Harvest vs OnTheClock: Full Comparison
Harvest ties time tracking straight to client invoicing, for agencies that bill by the hour. OnTheClock is a time clock for hourly staff, with GPS and PTO.
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Our quick verdict on both tools
Pick Harvest if you bill clients by the hour and want time tracking, budgets, and invoicing in one place. Pick OnTheClock if you run hourly staff and want clock in verification, PTO tracking, and scheduling included at the base price, without paying more for GPS.
Start tracking freeWhat this comparison covers
Harvest and OnTheClock are both time tracking tools, compared here side by side so you can see how they differ.
If neither tool fits, TimeTracker is worth a look too. It ties tracked hours straight to project budgets, approvals, and client invoices instead of treating billing and attendance as separate problems.
Compare the two products at a glance
Both tools solve time tracking. Here is what each one includes, side by side.
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
OnTheClock
GPS tracking, geofencing, and PTO accrual come standard on the base plan, features most rivals gate behind higher tiers.
- Best for
- Small businesses that want a simple time clock with GPS, PTO, and scheduling included at the base tier.
- Pricing
- No free plan, 30-day trial. $4 per employee a month plus a $5 monthly base fee, so 2 employees is $13 a month. Payroll adds $6 per employee plus a $40 base fee, and a one-time $250 onboarding fee.
- GPS tracking and geofencing
- Biometric and IP punch verification
- PTO and leave tracking with accruals
- Drag-and-drop employee scheduling
- Project and job costing
- Tips, bonus, commission tracking
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 Harvest when…
You bill clients by the hour and want to send an invoice without switching tools.
Harvest turns a timesheet into a client invoice in a few clicks, with online payments through Stripe or PayPal built in.See how
You already run your books in QuickBooks or Xero and want time data to sync automatically.
Harvest's two-way sync keeps invoices and payments lined up with your accounting software without manual re-entry.See how
You need to see if a project is on budget while it is still running, not after it ends.
Project budget and profitability reports show planned hours against real hours, so you catch scope creep before it eats the margin.See how
You track expenses on a project and want them billed alongside the hours.
An expense can ride on the same invoice as tracked time, so a client sees one clean bill instead of two.See how
You want a single free user account to try invoicing before rolling it out to a team.
Harvest's free plan covers one user, enough to test the invoicing workflow before you pay for seats.See how
You need time tracking that plugs into the project tools your team already uses.
Harvest connects to 70 plus apps, including Asana, Trello, and Jira, so hours log against work already planned there.See how
You want reports that show which clients are actually profitable.
Utilization and profitability reports roll cost and price up by client, so it is clear which accounts pay off.See how
Choose OnTheClock when…
You run hourly staff and want GPS and geofencing without paying for a higher tier.
OnTheClock includes GPS tracking and geofencing at its base price, where Harvest has no location tracking at all.See how
You need to stop buddy punching with biometric or IP-based verification.
Biometric and IP punch verification confirm who is actually clocking in, which a client-invoicing timer is not built to check.See how
You track PTO accrual and leave balances alongside worked hours.
PTO and leave tracking with accruals come standard on OnTheClock's base plan, not something Harvest offers.See how
You need drag-and-drop scheduling for hourly shifts, not just a timer.
Built-in scheduling lets a manager build and adjust shifts in the same place staff clock in, which Harvest does not offer.See how
You track tips, bonuses, or commissions on top of hourly wages.
Tip, bonus, and commission tracking cover pay details a client-billing tool like Harvest is not built to handle.See how
You want project or job costing tied to hourly labor, with a clean payroll export.
Job costing rolls hourly labor up by project, then exports cleanly to payroll instead of a client invoicing flow.See how
You want the whole tool to stay simple for staff who just need to punch in and out.
A clean, intuitive dashboard needs little training, which matters for a team that is not billing clients at all.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
Leave and PTO Tracking
Track leave balances and accruals alongside the hours your team logs.
Explore→Invoicing from Tracked Time
Turn approved hours into a client invoice without copying numbers by hand.
Explore→Non-Billable Time Tracking
Track internal hours without turning attendance into a billing project.
Explore→
Frequently asked questions
- Is Harvest cheaper than OnTheClock?
- It depends on team size. Harvest's Teams plan runs about $9 a user a month billed annually, while OnTheClock charges about $4 an employee a month plus a $5 base fee. See how billing plans compare on the billing page.
- Does Harvest include GPS tracking like OnTheClock does?
- No. Harvest has no location tracking at any tier. OnTheClock includes GPS tracking and geofencing on its base plan, which matters for a team doing time tracking by task across job sites and needs location proof from day one.
- Which tool handles PTO and leave better?
- OnTheClock wins here. PTO and leave accruals are part of its base plan, useful for leave and PTO tracking. Harvest does not track time off at all; it focuses on billable hours and invoicing.
- Does OnTheClock send invoices to clients like Harvest does?
- No. OnTheClock is built for attendance and payroll exports, not client billing. Harvest's whole workflow is built around invoicing from tracked time, with online payments through Stripe or PayPal built in.
- Which tool is better for billing clients by the hour?
- Harvest fits billing better. It ties time to projects and clients and turns approved hours into a sent invoice, which supports billable hours tracking. OnTheClock is built around hourly staff attendance, not client billing.
- Can OnTheClock stop buddy punching?
- Yes. Biometric and IP-based punch verification confirm who is actually clocking in, which supports audit trail and compliance needs. Harvest does not offer the same identity checks at any tier.
- Which tool has more integrations?
- Harvest wins here. It connects to 70 plus apps, including Asana, Trello, and Jira, so hours log against time tracking by task already planned there. OnTheClock leans more on payroll exports than third-party app connections.
- Does Harvest offer employee scheduling like OnTheClock?
- Not directly. Harvest focuses on timers, budgets, and invoicing, not shift building. OnTheClock includes drag-and-drop scheduling, which supports capacity planning for hourly teams working shifts.
- Is OnTheClock enough for a team that does not bill clients at all?
- Yes, often. If you just need clock in and out, PTO, and scheduling with no client billing, OnTheClock covers that well, similar to non-billable time tracking on Harvest, but with attendance features built in from the start.
- What if neither Harvest nor OnTheClock fits my team?
- Both tools are worth trying, but they are not the only options. Our OnTheClock alternatives page lists more time tracking and attendance tools side by side, including TimeTracker, which ties tracked hours to project budgets and invoices.
Still deciding between the two?
Harvest and OnTheClock solve different problems: client billing versus staff attendance. See if TimeTracker's budgets and invoicing fit better.
Compare more tools