A Harvest alternative for freelancers

If Harvest’s 2026 pricing changes pushed you to look around, here is what to check in a replacement, what Harvest currently publishes, and how Hourledge fits if you work alone and bill by the hour.

Last updated October 31, 2026

Why people are looking for a Harvest alternative

Harvest was acquired by Bending Spoons in 2025 and changed its pricing in 2026. Plans now combine a per-seat price with usage-based charges for projects, clients, tasks and invoicing, and some long-time customers reported much larger renewals. The BBC reported one UK consultancy’s monthly bill going from 30 to $2,110; Harvest told the BBC that customers on older legacy plans saw the biggest changes and that renewals are announced by email 30 and 10 days ahead.

On Reddit, a small agency in r/projectmanagement wrote that the plan suggested to them was “,900 a month” after paying at most $80/month, and that moving away felt like a “nightmare” because importing data elsewhere “just isn’t available” (thread). Details and background are in our Harvest price increase guide.

Harvest’s published prices (checked October 31, 2026)

Plan	Price shown on getharvest.com/pricing
Free	$0 — 1 seat, 2 projects, time tracking, invoicing, expenses
Teams	From nine dollars per seat/month billed annually, or 1 monthly, plus usage-based charges for additional invoices, projects, clients and tasks
Enterprise	From 4 per seat/month billed annually, or 7.50 monthly, plus usage-based charges

Source: getharvest.com/pricing. Prices are “starting from” and can change; check the page before deciding.

What to look for in a replacement

A price you can predict. Check whether the bill grows with seats, projects, clients or invoices.
A real import. Years of time entries should come across from a CSV, not be retyped.
Invoicing next to the timer. Many time trackers stop at reports; you still need to bill.
Your data out, any time. CSV and PDF exports on every plan, so you are never stuck again.
Only what you use. A solo freelancer rarely needs approvals, capacity planning or SSO.

How Hourledge fits

Hourledge is time tracking and invoicing for one person who bills by the hour. What it does today:

Timer first. Start in one tap, fix a forgotten start time, add past time as start/end or a duration like 1:30.
Invoices from unbilled time. Unbilled hours are grouped by client; one tap makes a draft with dated lines, then a PDF with your logo, bank details and a Stripe or PayPal pay link.
Client reports. Reports for any date range, plus read-only share links your client opens without an account.
Harvest CSV import. Preview first, clients and projects matched by name, duplicates skipped. See the import guide.
Flat price. Free during early access. One simple flat price later, no per-seat fees.

Where Harvest is still the better fit

Hourledge does not do expenses, estimates, timesheet approvals, team capacity reports, or accounting integrations like QuickBooks and Xero. It works in the browser on desktop and phone; there are no native desktop or mobile apps. If your team relies on those, Harvest or another team tool will suit you better. The full side-by-side is on Hourledge vs Harvest.

Switching in four steps

In Harvest, export your time as CSV (Reports → Detailed time → Export → CSV, or Settings → Import/Export → Export all time).
Download your past invoices as PDFs too (Settings → Import/Export → Export all invoices); invoices are not part of the time export.
Create an Hourledge account (no card), open Import, drop the CSV and check the preview.
Add billing emails for your clients and send your next invoice from Hourledge.

Questions

Is there a free Harvest alternative?

Yes. Hourledge is free during early access with the timer, timesheet, invoices with PDF, CSV import/export, unlimited projects and clients, and shareable client reports. Harvest itself also lists a Free plan (1 seat, 2 projects) on its pricing page.

Can I move my Harvest history to Hourledge?

Yes. Export the Detailed time report (or Settings → Import/Export → Export all time) as CSV in Harvest and import it in Hourledge. You see a preview before anything is saved, clients and projects are matched by name, and entries already imported are skipped.

Is Hourledge priced per seat?

No. Free during early access. One simple flat price later, no per-seat fees.

When should I stay on Harvest?

If your team depends on expenses, estimates, timesheet approvals, team capacity reports or accounting integrations, Harvest does those and Hourledge does not.

Start free See pricing

Free during early access. One simple flat price later, no per-seat fees.