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Harvest
Online time tracking, invoicing & project reporting
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monday.com
Wrike
Bitrix24
Recommended
Luke B.
Head of Client Services
Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees
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Luke A: I'm Luke, I'm head of client services. I give Harvest a two out of five. For more reviews like...
Karyn B.
Contract Writer
Writing and Editing, 201-500 employees
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Karyn B.: Hi, I'm Karyn. I am a traffic coordinator. I am reviewing Harvest. I give it a two star rating....
Jennifer W.
Hospital & Health Care, 10,001+ employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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It eliminates the complexity and difficulty of keeping track of time and is very easy to use. We can see how much time is being spent on which projects and for which clients.
Harvest is a convenient tool for keeping tabs on time and money spent on various projects and clients. We use it to monitor expenditures in real time and to plan for future initiatives by analyzing past work and resources.
There have been no problems where I have been unable to complete a task. There aren't any serious issues, however, the platform might need some further functionality since it's so basic.
Jenny H.
Internet, self-employed
Used weekly for 2+ years
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I've been using Harvest for nearly 10 years now. I love that it's feature-rich without being overcomplicated. I couldn't be happier.
Harvest is affordable, but so feature rich and easy to use. I can track my time (I actually integrate with Timeular for this, but tracking directly in Harvest is easy, too.) keep track of project budgets, invoice and get paid via Strip integration, then reconcile everything when it's time to do account and taxes.
Occasionally I have trouble navigating to the information I want. Updating an invoice without updating timesheets should be easier.
jaimie b.
Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Harvest's integrations make this tool imperative to our agency operations and success. The Google Cal feature allows our team to seamlessly track time based on calendar meetings and blocks inputted by each user. The ability to integrate with our resourcing tool, Parallax, provides the necessary actual data we need in order to make informed business decisions on hiring and pricing.
Often one too many clicks in order to enter time sheets. Slower to pickup on patterns and automation.
Verified reviewer
Public Relations and Communications, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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Harvest has been a game changer for me. When I started my business I was easily able to track hours, expenses, and bill clients without paying outrageous fees for software that had more than I actually needed (and was challenging to learn).
The best part about this software--the price. There is a free option for new freelancers, and for my first year, I strictly used that. Even the free version is highly robust. However, I quickly realized I needed something a bit more custom, and I've upgraded to the paid version, but even that is very reasonable.
I don't really like that you can't send contracts. I feel like if the program includes estimates, it should also have a contract-sending option. I understand it integrates with other contract platforms, but those were so very expensive-—or just didn't appeal to me.
Kurt H.
Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Everyone in the agency from me, the owner, to all of our team members love using Harvest. It's so easy to use, between the desktop version to the mobile app. It's been a lifesaver to make keeping track of time and budgets for our marketing agency.
I started my marketing agency in 1999. I used manual, paper solutions for time tracking for the first few years. After much research we found Workamajig in 2004 to switch to an online solution. It served its purpose for many years but everyone struggled with it and found it not user friendly at all. After many attempts we found Harvest in 2018. I played with it for a few days at the end of a month then ripped the bandaid and switched to it on the 1st of a month. It was SO user-friendly everyone loved it out the gate and we have never looked back. It's so great for time tracking and quick insight into projects and budget status at the client, project and task level. I love it!
It's very hard to complain about Harvest. I really love it. I do wish it had the ability to set budgets for staff by clients/projects so we can see how booked up our team is and better manage their time allocation. There is a second-party project Harvest syncs with to try to do this, but it does not work the way we needed it to so we dropped it after a brief trial.
Mathew K.
Marketing and Advertising, self-employed
Used weekly for 2+ years
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My overall experience with Harvest has been outstanding. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a simple, straightforward platform to do their invoicing and time tracking.
What I really like most about the Harvest platform is the ease of use. I have used it for years and it has always been 100% reliable! It is easy to add new clients, set up recurring invoices, and keep track of my projects.
It would be great if you could handle setting up invoices from their mobile app but this isn't a deal-breaker. I travel often so that would just be nice to have. That said, I can still log in to the desktop site while traveling and do whatever I need.
Brent K.
Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees
Used weekly for 1-2 years
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Meh - wish we didn't need to use it, would prefer the timetracking to happen in our project management software (teamwork) - but that doesn't support timesheets & has very poor high-level visibility reporting.
Timesheets workflow, high-level time spent/remaining visibility
Doesn't support sub-tasks, loosely integrated with our project management software (Teamwork)
Verified reviewer
Computer Software, 51-200 employees
Used weekly for 1-2 years
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Harvest does everything we need and is easy to use. However there's definitely features we don't need or use that we're paying extra for.
Lots of great features and the UI makes Harvest nice to use. It's easy to pull time reports for specific resources and projects.
It's definitely expensive. We are exploring other, more cost-effective solutions in what is now a crowded marketplace.
Louis M.
Glass, Ceramics & Concrete, self-employed
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This was a trouble free 30-day trial. I didn’t hesitate to subscribe for a year.
For my new consulting company, this provides exactly what I need. Totally intuitive startup. Customer, contact, projects, and functions concepts allow good segmentation. Robust, no glitches. Great looking invoice template. Good integration with QuickBooks.
I have not yet found major irritants .
Will T.
Graphic Design, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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In general, I have been very happy with this product. When we originally were researching time tracking and invoicing software this one rose to the surface and it has remained one of the leaders in this space. Having said that, it's not cheap, particularly if you need multiple people on it, so there are definitely options out there that cost less and or are free if that is what you are looking for. It does also provide some integration with Quickbooks that others likely don't have.
Working in a creative field, I am a person who detests tracking time and invoicing. It takes me out of flow and into a space that doesn't really foster creative ideas or spark the imagination. Harvest makes the process about as painless as possible (let's be real, tracking time will never be entirely painless) and frees me up to focus on what I do and how I best deliver value to my clients and team. For clients that prefer to pay by credit card, it allows you to deliver the invoice via a web portal with the ability to pay via PayPal with your cc.
I still feel that the project setup scenarios could be simplified and / or streamlined. I've used Harvest for over 10 years and they have consistently added features and addressed certain gray areas that the software couldn't really account for, but I do think that if they were rebuilding the platform knowing what they know now, they would make it even more straightforward and simple from that standpoint.
Muhammad Adil M.
Information Technology and Services, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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One of the best tool to track my time on any task or project. The biggest feature is you can track it from your laptop, desktop or mobile, Very easy to manage and dashboard is well layered for easy access the different features. Invoicing is a very powerful feature you can always track and engage with your customer.
Reporting is a big asset especially virtually. you can easily assign task to individual developer or to the whole team. Track them what is going on and allocate and manage the budget. It is intelligent enough to suggest what part of your project is infected or going strong and you can make your decision accordingly.
Not very easy to work on it initially but once you are familiar with it then it is going along very nicely. There is need of improvement in there mobile app and also costing is bit tricky as rate change is not very helpful. Moreover for user or developer it is hard to catch his time sheet as summary is not very helpful.
Laura M.
Media Production, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Overall, Harvest does what it needs to do for our company - provide a place to track time worked, on an array of different projects, and report that time worked to upper management. But I think Harvest could certainly add some features to their interface that would increase user productivity, and help guide employees through their work weeks, with an eye on time management.
Harvest certainly offers a very user-friendly interface. When you log on, it's immediately apparent how to use the software for the basic need of time tracking. The interface is set up to reflect the current week, with the days of the week displayed left to right, and the time you've tracked for each day displayed below it. Each day is broken up into time tracked according to a specific project. If using Harvest in the way our company does, you can create project codes to reflect different projects, so you'll be able to track how long you or your employees are spending on individual projects, or even separate types of tasks within that project.
I do wish there was a a sort of "Week So Far" tracker feature, that appeared as its own tab in the top menu bar, or perhaps was totaled at the bottom of the screen on the current day's time sheet. At the moment, if you'd like to see the hours you've spent on different projects summed up so far in a given week, you would have to either click into each day, and add up the hour totals yourself, or you go to the "Reports" tab, then click on "Team," then click on your own name under that, where then you would be able to see the total number of hours you've spent on different projects that week. This seems like a simple feature that should be more accessible, or at least more clear to navigate to.
Karyn B.
Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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I personally did not solve any business problems using Harvest, nor did I see any benefit to me as an employee. The only benefit I could see to the employer was being able to play Big Brother by using Harvest to monitor every second of my day. This software contributes to a corporate culture of distrust.
The only thing good I can say that I like about Harvest is that it is pretty easy to use. You simply search the client or project name, indicate whether it is a billable or non-billable task and then set the timer. There is also a space to elaborate on the specific details of the task being done.
What I like the least about this software is that the tracking is too granular. Employees that are subject to using it feel like Big Brother is watching and that the employer doesn't trust them. It also doesn't allow for any explanation of extenuating circumstances. For example, if an employee is tracking within Harvest and is expected to track in real time, there is no way to explain a computer glitch or if a system crashes in the middle of a task and the employee has to re-do the task from the beginning. In addition, if you are a billable employee, you are literally tethered to your computer all day, as you must "Harvest" every minute of your day if the employer wants an accurate read of activity. It is tedious and demeaning.
Jason F.
Design, 1-10 employees
Used weekly for 2+ years
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We've been using harvest for years, and when we were just doing small side projects here and there it met our needs perfectly. Now that our business has grown we need a more powerful tool that integrates bookkeeping and vendor management, in addition to time tracking, billing, and invoicing.
We love Harvest and its features. From time tracking to billing and invoicing Harvest has helped us grow our business and keep on top of the projects we are working on.
There are other similar products on the market that offer the ability to send contracts and proposals, as well as products for bookkeeping that integrate many of the same features for not much more in total cost.
Mark M.
Information Technology and Services, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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I have found it super easy to use. The data record of reminders is all safe. The pricing is handy by two methods i.e. by its free or subscription deals. I am so comfortable after using it on our phones because it just needs a few clicks plus we can also make expenses through mobile app. Overall, we found it very useful as it is easy to use for every kind of business so we will recommend it you as well. Both the client and team would be saved from extra expenses due to tracker system. We found this platform, a strengthening tool for professionals.
It is a time tracking software which was combined with Twitter to facilitate its users to track time with their tweets as well. Today it is globally used in many meetings and business by many clients for work procedures. We have found it easy to handle despite the working platform.
I found that there was lack of connection between the website and app. It was pretty difficult to constantly have a check on the app. We found this the app did not function properly for tasks assignment to the workers. Moreover it is going well and giving great performance.
Verified reviewer
Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Overall the experience with Harvest has been mediocre. It is a great way to track time, report hours to clients and bill appropriately. There are almost too many options making it a little difficult to first getting things set up. It is a pain to use if you have little random projects that come up frequently because they then have to be separately added to Harvest as their own job by the project manager.
Harvest is perfect for tracking time, especially on a project by project basis. It is great for marketing agencies that work under retainer and have to report time spent on specific projects. It is pretty simple to track hours and view hours tracked by teammates and be able to report directly to the client. It is an easy way for managers to track other employees. The invoice feature is great if you use it.
It almost has TOO many features. Ease of use is great for employees who are simply logging hours, but is very complex and sometimes difficult for the project managers to keep up with. It would be nice if others could add projects (and possibly have to have manager approval) and not have to be added solely by the project managers. It would also be nice to have more of a warning prior to renewing membership. In my instance, we no longer needed to utilize the software, but randomly received a charge on our credit card without prior notification that the program was up for renewal.
PJ G.
Marketing and Advertising, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Overall, I am greatly satisfied with Harvest. It gets the task done and is also helpful in making the team more efficient. Tracking our time was effortless.
Harvest is straightforward and easy to use. First-time users find it easy to learn navigating the platform. It can also be seamlessly integrated to project management programs such as ClickUp. It also has a built-in Invoicing feature for bout hours and expenses. Another awesome feature is being able to set budgets for every project, so you can have a quick overview of how much you have spent and can still spend on a project.
What I liked the least about Harvest is that once a person or a project has logged hours, the only option you have is to archive them, and not delete them. It seems to just clutter the workspace. One improvement that can be done is having a prompt whenever the tracker has been on for more than 5 hours, just to check if the timer has been left on, because sometimes we still forget to turn off the tracker.
Mathew T.
Marketing and Advertising, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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We've used harvest in the past and moved away to other products in the name of trying to fine one software suite that does it all: timekeeping, project management, chat, resource management, etc. Inevitably, we end up coming back to Harvest (alongside basecamp and slack) because it keeps things simple and does its job extremely well.
Exceptionally easy to use. Intuitive interface design that's obviously been user tested and refined. Every button and feature is exactly where you'd expect it to be.
This software does one thing really well – timekeeping. We've tried using solutions that try to do more and have gone back to Harvest because there's nothing we don't like about it.
Ken S.
Design, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I use Harvest to track hours on projects and invoice for time spent. I've also used the estimating tool with great success. I also accept online payments through Harvest and Stripe.
Number 1: great value for the money. So much capability in one product, for a very low monthly fee. Number 2: They are constantly adding new features, but not half-baked ones. I get the impression the the product and engineering teams are very good at what they do.
Could use more customizing of expenses and taxes - I'd like to be able to add fees to invoices that are not taxes - like markups for Stripe fees.
Anissa C.
Graphic Design, self-employed
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Harvest makes my business EASY. I do love being able to set limits on projects and getting emails when those limits are near.
I really enjoy using harvest because I do have a team of subcontractors who I need to keep reports of their time. Harvest makes it easy to report time used and set limits on projects.
I would love it if I could set up monthly recurring projects by date and not just month to month. Sometimes I have a retainer client that starts in the middle of the month and the monthly recurring feature resets at the end of the month, not when it's been 30 days.
Nicole G.
Design, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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Harvest has made my life so much simpler and cut down on the time I spend invoicing clients immensely. It has made my graphic and web design business a lot more efficient
Prior to using Harvest, I tried several different options for time tracking and invoicing clients. All of which didn't quite fit my needs for my graphic and web design business. Harvest has been the perfect fit for me. It allows me to organize items by client and individual projects under that client. I can easily start and stop timers to track my time on projects and then quickly create invoices to bill clients. You can run reports to track how your business is doing on invoices for the month, quarter or year. You can also track expenses. It has the capability to integrate into quickbooks as well.
I can't think of anything that I don't like about this software really. If I absolutely had to name something, setting up information/logo for invoices in the very beginning was a little tricky but easily solved by reading tutorial.
Alex F.
Marketing and Advertising, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Overall a very positive experience; the software is very simple to use and does what we need it to (allows us to invoice, view income reports and send client reminders on payments, as well as allow them to pay via card online, from anywhere in the world and for the funds to be filtered into our business bank account. Some limitations persist and I wish the company would listen to the community on such items as the lack of statements facility. However, they do offer a large number of external software integrations for proposals, contracts etc. which beefs out the utility and functionality of the software.
Harvest is a super-simple app which manages all our client payments and invoicing/reminders for our clients and integrates with Stripe for a seamless payment process. We use it every day and can bill clients in $ or other currencies easily, and provide them downloadable pdf's, payment portals and other functionality (using external app integrations) with ease.
The in-built feature set is quite limited. To get integration with contract software, proposal software etc. you need further subscriptions with other companies. It would be ideal if it was all built-in. Also, it's missing a huge feature which should be standard on all invoicing apps - The ability to send automated client statements. At any time we may have 5-20 invoices outstanding for some client accounts and, even after 4 years using Harvest we have to manually send links and individual invoice reminders. It's by far the biggest downside of the software and is a big limitation.
Mike B.
Accounting, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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We like the Orange and White - I know its petty, but in a world of grey-ed out infinitesimally small typeface UIs, Harvest is blunt and to-the-point. After all, who needs Team Members making errors with your TIME!
The most important factor is Ease of Use and Harvest shines, the second is its integration with 80 of the top of the line of today's work tools. There are tons of features - we use Forecast and find it invaluable for Team Leaders to scope out their week's work-load and delegate. Thirdly, their customer support is brilliant - no muss, no fuss. The added bonus is that adjusting time at task once the timer has been closed is easy, and did I mention they send a friendly reminder when you've left a timer running? Oh Yes - we do that sometimes too!
It's hard to think of a really thorny issue - these guys have worked everything together slowly over the years. It's a a balanced appraoch - the Forecast Add-On is slowly expanding and deepening and there will no doubt be features added that a user would like, for example more zoom in and out to break down to week and day. That is about it really - this is solid Dev-Product, not some rushed-out-to-get-Trials company.
Chris V.
Design,
Used daily for 2+ years
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It made visualising our project budgets and margins dramatically easier, so we know where our time and money are going.
I've used Harvest for years and I can't imagine switching to another tool. It's by far the easiest, best tool for agencies who work on multiple projects with multiple budgets. Being able to visualise your margins and where your team is spending their time is an absolute game changer. The invoices are attractive and always send reliable. The integrated payment options are intuitive and simple.
It's a bit more expensive than other tools but if you're using its full functionality it's absolutely worth it. I'd like to see more flexibility around budgeting and retainers. It has definitely gotten better with new support for fixed-fee budgets, but I would really like to see recurring retainers handled better. We currently create a new project every month for our clients on retainer, which works but is a little tedious.
Dennis S.
Marketing and Advertising, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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With Harvest we track more hours than we did with other software. It takes the hassle out of the process. Nobody likes to track his of her hours in complicated and time consuming ways and Harvest solves that problem!
It does what it does and it does it best! Time tracking on projects has never been so easy for our organisation. We have used multiple time trackers, but were never pleased with the wat we neede to register the hours we make for our clients. The mac, windows and iOS/Android apps work great. New projects are available instantly and starting / pausing the time tracker is wonderfully done. Managing the projects, budgets and tasks is really easy and if you like, you can integrate it with Harvest Forecast and plan your team ahead.
Harvest lacks decent support of monthly retainer 'projects'. It's not a show stopper for us, but it makes us do manual checks of the hours we make for our clients. I would love Harvest Forecast to be part of Harvest by default instead of the invoicing functionalities, since we use other software for that.