sometimes glitchy, according to online reviewers. 

Popular features: 

• Task management 
• Time tracking 
• Gantt charts
• Issue tracking

Who is this tool for? 

nTask is suitable for small- to medium-sized businesses in need of software that can help projects stay organized and on track.

Read next: 15 Best nTask Alternatives in 2023 [Paid & Free]

Pricing:

• Premium plan: $4 per month 
• Business plan: $12 per month 
• Enterprise plan: Pricing upon request

3. Time Doctor 

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Time Doctor primarily focuses on time tracking and employee monitoring. The software also enables you to ensure employees are always on task with its screenshot and screen recording capabilities, which capture images of whatever is on an employee’s computer screen throughout the day. 

The tool is often criticized for allowing employers to “spy” on employees, as its monitoring features don’t exactly help companies develop a culture of trust. 

Popular features: 

• Time tracking and timesheets
• Distraction alerts 
• Employee activity level monitoring
• Productivity measuring

Who is this tool for? 

Time Doctor can be used by companies of all sizes, although it’s best suited for very large organizations where it’s difficult to manage a large number of employees. 

Related: 15 Best Time Doctor Alternatives in 2023

Pricing:

• Basic plan: $7 per user/month
• Standard plan: $10 per user/month
• Premium plan: $20 per user/month

4. Toggl Track

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If you are looking for a time tracking tool but don't necessarily need all the project and task management capabilities, then Toggl Track is a reasonable Harvest alternative. The platform lets you create time tracking reports, export time logs as spreadsheets, as well as pull and share reports with clients for further transparency.

Like Harvest, Toggl Track relies on integrations to give you the full project management experience. Toggl Track’s reporting is basic and not intuitive when compared to Harvest or Rodeo, and the invoicing feature is not very flexible either.

Popular features: 

• Time tracking
• Project revenue tracking
• Team scheduling 
• Reporting

Who is this tool for? 

Toggl Track is ideal for small to midsize teams looking for a platform that can help track time and projects while getting an overview of productivity and profitability. But if you are looking to scale, though, this might not be the right tool for you.

Related: The 14 Best Toggl Alternatives to Check Out

Pricing:

• Basic plan: Free for up to 5 users
• Starter plan: $10 per user/month 
• Premium plan: $20 per user/month
• Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

5. Paymo 

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Paymo is a project management software focused on improving team collaboration while offering features to manage projects from start to finish. The tool enables you to keep a close eye on every stage of your project, making it easy to manage budgets, invoices, and project resources.

As a Harvest alternative, Paymo offers some unique features like file management, native task management, and the ability to create estimates. The downside for some users is that the platform isn't always very flexible, especially when managing team schedules.

Popular features: 

• Time tracking
• Task management
• Invoicing and estimates
• Team scheduling

Who is this tool for? 

Paymo is best suited for small and medium project-based businesses such as advertising and marketing agencies, web development, and design agencies. 

Read next: 15 Paymo Alternatives to Try [Free & Paid]

Pricing:

• Basic plan: Free 
• Starter plan: $5.95 per user/month 
• Small office plan: $11.95 per user/month 
• Business plan: $24.95 per user/month

6. Wrike 

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Wrike is an enterprise-level project management solution designed to assist organizations with advanced task management, time-tracking, resource management, project reporting, and more. 

Different than Harvest, Wrike offers a better solution if you are looking for a 360 view of your projects and teams, including custom workflow and task options. However, the platform’s high complexity causes a learning curve that is much longer than other tools on the market. 

Popular features: 

• Activity tracking
• Asset sharing
• Backlog management
• Advanced analytics

Who is this tool for? 

Due to its complexity, Wrike is best suited for larger teams and enterprise-level organizations. If you're a small company mostly looking for task management, time tracking, and reporting solutions, Wrike may not be the best fit for your needs.

Related: The 15 Best Wrike Alternatives for Project Management

Pricing:

• Basic plan: Free 
• Team plan: $9.80 per user/month 
• Business plan: $24.80 per user/month
• Enterprise plan: Pricing upon request 

7. Hubstaff 

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Hubstaff is another Harvest alternative that allows project managers to track time, manage invoices, and create reports through one dashboard. Compared to Harvest, Hubstaff offers far more comprehensive time-tracking and payroll management features for remote teams, including real-time screen capture that monitors employees' activities. 

Users often point out that the activity surveillance features are flawed. They won’t record your activity while you’re in a virtual meeting, for example.

Popular features: 

• Time tracking
• Employee monitoring
• Payroll management
• GPS tracking

Who is this tool for? 

Ideal for remote and field service teams including e-commerce, software, construction, and startup companies, Hubstaff is known to aid small and growing businesses to accomplish more and maximize productivity.

Also read: 12 Best Hubstaff Alternatives for Project Management

Pricing:

• Basic plan: Free 
• Desk Starter plan: $7 per user/month
• Desk Pro plan: $10 per user/month 
• Enterprise plan: Customized pricing
• Note: Paid plans require a minimum of 2 users. 

8. TimeCamp 

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TimeCamp is a project management solution focused on time tracking, invoicing, and reporting. The platform allows project managers to create accurate timesheets and detailed reports to improve projects' profitability, track employees' performance, and collaborate with teams and clients. 

Just like Harvest, TimeCamp doesn’t have its own task management, relying on external app integrations such as Trello to deliver a full project management experience. You can’t schedule or plan tasks to later compare planned vs. actual numbers, which is a big downside for those looking for comprehensive insights.

Popular features: 

• Activity tracking
• Automatic time capture 
• Billing and invoicing
• Calendar management

Who is this tool for? 

TimeCamp is suitable for professional B2B businesses in need of time-tracking features and invoicing capabilities. It offers a Paypal integration for invoicing and billing. 

Pricing:

• Free forever plan: $0
• Basic plan: $7 per user/month
• Pro plan: $10 per user/month
• Enterprise plan: Pricing upon request

9. QuickBooks Time 

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QuickBooks Time is a solid Harvest alternative if you are looking for an easy and intuitive employee time tracking tool with employee management features. The tool excels in making it easy for employees to clock in and out with the help of geofencing. 

The downside of this software is that there are no actual project management solutions within it. It relies on third-party integrations with tools like Asana for task management software. With that, reporting is not always accurate and you can't generate reports based on projects, for example.

Popular features: 

• Time tracking
• Billing and invoicing
• Team management
• GPS and geofencing

Who is this tool for? 

QuickBooks Time is suitable for teams looking for a time-tracking and team-management tool. For those who have employees that need to clock in and clock out from different job sites, Quickbooks time makes it easy and simple.

Pricing:

• Premium plan: $20 per month for admin license, +$8 per user/month 
• Elite plan: $40 per month for admin license, +$10 per user/month 

10. BigTime 

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Another popular alternative to Harvest and with strong financial capabilities is BigTime. With this tool, you can track time, automate billing and invoicing, integrate with accounting tools, and create workflows for your projects.

For those looking for software that is more focused on accounting and financial insights, this tool certainly delivers on that. The software offers a solution to payment processing via their BigTime Wallet. However, the interface is not very user-friendly and although BigTime offers task and resource management features, scheduling can be bulky and customer support isn’t the most reliable. 

Popular features: 

• Time tracking
• Billing and invoicing
• Resource management
• Budgeting
• Payment processing

Who is this tool for? 

BigTime is suitable for small to mid-size professional services firms such as accountants, architects, engineers, IT service firms, and consultants. The tool is only offered in English, so it’s not a great fit for international teams. 

Pricing:

• Express plan: $10 per user/month
• Pro plan: $30 per user/month
• Premier plan: $40 per user/month
• Note: All plans require a minimum of 5 users and are billed annually. 

Takeaway

Harvest's platform works great when it comes to time-tracking, billing, and reporting. But if your goal is to better manage your projects from start to finish, the tool doesn’t offer some of the key features that are native to other available project management tools. 

If your operations involve tracking project activities of a large number of remote or in-house employees, Harvest won’t be able to meet your goals. In this case, alternatives such as Wrike, Quickbooks Time, or Hubstaff are better suited for your needs. 

On the other hand, if you are looking for a robust all-in-one tool that is scalable, yet easy to use, then Rodeo is likely the best fit for you. Its precise time-tracking feature combined with its financial features such as project budgets, estimates, invoicing, planning, task management, and reporting will give you a framework to help your projects succeed.  

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Originally published on February 4, 2022, updated on December 8, 2022.}