Harvest alternatives: where to take your hours, and how to leave without losing a thing
Seven destinations, one for each reason to leave, plus a seven-step migration plan.
The short answer: pick Toggl Track if you want your Harvest data pulled in without touching a spreadsheet, Clockify if cost per seat is what hurts, Everhour if your team already lives in Asana, Trello or ClickUp, Timely if nobody remembers to start a timer, Paymo if you're a solo freelancer who bills clients, ClickUp if you want time and tasks in one app, and Kimai if you never want to be at the mercy of a price sheet again. One thing to know first: none of these tools imports your Harvest invoices. You keep those as PDFs and a CSV, on the side. We compared all seven tools, their importers and their published 2026 prices.
This guide has affiliate links, and none of them decides which tool we point you to after Harvest. The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link ever changes a score.
What changed with Harvest's pricing in 2026
For years, Harvest was the honest, no-drama time tracker: a timer, timesheets, invoices. The product didn't suddenly get worse. The pricing model changed. After Bending Spoons agreed to acquire Harvest in 2025, user stories started to sound the same: a renewal bill that jumps overnight. These are the six reasons that keep coming up.
Per-seat pricing, plus usage on top
The public price sheet looks normal: Teams at $11 per seat per month ($9 billed annually), Enterprise at $17.50 ($14 annually). Then comes the line that matters. Additional invoices, projects, clients and tasks are "billed based on what you use." Harvest publishes no rate for that usage, no calculator, and no FAQ entry. Your bill now scales with how busy you are, not just with headcount.
Renewals 10x to 17x higher
Public accounts give you the scale. One user went from about $12 to about $116 a month. One company went from $130 to $2,110 a month. Another customer described a 17x jump, and a small agency reported going from $180 to $2,145 a month. Different accounts, same pattern, renewal after renewal.
Legacy plans repriced by your data history
Old Solo accounts were moved to a pricier tier based on how much data they had built up. One freelancer's $232-a-year plan was switching to $2,547 a year. That's the painful twist: the longer you used Harvest (more projects, clients and invoices), the heavier the new bill. Loyalty became the cost driver.
You only learn the cost when the invoice lands
With part of the bill tied to usage, you don't know what Harvest costs you until the month-end invoice. For an agency that bills clients by the hour, that's ironic: the tool meant to protect your margins becomes a line item you can't forecast.
Too little notice to react
Several customers say they heard about the increase only days before renewal. One mentions an 871% increase announced ten days out. Ten days isn't enough to compare tools, export, import and retrain a team. Plan your exit before the renewal date, not after the email.
A tiny free plan and key features behind Enterprise
The Free plan gives you one seat and two projects, and Harvest notes that some features may still require payment. Profitability reporting, timesheet approval and SAML-based SSO sit on Enterprise only. Public sentiment followed: on one public review site Harvest sits at 1.9 out of 5, with 71% one-star reviews.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right Harvest alternative depends on what's pushing you out. Usually only one line applies to you. Each card jumps to the full write-up below.
Built-in Harvest importer: clients, projects, tasks and 12 months of time.
Cost per seat is the problemClockifyFree for unlimited users, paid plans from $3.99 per seat billed annually.
Your team works in Asana, Trello or ClickUpEverhourThe timer sits inside your tasks, plus a Harvest CSV import with preview.
Nobody remembers to start a timerTimelyTracks activity in the background, connects to Harvest for projects.
You're solo and you invoice clientsPaymoUnlimited invoices on the free plan, Solo at $9.90.
You never want another surprise price sheetKimaiOpen source, free to self-host.
Harvest alternatives, tool by tool
For each tool: why move to it, who it's for, its catch, how to migrate from Harvest, and what it costs. We read each tool's import documentation to see what it takes from a Harvest export. Prices are the ones vendors publish in 2026, in US dollars.
Toggl Track: the most direct migration
Built-in importWhy move to Toggl Track. It's the only tool here that pulls data straight out of Harvest, no CSV in between. The importer brings over clients, projects with their billable status and hour budgets, active tasks, and the last 12 months of time entries. People are matched by email. Its timer, reports and desktop apps are among the most polished out there, and our review scores it 4 out of 5.
Who it's for. Agencies and teams of 5 to 50 people who want to change tools without changing habits.
Who it's not for. A team that wants everything in one app, invoicing included. Toggl's invoicing is lighter than Harvest's, and plenty of teams bill from their accounting software instead.
The catch. The importer leaves a lot behind: invoices, archived or deleted items, fee-based budgets, project codes and expenses. Every imported entry starts at 09:00 UTC, because Harvest only hands over durations. You also need admin rights on a paid plan or a trial.
How to migrate. Set up your workspace and invite your team with the same emails they used in Harvest. Run the import during the trial, so you can check the result before paying. Unarchive any Harvest project whose recent history you want to keep. For anything older than 12 months, keep your full CSV export on hand.
Price. Free for up to 5 users, Starter at $9 per user per month billed annually, Premium at $18. Our Toggl pricing breakdown goes plan by plan.
- Free
- up to 5 users
- Paid
- Starter $9/user/mo, annual
- Harvest import
- built in, last 12 months
- Catch
- no invoices imported
Clockify: the lowest cost per person
Budget pickWhy move to Clockify. If the Harvest increase blew up your budget, Clockify is the most direct fix: a free plan with no user cap, then paid plans from $3.99 per seat per month billed annually. It's also a name former Harvest customers recommend to each other in community threads.
Who it's for. Teams that need to track time for a lot of people cheaply, and freelancers just getting started.
Who it's not for. An agency hoping to bill clients from the free plan. It has no invoices, no billable rates, and reports only go back one month.
The catch. To get back what Harvest gave you, you need Standard at $5.49 per seat per month billed annually ($6.99 monthly), which is where invoicing kicks in. Basic at $3.99 ($4.99 monthly) is mostly team admin. Pro costs $7.99 ($9.99) and Enterprise $11.99 ($14.99).
How to migrate. Clockify imports a CSV, not a live connection. Watch three things. Import is limited to admins on a paid plan, and it doesn't work on a trial. Files must stay under 1 MB, so split your Harvest export by year. Email, Start date, Start time and Duration are required columns, and any row whose email doesn't match a member is silently skipped. So invite your team first. The upside: missing projects are created on the fly.
Price. Free at $0, Basic $3.99, Standard $5.49, Pro $7.99, Enterprise $11.99 per seat per month, billed annually.
- Free
- unlimited users, no invoicing
- Paid
- Standard $5.49/seat/mo, annual
- Harvest import
- CSV, 1 MB max
- Catch
- no import on a trial
Everhour: a timer inside your project tool
Inside your tasksWhy move to Everhour. Everhour puts a timer button right inside Asana, Trello, ClickUp and other project tools, so your team logs time without switching screens. In 2026 it also shipped a dedicated Harvest history import, which makes it a destination built with ex-Harvest teams in mind.
Who it's for. Agencies and teams of five or more who already run projects in another tool.
Who it's not for. A solo freelancer. The paid plan has a five-seat minimum.
The catch. The free plan covers 5 seats but has no integrations, which removes most of the point. Invoicing and budgets come with Team at $8.50 per seat per month billed annually, with a 5-seat minimum, so at least $42.50 a month. Payment is by card, in USD. Past 50 seats, Everhour moves to custom pricing.
How to migrate. Everhour's importer reads your Harvest history CSV. You get a preview, map each Harvest person to an Everhour member, and nothing is imported until you confirm. Handy detail: the import sends no invitations, so nobody gets a surprise email. Create your members with matching emails before you start.
Price. Free for 5 seats, Team at $8.50 per seat per month billed annually (5-seat minimum), Custom from 50 seats.
- Free
- 5 seats, no integrations
- Paid
- Team $8.50/seat/mo, annual
- Harvest import
- CSV with preview
- Catch
- 5-seat minimum
Timely: for teams that forget the timer
Automatic trackingWhy move to Timely. The real problem with timesheets is forgetting: the timer you never started, the day you rebuild from memory on Friday. Timely records activity in the background (apps, documents, meetings) and suggests time entries for you to approve. If you bill by the hour, every forgotten hour is lost revenue.
Who it's for. Agencies and firms that bill time and never get complete manual timesheets.
Who it's not for. Teams chasing the lowest price, or anyone who won't accept background activity tracking.
The catch. No free plan, just a 14-day trial. Starter costs $9 per user per month billed annually ($11 monthly) but caps you at 20 projects and 5 users. Premium is $16 ($20 monthly) for up to 50 users, and Unlimited is $22 ($28).
How to migrate. Timely connects to Harvest and brings over projects, clients, users and tags. You need admin rights on both sides. Imported users aren't invited automatically, so you choose who joins. What the docs don't mention is your time history. Assume it stays behind, and keep your full Harvest export for the records.
Price. Starter $9, Premium $16, Unlimited $22 per user per month, billed annually.
- Free
- no, 14-day trial
- Paid
- Starter $9/user/mo, annual
- Harvest import
- projects, clients, users
- Catch
- 20 projects on Starter
Paymo: for the solo freelancer who invoices
FreelancersWhy move to Paymo. Paymo combines time tracking, project management and invoicing. Its free plan includes unlimited invoices, while Harvest's free plan stops at two projects. For a freelancer sending a handful of invoices a month, it's the closest replacement for the old Harvest Solo plan.
Who it's for. Freelancers and very small shops that bill by the hour.
Who it's not for. A team that wants its Harvest history carried over. Paymo doesn't advertise any Harvest import.
The catch. The free plan is limited to one user, one client and two projects. Solo, at $9.90 a month, is still one user. Teams need Plus at $15.90 per user or Pro at $23.90. Heads-up: the pricing page features a three-month launch discount, so check the price that follows. Annual billing saves up to 40%.
How to migrate. With no Harvest import, you recreate your active clients and projects by hand. For a freelancer that's less work than it sounds: ten clients take about an hour. Keep your Harvest CSV and invoice PDFs for history and taxes.
Price. Free at $0, Solo $9.90, Plus $15.90 per user, Pro $23.90 per user per month.
- Free
- 1 user, unlimited invoices
- Paid
- Solo $9.90/mo
- Harvest import
- none advertised
- Catch
- watch the launch discount
ClickUp: time and tasks in one place
All-in-oneWhy move to ClickUp. Plenty of teams paid Harvest for time and a second tool for tasks. ClickUp covers both: tasks, docs, goals and built-in time tracking, with deeper time reporting on the Business plan. Replacing Harvest is a chance to cancel a subscription rather than swap one. Our review scores it 4.2 out of 5.
Who it's for. Teams that want a single tool to plan work and track the time spent on it.
Who it's not for. A team that only needs a timer and invoices. ClickUp takes setup time, and the sheer number of options overwhelms beginners.
The catch. ClickUp isn't an invoicing tool, so invoices go out from other software. We also found no advertised Harvest import.
How to migrate. Rebuild active projects as lists or folders, then track time against tasks. Keep the Harvest CSV export separately for year-end reporting. Our ClickUp review covers its plans and quotas.
Price. Free Forever at $0, Core at $9 per user per month billed annually ($12 monthly), Business at $17 ($25), Max at $100.
- Free
- yes, unlimited members
- Paid
- Core $9/user/mo, annual
- Harvest import
- none advertised
- Catch
- no invoicing
Kimai: opt out of price sheets for good
Open sourceWhy move to Kimai. Kimai is open-source time tracking you run on your own server. No vendor invoice, no surprise renewal. One developer whose Harvest quote worked out to $28,800 a year wrote about moving everything to Kimai on a home server.
Who it's for. Teams with someone comfortable running a server, and teams that want their data in-house.
Who it's not for. A non-technical agency. Self-hosted software needs updates, backups and monitoring.
The catch. Everything is on you: security updates, backups, uptime. The software is free. Your time keeping it alive isn't.
How to migrate. Start from your full Harvest history CSV and shape it to the format your instance expects. Run a first import on a test copy before touching the real database.
Price. Free to self-host, not counting your server.
- Price
- free to self-host
- Hosting
- your own server
- Best for
- technical teams
- Catch
- you handle maintenance
All 7 alternatives side by side
Our default picks: Toggl Track if you want recent history moved with no effort, Clockify if budget comes first. For scale, take a five-person team on annual billing. Harvest Teams comes to $45 a month before any usage charges, Clockify Standard to $27.45, Toggl Starter to $45, Everhour Team to $42.50 and Timely Starter to $45. So the gap isn't in the sticker price. It's in the usage Harvest adds on top, which it doesn't publish. One row per tool: entry pricing on the left, what its Harvest import keeps on the right.
| Free plan and first paid price | Import from Harvest | |
|---|---|---|
| HarvestWhere you're starting | Free: 1 seat, 2 projects; Teams $9 per seat annual ($11 monthly), plus usage | Time export as CSV, invoices as a ZIP of PDFs |
| Toggl TrackBuilt-in import | Free up to 5 users; Starter $9 annual | Clients, projects, active tasks, 12 months of time; no invoices or archived items |
| ClockifyBudget pick | Free, no invoicing; Standard $5.49 annual ($6.99 monthly) | CSV up to 1 MB, paid plan only, not on a trial |
| EverhourInside your tasks | Free 5 seats, no integrations; Team $8.50 annual, 5-seat minimum | History CSV with preview and member mapping |
| TimelyAutomatic tracking | No free plan; Starter $9 annual ($11 monthly) | Projects, clients, users, tags; time history not mentioned |
| PaymoFreelancers | Free 1 user, unlimited invoices; Solo $9.90 | No Harvest import advertised |
| ClickUpAll-in-one | Free; Core $9 annual ($12 monthly) | No Harvest import advertised |
| KimaiOpen source | Free to self-host | Import your own CSV, formatted by you |
Entry prices before tax, per user or per seat per month, in USD. Prices change: always check against your real team size.
Migrating off Harvest in seven steps
Order matters. Each step protects something: your history, your invoices, your margins, and your budget at renewal time.
Find your renewal date and work backward
Day 1Look up your next Harvest renewal and plan the cutover at least two weeks before it. Several customers got their price notice about ten days ahead. If you wait for that email, you migrate in a rush.
Take inventory while you're at it: clients, active projects, hourly rates per person and per project, budgets, and integrations (accounting, project tool, calendar).
- Buffer
- two weeks before renewal
- If you skip it
- another year at the new rate
Export your entire time history
CriticalIn Harvest, an admin goes to Settings, then Import/Export, and uses "Export all time" to get every entry as a CSV. For a truly complete history, also run a Detailed Time report over "All Time" with archived items included, and export it as CSV.
Keep both files. One feeds the import, the other is your archive and your audit trail.
- Format
- CSV
- Access
- admin
Save your invoices as PDFs and as data
"Export all invoices" gives you a ZIP of PDFs, which is what you keep for your books. Invoice data (amounts, dates, statuses) comes out as CSV or Excel from the invoices report.
None of the destinations here imports Harvest invoices. Store these files outside Harvest and share them with your accountant if needed.
- PDFs
- ZIP of all invoices
- Data
- CSV or Excel
Set up your team with the same emails
Toggl, Clockify and Everhour match time entries to people by email. Use a different address and a teammate's hours go nowhere (Clockify skips those rows without warning). Create every member with their Harvest email before any import runs.
- If you skip it
- hours lost on import
Import, then reconcile the hours
CheckRun the import, then check one simple total: hours per person for one specific month, in Harvest and in the new tool. If the numbers don't match, look for an unmatched email or an archived project first.
Tool-specific reminders: Toggl only takes 12 months and sets every entry to 09:00; Clockify rejects files over 1 MB; Timely brings the structure, not the time.
- Test
- one month, person by person
Rebuild rates, budgets and integrations
Billable rates, fee-based budgets and project codes don't always survive the import. Re-enter them before your first invoice, then reconnect your accounting software, project tool and calendar.
Draft a test invoice for a real client without sending it, and compare it to what Harvest would have produced.
- Test
- one draft invoice
Run both tools for one cycle, then cancel
Before renewalFor one billing cycle, the team logs time in the new tool while you keep Harvest open to cross-check. Once the first invoice goes out from the new tool, cancel Harvest before the renewal date.
Before you close the account, run one last export so the hours logged during the transition are in it.
- Duration
- one billing cycle
- Last move
- final export, then cancel
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a Harvest migration go wrong
The same mistakes show up again and again in stories from teams that left Harvest. None of them is truly technical. They're oversights, and each one costs more than the time it would have taken to avoid it.
Waiting for the renewal email
With roughly ten days' notice, there's no time to export, import and retrain. Start your exit a month before renewal, even if you haven't seen a price increase yet.
Assuming the import moves everything
Toggl stops at 12 months and skips archived items, Timely moves structure but not time, and Paymo and ClickUp import nothing from Harvest. Your full CSV export is the only complete history you'll have. Keep it.
Forgetting the invoices
Invoices don't move anywhere. Without the PDF ZIP and the invoice CSV, you lose the paper trail for past sales the day the Harvest account closes.
Inviting the team after the import
Tools match hours by email. Invite everyone first, with the same addresses, or one person's hours vanish with no error message.
Trying the Clockify import on a trial
Clockify blocks imports on trials. If you want to compare before paying, test with a small sample entered by hand, then upgrade on import day.
Comparing prices without comparing features
A per-seat price says nothing about invoicing, budgets or integrations. Clockify adds invoicing on Standard; Everhour adds it on Team with a five-seat minimum. Compare against what you actually need. Our Toggl Track review and Toggl vs Hubstaff help you decide between two options, and our ranking of the best timesheet software goes further.
- Harvest renewal date noted, cutover planned two weeks before
- Inventory of clients, projects, rates, budgets and integrations
- "Export all time" CSV saved outside Harvest
- Detailed Time report over All Time, archived items included
- Invoices saved as a PDF ZIP and as CSV
- Team created in the new tool with matching emails
- One month of hours reconciled person by person after import
- Billable rates, budgets and integrations rebuilt
- One test invoice drafted from the new tool
- Final export, then cancellation before renewal
Harvest alternatives: frequently asked questions
Is Harvest still worth it in 2026?
For a small team, usually not anymore. Teams costs $9 per seat per month billed annually, then usage charges for extra invoices, projects, clients and tasks, with no published rates. If your renewal quote is several times last year's, Toggl Track or Clockify will likely cost less for the same core job.
Why did Harvest raise its prices?
Bending Spoons agreed to acquire Harvest in 2025, and the pricing model changed afterward: per-seat pricing plus usage-based billing on extra invoices, projects, clients and tasks. Legacy plans were repriced based on each account's data history, which explains the 10x to 17x jumps some customers reported.
How much does Harvest cost now?
Teams is $11 per seat per month, or $9 billed annually. Enterprise is $17.50, or $14 annually. Enterprise Plus is custom-priced and includes assisted data migration. Usage charges come on top, and Harvest doesn't publish them. All prices are in USD.
What's the best free Harvest alternative?
Clockify if you need many users: its free plan has no user cap, though it lacks invoicing. Toggl Track if you're a team of five or fewer. Paymo if you're solo and need to send invoices, since its free plan includes unlimited ones. Our Toggl alternatives page covers more options.
How do I export all my data from Harvest?
As an admin, go to Settings, then Import/Export. "Export all time" gives you every entry as a CSV, and "Export all invoices" gives you a ZIP of PDFs. Add a Detailed Time report over All Time, archived items included, so nothing is left out.
Can I import my Harvest invoices into another tool?
No. None of the destinations in this guide brings Harvest invoices over. Keep the PDFs for your books and the CSV for your numbers. To pick your next billing tool, see our ranking of invoicing software for freelancers.
Toggl Track or Clockify: which should replace Harvest?
Toggl Track if you want your data moved without a file, thanks to its Harvest importer. Clockify if price matters most: Standard, which includes invoicing, is $5.49 per seat billed annually versus $9 for Toggl Starter. Our Toggl vs Hubstaff comparison adds another angle.
Is there a Harvest alternative with no subscription?
Yes: Kimai, an open-source tracker you host yourself. There's no license and no renewal, but updates and backups are on you. If you'd rather track time inside your projects, our page on project management software with time tracking compares other options.
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