Buddy Punch vs Harvest: Full Comparison
Buddy Punch is a time clock for hourly and field staff, with GPS and photo punch. Harvest bills clients, turning tracked hours into an invoice.
Free to start. No credit card needed.
Our quick verdict on both tools
Pick Buddy Punch if your staff clock in and out by the hour and you need GPS, photo punch, or shift scheduling to prove where and when work happened. Pick Harvest if you bill clients by the hour and want tracked time, expenses, and invoices to flow into one payable bill.
Start tracking freeWhat this comparison covers
Buddy Punch and Harvest are both time tracking tools, compared here side by side so you can see how they differ.
If neither tool fits, TimeTracker is a third option worth a look for teams that want project budgets and client invoicing tied to the same tracked hours.
Compare the two products at a glance
Both tools solve time tracking. Here is what each one includes, side by side.
Buddy Punch
An easy time clock with a lot of ways to prove who punched: GPS on every punch, plus geofencing, PIN and kiosk punching and a webcam photo from the Pro tier up.
- Best for
- Small and mid-size hourly or field workforces that want an easy time clock with GPS and scheduling.
- Pricing
- No free plan, 14-day trial only. Billed annually: Starter $4.99, Pro $6.99, Advanced $12.99 per user a month, each plus a $19 monthly base fee. Extras are sold per user on top.
- Punch in/out from web, mobile, or kiosk
- GPS coordinates on every punch
- Geofencing, PIN and kiosk punching (Pro)
- Webcam photo on punch (Pro)
- Scheduling, included from Pro
- PTO accrual and approvals
Harvest
Ties time tracking directly to invoicing: timesheets turn into client invoices with one click, built around the agency billing workflow.
- Best for
- Small to mid-size agencies and consultancies that bill clients hourly and want invoicing built in.
- Pricing
- Free for 1 seat and 2 projects. Paid from $9/seat/mo ($108/seat billed annually) and $14/seat/mo ($168 annually), both with unlimited seats. Harvest's pricing page notes that some features carry usage fees. 30-day trial.
- One-click timers and weekly timesheets
- Auto-converts time and expenses into invoices
- Online payments via Stripe and PayPal
- Two-way sync with QuickBooks and Xero
- Project budgets and profitability reports
- 70+ integrations (Asana, Trello, Jira)
- Free plan for a single user
See how they stack up
Pricing, best fit, and top strengths for both tools, side by side.
Pricing checked 2026-07-30. Confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.
Which one fits your team
Choose Buddy Punch when…
Your staff clock in and out and you need proof of where they were.
GPS tracking and geofencing show where a punch happened, useful for field crews or multiple job sites.See how
You want a photo taken at clock-in to confirm who punched in.
Photo capture on punch adds a simple identity check without extra hardware, built into every plan.See how
You need to build and share shift schedules for hourly staff.
Drag-and-drop scheduling is part of the same product, so shifts and punches live in one place instead of two tools.See how
You want staff to clock in from a shared device at a job site or storefront.
Punching in works from web, mobile, or a kiosk, so a shared tablet at one location can cover a whole shift crew.See how
You track PTO accrual and need approvals tied to the same system as punches.
PTO accrual and approvals sit next to the time clock, so time off and worked hours show up on one timesheet.See how
You want a lower starting price for a team that just needs a time clock.
Buddy Punch's entry plan starts lower per user than Harvest's, though a flat base fee applies on top.See how
Choose Harvest when…
You bill clients by the hour and want to send an invoice with the fewest clicks.
Harvest turns a tracked timesheet straight into a client invoice, so billing takes one workflow instead of exporting hours somewhere else.See how
You want clients to pay their invoice online without a separate step.
Harvest accepts payment through Stripe and PayPal right on the invoice, so a client can pay the moment they see the bill.See how
You already run your books in QuickBooks or Xero and want hours to sync automatically.
Harvest keeps a two-way sync with QuickBooks and Xero, so invoiced hours line up with your accounting without manual entry.See how
You want to see if a project is on budget while the work is still running.
Harvest's project budget and profitability reports show planned hours against actual hours, so a losing project shows up before the invoice goes out.See how
You track billable expenses alongside hours on the same client project.
Harvest lets you attach an expense to a project and roll it into the same invoice as the tracked time, no separate spreadsheet needed.See how
Your team tracks work by project and task, not just by shift.
Harvest's timesheets tie hours to a client and project, which fits project-based billing better than a straight punch clock does.See how
Popular features
Employee time tracking your team will actually use
One click starts a timer, or people type hours in by hand. Every entry ties to a client, project, and task, so the record stays clean.
Explore Time Tracking→Bill for every hour you earn
Mark each entry billable or non-billable while you work. Approved hours roll straight into reports you can bill from.
Explore Billing→See where the time really goes
Break hours down by client, project, and team member. Find the work that pays off and the projects that run over.
Explore Reports & Dashboards→Use cases this solves
Invoicing From Tracked Time
Turn approved hours into a client invoice without re-entering numbers.
Explore→Project Profitability
See if a project is still making money while the work is still going on.
Explore→Timesheet Approvals
Let a manager sign off on hours before they turn into a bill or a payout.
Explore→
Frequently asked questions
- Is Buddy Punch cheaper than Harvest?
- Buddy Punch's per-user price starts lower, around $4.49 a user a month, but it adds a flat base fee on top. Harvest starts around $9 to $11 a seat a month with no separate base fee. See the billing page for how billing plans usually compare.
- Which tool is better for sending client invoices?
- Harvest wins here by a wide margin. It turns a timesheet into an invoice with one click and takes online payment through Stripe or PayPal. See how invoicing from tracked time works. Buddy Punch does not build client invoicing into the product at all.
- Does Buddy Punch have GPS tracking?
- Yes. Buddy Punch shows GPS location and geofencing on a live map, which helps confirm where a punch happened for time tracking on field or multi-site teams. Harvest does not offer GPS or geofencing.
- Can Harvest do scheduling like Buddy Punch does?
- No, not natively. Buddy Punch has drag-and-drop scheduling built in, useful for planning shift-based time tracking. Harvest focuses on tracking hours against a project, not building a shift roster.
- Which tool shows project profitability better?
- Harvest, clearly. It compares budget to actual hours per project so you can see project profit as the work happens. Buddy Punch is built around attendance, not project financials.
- Does Harvest sync with QuickBooks or Xero?
- Yes, Harvest keeps a two-way sync with both, so invoiced hours match your accounting without manual entry. This falls under billing. Buddy Punch does not offer the same accounting sync depth.
- Can I track billable expenses in either tool?
- Harvest lets you attach an expense to a project and bill it with the tracked hours, see billable expenses. Buddy Punch is focused on attendance and does not include project expense tracking.
- Which tool is easier to learn for a new hourly team?
- Buddy Punch is built for exactly this and is rated highly for ease of use on G2 and Capterra. A shift worker can start punching in on day one with almost no training on the time tracking basics. Harvest takes a bit more setup since it ties hours to projects and clients from the start.
- Does Buddy Punch handle timesheet approvals?
- Yes, Buddy Punch supports approvals alongside PTO accrual, so a manager can review timesheet approvals before hours are finalized. Harvest supports approvals too, tied more closely to the invoice that follows.
- What if neither Buddy Punch nor Harvest fits my business?
- Both are solid at what they do, a time clock for hourly staff and a billing tool for client work. If you need both project budgets and client invoicing tied to the same hours, TimeTracker is worth a look. Our alternatives page covers more tools to weigh beyond this one comparison.
Still weighing your options?
Buddy Punch and Harvest solve different problems well. See how TimeTracker handles budgets, approvals, and invoicing together instead.
See TimeTracker