Time tracking tools are key to ensuring your employees are paid fairly for the work they do. We review the five best Harvest time tracking alternatives in 2024.
Time tracking is essential for businesses with hourly employees. Time tracking software is an essential tool for businesses. It can reduce costly timesheet errors and minimize payroll administration time to focus on what matters most—your business.
Many small businesses track employee hours through paper timesheets, spreadsheets or a sign-in book. However, these manual methods are time-consuming and prone to costly errors.
Thankfully, time tracking software can help prevent this. Great time tracking software will track your employees’ worked hours, overtime and absence payments, facilitate payroll, help ensure regulatory compliance, and more.
What is Harvest?
Harvest is a time-tracking and invoicing program for businesses of all sizes. It allows you to track working hours and use this data to create custom reports, which will help you keep projects and tasks on track and manage payroll costs.
Harvest lets you turn your team’s time entries into securely stored invoices. The software integrates with many online payment platforms, so you can issue payments to your team quickly.
Harvest is a well-known time tracking software solution. However, many apps like Harvest now include tools beyond just time tracking features.
If you don’t have the time to read through our research, jump down to our quick comparison table.
Our Top Picks
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The best alternative to Harvest
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Offline time tracking
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Project management and tracking budgets
Why trust us?
Our team of unbiased software reviewers follows strict editorial guidelines, and our methodology is clear and open to everyone.
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Why are People Moving Away From Harvest?
Like all time-tracking software, Harvest receives both positive and negative reviews from its users. It’s important to understand what managers have enjoyed and disliked about the software to know if it’s the right choice for you.
For example, ease of use is an important factor for both workers and managers. One user notes that Harvest has some “great features”, but that these are “tricky to find and use.”
Likewise, another user found that, while “invoicing and estimates are easy and very functional”, actually setting everything up “was not easy to figure out.”
Limits to free or basic plans also may cause users concern. The same reviewer said they ended up switching platforms because “there were limits on how many projects I could have without having to upgrade to a new plan.”
Finally, good customer service is an element most users agree is essential. Harvest has an overall quite good customer service rating (4.4), but reviews show not all customers have been satisfied.
If you’ve encountered any of these same problems, you may be looking for an alternative to Harvest.
The Best Harvest Alternatives & Competitors for Time Tracking in 2024
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Connecteam — The best alternative to Harvest
Connecteam’s time tracking software is the most comprehensive and user-friendly solution on the market. With first-class customer support and a wealth of employee management tools, you won’t find better value for money than Connecteam.
Let’s explore some of the features that make Connecteam a great option.
GPS-enabled time tracking software
Connecteam offers GPS-enabled time tracking software. This will allow you to see exactly where your employees are when they clock in and out, and track their real-time location while working. This is great for your in-field teams or employees who travel for work. Importantly, managers cannot see employee locations when they are not clocked in.
If your employees work from a set location, Connecteam enables you to set up a geofence—a digital border—around that workplace. When employees cross that line, they receive a push notification telling them to clock in for their shift. You can also restrict employees from clocking in until they’ve entered the geofence.
Connecteam also allows you to set up multiple geofence locations. You can have geofences for different worksites if you’re a construction manager or different stores if you’re a multi-location retailer.
Automated timesheets
An automated timesheet organizes all your employees’ clocked hours into one easy-to-read document.
You can then review the data or generate custom reports, offering you valuable insights into your workforce.
For example, custom reports can tell you how much overtime you’ve paid in the most recent pay period, how long everyone’s breaks were, and how much PTO each employee has taken. All this can help you make informed decisions to run a cost-effective business.
Connecteam can also alert you when an employee is approaching overtime to prevent creeping costs. Or, you can automatically clock your employee out when their shift ends, preventing unauthorized overtime.
In addition, automated timesheets streamline the payroll process. You can export these straight to your payroll provider for smooth processing. Connecteam integrates with the most popular payroll software programs, making time-consuming payroll a thing of the past.
Job-specific time tracking
Connecteam offers a job-specific time tracking feature. You can track worked hours for different locations, clients, or projects. This is great for managers of multiple sites or those whose employees work on multiple projects at once. You can easily track billable hours for different projects, automatically convert them into a timesheet, and invoice your client.
From your admin dashboard, you can view how much time your teams have spent on each project or client. This will give you valuable insights into your workforce so you can improve employee productivity.
Drag-and-drop shift scheduling tools
Connecteam’s employee scheduling tools simplify schedule planning. Your time spent shift scheduling will go from hours to minutes with Connecteam’s easy drag-and-drop functionality, schedule templates, and repeat shift schedules.
For example, if you have an employee who works Tuesdays and Fridays, 7am-3pm, simply schedule this automatically!
In addition, Connecteam will alert you to any scheduling conflicts and inform you of employees’ upcoming leave, overtime, and availability.
Team chat and much more
Connecteam offers powerful in-app chat features to keep communication flowing with your deskless team. These tools help managers and workers make the most of an employee’s time.
Workers can have separate mobile chats for different work sites, projects, or teams, and categorize them based on importance. Managers can ensure that chat contents are productive and appropriate, decide who can contact whom, and more.
In addition, Connecteam offers great tools for training and onboarding, task management, corporate event planning, HR management, and more.
Connecteam is the perfect solution for all your time-tracking and employee management needs.
Key Features
Employee self-service portal for updating details
Custom data reporting tools
Easy-to-use app
Pros
Completely free for up to 10 users for life!
Scheduling conflict and PTO alerts
GPS time clock and geofencing
Reminds employees to clock in
Cons
More payroll integrations to come
Pricing
Free-for-life plan availablePremium plans start at $29/month for 30 users
14-day free trial, no credit card required
Start your free trial -
Hubstaff — Good for offline time tracking
Hubstaff is a Harvest alternative that makes it easy to track employee hours and manage payroll. Hubstaff also allows you to automate payroll and reporting processes, and streamline the PTO approval process with a built-in tool.
One of Hubstaff’s main features is its offline time tracking capabilities via the mobile app. This allows your employees to track their worked hours regardless of cell phone service. Employees can then upload the data to their timesheet once they’re back online, making Hubstaff a great option for in-field deskless workers.
Hubstaff’s mobile app offers GPS to record employees’ locations when they clock in. Hubstaff’s web browser will also periodically take screenshots of employees’ desktops so you can monitor their productivity. While this tool is useful in some industries, it won’t be of great value to deskless teams who often work from their phones.
Key Features
- GPS location tracking
- Offline time tracking
- Built-in PTO approval tool
- Automatic payroll processing
Pros
- Over 30 software integration options
- Color-coded employee scheduling
Cons
- No in-app chat function
- Difficult to contact customer support
Pricing
Starts at $4.99/user/month, 2 users minimum Trial: Yes — 14-day Free Plan: Yes — For one user only
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Toggl Track — Good for project management and tracking budgets
Toggl Track is a Harvest alternative focused on both time and project management. The software includes tools like built-in chat and file-sharing capabilities. These will help your deskless team share knowledge and get quick answers from managers and teammates.
Toggl Track also offers customizable data reporting tools to help you make informed decisions about your business. For example, say you pull a report on a current project’s progress. If you’re behind schedule, you may need more employees on your team, but if you’re way ahead, you could take workers off the project to reduce costs.
Overall, Toggl Track is a solid project management software option that helps teams stay organized and on track with projects and tasks. It’s simple to use, and the team communication feature is a great addition.
The main drawback of Toggl Track is its lack of complex project management tools like Kanban boards or Gantt diagrams.
Key Features
- Automatic client billing and invoicing
- Project budget forecasts
- One-click time tracking
- Built-in chat feature
Pros
- Over 100 integration options
- Simple file-sharing capabilities make knowledge-sharing easier
Cons
- Lacks advanced project management tools
- No geofencing for multi-site management
Pricing
Starts at $9/user/month Trial: Yes — 30-day Free Plan: Yes — For up to 5 users
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Timecamp — Good for preventing buddy punches
TimeCamp is a time tracking and project management tool that helps employees track time and managers monitor productivity. It’s a simple, effective alternative to Harvest offering features like automatic timesheet completion, GPS time tracking, and task management tools.
TimeCamp’s most useful feature is facial recognition software, which can improve security and reduce buddy punching. This is where an employee’s colleague clocks in on their behalf, meaning you’re paying the employee for hours they may not have worked.
In addition, TimeCamp also offers automatic timesheet completion. When employees clock in and out, their hours are automatically logged on a monthly timesheet. This can be easily transformed into an invoice to send to clients. This streamlined billing service makes TimeCamp a great option for freelancers and managers of deskless workers.
Key Features
- Facial recognition software
- Automatic timesheet completion
- GPS time tracking
- Advanced reporting options
Pros
- Sleek user interface
- Easy-to-use mobile app
Cons
- No employee relations features
- No built-in chat
Pricing
Starts at $2.99/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
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QuickBooks Time — Good for fast timesheet administration
QuickBooks Time is a time tracking software tool focused on converting worked hours into timesheets and helping you design employee schedules.
QuickBooks Time allows you to quickly edit and review timesheet details, update time card options, and add employee breaks if anyone forgets to clock out during break time.
The main drawback of QuickBooks Time is that it doesn’t offer many automation features, which means it may not scale well as your business grows. QuickBooks Time’s paid plans are also more costly than some alternative solutions. It also doesn’t offer a free plan like Connecteam, which may put off new or smaller businesses.
Key Features
- Simple expense tracking
- Easy-to-amend timesheets
- Built-in PTO tracker
- GPS-enabled clock-in
Pros
- Seamless integration with QuickBooks accounting software
- Dedicated support hotline
Cons
- Expensive
- Many features, e.g., geofencing, only available in advanced package
Pricing
Starts at $20/month + $10/user/month Trial: Yes — 30-day Free Plan: No
Compare the Best Harvest Alternatives
| Topic |
Start for free
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews |
  |
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| Pricing |
Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users
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Starts at $4.99/user/month, 2 users minimum
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Starts at $9/user/month
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Starts at $2.99/user/month
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Starts at $20/month + $10/user/month
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| Free Trial |
yes
14-day
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yes
14-day
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yes
30-day
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yes
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yes
30-day
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| Free Plan |
yes
Free Up to 10 users
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yes
For one user only
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yes
For up to 5 users
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yes
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no
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| Use cases |
The best alternative to Harvest
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Good for offline time tracking
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Good for project management and tracking budgets
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Good for preventing buddy punches
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Good for fast timesheet administration
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| Available on |
Summary
Time tracking software ensures employees are paid on time for their work, simplifies payroll and reduces the likelihood of costly errors. It can also reduce time spent on scheduling from hours to minutes, help you track time spent on tasks and clients, and much more.
Connecteam is a simple and effective tool to do just this. The Connecteam app offers GPS time tracking, geofencing, automatic timesheet creation, job-specific time tracking features, and more. All these extras make it a great alternative to Harvest.
Try Connecteam free for 14 days to see the difference it makes to your administration’s efficiency.