BigTime vs Harvest
A detailed comparison of BigTime and Harvest covering features, pricing, integrations, strengths, and weaknesses to help you choose the right tool.
Quick Overview
BigTime
Professional Services Automation
BigTime is a professional services automation platform offering unified time and expense tracking, flexible billing and invoicing, AI-driven resource management, and real-time dashboards. It is purpose-built for professional services firms including accounting, engineering, architecture, IT services, and consulting.
Harvest
Time Tracking and Invoicing
Harvest is one of the longest-running dedicated time tracking tools, offering one-click time tracking across web, desktop, and mobile with tightly integrated invoicing, expense tracking, and budget management. It serves over 70,000 companies and is known for its clean, intuitive interface.
Feature Comparison
BigTime Features
Unified time and expense tracking
Flexible billing supporting time and materials, fixed fee, retainer, and blended rates
AI-driven Smart Staffing for resource management
Real-time dashboards and financial forecasting
Customizable standard and advanced reporting
Data Hub for BI integration with Power BI and Tableau
BigTime Wallet built-in payment processing
Project budgeting at company, project, or task level
Harvest Features
One-click time tracking across web, desktop, and mobile apps
Invoicing with automated payment reminders
Online payments via Stripe and PayPal
Project budget management with alerts
Expense tracking with receipt photo capture
Visual reports on budgets, time, and team capacity
Timesheet approvals and profitability reporting on Premium
Calendar integration pulling events into timesheets
Pricing Breakdown
BigTime
$20/user/month
Essentials: $20/user/month. Advanced: $35/user/month. Premier: $45/user/month. Projector: $60/user/month. All billed annually. 14-day free trial.
Harvest
Free (solo), $10.80/seat/month
Free plan for solo users. Pro: $10.80/seat/month (annual). Premium: ~$14/seat/month. 30-day free trial. Volume discounts for 50+ seats.
Strengths & Weaknesses
BigTime
Strengths
Intuitive interface with high ease-of-use ratings
Excellent customer support rated 4.7/5 on Capterra
Strong QuickBooks integration
Comprehensive flexible billing supporting multiple project types
Robust reporting capabilities
SOC 2 Type 2 certified with bank-level encryption
Weaknesses
Mobile app is less polished and reliable than desktop
Steep learning curve for complex approval workflows
Occasional syncing issues between modules
Limited invoice formatting customization
Confusing terminology can cause implementation errors
Issue resolution for invoicing problems can be slow
Harvest
Strengths
Extremely intuitive and easy to adopt with 4.6/5 ease-of-use rating
Clean lightweight interface that avoids overwhelming users
Strong invoicing workflow tightly integrated with time tracking
50+ native integrations available
Reliable budget tracking and capacity management
18 years in market indicating stability and maturity
Weaknesses
No automatic time tracking, relies entirely on manual start/stop
No idle detection, break tracking, or GPS tracking
Limited project management capabilities
Reporting can feel basic for advanced analytics needs
Mobile app has fewer features than desktop and web
Per-seat pricing becomes expensive at scale
Key features paywalled behind Premium tier
Long-term pricing stability concerns after recent increases
Integrations
BigTime (10 integrations)
Harvest (14 integrations)
Target Market
BigTime
Professional services firms: accounting, engineering, architecture, IT services, consulting, government contractors. 5 to 500+ employees.
Harvest
Freelancers, small to medium businesses, agencies, design studios, consultancies, and professional services firms
The Verdict
Both BigTime and Harvest are solid time tracking tools, but they serve different needs.
BigTime (Professional Services Automation) is best suited for professional services firms: accounting, engineering, architecture, it services, consulting, government contractors. 5 to 500+ employees.. It starts at $20/user/month and offers 8 key features.
Harvest (Time Tracking and Invoicing) is best suited for freelancers, small to medium businesses, agencies, design studios, consultancies, and professional services firms. It starts at Free (solo), $10.80/seat/month and offers 8 key features.
If neither tool quite fits your needs, consider comparing BigTime with TimeSentry or comparing Harvest with TimeSentry. TimeSentry offers AI-powered time capture from 20+ integrations, built-in invoicing, multi-company workflows, and dedicated onboarding support.
The TimeSentry Guarantee
Free 7-day trial with full access to every feature. No credit card required.
White-glove onboarding so your team is set up correctly from day one.
AI that learns your patterns and gets more accurate the longer you use it.
Cancel anytime with no contracts, no lock-in, and no hidden fees.
Dedicated support from real humans who respond within hours, not days.
Need something better than both?
TimeSentry combines the best of AI-powered time tracking with built-in invoicing, multi-company workflows, and 20+ integrations. Try it free and see for yourself.