Harvest: Time Tracking and Invoicing Platform Review: Features, Pricing, and Why Startups Use It
Introduction
Harvest is a lightweight time tracking and invoicing platform designed for teams that bill by the hour or need clear visibility into how time is spent. For startups, especially service-based and productized-service companies, Harvest helps turn time into accurate invoices, track project profitability, and keep teams accountable without building custom tooling.
Early-stage founders often use Harvest because it is simple to roll out, integrates with core tools like project management and accounting software, and gives insight into where the team’s time (and burn) is really going. Instead of spreadsheets or manual timesheets, Harvest offers a structured workflow from time tracking to billing and reporting.
What the Tool Does
At its core, Harvest helps startups:
- Track time spent on projects, tasks, and clients via web, desktop, and mobile apps.
- Convert tracked time into invoices, with billable rates, taxes, and payment terms.
- Monitor budgets and profitability across projects and clients.
- Streamline payments through integrations with tools like Stripe and PayPal.
The main value is turning daily time logs into clean financial data: billable hours, costs, and margins for each project or client.
Key Features
1. Time Tracking
- Timers and manual entry: Start/stop timers in real time or add hours manually after work is done.
- Per-project and per-task tracking: Assign time entries to specific projects, tasks, and clients.
- Team time approvals: Managers can review and approve timesheets for accuracy.
- Multi-device access: Web app, browser extensions, and mobile apps (iOS, Android).
2. Invoicing and Billing
- Time-based invoices: Generate invoices directly from tracked time and expenses.
- Customizable invoices: Add branding, payment terms, and line-item details.
- Recurring invoices: Set up recurring billing for retainers or ongoing services.
- Online payments: Accept payments via Stripe, PayPal, and other gateways.
3. Project Budgets and Cost Tracking
- Budget monitoring: Set hourly or fee-based budgets for projects.
- Alerts and indicators: See when projects are close to or over budget.
- Cost tracking: Track non-labor expenses (e.g., software, travel) alongside time.
4. Reporting and Analytics
- Time reports: View how many hours each team member spends by project, task, or client.
- Profitability reports: Analyze billable vs non-billable time and project margins.
- Exporting: Export data to CSV or integrate with accounting tools for deeper analysis.
5. Integrations
- Project management: Asana, Trello, Basecamp, Jira (via integrations and add-ons).
- Accounting: QuickBooks, Xero.
- Productivity: Slack notifications, Google Calendar integration.
- APIs and Zapier: Connect Harvest data to internal tools and custom workflows.
6. Team Management
- User roles and permissions: Control who can see financials, reports, and team data.
- Capacity planning: See who is overloaded or underutilized based on tracked hours.
- Approval workflows: Ensure timesheets are accurate before invoices go out.
Use Cases for Startups
1. Service and Agency Startups
For agencies, studios, and consulting startups, Harvest becomes the backbone of billing and operations:
- Track billable hours by client and project.
- Compare estimated vs actual hours for each engagement.
- Quickly generate invoices based on approved timesheets.
2. Product Startups with Professional Services
Many SaaS and product startups run paid onboarding, integration, or implementation services. Harvest helps:
- Separate product work from billable services work.
- Measure how much time implementation or support actually costs per customer.
- Refine pricing for service packages based on real data.
3. Remote and Distributed Teams
For distributed teams, Harvest provides visibility into how time is spent without invasive monitoring:
- Founders see high-level allocation (e.g., product vs sales vs support).
- Managers track utilization and workload across time zones.
- Finance teams connect time logs to cost and billing.
4. Early-Stage Startups Tracking Founder Time
In the earliest stages, even small teams or solo founders use Harvest to:
- Understand where time is going (e.g., fundraising vs product vs operations).
- Build data for future hiring decisions (what to delegate first).
- Prepare for investor conversations about resource allocation and focus.
Pricing
Harvest’s pricing is straightforward but leans toward paid plans for serious use. Pricing information can change, but as of the latest data:
| Plan | Users | Projects | Key Limits | Ideal For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 1 user | 2 active projects | Core time tracking and invoicing only | Solo founders, testing the tool |
| Pro (Paid) | Unlimited users (billed per user) | Unlimited projects | Full feature set: budgets, reports, integrations | Growing teams and agencies |
Harvest typically charges per user per month (with discounts for annual billing). There is no permanent free tier for multi-person teams, so once you scale beyond one person, you will likely be on the Pro plan.
Startups on a budget should factor in the per-seat cost versus the time savings and billing accuracy it provides. For service-based startups, the cost is usually offset quickly if it improves billable utilization or reduces revenue leakage from unbilled hours.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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Alternatives
Several tools compete with Harvest in the time tracking and invoicing space. Choosing the right one depends on how deeply you need project management, budgeting, and reporting.
| Tool | Positioning | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Toggl Track | Simple, user-friendly time tracking with reports; invoicing via integrations. | Teams that want very lightweight tracking and are happy to invoice elsewhere. |
| FreshBooks | Invoicing and accounting-first; time tracking included. | Freelancers and small teams needing invoicing plus basic accounting. |
| Hubstaff | Time tracking with monitoring (screenshots, activity levels). | Teams that prioritize monitoring and productivity metrics (often remote ops). |
| Clockify | Freemium time tracking with unlimited users on free tier. | Cost-sensitive teams that need broad time tracking across many users. |
| Paymo | All-in-one: time tracking, project management, and invoicing. | Teams wanting a more integrated project + time + billing stack. |
Who Should Use It
Harvest is a strong fit for startups that:
- Bill clients by the hour or on retainers.
- Need to understand project profitability and utilization clearly.
- Are comfortable pairing Harvest with separate project management software.
- Value straightforward workflows over heavily customizable systems.
It is especially suitable for:
- Agencies and studios: Design, dev, marketing, product agencies.
- Consulting startups: Strategy, technical, or operations consulting.
- Product companies with services arms: Implementation teams, customer success services.
If your startup is pure SaaS with no billable services, Harvest’s value drops. In that case, lightweight time tracking (for internal analytics only) or broader project management tools with built-in time tracking might be better.
Key Takeaways
- Harvest is a focused time tracking and invoicing platform ideal for service-based startups.
- Its main strengths are converting hours into accurate invoices, tracking project budgets, and providing visibility on utilization and profitability.
- Pricing is per user, with a limited free plan for solo use; serious team use requires the Pro plan.
- It integrates well with project management and accounting tools, but it is not a full PM solution on its own.
- Best suited for agencies, consultancies, and startups with significant billable services.
URL for Start Using
You can learn more about Harvest and start using it here: https://www.getharvest.com
