- Harvest vs Hubstaff: what’s the difference and which one fits your team?
- Quick comparison: Harvest vs Hubstaff vs actiTIME
- What is Harvest?
- What is Hubstaff?
- What is actiTIME?
- Time tracking
- Project management and budgets
- Billing and invoicing
- Workforce monitoring (Hubstaff-specific)
- Leave and overtime
- Pricing comparison
- Pros and cons
- Who should use each tool?
- The bottom line
- Resources
Harvest vs Hubstaff: what’s the difference and which one fits your team?
Short answer: Harvest is a time tracking and invoicing tool built for client-facing teams. Hubstaff is a workforce management platform with time tracking, GPS, screenshots, and payroll features aimed at teams with remote or field workers. They overlap on time tracking but serve different use cases. If you want project budgets and billing without the monitoring overhead, actiTIME is a cleaner alternative.
Pick Harvest if: you run a small agency or freelance operation and need a clean way to track billable hours and send invoices. Harvest’s interface is minimal, and the Stripe, QuickBooks, and Xero integrations cover most billing workflows. The free version supports one seat and two projects, which is enough to evaluate it properly.
Pick Hubstaff if: you manage a remote or distributed team and need to know whether people are actually working. Hubstaff tracks time but also captures screenshots, logs GPS location for field teams, and includes payroll processing. That comes at a higher price and introduces a level of monitoring that not every team will welcome.
Quick comparison: Harvest vs Hubstaff vs actiTIME
| Feature | Harvest | Hubstaff | actiTIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free version | Yes (1 seat, 2 projects) | No (14-day trial only) | Yes (up to 3 users) |
| Invoicing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GPS tracking | No | Yes | No |
| Screenshots | No | Yes | No |
| Payroll | No | Yes | No |
| Project budgets | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Billing rates | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Project profitability | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Leave & overtime tracking | No | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted option | No | No | Yes |
| Timesheet approvals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
What is Harvest?
Harvest is a time tracking and invoicing tool founded in 2006 and used primarily by freelancers, agencies, and service businesses. It has a clean, minimal interface focused on one thing: capturing billable hours and turning them into invoices. The free version covers one seat and two projects, which is enough for solo freelancers. Paid versions start at $9 per seat per month and support unlimited seats, team reporting, and accounting integrations. The Enterprise tier at $14 per seat per month adds profitability reporting, timesheet approvals, and SSO.
Harvest does not have GPS tracking, screenshots, or workforce monitoring. It’s a project time and billing tool, not a workforce management platform.
What is Hubstaff?
Hubstaff is a workforce management platform that started as a time tracker and grew into a tool for managing remote and field-based teams. It tracks time, but it also captures screenshots at set intervals, logs GPS location, monitors app and URL usage, and handles payroll through integrations. The Starter tier starts at $4.99 per seat per month (annual) or $7 per month. Higher tiers add GPS tracking, project budgets, unlimited screenshots, and payroll features. Enterprise is $25 per seat per month on annual billing.
The 2-seat minimum on all plans means Hubstaff is priced out for solo freelancers. The monitoring features are the main reason teams choose it over simpler time trackers.
What is actiTIME?
actiTIME is project time tracking software that connects hours to financial outcomes. Teams use it to see how much projects cost, how they’re billing against budgets, and how overtime and leave affect overall capacity. It has no GPS tracking or screenshots. What it has instead is a cleaner picture of project profitability, billing rates by work type, and leave and overtime management.
One product, no feature tiers, and three delivery options: free up to three users, $5 per user per month online, and $120 per user as a one-time self-hosted license.
See also: actiTIME vs Harvest: Side-by-Side Comparison
Time tracking
| Feature | Harvest | Hubstaff | actiTIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browser-based timer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes (iOS, Android) | Yes (iOS, Android) | Yes (iOS, Android) |
| Browser extension | Yes (Chrome) | Yes (Chrome, Firefox) | Yes (Chrome) |
| Manual time entry | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Timesheet view | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GPS time clock | No | Yes | No |
| Screenshots | No | Yes | No |
| App & URL tracking | No | Yes | No |
Winner: depends on what you need. For basic time capture, all three cover it. For remote workforce monitoring, Hubstaff is the only option. For teams that want clean time tracking without monitoring overhead, Harvest or actiTIME work better.
Project management and budgets
| Feature | Harvest | Hubstaff | actiTIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Project budgets (hours/cost) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Task-level tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Budget alerts | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Estimates vs actuals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Winner: all three offer project budgets on paid versions. actiTIME includes budgets from its base paid option at $5 per user per month. Harvest requires Teams ($9) and Hubstaff requires Grow ($7.50 annual).
Billing and invoicing
| Feature | Harvest | Hubstaff | actiTIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing rates | Yes (Teams+) | Yes | Yes |
| Invoice creation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Expense tracking | Yes | Yes | No |
| Stripe integration | Yes | No | No |
| QuickBooks integration | Yes (Teams+) | Yes | Yes |
| Xero integration | Yes (Teams+) | No | No |
Winner for invoicing: Harvest. Its invoice-to-payment flow with Stripe is one of its strongest features. actiTIME handles billing rates and cost of work.
Workforce monitoring (Hubstaff-specific)
| Feature | Harvest | Hubstaff | actiTIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screenshot capture | No | Yes | No |
| Activity level tracking | No | Yes | No |
| GPS location tracking | Yes (mobile, Grow+) | Yes | No |
| App & URL usage logs | No | Yes | No |
| Payroll processing | No | Yes | No |
Winner: Hubstaff, for teams that need it. This entire category is Hubstaff’s differentiator. Harvest and actiTIME don’t compete here.
Leave and overtime
| Feature | Harvest | Hubstaff | actiTIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leave tracking | No | Yes | Yes |
| Overtime registration | No | Yes | Yes |
| Timesheet approvals | Yes (Enterprise only) | Yes | Yes |
| Paid vs unpaid leave types | No | Yes | Yes |
Winner: actiTIME or Hubstaff. Harvest only adds timesheet approvals at Enterprise tier ($14/seat). Both actiTIME and Hubstaff handle leave and overtime more completely.
Pricing comparison
Harvest pricing
| Tier | Price | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (1 seat, 2 projects) | Time tracking, invoicing, expenses, basic reports |
| Teams | $9/seat/month | Unlimited seats, team reports, QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe |
| Enterprise | $14/seat/month | Profitability reports, timesheet approvals, SSO, activity log |
See also: Harvest Pricing Review 2026: Plans, Costs & actiTIME Comparison
Hubstaff pricing (annual billing)
| Tier | Price | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $4.99/seat/month (min 2 seats) | Time tracking, reports, invoicing, 1 integration |
| Grow | $7.50/seat/month | Budgets, project costs, basic GPS, unlimited integrations |
| Team | $10/seat/month | Screenshots, payroll, timesheet approvals, expense tracking |
| Enterprise | $25/seat/month | SSO, custom onboarding, dedicated support, insurance |
Monthly pricing: Starter $7, Grow $9, Team $12, Enterprise $25.
See also: Hubstaff Pricing 2026: Plans, True Costs & Hidden Fees
actiTIME pricing
| Option | Price | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (up to 3 users) | Time tracking, projects, reports, permanent free |
| Online | From $5/user/month or $1,250/month (200+ users) | All features, leave & overtime, API, QuickBooks |
| Self-hosted | $120/user, one-time | Full features, own infrastructure, no monthly fees |
Cost comparison for a 10-person team (annual billing)
| Tool | Monthly cost | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| Harvest Teams | $90/month | $1,080/year |
| Harvest Enterprise | $140/month | $1,680/year |
| Hubstaff Starter | $49.90/month | $598.80/year |
| Hubstaff Team | $100/month | $1,200/year |
| actiTIME Online | $50/month | $600/year |
Pros and cons
Harvest
- Clean, simple invoicing built into the time tracker
- Stripe and accounting integrations work well
- Generous free version for solo users
- No monitoring overhead
- Profitability and approvals locked behind Enterprise tier
- No leave or overtime tracking
- Limited reporting depth compared to Hubstaff or actiTIME
Hubstaff
- Strong remote team monitoring: screenshots, GPS, activity levels
- Payroll processing built in at Team tier
- Good mobile and GPS clock-in for field teams
- Monitoring features can create friction with employees
- 2-seat minimum eliminates solo use
- Add-ons like Insights cost extra
- Gets expensive for large teams who need full features
actiTIME
- Project budgets, billing rates, and profitability tracking from the base paid option
- Leave and overtime included without a higher tier
- Self-hosted option with one-time payment
- Permanent free version for up to 3 users
- No invoicing or GPS tracking
- No screenshot or activity monitoring
Who should use each tool?
Harvest: Freelancers and small agencies that track billable hours and invoice clients directly. The invoicing workflow is its clearest strength. If you need profitability reports, budget for the Enterprise tier.
Hubstaff: Remote-first companies and businesses with field workers who need time tracking alongside location data, screenshots, and payroll. The monitoring features are the reason to choose Hubstaff over simpler tools.
actiTIME: Project-based teams, consulting firms, and agencies that want clean financial visibility into their work without the monitoring layer. If your team tracks time for project management and client billing rather than productivity surveillance, actiTIME covers the ground more directly.
The bottom line
Harvest and Hubstaff solve related but different problems. Harvest is the cleaner tool for agencies billing clients by the hour. Hubstaff is the choice for businesses that need to monitor and manage distributed or field teams. Neither one gives you deep project profitability and leave tracking at an entry-level price the way actiTIME does.
Resources
-
- Harvest pricing (verified June 2026): getharvest.com/pricing
- Hubstaff pricing (verified June 2026): hubstaff.com/pricing
- actiTIME pricing (verified June 2026): actitime.com/pricing
