Harvest vs YouTrack: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Harvest and YouTrack to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Harvest
6/10
Harvest is a time tracking, project budgeting and invoicing tool for agencies, consultancies and service teams that bill clients for their time.
YouTrack
7.3/10
JetBrains' issue tracker and project management tool for software and business teams, with agile boards, Gantt charts, a knowledge base, and a helpdesk.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6/10 | 7.3/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 4/10 | 9/10 |
| Scalability | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $11/user/mo Teams | $5/user/mo Cloud (per user) |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $110/mo Teams | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| Gantt charts | ||
| Kanban boards | ||
| App integrations | ||
| Dashboards | ||
| Reporting | ||
| Time tracking | ||
| Collaboration tools | Not listed | |
| Docs | Not listed | |
| Knowledge base | Not listed | |
| Scheduling | Not listed | |
| Task lists | Not listed | |
| Task management | Not listed | |
| Timeline view | Not listed | |
| Whiteboards | Not listed | |
| Workflow automation | Not listed | |
Harvest vs YouTrack cost by team size
Harvest and YouTrack cost the same at 1 user; YouTrack costs less from 5 users.
| Team size | Harvest | YouTrack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree | FreeFree |
| 5 users | $55/moTeams | FreeFree |
| 10 users | $110/moTeams | FreeFree |
| 25 users | $275/moTeams | $135/moCloud (per user) |
| 50 users | $550/moTeams | $270/moCloud (per user) |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Harvest
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Integration score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for agencies (9/10 vs 5/10)
Why choose YouTrack
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $110/mo
- Higher Cost score (9/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for mid-market (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for startups (8/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
Harvest
Pros
- Time entries flow straight into client invoices, and the billing integrations include QuickBooks Online, Xero, Stripe and PayPal.
- About 68 listed integrations, including Asana, Jira, Trello, ClickUp, Linear, Slack and Zapier, plus a public API.
- A free forever plan with invoicing for a single freelancer.
- Enterprise adds timesheet approvals, profitability reporting and SAML SSO for firms that need tighter control.
- A 30-day trial of the paid plans with no credit card required.
Cons
- Since the Bending Spoons acquisition, usage-based fees with undisclosed rates have produced reported bill increases of 1,500 percent or more.
- No Gantt charts or kanban boards, and you cannot assign tasks to individuals, so it does not replace a project management tool.
- Scheduling needs the separately billed Forecast app.
- You cannot remove seats mid-cycle, and data is stored only in the US.
- Reviewers mention manual steps when matching timesheets to invoices, and reminders that arrive too late.
YouTrack
Pros
- The free plan includes up to 10 users with the full feature set, so small teams can run it at no cost.
- Paid Cloud plans start at $5.40 per user per month, or $4.50 on annual billing, which is cheap for this category.
- Scripted workflows and custom fields allow a high level of process customization.
- Boards, a Gantt chart, a knowledge base, whiteboards, time tracking, and a helpdesk come in one product.
- It integrates tightly with JetBrains IDEs and TeamCity, as well as GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.
- It can be self-hosted through the Server edition.
Cons
- Reviewers say new users struggle with the query language and configuration.
- Reviewers describe setting up the permission hierarchy as tricky and a matter of trial and error.
- It has fewer third-party integrations than Jira.
- The mobile app lacks some desktop features.
- Cloud storage is set at 3 GB per user and cannot be bought separately.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
YouTrack scores higher on our Project Management criteria: 7.3/10 against 6/10 for Harvest. The largest gap is in Cost: 4/10 for Harvest and 9/10 for YouTrack.
YouTrack costs less for 10 users: free on its Free plan, against about $110/mo on its Teams plan for Harvest, billed monthly.
Yes, both Harvest and YouTrack have a free plan.
Harvest is the better fit for agencies: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 5/10 for YouTrack.
YouTrack has Gantt charts and Kanban boards, which Harvest lacks.
