Harvest
Timely
| Feature | Harvest | Timely |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10.8/mo | From $9/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | agencies, consultants, freelancers, professional-services | consultants, agencies, freelancers, remote-teams |
| Founded | 2006 | 2014 |
| Time Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Expense Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Project Budgets | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reports | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team Capacity | ✓ | ✗ |
| Integrations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Memory Timeline | ✗ | ✓ |
| Team Dashboard | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Harvest Pros
- Integrated invoicing from tracked time
- Project budget tracking with alerts
- Excellent reporting for team utilization
- Simple one-click timer interface
✗ Harvest Cons
- Limited project management features
- Only one project on free plan
- No built-in scheduling or resource planning
✓ Timely Pros
- Automatic tracking
- No timers needed
- Privacy focused
- Beautiful design
✗ Timely Cons
- Expensive
- AI not always accurate
- Requires desktop app
The Verdict
Harvest is built for agencies and consultants, with a focus on time-tracking and invoicing. Timely targets consultants and agencies and leads with automatic-tracking and memory-timeline.
Pricing is close: Timely starts at $9/mo versus $10.8/mo for Harvest — not a deciding factor on its own.
Harvest has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Timely requires a paid subscription from day one.
Feature-wise, Harvest offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Timely takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for agencies, consultants, freelancers — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.