Harvest vs Timely

Harvest

• Agencies and consultancies that bill clients for tracked hours
• Solo freelancers with up to 2 active projects, on the free plan
• Teams that sync invoices and payments to QuickBooks Online or Xero

Timely

• Consultancies and agencies that bill by the hour and dislike running timers
• People who want timesheets drafted from a record of their activity
• Managers following project budgets and team capacity

Harvest

• The free plan is limited to 1 seat and 2 projects.
• Paid prices are shown as starting prices: the pricing page says additional invoices, projects, clients and tasks are billed based on use.
• Timesheet approvals, profitability reporting and SAML-based SSO need the Enterprise plan.
• No Linux desktop app is listed, and scheduling needs the separately billed Harvest Forecast.

Timely

• There is no free plan: a subscription is needed once the 14-day trial ends.
• Starter is capped at 5 users and 20 projects, and Premium at 50 users.
• Timely's handbook says the iOS and Android apps remain available but are no longer actively developed.
• Memory apps are offered for macOS 14 or later and Windows 10 or later; no Linux app is listed.

Harvest

Timers and timesheets

One-click timers, daily and weekly timesheets and calendar imports in the browser, desktop and mobile apps, with automated reminders to submit time.

Invoicing and online payments

Invoices are generated from the tracked time and expenses already in the account, and clients can pay them through the PayPal and Stripe integrations.

Expense tracking

Receipts and reimbursable costs are logged alongside time, so they can be added to the same client invoice.

Budgets and reports

Project budgets update as time is logged. Team capacity and utilization reports start on Teams, and profitability reporting is limited to Enterprise.

Approvals and audit trail

Enterprise adds timesheet approval before hours are billed, an activity log of every time entry and edit, and the option to require notes on entries.

Harvest Forecast

A companion scheduling and capacity planning tool that connects to Harvest. It is billed separately at $5 per person a month on annual billing.

Timely

Memory tracker

The Memory app for Mac and Windows records your work automatically to a private timeline, so there are no timers to start and stop. A manual timer is also available.

AI timesheets

AI drafts a timesheet from the recorded activity and sorts it into projects, leaving the user to review and approve the entries.

Projects and budgets

A project dashboard shows team and budget activity as it happens, with billable rates and time or money budgets. Recurring budgets need Premium or Unlimited.

Planning and capacity

Premium lets managers plan work for their teams. Unlimited adds capacity management and reporting along with overtime and undertime tracking.

Reports and invoicing

Reports export as PDF, CSV or XLS and can be shared as live or snapshot links. Invoices are built from tracked time and can be sent to QuickBooks Online.

Tasks add-on

An optional add-on for assigning, scheduling and tracking progress on deliverables, available on any plan from $5 per person.

Harvest

• Free$0

  1 seat and 2 projects, with time tracking, invoicing, expense tracking, project estimates and basic reports.

• Teams$9

  per seat / month, billed annually ($11 billed monthly)

  Unlimited seats, billable and cost rates, team capacity reporting, CSV import, and accounting and payment integrations. Listed as a starting price.

• Enterprise$14

  per seat / month, billed annually ($17.50 billed monthly)

  Adds unlimited custom reports, profitability reporting, timesheet approvals, an activity log, SAML-based SSO and required notes.

• Enterprise PlusCustom

  Adds custom integrations, product customization, a dedicated customer success manager, assisted data migration and white labelling.

Timely

• Starter$9

  per user / month, billed yearly ($11 billed monthly)

  Up to 5 users and 20 projects, with automatic time tracking, AI categorization, billable hour reports and API access.

• Premium$16

  per user / month, billed yearly ($20 billed monthly)

  Up to 50 users and unlimited projects. Adds project management and accounting integrations, team management, budgets and costs, and planning.

• Unlimited$22

  per user / month, billed yearly ($28 billed monthly)

  Unlimited users and projects. Adds capacity management and reporting, overtime and undertime, Azure user management and 50+ currencies.

• EnterpriseCustom

  All Unlimited features plus tailored onboarding, team training, monthly or quarterly reviews and priority support.

Harvest

• Annual discount

  20% off when paying for the year up front

  Harvest's pricing FAQ states a 20% discount for yearly payment. Enterprise is listed at $14 per seat a month annually against $17.50 monthly, and Teams at $9 against $11.

Timely

• Annual discount

  Up to 22% off with yearly billing

  Timely's pricing page lists savings of up to 22% for a yearly subscription: Unlimited is $22 per user a month yearly against $28 monthly, and Starter is $9 against $11.

• Education

  Student discount on request

  The pricing FAQ offers student discounts through support chat or email to people with a valid student ID and student email address. No amount is stated.