Harvest's new pricing lands at renewal, so if your bill hasn't jumped yet, it's still coming. Either way, solo freelancers have been paying for a team tool's worth of features they never asked for - this is a good moment to switch.
Full disclosure: I built TallyHo, so I’m obviously not a neutral party here. I’ll do my best to be straight with you about where TallyHo is a good fit and where it isn’t.
Harvest was acquired by Bending Spoons in 2025, and in 2026 it restructured its pricing: instead of a flat per-seat fee, you now pay a base rate plus usage charges once you go over your plan’s included invoices, projects, clients and tasks. For a handful of agencies, that’s meant bills jumping 5x, 10x, even 16x at renewal - UK consultancy Salentis told the BBC its monthly bill went from $130 to $2,110, and a US customer reported an annual jump from $2,800 to $23,000.
Talk about harvesting while the sun shines!
Before you read any further: TallyHo is built for one person, not a team. It skips the approval chains, client billing and multi-seat invoicing entirely - what’s left is fast logging and a timesheet you export elsewhere. If you’re on Harvest because you manage other people’s time or bill clients directly through it, TallyHo isn’t a replacement. If it’s just you, keep reading.
If you’re a solo freelancer, the picture is a bit different. Harvest’s free plan (1 seat, 2 projects) hasn’t changed, and the usage fees mostly bite when you’re running lots of active projects and clients across a team - not when it’s just you. So if someone told you “everyone’s fleeing Harvest,” that’s mostly agencies, not solo operators.
But not being hit by the fee yet isn’t the same as being exempt. You’re still on a per-seat tool built around approvals and multi-client billing you’ll never touch, and those usage charges roll out at renewal - yours just might not have landed.
That said, if you’re a freelancer who outgrew the free plan and pays per seat, or you’ve simply lost trust in where Harvest is headed under new ownership, it’s a reasonable moment to check whether you’re using the right tool.
Harvest Is Built for Teams. You’re Not One.
Harvest was built for agencies that need invoicing across a team - timers, approvals, client billing, all bundled together. Genuinely useful if you’re managing several people’s time against several clients.
TallyHo is built for one person: you. No team to manage, no invoicing engine to configure - just quick logging at the end of a task, and a timesheet you can drop straight into whatever you already invoice with (Hnry, Xero, FreshBooks, whatever). If you’re solo, you’re paying for a lot of Harvest you don’t use.
Getting your data out of Harvest
Harvest lets you export your time entries as CSV, Excel or PDF from the Reports section. Worth doing before you change anything on your account, regardless of where you end up - it’s your data.
What TallyHo’s free plan includes
- 5 clients with up to 10 projects each
- Unlimited time entries
- Per-project budgets (fixed fee or hours), with a notification when you cross 80% and again if you go over
- CSV export, always free
- Timesheets you can copy-paste into any invoicing system
- No credit card, no trial countdown
Most solo freelancers fit comfortably within 5 clients. If you grow beyond that, Pro is US$5/month, and it goes straight to funding development by a solo developer (me, Steve Leggat), not a corporation looking to squeeze more out of legacy customers at renewal time.
Solo? Give It a Go. Running a Team? Stay Put.
Probably yes, if you’re a solo freelancer or sole trader who wants lightweight time tracking without a team tool’s overhead, and you already handle invoicing elsewhere.
Probably not, if you’re running a team and need approvals, client billing, or reporting across multiple people - that’s exactly what Harvest is built for.
The demo is the fastest way to find out - no sign-up required, full TallyHo Pro experience, with realistic data already loaded.