Paymo vs Harvest: Which Is Better for Tracking Time You Bill For in 2026?

Harvest is the better choice if billing is the main job: one-click timers and timesheets feed invoices with online payments, and it connects to QuickBooks and Xero. Paymo wins for a solo freelancer on a budget ($5.9 a month billed annually), for Linux, or if you want Paymo Track to record desktop app time automatically. Dayflow, ours, records what you did but does not invoice.

Harvest and Paymo both turn tracked hours into invoices, but they start from different places. Harvest is a timer-and-timesheet tool built around billing, expenses and team reporting. Paymo is a project management app with time tracking and invoicing inside it, plus a desktop app, Paymo Track, that can record time in desktop apps automatically.

Disclosure: Dayflow, the third option in the tables below, is our product. It is a free, MIT-licensed Mac app that records your screen and has AI write your day into a timeline. It does not send invoices, which matters a lot for this job. The method here is a comparison of each vendor’s own pricing and product pages as checked on October 4, 2026, and Dayflow’s published facts for version 2.2.0.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	How it tracks	Price	Platforms
Paymo	Small firms and solo freelancers who want projects, time and invoices in one app	Stopwatch timer, manual and bulk timesheet entries, Pomodoro timer; Paymo Track can record desktop app time automatically	Free (1 user); Solo $5.9/month billed annually or $9.9/month billed monthly; Plus $10.9/user/month annually; Pro $16.9/user/month annually	Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
Harvest	Freelancers and teams that invoice hours and need team and accounting reports	One-click timers, daily and weekly timesheets, connected calendar	Free (1 seat, 2 projects); Teams $9/seat/month billed annually or $11 monthly; Enterprise $14/seat/month billed annually	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions
Dayflow (ours)	Seeing what you actually worked on, on a Mac	Records the screen; AI writes a timeline	$0 (MIT); optional Pro at $20/month	macOS 14 or later

Key takeaways

• For invoicing a client, Harvest is the more billing-focused tool. It invoices from tracked time with online payments, tracks expenses, and lists accounting integrations such as QuickBooks and Xero.
• For one person on a budget, Paymo is cheaper. Paymo Solo is $5.9 a month billed annually ($70.80 a year). Harvest’s smallest paid plan is Teams at $108 per seat a year.
• Paymo is the only one of the two with automatic capture. Paymo Track records time in desktop apps in the background, stores it locally, and lets you decide what gets logged. Harvest relies on timers, timesheets and your calendar.
• Harvest is stronger for teams. Team reporting is a core feature, and Enterprise adds timesheet approvals and profitability reporting.
• Dayflow is not a billing tool. It has no invoicing, payroll, team reports or website blocking. It is a record of your Mac day you can check against a timesheet.

What Paymo does better

It catches time you forgot to start a timer for. This is the most practical difference for billable work. A forgotten timer is unbilled money. Paymo Track can run in the background and record time spent in desktop apps, which you then match to tasks and projects. Paymo says these automatically recorded activities are stored locally on your computer, and you choose which entries get logged. It does this without screenshots. Harvest lists no equivalent.

It is a project management tool, not just a timesheet. Paymo pairs time tracking with tasks, Kanban boards, Gantt charts, scheduling and leave planning on its higher plans. If you are an agency or small studio running client projects, that can replace a separate project tool. Paymo names consulting, creative and marketing, and architecture firms as its audience.

It covers more desktop platforms. Paymo lists desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus iOS and Android. Harvest lists no Linux app.

It has a cheaper paid tier for one person. Paymo’s Solo plan exists specifically for a single user, at $5.9 a month billed annually or $9.9 a month billed monthly. Harvest’s paid plans are priced per seat starting with Teams.

It does estimates. Paymo lists invoicing, estimates and expenses together. If you quote work before you bill it, that keeps the quote and the invoice in the same place.

More tracking styles. Stopwatch, manual interval entries, bulk timesheet entries and a Pomodoro timer are all listed. If you like working in timed blocks, the Pomodoro option is built in.

The tradeoffs: the free plan caps you at one client, two projects and 1GB of storage, and integrations and API access only start on the Plus plan. If you want Paymo to talk to other software, budget for Plus.

What Harvest does better

Billing is the center of the product. Harvest’s own pitch is to track, analyze and invoice time. It invoices from tracked hours with online payments, so a client can pay from the invoice. Expense tracking sits next to it.

Accounting integrations. Harvest lists integrations with accounting software such as QuickBooks and Xero. If your bookkeeper lives in one of those, Harvest fits into the existing flow more directly. The facts checked here do not say which Harvest plan each integration requires, so confirm on Harvest’s pricing page before you buy.

Team reporting and approvals. Harvest lists team reporting as a strength, and its Enterprise plan adds profitability reporting and timesheet approvals. For a firm where a manager signs off hours before they go to a client, that is the feature that decides it.

Calendar-based tracking. Harvest can track time from a connected calendar. If most of your billable work is meetings and calls, that turns your calendar into a draft timesheet.

Browser extensions. Harvest lists browser extensions among its platforms, which lets you start a timer from inside web tools you already use.

A longer trial. Harvest’s trial is 30 days with no credit card. Paymo’s is 15 days, also with no card.

Two things to know before you commit. Harvest’s site footer reads Bending Spoons Operations S.p.A., so it is now owned by Bending Spoons. And the pricing page names the paid plans Teams and Enterprise while its FAQ still mentions “pro” and “premium” plans, so read the plan details carefully.

Head-to-head table

Capability	Paymo	Harvest	Dayflow (ours)
Automatic capture	Yes, Paymo Track records desktop app time for you to match to tasks	None listed	Yes, records the screen and builds an AI timeline
Manual timers and timesheets	Stopwatch, manual and bulk timesheet entries, Pomodoro	One-click timers, daily and weekly timesheets, calendar tracking	Not the model; it builds a timeline instead
Invoicing	Yes, plus estimates and expenses	Yes, with online payments, plus expenses	No
Team reports	Multi-user Plus and Pro plans; see the vendor’s pricing page for reporting details	Team reporting; profitability reports and timesheet approvals on Enterprise	No
Website blocking	Not listed	Not listed	No
AI summaries	None stated	None listed	Yes; can miss or misinterpret work
Data location	Cloud account; Paymo Track activity stored locally until you log it; server location not stated	Cloud web service	Recordings and timeline on your Mac; analysis local or cloud depending on mode
Free tier	1 user, 1 client, 2 projects, 1GB storage	1 seat, 2 projects	Free app at $0
Platforms	Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android	Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, browser extensions	macOS 14 or later
Open source	No	No	Yes, MIT

Pricing compared: how much does each cost per year?

Plan	Paymo	Harvest	Dayflow (ours)
Free	$0, 1 user	$0 forever, 1 seat, 2 projects	$0, MIT licensed
Entry paid	Solo: $5.9/month billed annually, or $9.9/month billed monthly; 1 user	Teams: $9/seat/month ($108/seat billed annually), or $11/seat/month billed monthly	Pro: $20/month (optional)
Mid tier	Plus: $10.9/user/month billed annually, or $15.9 billed monthly	Enterprise: $14/seat/month ($168/seat billed annually), or $17.50 billed monthly	-
Top tier	Pro: $16.9/user/month billed annually, or $23.9 billed monthly	Enterprise Plus: custom pricing	-
Trial	15 days, no card	30 days, no card	-

Paymo’s monthly prices above are the regular rates. On October 4, 2026 Paymo ran a time-limited offer for new monthly customers: the annual-rate price for the first three months, then the regular monthly price. Harvest shows its prices as “starting from.”

What one freelancer pays per year. If your work fits in two projects, both free plans cost $0, though Paymo’s also limits you to one client. Most freelancers billing several clients will outgrow that quickly. On the cheapest paid plan for one person:

• Paymo Solo, annual billing: $5.9 × 12 = $70.80 a year.
• Paymo Solo, monthly billing: $9.9 × 12 = $118.80 a year at the regular rate. The current offer lowers the first three months; see Paymo’s pricing page for what that does to your first year.
• Harvest Teams, annual billing: $108 a year per seat.
• Harvest Teams, monthly billing: $11 × 12 = $132 a year.

So Paymo Solo is the cheaper paid option on annual billing. That advantage disappears if you need Paymo’s integrations or API, which start on Plus at $10.9 × 12 = $130.80 a year. Then Harvest Teams at $108 is cheaper. For a team, Harvest Teams ($108 per seat a year) also undercuts Paymo Plus ($130.80 per user a year), while Paymo Pro ($202.80) and Harvest Enterprise ($168) are the step up for heavier reporting and project features.

Dayflow is $0 for the app. Pro at $20 a month is $240 a year, which is more than either competitor’s entry plan and still sends no invoices. If you use your own AI provider instead, that provider’s charges apply. Either way, it is a different purchase from a billing tool.

The cheaper subscription matters less than the hours you never record. If you want to see what untracked time does to your effective rate, the real hourly rate calculator does that arithmetic for you.

When to choose Paymo

• You are a solo freelancer and want the lowest paid price: Solo at $70.80 a year on annual billing.
• You regularly forget to start timers and want the desktop app to record app time in the background, with the records kept locally until you approve them.
• You run client projects and want tasks, Kanban, Gantt charts and scheduling in the same tool as invoices and estimates.
• You work on Linux, or across Linux and Mac.
• You do not need accounting integrations, or you are happy paying for Plus to get them.

When to choose Harvest

• Getting paid is the main job, and you want invoices with online payments built from your tracked hours.
• Your accountant or bookkeeper works in QuickBooks or Xero.
• You manage a team and need team reporting, or on Enterprise, timesheet approvals and profitability reports before hours reach a client.
• Much of your billable time is on your calendar, and calendar-based tracking saves you entering it twice.
• You want a 30-day trial to run a full billing cycle before paying.

Where both fall short: what happens to the hours you forget?

The gap for billable work is the hour that never makes it onto a timesheet. Harvest depends on you starting a timer, filling in a timesheet, or having the work on your calendar. Anything outside those, like a quick fix for a client between meetings, has to come from memory at the end of the week.

Paymo Track closes part of that gap by recording desktop app time automatically. But what it gives you is time in apps, which you still have to match to tasks and projects yourself. Neither tool lists any AI feature, so neither will describe what you were actually doing in that hour in words you could put on an invoice line.

This is the gap Dayflow is built for, on a Mac. It records your screen and has AI write the day into a readable timeline, so when you sit down to fill in Harvest or Paymo, you can read what you worked on instead of guessing. You can export a date range as Markdown from Settings, then Export, and use it to fill in hours; the export workflow and the guide to a Mac timesheet without manual entry walk through it. Dayflow still does not invoice, so you would run it beside your billing tool, not instead of it.

Two cautions for billing. AI summaries can miss or misinterpret work, so check the timeline before any hours go to a client. And client work often means confidential screens. Dayflow keeps full recordings and the timeline on your Mac. With Local AI through Ollama or LM Studio, screenshot analysis stays on-device too. If you choose your own cloud provider or Dayflow Pro, selected screenshots are processed off-device; under the privacy policy, Pro deletes screenshots after processing and may retain activity data for sync. The details are in local and cloud processing.

If you are comparing more broadly than these two, our roundup of Mac time trackers covers the other approaches.

Where Dayflow is the wrong pick: when should you use something else?

Be direct with yourself about the job. For tracking time you bill for, Dayflow is a supporting tool at best, and in several cases the wrong one:

• You need to send invoices or take payments. Dayflow has no invoicing. Harvest wins if billing and accounting sync are the priority; Paymo wins if you also want estimates and project management.
• You need timesheet approvals or team reports. Dayflow has neither. Harvest Enterprise lists approvals and profitability reporting.
• You work on Windows or Linux, or need a phone app. Dayflow runs on macOS 14 or later only. Paymo covers Windows, Linux, iOS and Android; Harvest covers Windows, iOS, Android and the web.
• You need billable hours that are exact to the minute without review. Dayflow’s AI timeline can miss or misinterpret work. A Harvest timer you start and stop yourself is a cleaner record for a client dispute.
• You do not want your screen recorded at all. Paymo Track’s automatic tracking records desktop app time without screenshots. Harvest’s timers record nothing about your screen.
• You are on an older Mac. If you cannot run macOS 14, Dayflow will not install. Harvest and Paymo both have Mac apps and web apps.

Where Dayflow does earn a place is the week where your Harvest timesheet has holes and you cannot remember what filled them. For that, see how to remember what you worked on.

The bottom line: is Paymo or Harvest better for billable hours?

If the job is tracking time you bill for, pick the tool that is best at the billing end. For most freelancers and teams invoicing hours, that is Harvest: invoices with online payments, expenses, accounting integrations, team reports and, on Enterprise, approvals. It costs $108 per seat a year on the Teams plan.

Pick Paymo if you work alone and want the cheapest paid plan ($70.80 a year on Solo, billed annually), if you run client projects and want tasks and Gantt charts in the same app, if you work on Linux, or if forgotten timers are costing you money and you want Paymo Track recording desktop app time in the background.

Dayflow, ours, sits outside that decision. It will not invoice anyone. If you bill from a Mac and keep losing hours between timers, it can give you a written record of the day to check your timesheet against, at $0 for the app.

Frequently asked questions

Is Paymo cheaper than Harvest for one person?

Yes, on paid plans. Paymo Solo is $5.9 a month billed annually, or $70.80 a year, for one user. Harvest's smallest paid plan, Teams, is $9 per seat a month billed annually, which is $108 a year. On monthly billing, Paymo Solo is $9.9 a month after a three-month offer and Harvest Teams is $11 a month. Both also have free plans capped at two projects.

Does Harvest track time automatically?

Not in the sense of recording your activity. Harvest lists one-click timers, daily and weekly timesheets, and tracking from a connected calendar. No automatic activity capture is listed on its pages. If you forget to start a timer and the work was not on your calendar, you have to reconstruct it from memory before it can go on a timesheet or invoice.

Can Paymo track time automatically on a Mac?

Yes. Paymo Track is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that can run in the background and record time spent in desktop apps. You then match those records to tasks and projects. Paymo says these automatically recorded activities are stored locally on your computer and you control which entries get logged to your account. It does this without screenshots.

Which free plan is better for freelancers, Paymo or Harvest?

Both free plans cover one person and two projects with time tracking and invoicing. Paymo's free plan also caps you at one client and 1GB of storage, but includes unlimited time tracking, tasks and invoices plus the desktop and mobile apps. Harvest's free plan adds expense tracking. If you bill more than one client, Paymo's free tier runs out sooner.

Can Dayflow replace Harvest or Paymo for billing clients?

No. Dayflow does not create invoices, handle payments, run payroll approvals or produce team reports. For billing, Harvest or Paymo is the better tool. Harvest invoices from tracked time with online payments and connects to accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero. Paymo invoices too, and adds estimates and expenses. Dayflow is useful beside them, as a record of what you actually did.

Does Harvest have a Linux app?

Harvest lists Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and browser extensions as its platforms. No Linux desktop app is listed, so on Linux you would work through the web app. Paymo does list a Linux desktop app, alongside Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, which makes it the more direct fit if you bill from a Linux machine.

Who owns Harvest in 2026?

Harvest's site footer reads Bending Spoons Operations S.p.A., so Harvest is now owned by Bending Spoons. The current pricing page names its paid plans Teams and Enterprise, while its pricing FAQ still refers to older pro and premium plan names. Prices are shown in USD as starting from figures, so confirm the exact plan on the vendor's page before you buy.

Which is better for a team that needs timesheet approvals?

Harvest. Its Enterprise plan, at $14 per seat a month billed annually, lists timesheet approvals and profitability reporting, and Harvest offers team reporting and accounting integrations. Paymo's multi-user Plus and Pro plans add project tools such as Kanban, Gantt charts, scheduling and leave planning, but approvals are not listed in the facts checked here. See each vendor's pricing page for current details.

Can I use Dayflow alongside Harvest or Paymo?

Yes, as separate tools. Dayflow records your Mac screen and has AI write a timeline of your day, which you can read back when filling a Harvest or Paymo timesheet. You can export a date range as Markdown from Settings, then Export. No direct integration with either tool is claimed here, and AI summaries can miss or misread work, so check before billing.

Where do Paymo and Harvest store my time data?

Both are cloud services. Harvest is a web service with desktop and mobile apps. Paymo stores account data in the cloud, but says activities recorded automatically by Paymo Track stay on your computer until you choose which entries to log. Neither server location is stated on the pages checked. Dayflow keeps recordings and its timeline on your Mac, with optional cloud analysis.