Tillage vs HarvestThe time tracking and invoicing alternative
Updated . Every Harvest fact links to its source.
Tillage
Harvest
Monthly price
$0, unlimited users, quotes and invoices
Free for 1 seat and 2 projects; $9–$14 per seat a month billed yearly, plus usage fees
Online payment fees
Your client can cover them
Through Stripe: 2.9% + 30¢ cards, 0.8% ACH capped at $5
Margin on quotes
Variance buffer and profit margin on every line
Cost rates and profitability reports, but no margin on estimates
The short answer
Harvest is time tracking with invoicing and expenses, built for teams that bill by the hour. Since its 2025 sale to Bending Spoons, it charges per seat plus usage fees for projects, clients, tasks and invoices. Tillage is free invoicing for agencies, with quotes that protect your margin, contracts from approved quotes and payment schedules that issue every invoice. If timesheets are the heart of your business, Harvest still leads. If quoting and getting paid matter more, Tillage costs nothing and does more of it.
Choose Tillage if
- YesYou want $0/month instead of per-seat plus usage fees
- YesYou quote fixed-fee or milestone projects and need contracts
- YesYou’re tired of duplicating invoices for every payment schedule
Choose Harvest if
- YesDetailed time tracking and timesheet approvals are essential
- YesYou bill mostly time and materials from tracked hours
- YesYou need utilization and capacity reporting across a team
Tillage vs Harvest, feature by feature
| Feature | Tillage | Harvest |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | Yes$0, unlimited users, quotes and invoices | PartlyFree for 1 seat and 2 projects; $9–$14 per seat a month billed yearly, plus usage fees |
| Online payment fees | YesStripe 2.9% + 30¢ (cards) or 0.8% capped at $5 (ACH), plus 1% capped at $50 per invoice | YesThrough Stripe: 2.9% + 30¢ cards, 0.8% ACH capped at $5 |
| Pass fees to clients | YesBoth Stripe and platform fees, set team-wide | NoNo fee pass-through found |
| Quotes and estimates | YesHours × rate, or itemized with units and sections | YesEstimates clients accept online, then convert to invoices |
| Variance and profit margin on quotes | YesVariance buffer and profit margin on every line | NoCost rates and profitability reports, but no margin on estimates |
| Contracts with e-signatures | YesGenerated from approved quotes | NoNo contracts or e-signatures |
| Deposits and milestone payment schedules | YesPercentages triggered by signing, dates or milestones | PartlyRetainers drawn down over time; no milestone schedules |
| Recurring invoices and retainers | YesWeekly, monthly, quarterly, every six months or yearly | YesFree-form or time and materials, with Stripe autopay |
| Client pages with no login | YesSecure links to approve, sign and pay | PartlyWeb invoices and estimates by link; no client portal |
| Time tracking | NoNot a time tracker | YesThe core product: timers, timesheets and approvals |
| Full accounting and bookkeeping | NoUse alongside your accounting software | NoSyncs to your accounting software instead |
| QuickBooks or Xero sync | NoComing soon: QuickBooks Online, Xero, Mercury and Puzzle | YesQuickBooks Online and Xero on Teams and above |
| AI quote drafting | YesDrafts line items, hours and rates with your OpenAI or Claude key | NoNo AI quoting found |
| Claude and ChatGPT through MCP | YesQuotes, contracts and invoices | YesOfficial MCP server; creates draft invoices only |
Harvest pricing
Harvest bills usage on top of seats, either per item above an allowance (Flex) or as a fixed fee (Unlimited). It doesn’t publish the per-unit rates. In its own example, a bill went from $44 for seats to $404 with usage.
- Free
- $01 seat, 2 active projects, no logo or QuickBooks, must connect Stripe to send invoices
- Teams
- $9/seat/mo billed yearly, or $11 monthlyPlus usage fees for projects, clients, tasks and invoices
- Enterprise
- $14/seat/mo billed yearly, or $17.50 monthlyAdds profitability reports, approvals, SSO. Plus usage fees
- Enterprise Plus
- Custom
- Tillage, for comparison
- $0/month with unlimited users1% when paid online, capped at $50 per invoice. Your client can cover it. See pricing
Where Harvest is better
No tool is right for everyone. Here is where it may suit you better.
Best-in-class time tracking
One-click timers, desktop and mobile apps, timesheet approvals, and invoices built from tracked time and expenses.
Team reporting
Utilization, capacity and budgets, plus profitability by client, project and person on Enterprise.
Mature integrations
QuickBooks Online, Xero, Stripe, Asana, Slack and an official MCP server.
Retainer draw-down
Collect a retainer up front and draw it down as you bill time and materials.
Where Tillage is better for agencies
$0 with no usage fees
Harvest now charges per seat plus fees for active projects, clients, tasks and invoices. Tillage is free with unlimited users, clients and invoices.
Payment schedules without duplicating invoices
Harvest has no milestone schedules, so a 50/25/25 project means copying invoices by hand. In Tillage, one schedule issues each invoice on signing, a date or a milestone.
Quotes and contracts
Harvest estimates have no margin controls, and Harvest has no contracts or e-signatures. Tillage adds variance and profit margin to every line and turns approved quotes into signed contracts.
Clients can cover the fees
We found no way to pass processing fees to clients in Harvest. Tillage lets each client cover Stripe and platform fees.
Recent Harvest changes
Mid-2025
Harvest agreed to be acquired by Bending Spoons. Reports differ on the exact close date.
2026
Harvest moved from flat per-seat pricing to seat prices plus usage fees. Many annual customers saw the change at renewal in summer 2026. The BBC and others reported increases of more than 1,500% for some teams. Bending Spoons said its prices are in line with comparable products.
Switching from Harvest
- 1
Connect your Harvest account with an access token and import clients, contacts and invoices into Tillage, with duplicate detection.
- 2
Let Tillage detect recurring invoices in your Harvest history and set them up as retainers.
- 3
Turn your usual deposit and milestone split into a Tillage payment schedule template.
- 4
Keep Harvest for time tracking if your team relies on it, and move quoting, contracts and invoicing to Tillage.
Related guides and tools
Migrate from Harvest
A step-by-step guide to moving your clients and invoices over.
Import from Harvest
Connect Harvest and sync clients, contacts and invoice history.
Harvest’s 2026 price increase
What the numbers show, by team size.
Invoicing software for agencies
Quotes, contracts and payment schedules in one free tool.
Sources
Checked Oct 7, 2026. Pricing and features change, so if something here is out of date, email support@tillage.ai and we will fix it.
- Harvest pricing
- Harvest pricing plans and usage fees
- Harvest Free plan limits
- Harvest online payments
- Harvest Stripe and PayPal rates
- Harvest retainers and recurring invoices
- Accepting and declining estimates
- Harvest MCP
- Harvest pricing change sends some renewals up 1,500% (Subscription Insider)
- Harvest price shock (Silicon UK)
- Tillage: Harvest’s 2026 price increase data study
Tillage vs Harvest questions
Why did Harvest’s pricing change?
After agreeing to be acquired by Bending Spoons in 2025, Harvest moved from flat per-seat pricing to seat prices plus usage fees for projects, clients, tasks and invoices. Read our Harvest 2026 price increase data study for what it costs by team size.
Does Tillage track time?
No. Tillage is for quoting, contracts, invoicing and payments. Teams that depend on Harvest timesheets often keep Harvest for time and use Tillage for billing.
Can I import my Harvest data?
Yes, Tillage imports Harvest clients, contacts and invoices with an access token, detects recurring invoice patterns and sets them up as retainers.
Is Tillage really free compared to Harvest?
Yes. Tillage is $0/month with unlimited users. Its 1% platform fee applies only to online payments, is capped at $50 per invoice, and your client can cover it.
