Harvest alternatives comparison

7 Best Harvest Alternatives in 2026

Compare honest pricing, real limitations, and how each tool actually works once your team grows.

If you're searching for Harvest alternatives, something probably changed. After Bending Spoons acquired Harvest in mid-2025, a lot of teams saw their pricing shift in ways they didn't expect. That's enough to make you reconsider, even if the product itself still works fine.

We build one of the tools on this list (eHour), so take this with the appropriate grain of salt. We've tried to be fair to every product here, but we're not pretending to be neutral.

Most of these tools are good at capturing time. The harder question is what happens to that data afterwards - can you invoice from it, run payroll from it, report on project budgets from it without someone cleaning it up first? We looked at seven alternatives with that question in mind.

What actually matters when replacing Harvest

When evaluating alternatives: focus on what will matter after the first week. Not how easy it is to log time, but what happens to that data afterwards.

  • Pricing transparency. Can you predict your bill as your team grows?
  • Approval workflows. Do you have a clear review step before hours are used for billing or reporting?
  • Reporting depth. Can you answer real questions about utilisation and budgets?
  • Integrations. Does it connect to your existing stack, including SSO and SCIM?
  • Data portability. Can you get your data out without friction?

Miss any of these and you'll likely end up rebuilding the same workarounds you had before.

Three ways these tools approach time tracking

The tools in this list fall into one of three approaches.

1. Flexible trackers

Tools like Toggl and Clockify make it very easy to get started. People can log time in whatever way feels natural to them.

That flexibility helps with adoption, especially in small teams. But once you have 30 people logging time, you start seeing "Philips", "Philips Electronics", and "Philips - Q2 campaign" as three separate projects. Someone on the finance team gets to reconcile that before invoicing. Every month.

2. Embedded tracking in PM tools

Tools like Everhour live inside Jira or Asana.

This adds structure, but it also means you are working within the boundaries of your PM tool. Approvals, reporting, and how time is grouped are all tied to how Jira or Asana is set up. If that setup is inconsistent or not designed for time tracking, your data and workflows will reflect those limitations.

3. Operational time tracking systems

Tools like eHour take a different approach. Time tracking is part of a broader system. Projects, assignments, approvals, and reporting are connected from the start.

You spend more time setting things up, but less time cleaning data afterwards.

Quick Comparison

Prices as of March 2026

Tool Best For Starting Price Free Plan Key Strength
eHour Structured timesheets + approvals $4.99/user/mo 14-day trial Weekly grid + multi-level approvals
Toggl Track Best-in-class UX $9/user/mo Up to 5 users Fast timer + 100+ integrations
Clockify Budget-conscious teams Free (paid from $3.99) Unlimited users Most generous free tier
Timely AI automatic tracking $9/user/mo No AI-drafted timesheets
Everhour PM tool integrations $8.50/user/mo Up to 5 users Embedded in Asana, Jira, etc.
TimeCamp Value AI tracking $3.99/user/mo Unlimited users AI tracking at lower cost
QuickBooks Time QuickBooks/payroll users $10/mo + $8/user/mo No Payroll + GPS + kiosks

The 7 best Harvest alternatives for teams

eHour: structured time tracking with approvals and predictable pricing

Starting price: €4.49/user/month (annual) or $4.99/user/month (annual)
Trial: 14-day free trial

This is us, so we'll keep it brief and honest. If your main reason for leaving Harvest is pricing unpredictability or a lack of structure, eHour approaches the problem differently from most tools in this list.

Time entry starts with assignments. Project managers first set up the projects and tasks and assign them to the team. Users then log time against those predefined assignments, either via the weekly timesheet or with timers. Structure comes first. The first time you pull a budget report and don't have to fix anything, you'll see why that matters.

eHour weekly timesheet interface

What we think we do well: multi-level approval workflows with fallback routing, project budget tracking, reporting that works because the data is structured from the start, and a native Jira integration that lets users track time without leaving Jira. SSO, SCIM, EU hosting, ISO 27001, and a full REST API are all included - not gated behind higher tiers.

What we don't do: invoicing, GPS tracking, activity monitoring, or AI automatic tracking. If you need any of those, we're not the right fit.

We work best for agencies, consultancies, and software teams that want predictable pricing and data they can invoice from without cleanup.

Toggl Track: best UX, great integrations, strong reporting

Starting price: $9 to $18/user/month (annual)
Free plan: Yes, up to 5 users
Best for: Small teams that value slick UX and broad integrations.

If we were freelancers or a five-person team tracking our own hours, we'd probably use Toggl. The timer is fast, the UI is genuinely friendly, and it's the product people recommend when someone says "I want time tracking that people will actually use."

Toggl Track calendar view

The UX is best-in-class - one-click timer, quick edits, 100+ integrations via the browser extension. Reporting is flexible and works well for individuals and small teams. The Premium tier adds profitability analysis, workload management, approvals, and SSO.

The catch: it gets expensive at scale. The free plan is basic, and approval workflows are only available on Premium ($18/user/month) - a big jump if approvals are why you're leaving Harvest.

For small teams that don't need formal approvals, Toggl is genuinely hard to beat. The friction starts when you outgrow the Starter plan and discover that approvals cost $18/user/month on Premium.

Clockify: best free plan for unlimited users

Starting price: Free, paid plans $3.99 to $11.99/user/month
Free plan: Yes, unlimited users
Best for: Budget-conscious teams or startups that need basic tracking at zero cost.

Clockify wins on one thing that is hard to compete with: you can roll it out to the whole company for free. For early-stage organizations, nonprofits, or teams with highly variable staffing, that can matter more than fancy reporting.

Clockify time tracker interface

Strengths:

  • Unlimited users on the free tier, rare in this category
  • Solid fundamentals for time entry, timers, projects, and basic reporting
  • Broader suite option with Plaky (project management) and Pumble (chat)

Limitations:

  • Free plan lacks essentials like timesheet locking, invoicing, labor costs, and manager roles
  • Teams doing client billing or internal controls usually need a paid plan

If your budget is literally $0, Clockify is the obvious starting point. Just know that most teams doing client billing or payroll end up on a paid plan within a few months.

Timely: best for AI automatic time tracking

Starting price: $9 to $22/user/month (annual)
Free plan: No (14-day trial)
Best for: Teams that hate manual time entry and want AI to draft timesheets.

Timely is for the "I forgot to start the timer again" crowd. Instead of relying on perfect habits, Timely runs in the background and builds a timeline from app usage and calendar activity, then suggests time entries.

Timely project dashboard

Strengths:

  • AI-powered automatic tracking reduces manual effort and missing time
  • Helps knowledge workers reconstruct days without guessing
  • Especially helpful for roles that context-switch constantly

Limitations:

  • Most expensive option in this list
  • No free plan, you have to commit to trialing it seriously
  • Requires desktop app installation, some orgs have IT constraints
  • Starter plan limited to 5 users and 20 projects

Worth the premium if missed time is costing you real revenue. Skip it if your team is disciplined about logging hours - you'd be paying for automation you don't need.

Everhour: best embedded integrations with PM tools

Starting price: $8.50/user/month (annual), minimum 5 seats
Free plan: Yes, up to 5 users (but no integrations on free)
Best for: Teams already living in Asana, Jira, Trello, Basecamp, Monday, ClickUp, or GitHub.

Everhour meets teams where they already work. Instead of switching tabs, time tracking is embedded directly inside your PM tool. That works brilliantly when your Jira or Asana project structure mirrors how you bill - less so when your PM hierarchy and your billing structure don't line up.

Everhour project tracking dashboard

Strengths:

  • Best-in-class PM integrations for Asana, Jira, Trello, Monday, ClickUp, Basecamp, and GitHub
  • In-context tracking on tasks without breaking flow
  • Less "new tool fatigue" because it feels like an extension of existing workflows

Limitations:

  • Free plan has no integrations, which is the core value proposition
  • Minimum 5-seat requirement, not ideal for very small teams or phased rollouts

Makes most sense when your PM tool's project structure already mirrors how you bill and report. If there's a mismatch between your Jira setup and your invoicing structure, the time data will inherit that problem.

TimeCamp: value pick for AI tracking and discounts

Starting price: $3.99 to $9.99/user/month (annual)
Free plan: Yes, unlimited users
Best for: Teams that want AI tracking without Timely's price, plus organizations that qualify for discounts.

TimeCamp is a compelling middle ground: more automation than basic trackers, less expensive than premium AI-first tools.

TimeCamp dashboard with activity breakdown

Strengths:

  • AI automatic tracking, similar idea to Timely at a lower price point
  • Unlimited users on the free plan
  • Around 25% annual discount and 30% discount for nonprofits and education

Limitations:

  • Free plan limited to basic features and PDF export only
  • Advanced features like screenshots, expenses, and approvals require the Ultimate plan

A solid middle option if you want some automation without Timely's price tag. The nonprofit and education discounts (around 30% off) make it especially worth considering for those sectors.

QuickBooks Time: best for payroll and the QuickBooks ecosystem

Starting price: $10/month base + $8 to $10/user/month
Free plan: No
Best for: Teams already in the Intuit ecosystem that need payroll integration.

QuickBooks Time makes the most sense when time tracking is primarily a payroll input and you want minimal friction between time, payroll, and accounting.

QuickBooks Time tracking interface

Strengths:

  • Seamless QuickBooks and payroll integration
  • GPS tracking and geofencing for field services
  • Time kiosk for shared devices and shift-based teams

Limitations:

  • Requires QuickBooks Online subscription ($35+/month on top of QuickBooks Time)
  • Highest total cost for many teams when factoring in all fees
  • Overkill if you do not use QuickBooks

Only really makes sense if you're already paying for QuickBooks Online and running payroll through Intuit. For field teams that need GPS and kiosks, it's a natural fit. For everyone else, the total cost is hard to justify.

Final thoughts

Flexible tools are easier to roll out. Structured tools take more setup but less maintenance. Either you spend time configuring things upfront, or you spend time fixing data every month. Harvest landed somewhere in between, and most of these alternatives lean more clearly in one direction.

If you're leaving Harvest because of pricing, make sure the replacement doesn't just shift the cost from the subscription to the hours your team spends reconciling data.

We obviously think eHour is the right answer for teams that need approvals and structured reporting. But every tool on this list is good at something. Pick the one that matches how your team actually works, not the one with the longest feature list.

Try eHour for 14 Days Free

Simple timesheets that feed accurate reports.

No payment required

Access to all features

Takes seconds to get started

From €4.99/user/month after trial

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Harvest still worth using in 2026?

Harvest is still a solid time tracking tool. The product itself has not gotten worse. What changed for many teams is pricing predictability after the Bending Spoons acquisition in July 2025. If your current agreement is stable and the tool fits your workflow, there is no urgent reason to switch. If you are seeing unexpected pricing changes or are concerned about the roadmap, it makes sense to evaluate alternatives while you have time to plan a migration.

What happened with Harvest's pricing?

After Harvest was acquired by Bending Spoons in July 2025, some customers reported significant plan changes tied to new usage-based billing. Exact outcomes vary by account, but the consistent theme across community threads is reduced pricing predictability compared to before the acquisition.

Can I migrate my data from Harvest?

In most cases, yes. Export your time entries with dates, hours, notes, billable flags, and project references. Export clients, projects, and billable rates. Export users and teams. Capture approval history if you need auditability. Decide on a cutover strategy: hard cutover at month-end versus a parallel run for one to two weeks.

What is the cheapest Harvest alternative?

Clockify and TimeCamp both offer free plans with unlimited users. The trade-off is that free tiers often lack controls like approvals, locking, cost rates, or advanced reporting. If you want predictable paid pricing with stronger team controls, eHour ($4.99 to $5.49/user/month, all features included) offers a good balance of cost and capability.

Which alternative is best for agencies?

Most agencies care about three things: accurate time capture, approvals, and reporting for budgets and billing. Pick eHour if you want weekly timesheets, multi-level approvals, budgets, utilization, audit trails, and native Jira integration with predictable pricing. Pick Everhour if your agency runs on Asana, ClickUp, Monday, or Trello. Pick Timely if your agency loses revenue due to missed time and wants AI to draft timesheets.