Harvest vs Toggl Track: Which Time Tracker Is Right for You? [2025]

Last Updated: October 2025

Choosing between Harvest and Toggl Track? Both are excellent time tracking tools, but they serve different needs. This comprehensive comparison breaks down features, pricing, and use cases to help you decide which is the better fit for your business.

Overview: Harvest vs Toggl Track at a Glance

What is Harvest?

Harvest is an all-in-one time tracking and business management platform designed for freelancers, consultants, and agencies who bill clients for their time. Founded in 2006, Harvest combines time tracking with invoicing, expense tracking, project budgeting, and team scheduling.

Best for: Professional services businesses that need to track time, manage project budgets, create invoices, and analyze profitability—all in one place.

Key Differentiator: Native invoicing that converts tracked time directly into professional invoices with payment processing.

What is Toggl Track?

Toggl Track is a simple, elegant time tracking tool focused on doing one thing exceptionally well: tracking time. It's known for its minimal interface, one-click time tracking, and friction-free user experience.

Best for: Individuals and teams who need straightforward time tracking for productivity insights, with integrations to other tools for invoicing and project management.

Key Differentiator: Beautifully simple interface with the lowest learning curve of any time tracker.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Time Tracking Capabilities

Harvest Time Tracking

How it works:

• Click to start a timer or manually enter time
• Track time to specific projects and tasks
• Weekly timesheet view for bulk entry
• Desktop, web, and mobile apps
• Browser extensions for 30+ tools
• Offline tracking with auto-sync

Standout features:

• Time reminders prompt you to track at end of day
• Bulk edit timesheets for corrections
• Timesheet locking for accurate payroll
• Approval workflows for team time
• Customizable rounding rules

User Experience: Clean, professional interface designed for business use. Slightly more clicks than Toggl but more powerful bulk editing.

Toggl Track Time Tracking

How it works:

• One-click timer in browser or app
• Describe task and start tracking
• Timeline view shows your day
• Desktop, web, and mobile apps
• Browser extensions for 100+ tools
• Idle detection and reminders

Standout features:

• Pomodoro timer built-in
• Color-coded projects for quick visual tracking
• Autotracker learns from your habits
• Timeline view for retrospective tracking
• Keyboard shortcuts for power users

User Experience: Extremely intuitive. Often rated as having the best UX of any time tracker. Minimal learning curve.

Winner: Tie - Both are excellent. Toggl has a slight edge for ease of use; Harvest has more robust team management features.

Invoicing & Billing

This is where Harvest and Toggl Track diverge significantly.

Harvest Invoicing

Harvest includes full-featured native invoicing, making it a complete business tool:

Invoice Features:

• ✓ Automatic invoice creation from tracked time
• ✓ Professional invoice templates (customizable)
• ✓ Recurring invoices for retainers
• ✓ Multiple currencies (190+)
• ✓ Tax rate configuration
• ✓ Invoice reminders (automatic)
• ✓ Online payment acceptance (Stripe, PayPal, Square)
• ✓ Late payment tracking
• ✓ Client portal for invoice viewing
• ✓ Partial payments
• ✓ Invoice history and aging reports

Workflow:

1. Track time on projects
2. Click "Create Invoice"
3. Harvest auto-fills time entries
4. Customize and send
5. Client pays online
6. Payment reconciles automatically

Toggl Track does not include invoicing. You'll need to:

• Export time reports manually
• Use a separate invoicing tool (QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Harvest, etc.)
• Manually transfer time data to invoices
• Use Toggl's integrations (requires paid plans on both tools)

Available Options:

• Export to CSV/PDF and create invoices manually
• Integrate with invoicing tools via Zapier
• Use Toggl's API to build custom integration

Winner: Harvest by far - Native invoicing is Harvest's killer feature. If you invoice clients, Harvest eliminates an entire tool from your stack.

Project Budgeting & Profitability

Harvest Project Management

Harvest is built for project-based businesses with robust budget tracking:

Budget Features:

• Set project budgets in hours or dollars
• Real-time budget vs. actual tracking
• Budget burn alerts (e.g., at 80% used)
• Forecast project completion
• Track billable vs. non-billable time
• See team member utilization rates
• Project profitability reports

Reports Include:

• Time by project, client, task, person
• Budget utilization
• Billable vs. non-billable breakdown
• Invoice status (paid, unpaid, overdue)
• Expense reports
• Team capacity reports
• Profitability analysis

Use Case Example: You budget 40 hours for a website project. Harvest shows you've used 32 hours (80%) with estimated 10 hours remaining. You see you'll go over budget by 2 hours and can adjust scope or notify the client proactively.

Toggl Track Reporting

Toggl focuses on time insights rather than financial management:

Available Reports:

• Summary reports (time by project, user, client)
• Detailed reports (every time entry)
• Weekly reports (team dashboard)
• Project dashboards with time estimates

Limitations:

• No budget tracking in dollars
• No profitability calculations
• No expense tracking
• No invoice integration
• Time estimates are basic (not tied to budgets)

Winner: Harvest - If you manage project budgets, track profitability, or bill clients, Harvest's reporting is far superior.

Pricing Comparison

Harvest Pricing

Free Trial: 30 days, full features, no credit card required

Paid Plans:

• Free Plan: 1 user, 2 projects (limited)
• Pro Plan: $11/user/month (billed annually) or $13.75/month monthly
  • Unlimited projects and clients
  • All features included
  • Invoicing, expenses, reporting
  • Integrations
  • Email & chat support

Team Pricing Examples:

• 5 users: $55/month ($660/year)
• 10 users: $110/month ($1,320/year)
• 20 users: $220/month ($2,640/year)

Toggl Track Pricing

Free Plan: Up to 5 users, unlimited time tracking

Paid Plans:

• Starter: $9/user/month (billed annually)
  • Required for integrations, exports, reporting
• Premium: $18/user/month
  • Advanced reports, time audits, scheduled exports
• Enterprise: Custom pricing
  • Priority support, SSO, custom onboarding

Team Pricing Examples:

• 5 users: $45/month (Starter)
• 10 users: $90/month (Starter)
• 20 users: $180/month (Starter)

Cost Analysis: Which Is Cheaper?

If you only need time tracking: Toggl is cheaper ($9 vs $11/user)

If you need time tracking + invoicing: Harvest is significantly cheaper because you avoid paying for a separate invoicing tool:

• Harvest: $11/user/month
• Toggl + FreshBooks: $9 + $17 = $26/user/month
• Toggl + QuickBooks: $9 + $30 = $39/user/month

ROI Consideration: Customers report Harvest pays for itself by capturing 10-15% more billable hours through better tracking and reducing time spent on invoicing by 5+ hours/month.

Best For: Use Cases

Choose Harvest If You:

• ✓ Invoice clients for your time
• ✓ Need to track project budgets
• ✓ Track expenses and bill them to clients
• ✓ Manage multiple projects or clients
• ✓ Need profitability insights
• ✓ Want everything in one tool
• ✓ Run an agency, consultancy, or professional services business
• ✓ Value time saved on admin work

Ideal Users:

• Freelance consultants
• Design & creative agencies
• Law firms
• Marketing agencies
• Accountants & bookkeepers
• IT consultants
• Any hourly service provider

Choose Toggl Track If You:

• ✓ Only need time tracking (no invoicing)
• ✓ Already have invoicing software you love
• ✓ Want the simplest possible interface
• ✓ Need to try before committing (free plan)
• ✓ Track time for internal productivity only
• ✓ Have a very tight budget
• ✓ Want 100+ tool integrations

Ideal Users:

• Salaried employees tracking productivity
• Internal teams (no client billing)
• Students
• Developers who want minimal friction
• Very small freelancers just starting out

Migration Guide: Switching from Toggl to Harvest

Considering making the switch? Here's how:

Step 1: Export Your Data from Toggl

• Go to Settings → Data Export
• Download detailed reports (CSV)
• Export project and client data

Step 2: Import to Harvest

• Harvest provides import tools for clients, projects, and historical time
• Contact Harvest support for migration assistance (free)
• Most migrations complete in 1-2 hours

Step 3: Set Up Invoicing

• Add your logo and invoice details
• Configure payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal)
• Set up project budgets
• Configure tax rates

Step 4: Train Your Team

• Harvest offers free onboarding
• Similar interface to Toggl (quick learning curve)
• Download mobile apps and browser extensions

Migration Support: Harvest provides free migration assistance for teams of 5+. Schedule a call with their team.

Final Verdict

Harvest Wins If:

You run a client-facing business and need time tracking plus invoicing, project budgets, and expense management. The native invoicing and financial reporting make Harvest a complete business tool, not just a time tracker. You'll save time, money, and the hassle of integrating multiple tools.

Bottom Line: Best for professional services firms billing clients.

Toggl Track Wins If:

You need only time tracking with the most intuitive interface available. If you already have invoicing sorted out or don't invoice clients at all, Toggl's simplicity and generous free plan make it an excellent choice.

Bottom Line: Best for internal teams and those not invoicing clients.

Try Harvest Free for 30 Days →

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Harvest do everything Toggl does?

Yes, Harvest includes all core time tracking features that Toggl offers: timer-based tracking, manual entry, project and task tracking, reporting, mobile apps, and integrations. Plus, Harvest adds invoicing, expenses, and budgets.

Which has better mobile apps?

Both have excellent mobile apps. Toggl's app is slightly simpler; Harvest's app includes invoicing and expense tracking on mobile. Both support offline tracking.

Can I use Harvest without invoicing?

Yes! You can use Harvest purely for time tracking if you want. The invoicing features are optional, though they're included in your subscription.

Does Toggl have any advantages over Harvest?

Yes: Toggl has a generous free plan (5 users), more integrations (100+ vs 50+), a slightly simpler interface, and costs $2 less per user per month if you only need time tracking.

How long does it take to switch from Toggl to Harvest?

Most users complete the switch in 1-2 hours. Harvest provides import tools and free migration support. Your historical data can be imported, and the interface is similar enough that training time is minimal.

Can I try both before deciding?

Absolutely! Toggl offers a free plan; Harvest offers a 30-day free trial with full features. We recommend trying both and seeing which workflow feels better for your business.