Harvest vs QuickBooks Time
Side-by-side total cost of ownership: subscription fees, labor, hidden costs, and AI alternatives.
Published pricing
The subscription is only part of the cost.
| Harvest | QuickBooks Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Published rate | $9/seat/mo | $10/seat/mo |
What the invoice doesn't show
Harvest
Both paid tiers now carry usage-based billing on top of the seat price — 'additional invoices, projects, clients, and tasks are billed based on what you use.' The help center admits each plan has a free usage allowance, but the thresholds and per-unit overage rates are published nowhere.
Legacy plans (accounts upgraded before November 7, 2024) are being migrated to the new billing system in batches; Harvest states the move cannot be delayed and cannot be reversed once made.
Harvest was acquired by Bending Spoons (owner of Evernote, WeTransfer, Vimeo) in July 2025, and the pricing page no longer describes what long-tenured accounts are actually billed — a 14-year customer reported a proposed jump from ~$168/year to over $19,000/year.
The public ladder itself steps +56%: Teams $9/seat annual to Enterprise $14/seat, gating profitability reporting, timesheet approvals, SSO, and the audit log.
QuickBooks Time
The price is two-part: a base fee ($20/mo Premium, $40/mo Elite) plus per-user fees ($10 and $12/user/mo). A 10-person team on Premium pays $120/mo standing — more than double what the '$20/mo' framing suggests.
The 90%-off introductory offer applies only to the monthly base price for 3 months, by Intuit's own offer terms — per-user fees are excluded, and after the intro the base reverts from $2 to $20/mo (+900%) with automatic billing.
QuickBooks Time cannot be bought alone: 'A QuickBooks Online account is required,' so the real floor includes a QBO subscription on top.
Project features live one tier up: mileage tracking, project estimates vs actuals, and timesheet signatures require Elite at $40 base + $12/user.
What teams are switching to
Replacing Harvest
Solidtime
Solo free (cloud), Professional EUR 8/user/mo billed annually, self-hosted $0
Open-source time tracking (AGPL) with timers, timesheets, invoicing, and a self-host option that removes the per-seat meter entirely. The tool departing Harvest customers actually name in migration threads. Not AI-automatic — the savings story is open source and no usage fees.
Toggl Track
Free; Starter $9/seat/mo; Premium $14 first year then $18/seat/mo
The free plan carries calendar auto-tracking, keyword-triggered tracking, idle detection, and 100+ browser-extension integrations — automation that is rules-based rather than AI, but included at $0. Paid tiers add billable rates and reporting from $9/seat.
Clockify
Free; Basic $3.99, Standard $5.49, Pro $7.99, Enterprise $11.99 per seat/mo billed annually
The category's price floor: a free tier that includes the automatic tracker, and a paid ladder from $3.99/seat. Standard ($5.49/seat annual) covers invoicing and QuickBooks payroll/billing sync — the two features that usually justify far pricier incumbents.
Replacing QuickBooks Time
Clockify
Free; Basic $3.99, Standard $5.49, Pro $7.99, Enterprise $11.99 per seat/mo billed annually
The category's price floor: a free tier that includes the automatic tracker, and a paid ladder from $3.99/seat. Standard ($5.49/seat annual) covers invoicing and QuickBooks payroll/billing sync — the two features that usually justify far pricier incumbents.
Toggl Track
Free; Starter $9/seat/mo; Premium $14 first year then $18/seat/mo
The free plan carries calendar auto-tracking, keyword-triggered tracking, idle detection, and 100+ browser-extension integrations — automation that is rules-based rather than AI, but included at $0. Paid tiers add billable rates and reporting from $9/seat.
Solidtime
Solo free (cloud), Professional EUR 8/user/mo billed annually, self-hosted $0
Open-source time tracking (AGPL) with timers, timesheets, invoicing, and a self-host option that removes the per-seat meter entirely. The tool departing Harvest customers actually name in migration threads. Not AI-automatic — the savings story is open source and no usage fees.
StackCut doesn't sell or recommend any of these tools. We show them for context. The decision is yours.
Total Cost of Ownership
Subscription fees plus labor and error costs, modeled at $50/hr loaded rate (BLS ECEC). Both vendors are costed at the same team size so the two columns can be compared directly.
| Cost Component | Harvest | QuickBooks Time |
|---|---|---|
| Annual subscription | $1,080 | $1,200 |
| Labor cost | $9,000 | $9,000 |
| Error & rework cost | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Total Cost of Ownership | $13,080/yr | $13,200/yr |
| Est. AI alternative | $1,940/yr | $1,940/yr |
Labor rate based on BLS ECEC June 2025 ($45.65/hr private industry total compensation, rounded to $50). Your actual numbers depend on team size, role mix, and usage. Run it with your own data.
Which one fits your team?
Both Harvest and QuickBooks Time cost more than their published pricing suggests. The right choice depends on your team size and how you weigh each tool's trade-offs.
Harvest starts at $9/seat/mo , but watch for Both paid tiers now carry usage-based billing on top of the seat price — 'additional invoices, projects, clients, and tasks are billed based on what you use.' The help center admits each plan has a free usage allowance, but the thresholds and per-unit overage rates are published nowhere.
QuickBooks Time starts at $10/seat/mo , but watch for The price is two-part: a base fee ($20/mo Premium, $40/mo Elite) plus per-user fees ($10 and $12/user/mo). A 10-person team on Premium pays $120/mo standing — more than double what the '$20/mo' framing suggests.
An AI-native alternative may replace the workflow at a fraction of the TCO.
See all SaaS cost comparisonsBrowse alternatives for every tool
FAQ
Harvest vs QuickBooks Time: quick answers
Is Harvest or QuickBooks Time cheaper?
On total cost of ownership, Harvest runs about $13,080/year (10-person team) versus $13,200/year for QuickBooks Time (10-person team) once labor and hidden costs are counted, not just the published subscription. Adjust the inputs to your own team to compare them directly.
What can replace Harvest or QuickBooks Time?
Harvest is often replaced by Solidtime and Toggl Track; QuickBooks Time by Clockify and Toggl Track. StackCut shows the cost case for each AI-first alternative without taking referral fees.
What are the hidden costs of Harvest and QuickBooks Time?
Harvest: Both paid tiers now carry usage-based billing on top of the seat price — 'additional invoices, projects, clients, and tasks are billed based on what you use.' The help center admits each plan has a free usage allowance, but the thresholds and per-unit overage rates are published nowhere. QuickBooks Time: The price is two-part: a base fee ($20/mo Premium, $40/mo Elite) plus per-user fees ($10 and $12/user/mo). A 10-person team on Premium pays $120/mo standing — more than double what the '$20/mo' framing suggests.
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