Harvest
Wave
| Feature | Harvest | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10.8/mo | Free / from $16/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | agencies, consultants, freelancers, professional-services | freelancers, solopreneurs, micro-businesses, side-hustlers |
| Founded | 2006 | 2010 |
| Time Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Expense Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Project Budgets | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reports | ✓ | ✗ |
| Team Capacity | ✓ | ✗ |
| Integrations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Accounting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Receipt Scanning | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bank Connections | ✗ | ✓ |
| Financial Reports | ✗ | ✓ |
| Payroll Addon | ✗ | ✓ |
| Payments Addon | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Wave Pros
- Core accounting and invoicing completely free
- Unlimited income and expense tracking
- Receipt scanning with OCR included
- Simple enough for non-accountants
✗ Wave Cons
- Payroll and payments are paid add-ons
- No inventory or project tracking
- Limited integrations compared to competitors
The Verdict
Harvest is built for agencies and consultants, with a focus on time-tracking and invoicing. Wave targets freelancers and solopreneurs and leads with accounting and invoicing.
On pricing, Harvest is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $10.8/mo compared to $16/mo for Wave. That $5.199999999999999/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for 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.