Harvest time tracking is a web-based timer, timesheet, and invoicing product for professional services teams. Each person logs hours with a one-click timer or a weekly timesheet against a client, project, and task. Harvest then checks those hours against the project budget and turns them into a client invoice.
Three things decide whether it fits: Teams costs $9 per seat per month billed annually, timesheet approvals and the activity log are Enterprise-only ($14 per seat), and only one timer can run per person per day. Prices below were checked on Harvest’s pricing page on 21 October 2026 and are in USD. For a full seat-cost model, see Harvest pricing explained.
Quick Answer
Harvest time tracking records hours with one-click timers, daily or weekly timesheets, and calendar imports, then builds client invoices from that time and expenses. Free is $0 for one seat and two projects. Teams starts at $9 per seat per month billed annually ($11 monthly). Enterprise starts at $14 annually or $17.50 monthly and adds timesheet approvals, the activity log, profitability reporting, and SAML SSO. The 30-day trial needs no credit card. Harvest does not take screenshots. One running timer per person per day is the normal rule. Stay if the timer-to-invoice loop fits and seat cost is fine; switch when approvals, flat pricing, or AI agent cost matter more — see the Harvest alternative shortlist.
What is Harvest time tracking?
Harvest time tracking software is built for agencies, consultancies, and freelancers who bill clients. The Harvest app covers four jobs in one product: track time, log expenses, report on projects, and send invoices.
People often search for Harvest time, get Harvest, or Harvest hours when they mean this product, not the farming sense of the word. The company markets itself at getharvest.com as time tracking with invoicing for professional teams.
Core pieces of Harvest timesheet software:
- Clients, projects, and tasks — every hour sits under a client and project so reports and invoices stay tidy
- Timers and manual entries — start a running timer or type a duration after the fact
- Expenses — attach costs and receipts to the same projects
- Invoices — build invoices from tracked time and billable expenses
- Reports — time, team capacity, and (on Enterprise) profitability
It is a mature Harvest time tracker, not a monitoring tool. That distinction matters when you compare it with screenshot-based products.
How does Harvest time tracking work?
The useful mental model is a four-step loop: timer → timesheet → approval → invoice. Harvest shines on the ends of that loop. The middle step — a required approval before billing — is gated.
1. Timer
From Day view you pick a project and task, then start a timer or save a duration. Harvest’s help centre describes Day view for live timers and notes, and Week view for bulk duration entry. You can also track from Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android apps, or pull time from a connected calendar.
Keyboard shortcut N opens a new time entry in Day view. Entries autosave when you start, stop, or edit them.
One running timer at a time (same day). Harvest’s own docs state that starting a new timer stops any timer you already have running for that day, so you do not double-track. A timer left running on an earlier date is not cleared by starting a new one; you stop it from the running-timer control. So you can have many Harvest time entries in a day, but not several live timers racing in parallel on the same day.
2. Timesheet
Hours land on a daily or weekly timesheet. Admins can set duration-only mode or start-and-end timestamps. Required notes, when enabled, force a comment on every entry and lock Week-view editing.
Managers use team reporting on Teams and above to see capacity and utilisation. That is still reporting, not a formal approve-before-bill gate.
3. Approval
Timesheet approvals are an Enterprise feature on the public pricing page (checked 21 October 2026). Teams can track and invoice without that gate. Enterprise adds timesheet approvals, an activity log, required notes, unlimited custom reports, profitability reporting, and SAML-based SSO.
If your finance process needs a signed-off timesheet before anything is billed, confirm you are comparing Enterprise — not Teams — against other tools.
4. Invoice
Harvest can generate invoices from tracked time and expenses on Free, Teams, and Enterprise. Paid plans add accounting and payment integrations (Stripe, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Deel, and others listed on the pricing page). Online payments and reminders sit in the invoicing workflow.
That timer-to-invoice path is why many teams pick Harvest over a timer-only product such as Toggl Track. The trade-off shows up when you need approvals on a mid-tier plan, or when every new hire adds another seat.
How much is Harvest time tracking?
Figures below are from Harvest pricing, checked on 21 October 2026. Confirm live numbers before you buy.
| Plan | Annual billing | Monthly billing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 forever | $0 forever | 1 seat, 2 projects; time tracking, invoicing, expenses, Mac and iOS apps |
| Teams | $9 / seat / month ($108 / seat / year) | $11 / seat / month | Unlimited seats; team reporting; invoicing; accounting and payment integrations |
| Enterprise | $14 / seat / month ($168 / seat / year) | $17.50 / seat / month | Adds timesheet approvals, profitability reporting, activity log, SAML SSO, required notes, unlimited custom reports |
| Enterprise Plus | Custom | Custom | Custom integrations, dedicated success manager, assisted migration, white labelling |
Paying yearly up front is advertised as a 20% discount versus monthly. Harvest offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card.
Paid plans list a base rate per seat. Harvest also notes that extra invoices, projects, clients, and tasks can be billed as usage grows (Flex-style usage on top of seats). Model that if you run many active clients. For seat math at 5, 10, and 25 people, use the worked examples on Harvest pricing.
Rough spend. A 10-person team on Teams at $9 per seat per month billed annually is about $90 per month before usage extras ($1,080 per year). The same team on Enterprise at $14 is about $140 per month ($1,680 per year) before usage. Add Forecast separately if you use Harvest’s resource-planning product — it is not included in these seat prices.
Does Harvest time tracker take screenshots?
No. Harvest’s activity monitoring FAQ states that Harvest does not take screenshots or video recordings, does not monitor chats, does not track websites or apps visited, and does not offer GPS team tracking.
Harvest is built for honest timesheets and client billing, not for desktop surveillance. If you need screenshots or activity scores, you are looking at a different category of tool.
Who owns Harvest time tracking?
Harvest was built by Iridesco LLC and launched in 2006. In 2025 it was acquired by Bending Spoons, the Italian software group. Public summaries (including Wikipedia’s Harvest (software) page) record that acquisition. Customer notices in 2025–2026 described Iridesco LLC merging into Bending Spoons US Inc. for service provision.
Ownership does not change how the timer works day to day. It does matter if you are modelling renewals, Flex usage, or long-term vendor risk after the 2025 sale.
Can Harvest track project budgets by hours or by fees?
Yes, both. Harvest’s help centre article on setting project budgets lists five budget types:
| Budget type | Measures | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Total project hours | One hour cap for the whole project | Retainers sold as a block of hours |
| Hours per task | An hour cap on each task | Phased work where design or QA tends to overrun |
| Hours per person | An hour cap on each teammate | Capping senior time on a project |
| Total project fees | One money cap, optionally including expenses | Fixed-fee projects with pass-through costs |
| Fees per task | A money cap on each task | Quoting by deliverable |
Fee budgets need billable rates on the project, because Harvest values each tracked hour at its rate. Two hours at $100 per hour uses $200 of the budget. Budgets can reset monthly, and project managers can get an email when a project passes a set percentage of its budget.
Worked example. A 10-person agency sells a $12,000 monthly retainer at $120 per hour, so the budget is 100 hours. Set Total project hours to 100, turn on the monthly reset, and alert at 80%. The alert fires at hour 80, giving the account lead about a week of normal burn to agree overage or slow work. Without approvals (Teams plan), any hour logged to the wrong project still counts against this budget until someone spots and moves it.
What are the limits of Harvest time tracking?
Harvest is a mature, reliable tracker, but five limits come up in most evaluations:
- No approve-before-bill gate below Enterprise. Teams has team reporting but not timesheet approvals.
- No audit trail below Enterprise. The activity log that records every time entry and edit is an Enterprise feature.
- One live timer per person per day. Fine for most people, awkward for anyone who wants parallel timers.
- Cost grows with headcount and usage. Every seat is billed, and Harvest says extra invoices, projects, clients, and tasks are billed as you grow.
- People only. Public plans track human hours; AI agent time and cost do not land on the same project invoice.
How do you use Harvest time tracking day to day?
A practical weekly pattern for a billable team:
- Assign projects — admins create clients, projects, tasks, and rates; members only see projects they are assigned to
- Track as you work — start a timer on the active task, or enter durations at the end of the day
- Review the timesheet — fix missing notes and wrong tasks before the week closes
- Submit for approval — on Enterprise, submit timesheets so a manager can approve before billing
- Invoice — pull approved (or simply tracked) hours and billable expenses into a client invoice
- Reconcile — match payments, export to accounting, and archive finished projects
Freelancers on Free stop at step 5 within one seat and two projects. Agencies on Teams invoice without the approval gate. Firms that need a hard approve-before-bill step budget for Enterprise.
How does Harvest compare with Toggl, Clockify, and other Harvest alternatives?
Harvest vs Toggl. Harvest wins when native invoices and expenses must live with the timer. Toggl Track wins when you want a fast timer and a broader free team, and you already bill elsewhere. Side-by-side detail lives in Harvest vs Toggl.
Clockify vs Harvest. Clockify’s free tier covers more seats; Harvest’s free tier already invoices but only for one person and two projects. See Clockify vs Harvest.
Harvest alternatives. When seat cost, usage fees, or missing mid-tier approvals push you out, start with the Harvest alternative guide. If you are ready to move data, follow migrate from Harvest to Keito.
How do Harvest approvals and invoicing differ from Keito?
Both products can track time by client and project and turn hours into invoices. The differences that show up in real billing weeks are plan gates and pricing shape.
| Step | Harvest | Keito |
|---|---|---|
| Timer and timesheet | Yes — timer, Day/Week timesheets, calendar import | Yes — time sessions by client and project |
| Timesheet approval before billing | Enterprise plan only | Pro plan ($49 USD / month flat for the workspace) |
| Invoice from tracked hours | Yes on Free, Teams, and Enterprise | Yes from Solo ($19 USD / month) |
| Pricing shape | Per seat (+ possible usage on projects, clients, tasks, invoices) | Flat workspace tiers; no per-seat fee |
| Screenshots / activity monitoring | No | No |
| AI agent time and cost on the same projects | Not on public Harvest plans | Unlimited AI agents on every plan |
Sources: Harvest pricing and Keito pricing, both checked 21 October 2026.
Use Harvest when the native invoice loop is enough and per-seat math is acceptable. Use Keito when you want approvals without jumping to Harvest Enterprise, or when flat pricing and AI agent cost on the same invoice matter. Keito also ships an automated Harvest importer and a Harvest-compatible API for migration.
When should you switch from Harvest time tracking?
Stay on Harvest when the timer-to-invoice loop still fits, your seat count is stable, and you do not need a hard approval gate — or you are already on Enterprise and happy with it.
Review a switch when:
- Seat count keeps rising — every hire adds another Harvest seat (and another Forecast seat if you use both)
- You need approvals on a mid-tier budget — approvals are Enterprise-only on Harvest’s public plans
- Renewal or usage fees jump — Flex-style usage on projects, clients, tasks, and invoicing can move the bill after the seats look settled
- AI agents do billable work — Harvest’s public plans track people; they do not put agent time and cost on the same project invoice
- You want a planned import — use the migration guide rather than a messy CSV weekend
For a shortlist of replacements with pricing context, use the Harvest alternative page.
Key Takeaway
Harvest time tracking is a strong timer-to-invoice product; approvals start on Enterprise, and cost scales per seat.
Thinking about leaving Harvest?
Import clients, projects, and history into Keito and keep the same track–review–invoice loop on flat pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Harvest time tracking?
Harvest time tracking is web-based software for logging hours to clients and projects, then invoicing from that time and expenses. It includes timers, timesheets, expense tracking, reporting, and invoicing. It does not take screenshots or monitor apps.
How does Harvest time tracking work?
You track time with a running timer or manual entry against a project and task. Hours appear on a daily or weekly timesheet. On Enterprise, a manager can approve timesheets before billing. You then build invoices from tracked time and billable expenses.
How much is Harvest time tracking?
On Harvest’s pricing page (checked 21 October 2026), Free is $0 for one seat and two projects. Teams starts at $9 per seat per month billed annually ($11 monthly). Enterprise starts at $14 annually or $17.50 monthly. Paid plans may add usage charges for projects, clients, tasks, and invoicing above allowances.
How much do businesses spend on Harvest time tracking software?
Harvest charges $9 per seat per month on Teams or $14 on Enterprise, billed annually. A 10-person team spends about $1,080 a year on Teams or $1,680 on Enterprise before usage charges for extra invoices, projects, clients, and tasks. Monthly billing costs about 20% more.
Who owns Harvest time tracking?
Harvest was developed by Iridesco LLC and acquired by Bending Spoons in 2025. Service notices have described provision moving under Bending Spoons US Inc. Confirm current legal entity details in Harvest’s terms if you need them for procurement.
Does Harvest time tracker take screenshots?
No. Harvest’s help centre states it does not take screenshots or video recordings, and it does not track websites, apps, chats, or GPS location.
Can you have multiple timers in Harvest time tracking?
Not as several live timers on the same day. Starting a new timer stops any timer already running for that day. You can still log many separate time entries in one day by stopping and starting, or by entering durations manually. A timer left running on an earlier date must be stopped separately.