TimeMagick vs Harvest: run the project, not just the timesheet
Harvest is strong at tracking time, billing clients and managing financial operations. TimeMagick goes further for project-based teams by adding native project execution, activity visibility, communication, a fuller client workspace and deeper client profitability in the same product.
Comparison last reviewed: September 2026
At a glance
TimeMagick
Built to operate client projects end to end. TimeMagick combines time and manager-facing activity tracking with a project board, Gantt and resource planning, project channels, a client project workspace, billable-percentage approval, Project Billing, recurring invoices and expenses, and a client KPI layer, all on the same project data.
Harvest
A mature time-tracking, invoicing and expense product with project budgets, profitability reporting, online payments, retainers, accounting integrations and a free plan. Dedicated scheduling comes from Harvest Forecast, a separately priced product.
Feature comparison
Harvest plan names show where a feature sits on its pricing page. "No … identified" means the feature is not in Harvest's current official documentation.
| Feature | TimeMagick | Harvest |
|---|---|---|
| Time tracking | ||
| Timer and manual time | Yes; manual time requires a written reason and approval | Yes; timer and manual entries |
| Project and task time | Yes; every hour carries its client, project, task and member into budgets, billing and profitability | Yes |
| Desktop apps | Windows app with activity tracking | Yes; Mac and Windows |
| Mobile apps | iOS and Android, reported separately from desktop | Yes; iOS and Android |
| Browser extensions | No browser extension; TimeMagick runs in the browser as a web app | Yes |
| Timesheets | Yes; member and personal timesheets | Yes; day, week and calendar views |
| Approvals | Manual time, tracked time with billable percentage, expenses and recurring invoices | Yes; timesheet and expense approval (Enterprise) |
| Activity % | Yes; Activity % from keyboard clicks, mouse clicks and mouse movement, with a configurable calculation | No; Harvest does not monitor activity, by design |
| App and URL tracking | Yes; classified productive, neutral or unproductive per role or member | No; Harvest does not track apps or websites |
| Productivity classification | Yes; productive, neutral or unproductive per role or member | No productivity classification |
| Idle detection | Yes; configurable threshold, plus Private Time | Yes; idle detection in the Mac and Windows apps |
| Screenshots | No, by design: activity data instead of screen images | No, by design |
| Private Time | Yes; time still counted, app and URL detail withheld | Not applicable; no activity data is collected |
| Project execution | ||
| Project budgets | Yes; budget vs spent on cards, overview, Gantt, approvals and dashboards | Yes; hours or fees, including monthly budgets |
| Budget alerts and forecasting | Yes; alerts and forecasting connected to project profitability | Budget email alerts and budget-burn analysis |
| Kanban project board | Native drag-and-drop board with custom and automatic statuses | No native Kanban board identified; integrates with Asana, Trello and Jira |
| Custom and automatic statuses | Yes; custom statuses plus automatic In Progress and Inactive | No custom project-status workflow identified |
| Gantt | Native; per project and across the client portfolio | No native Gantt; Forecast (separate product) schedules projects |
| Portfolio Gantt | Yes; every client's projects on one interactive timeline | Project schedules in Forecast (separate product) |
| Resource planning | Native project scheduling and resource planning | Team capacity in Harvest; scheduling in Forecast |
| Separate scheduling product needed | No; resource planning is part of TimeMagick | Forecast, billed separately, for dedicated scheduling |
| Communication and clients | ||
| Project channels | Native; a channel inside every project | No project chat identified |
| Direct and group messaging | Native direct messages and groups | No direct or group messaging identified |
| Client workspace | Native CLIENT workspace: Dashboard, Projects, Timesheets, Report, Message Channels, Sensai | Client dashboard for invoices and payments |
| Client project dashboard | Yes; projects, tasks, weekly hours, overdue tasks and team hours | No; the client dashboard covers invoices and payments |
| Client timesheets | Yes; Member's Timesheet with hours per day | Not part of the client dashboard |
| Client project reports | Yes; a detailed Report inside the client workspace | Not part of the client dashboard |
| Client messaging | Yes; project channels and groups in Message Channels | No client messaging identified |
| Client invoice and payment dashboard | No; invoices are not part of the client workspace | Yes; outstanding invoices, payments and recurring-payment details |
| Billing and expenses | ||
| Expenses | Project-linked, custom categories, approval, Lunch | Yes; project expenses with categories |
| Receipt attachments | No receipt attachments | Yes; photo or PDF receipts |
| Expense approval | Yes; dedicated Pending, Approved and Declined queues | Yes; submitted with timesheets (Enterprise) |
| Recurring expenses | Yes; schedules, approval and payment history | No recurring-expense workflow identified |
| Billable % during approval | Yes; e.g. 5 worked hours approved at 80% become 4 billable hours | No billable-percentage step identified |
| Billable vs billed or uninvoiced | Project Billing: billable vs billed hours per client and project | Uninvoiced amounts in project analysis |
| Invoices | Duration and quantity lines, tax, notes, PDF, status, multiple entities and billing accounts | Yes; from time, expenses, fixed fees or free-form |
| Recurring invoices | Scheduled recurring invoices with an approval workflow | Yes; generated on a schedule, saved as drafts or sent automatically |
| Retainers | No retainer invoices | Yes |
| Online payments | No online payment collection | Yes; Stripe and PayPal |
| Multiple legal entities | Yes; legal entities with their own logo, VAT ID and invoice prefix | No multi-entity invoicing identified |
| Multiple billing accounts | Yes; multiple bank accounts, chosen per invoice | No per-invoice bank-account selection identified |
| Analytics | ||
| Project profitability | Profit and margin by client and project | Yes; profitability reporting (Enterprise) |
| Client profitability | Yes; most and least profitable clients, Avg Client Profit and Margin | Yes; profitability by client (Enterprise) |
| Utilisation | Yes; Utilisation % as a headline KPI | Yes; team capacity and utilization |
| Low-profit projects | Yes; Low-Profit Projects list | Via profitability reports |
| Uninvoiced hours | Yes; Uninvoiced Hours by client | Yes; uninvoiced amounts per project |
| Retention metrics | Yes; Repeat Client %, Retention %, Avg Cooperation and Avg Project Gap | No client-retention metrics identified |
| Revenue concentration | Yes; Revenue Concentration % with a risk indicator | No revenue-concentration metric identified |
| Client Health | Active, warm or cold status per client | No native equivalent identified |
| Platform | ||
| Custom roles | Yes; custom roles across 40 permission modules on every plan | Yes; six built-in roles and up to 50 custom roles |
| API and integrations | No public API or third-party integrations | Yes; REST API v2 and 50+ integrations, including QuickBooks Online and Xero |
| Free plan | No; 1-month free trial on the Business plan | Yes; 1 seat and 2 projects |
| Pricing model | Per user; every feature on every plan | Per seat; profitability and approvals on Enterprise |
Harvest information reviewed September 2026 from Harvest's public product, help, API and pricing pages. Features and plans change; verify before purchasing.
Time tracking that feeds the whole project
What matters is what happens after the hour is recorded. In TimeMagick, the hour is logged against a project and task with its activity detail; it burns the project budget, goes through approval with a billable percentage, appears in Project Billing, is invoiced, and lands in the client's margin and Client Health. Nothing is exported or re-keyed.
Harvest is a strong time tracker, with timers, day, week and calendar timesheets, desktop and mobile apps, browser extensions and approvals.
Explore TimeMagick time trackingSee how work time is used without taking screenshots
Harvest deliberately avoids app, website and activity monitoring. TimeMagick also avoids screenshots, but gives managers structured visibility into activity levels, applications, URLs, idle time and productivity classifications: more operational detail, still without capturing anyone's screen.
TimeMagick
Activity data, never screen images
- Activity % from keyboard clicks, mouse clicks and mouse movement
- A configurable activity calculation
- Active app and URL, with time per item
- Productivity classification per role or member
- Idle time with a configurable threshold
- Private Time: time counted, app and URL detail withheld
- No screenshots are taken
Harvest
Lighter-touch by design
Harvest tracks time and detects idle time in its desktop apps. It states that it does not take screenshots or video, track websites or apps, monitor chats or track GPS location.
Run the project, not just its timesheet
TimeMagick gives teams a visual execution layer on the same project record: board status, tasks, an interactive Gantt, resources, the project conversation, the client's view, billing and profitability.
- A drag-and-drop Projects board with custom statuses and two that update automatically from tracked time
- An interactive Gantt with task hierarchy, drag to reschedule, resizable durations, assignees and progress
- A portfolio Gantt across every client
- Budgets against spent time, with alerts and forecasting
Harvest is strong at structuring projects for time, budgets, billing and analysis: clients, projects and tasks, budgets with email alerts, fixed-fee and time-and-materials projects, and project analysis. No native Kanban board or Gantt is identified; it integrates with Asana, Trello and Jira.
Explore project managementResource planning inside the workflow
In TimeMagick, resource planning sits in the same product as the time, the project delivery, the conversation and the profitability, so the plan and the result share one set of data and one set of permissions.
TimeMagick
Resource planning inside the same product
- Project scheduling and resource planning
- Gantt per project and across clients
- The same projects, people and budgets as time tracking
- Connected to billing and profitability
- Included in every plan
Harvest
Capacity plus Forecast
Harvest shows team capacity. For dedicated scheduling and capacity planning, Harvest Forecast is a separately priced product ($5 per person per month billed annually, $6.25 monthly) that integrates with Harvest.
Keep the project conversation with the project
Every TimeMagick project automatically gets its own channel next to its tasks, hours and budget, with attachments, emoji, unread badges and search. The team also has direct messages and groups, and Client Members use project channels and groups too.
Harvest provides project and time context through its work records, such as notes on time entries. TimeMagick adds a dedicated messaging layer with project channels, DMs and groups.
Explore project communicationGive clients a project workspace, not only an invoice dashboard
Harvest's client dashboard centers on invoices, payments and recurring-payment management. TimeMagick gives clients visibility into the work itself: projects, timesheets, reports and project communication, with a Dashboard showing Total Projects, Total Tasks, Completed, Weekly Hours Logged, Overdue Tasks, Project Status, Task Status Breakdown, Team Members & Hours and Overall Due Tasks.
| Client can see | TimeMagick | Harvest |
|---|---|---|
| Project and task status dashboard | ||
| Projects | ||
| Timesheets | ||
| Reports | ||
| Project channels and groups | ||
| Outstanding invoices and payments | ||
| Pay online |
Harvest column: what its client dashboard shows. Harvest's dashboard opens from a secure link without signing in.
See the client portalControl billability before the invoice is created
- Time is tracked against the project and task.
- The approver sets a billable percentage: 5 worked hours at 80% become 4 billable hours.
- Project Billing shows billable against billed hours per client and project.
- A one-off invoice, or a scheduled recurring invoice that goes through approval, is created.
- The result flows into project and client profitability.
The billability decision is made once, at approval, and every later number uses it. Invoices have duration-based and quantity-based lines, taxes, notes, PDF download, a status and a due date, from multiple legal entities and billing accounts, in the client's currency.
Harvest is more mature on payment collection: Stripe and PayPal payments, retainers, recurring invoices that can be sent automatically, payment reminders, and QuickBooks Online and Xero integrations. TimeMagick does not offer retainer invoices or online payments.
Explore billing and invoicingMore than one-off project expenses
TimeMagick records company expenses against the project with your own categories and a dedicated approval queue. Costs that repeat have their own schedule, approval queue and Payment History, and a Lunch workflow with member and admin views covers meal allowances. All of it feeds the same project margin as the hours.
Harvest has strong expense tracking too, including project expenses, categories, billable expenses, photo or PDF receipts and approval with timesheets.
Explore expensesGo beyond project profitability into Client Health
TimeMagick adds relationship and portfolio intelligence to project profitability: Revenue, Profit, Avg Client Profit, Avg Client Margin, Effective Rate, Active and Cold Clients, Utilisation, Avg Cooperation length, Projects Over Budget, Repeat Client %, Retention %, Avg Project Gap and Revenue Concentration %, plus Most and Least Profitable Clients, Falling Activity, Uninvoiced Hours, Low-Profit Projects and Client Health.
Harvest has strong profitability reporting on its Enterprise plan, with revenue, cost, profit and margin by project and client, alongside utilization and project budget analysis.
TimeMagick illustration (demo data).
Granular access in both products, with different structures
TimeMagick builds each custom role across 40 permission modules, with View, Create, Update and Delete where they apply. Reports and Export Report, Projects and All Projects, Project Channel and All Project Channels, and Lunch member and admin views are separate modules, so access follows the project and client messaging structure. Clients get the locked CLIENT role.
Harvest has six built-in roles and up to 50 custom roles, with individual permissions in 11 categories.
Explore roles and permissionsProject execution, planning and profitability on every plan
TimeMagick
- Freelancer$4.50/month, or $3.80 billed yearly; up to 2 users
- Business$9.50/user/month, or $7.60 billed yearly; 30-day free trial
- EnterpriseCustom pricing for 30+ users
Every TimeMagick plan includes the full feature set:
- Board, Gantt and portfolio Gantt
- Resource planning
- Activity monitoring
- Project channels and messaging
- Client workspace
- Approvals with billable percentage
- Invoicing and recurring invoices
- Expenses and recurring expenses
- Profitability KPIs and Client Health
Harvest
Per seat/month, billed annually (monthly)
- Free$0
- Teams$9 ($11)
- Enterprise$14 ($17.50)
- Enterprise PlusCustom
Harvest offers a Free plan (1 seat, 2 projects). Harvest Forecast is separately priced ($5 per person billed annually, $6.25 monthly) when dedicated scheduling is required.
Harvest pricing checked: September 2026. Verify before purchasing.
Harvest lists profitability reporting and timesheet approvals on its Enterprise plan: $14 per seat per month billed annually, or $17.50 monthly. TimeMagick's Business plan includes project management, Gantt, resource planning, activity monitoring, the client workspace, communication, billing, expenses and profitability for $7.60 per user per month billed yearly, or $9.50 monthly, without a separate planning product. See TimeMagick pricing
One project record, from the first hour to Client Health
TimeMagick's strength is how much of the operating workflow is native before data ever needs to leave the product. The work, its conversation, the client's view, the billing, the costs and the profitability all sit on the same project, client and time data.
Tracked work. Against a task, with activity detail.
Project. Board status, tasks, Gantt and resources.
Conversation. A channel inside the project.
Client workspace. Clients see the same projects and hours.
Approval. The approver sets the billable percentage.
Project Billing. Billable against billed hours.
Invoice. One-off or scheduled recurring, from the right entity.
Expenses. Project-linked and recurring costs.
Profitability. Project margin, client KPIs and Client Health.
Why choose TimeMagick over Harvest?
Choose TimeMagick when you need to operate the project, not only track and invoice it
Harvest is a mature time-tracking and invoicing product. TimeMagick is the stronger choice for project-based teams that want the delivery, the people, the client and the commercial result in one connected workspace.
- Native project board
- Interactive and portfolio Gantt
- Resource planning in the same product
- Activity, app and URL visibility without screenshots
- Project channels, direct messages and groups
- A full client project workspace
- Billable-percentage approval
- Project Billing
- Recurring expenses
- Multi-entity billing
- Client and business KPIs
- Client Health
- Every feature on every plan
Harvest may fit specific requirements
- Mature payment collection
- Retainers
- Stripe and PayPal payments
- QuickBooks Online and Xero
- A public API and 50+ integrations
- Receipt attachments
- A free solo plan
- White labeling (Enterprise Plus)
See how TimeMagick fits agencies and engineering studios, or compare TimeMagick vs Clockify and TimeMagick vs Toggl.
TimeMagick vs Harvest: key facts
- TimeMagick gives managers Activity %, app and URL usage and productivity classifications, without screenshots.
- TimeMagick has a native project board, interactive Gantt, portfolio Gantt and resource planning in one product.
- TimeMagick has a chat channel in every project, plus direct messages and groups.
- TimeMagick gives clients a project workspace with Dashboard, Projects, Timesheets, Report, Message Channels and Sensai.
- TimeMagick lets the approver set a billable percentage before Project Billing and invoicing.
- TimeMagick includes recurring expenses with approval and payment history.
- TimeMagick invoices from multiple legal entities and billing accounts.
- TimeMagick adds client KPIs such as Retention %, Revenue Concentration and Client Health.
- TimeMagick includes every feature on every plan.
- Harvest offers mature invoicing with Stripe and PayPal payments, retainers, recurring invoices and QuickBooks Online and Xero integrations.
- Harvest Forecast, billed separately, adds dedicated team and project scheduling.
- Harvest does not track apps, websites or screenshots, and offers a REST API, 50+ integrations and a free plan.
- Harvest information reviewed September 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How TimeMagick compares with Harvest. Harvest information reviewed September 2026.
Is TimeMagick a Harvest alternative?
Yes. TimeMagick is a strong Harvest alternative for project-based teams that need to operate the project, not only track and invoice it: it adds a native project board, Gantt and resource planning, activity visibility, project channels, a client project workspace, billable-percentage approval and client health analytics. Harvest remains particularly mature in invoicing, online payments, retainers and accounting integrations.
Does Harvest have project management?
Harvest structures work into clients, projects and tasks, with project budgets, budget email alerts, fixed-fee and time-and-materials projects and project analysis. No native Kanban board or Gantt is identified in its documentation; it integrates with tools such as Asana, Trello and Jira. TimeMagick adds a native execution layer: a drag-and-drop board with custom and automatic statuses, an interactive Gantt, a portfolio Gantt and resource planning on the same project record.
Does Harvest have Gantt or resource planning?
Harvest shows team capacity, and its separately billed product, Harvest Forecast, adds team and project scheduling and capacity planning. TimeMagick has an interactive Gantt, a portfolio Gantt and resource planning inside the same product as time tracking, communication, billing and profitability.
Does Harvest monitor apps or websites?
No. Harvest states that it does not take screenshots or video, track websites or apps, monitor chats or track GPS location. TimeMagick also takes no screenshots, but gives managers Activity % from keyboard and mouse signals, app and URL usage, productivity classifications and idle time, with Private Time for members.
Does TimeMagick take screenshots?
No. TimeMagick never captures screen images. It measures activity from keyboard clicks, mouse clicks and mouse movement, records the active app and URL with time per item, classifies them as productive, neutral or unproductive, and tracks idle time.
Does Harvest have a client portal?
Harvest has a client dashboard where clients see outstanding invoices, recent payments and their outstanding balance, pay online through Stripe or PayPal and manage recurring payments. TimeMagick gives clients a project workspace instead: a Dashboard with project and task status, Projects, Timesheets, Report, Message Channels and Sensai.
Can both create recurring invoices?
Yes. Harvest generates recurring invoices from templates on a schedule, saved as drafts or, for free-form templates, sent automatically. In TimeMagick, you schedule a recurring invoice and choose when it becomes due; it then appears in TimeMagick and goes through the approval workflow.
Which has stronger invoicing?
Harvest is particularly mature in invoicing: online payments through Stripe and PayPal, retainers, automatically sent recurring invoices, payment reminders and QuickBooks Online and Xero integrations. TimeMagick can still be the stronger project-operations choice because its billing is connected to what comes before the invoice: billable-percentage approval, Project Billing's billable-versus-billed view, project execution and client profitability.
Can both track project profitability?
Yes. Harvest's Enterprise plan includes profitability reporting with revenue, cost, profit and margin by project and client. TimeMagick goes further into client relationships and the portfolio: Client Health, Retention %, Repeat Client %, Avg Cooperation, Falling Activity, Revenue Concentration, Uninvoiced Hours and Low-Profit Projects.
Which is better for agencies?
TimeMagick is the stronger fit when an agency wants project delivery, activity visibility, communication, client project access, billing and deeper profitability analytics inside one product. Harvest may suit an agency whose overriding requirement is invoicing with online payments, retainers and accounting integrations.
Which is better for engineering and design firms?
For engineering, CAD and design studios running many client projects against hour budgets, TimeMagick is the stronger fit: task-level time, a board and Gantt, resource planning, project channels, a client project workspace, billable-percentage approval and project and client profitability in one product. Harvest suits firms whose priority is invoicing, payments and accounting integrations.
Run the project, not just the timesheet
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