Harvest vs OtiumWork

the long-running professional-services tracker with strong invoicing

OtiumWork is built for Consulting firms Agencies In-house ops teams Multi-entity holding cos B2B SaaS finance teams Engineering shops
TL;DR: Harvest is genuinely strong at time + invoicing for single-entity firms. The wall hits when you have multiple legal entities, want HR + Legal in the same workspace, or need to track salesperson commissions and R&D credits. OtiumWork covers all of that, at 1/7 the price.

What is Harvest?

Harvest is a 16-year-old web app from Iridesce Inc, originally focused on consultants and small agencies. It pioneered the timer-from-toolbar pattern and remains one of the cleanest tools for time-to-invoice. Its sister product Forecast handles capacity planning. Both pair nicely with QuickBooks Online and Xero.

Where Harvest wins

  • Best-in-class invoicing UX with Stripe + bank-feed payment collection
  • QuickBooks + Xero accounting sync (both directions)
  • Project budgets + per-employee budget alerts
  • Forecast (sister product) for capacity planning
  • Strong customer support reputation

Where OtiumWork wins

  • AI-native by design: every module — timesheets, finance inbox, R&D classification, weekly digest, ask-anything assistant — is built on Claude AI, not a bolt-on add-on
  • Efficiency optimization engine: AI continuously analyzes your team's captured activity and surfaces concrete time-savings — meetings that could be async, repeated workflows ripe for automation, low-value tasks absorbing too much team time. Most platforms track work; OtiumWork helps you do less of it.
  • Multi-entity rollups: unlimited legal entities (any country, any base currency) consolidated in one workspace, with per-month FX rates
  • Live AR / AP dashboard with aging buckets (current / 30 / 60 / 90+) per entity AND consolidated
  • Built-in sales + CRM pipeline with tiered commission plans and per-payment accruals — no external CRM subscription required
  • US §41 R&D tax credit report with per-employee qualified-wages calculation + 65% contractor rule
  • AI mailbox scanner: extracts vendor bills + customer invoices from your finance@ inbox automatically
  • Embedded HR module: per-employee documents, key dates, certifications with expiry alerts, performance reviews, goals, 1:1 logs, salary history, disciplinary log, org chart, onboarding/offboarding checklists
  • Embedded Legal module: contracts, IP, insurance, compliance, litigation, GDPR/DSR — with 90-day expiry alerts
  • Accounting software sync per entity (QuickBooks Online live; Xero + Sage Intacct on roadmap)
  • Office suite integration: Microsoft 365 calendar + mailbox AI extraction (Google Workspace on roadmap)
  • CRM integration: built-in sales pipeline + deals; Salesforce / HubSpot bi-directional sync on roadmap
  • AI-assisted timesheet drafting from captured activity + meeting context
  • Per-employee module-access flags (Finance / HR / Legal independent of role)
  • Opt-in employee-reviewable activity capture: app + window title only, no screenshots, no keystrokes, no clipboard

Feature comparison

FeatureHarvestOtiumWork
Time tracking + invoicing ✓ ✓
Project budgets ✓ ✓
QuickBooks sync Single-entity Per-entity
Resource scheduling Forecast (separate $) ✓
Multi-entity (US + UK + India) × ✓
Live AR / AP aging AR only via invoices Both, with aging buckets
Sales pipeline + tiered commissions × ✓
R&D tax credit report × ✓
AI mailbox scanner for vendor bills × ✓
Embedded HR module × ✓
Embedded Legal module × ✓
Per-employee module-access flags × ✓

Price comparison

HarvestOtiumWork
Per active employee $13.75/mo (annual) Free during beta, then $1.99/mo
Forecast (capacity planning) Bundled with Pro Bundled (no extra cost)
Multi-entity surcharge Pay per workspace $0 — unlimited entities included
Annual commitment Required for advertised price None

Which one's right for you?

If you're: Solo consultant or 2-person studio invoicing US clients in USD only
→ Harvest is fine — premium product but well-built.
If you're: 10-person agency with US + UK office
→ Harvest forces you into separate workspaces (= separate accounts, separate invoices, no consolidated view). Switch to OtiumWork for native multi-entity.
If you're: Firm doing R&D tax credit work
→ Harvest has no R&D classification. OtiumWork has per-employee §41 wage credit reporting built in.
If you're: Firm where sales people earn commission
→ Harvest tracks billable hours, not deals. OtiumWork has full sales pipeline + tiered commission plans.

Frequently asked

Can I keep using QuickBooks?

Yes — OtiumWork has per-entity QuickBooks Online sync. Each business entity connects to its own QBO realm (Harvest is one realm per workspace).

Does OtiumWork import my Harvest data?

Yes — Harvest exports CSV reports for time entries, projects, clients, invoices, and expenses. Our importer maps all of these.

Will I lose Forecast (capacity planning) functionality?

No — OtiumWork has built-in capacity views (Team → Capacity, Scenario, Utilization). Same patterns as Forecast, no extra cost.

Can I still send branded invoices?

Today: invoice generation is roadmap (currently we sync to QBO and let QBO send). Direct branded invoicing from OtiumWork lands Q3 2026.

Is the price really $1.99 forever or is that a beta promo?

Beta = free; post-beta = $1.99/seat/month, no plan-tier upsell. We may add an Enterprise tier later for 100+ seats with SSO + custom SLAs, but the core $1.99 stays.

Try OtiumWork free during beta

OtiumWork is in public beta — that means free for unlimited users until you decide to subscribe. No credit card required to start. Once you subscribe, it's $1.99 per active employee seat per month, billed via Stripe. Cancel anytime from your billing page; you can export everything via /api/me/export. Beta users get direct access to the team — your feature requests genuinely shape the roadmap. Start your free workspace →

Start your free workspace →

Compare with another tool

OtiumWork vs Clockify → OtiumWork vs Toggl Track → OtiumWork vs Monday.com Work Management →