Harvest has a free tier — but it caps at 1 seat and 2 projects, so any actual freelance practice forces you to the $13.75/seat Pro plan. Tempough's Individual is half that, with no project cap and invoicing included.
Most solo freelance practices live in the awkward gap between consumer tools (Toggl, Clockify) that don't invoice and full agency PSAs (Productive, Mavenlink) that are wildly over-scoped. The freelance workflow is concrete: track hours per client, generate a Stripe-payable invoice on the 1st, log the occasional receipt for a billable expense, and export to QuickBooks at tax time. Harvest covers that workflow but charges agency-scale prices ($13.75/seat) for it because its free tier (2 projects, 1 seat) is functionally a demo. Tempough Individual is built precisely for the multi-client solo who needs predictable monthly cost, recurring retainer invoicing, and clean QuickBooks exports — nothing else.
Not a generic critique — the specific places solo freelancers typically run into the wall.
1 seat and 2 projects on Harvest Free means anyone with multiple clients is forced to Pro at $13.75/seat/mo. Tempough Free has unlimited projects and clients on 1 seat, forever — and Individual at $6/mo adds invoicing without doubling your bill.
No way to send invoices on Harvest Free. Tempough Individual ($6/mo) includes Stripe-powered invoicing, recurring retainers, and ad-hoc charges — the actual reason most freelancers need a time tracker.
Pricing is becoming less predictable as Harvest introduces additional charges above certain thresholds. For a solo operator quoting annual SaaS costs, that's exactly the wrong direction. Tempough's monthly price is the total monthly cost — full stop.
It works but feels like a separate product. Tempough's expenses live alongside time entries with attached receipts and one-click rebill-to-client on the next invoice — fewer modes to switch between when you're billing for a project.
The same surface, audience-tailored to what solo freelancers actually need.
Tempough Individual is $6/mo (annual) with full invoicing and QuickBooks export. Harvest Pro is $13.75/seat/mo for the same shape of feature set. Over a year that's a $93 difference — for a solo, that's a meaningful chunk of a hosting bill.
Mark an invoice template as recurring and it auto-drafts each cycle. Same workspace, same client list. Harvest does recurring invoicing too, but Tempough's flow is tighter because everything lives in one model.
No usage fees, no per-API-call charges, no overage tiers. The price you sign up at is the price you pay until you change plans yourself. Solo operators don't want surprises on the invoice — Tempough is built for that.
Solo trial users land on Tempough Free, use it for as long as they want with unlimited projects, and upgrade only when they want to send their first invoice. Most freelancers don't need anything beyond Individual.
One seat with the full invoicing surface. Bump to Partnership at $12/mo if you bring in a co-founder later — same data, no migration.
Why teams leave Harvest, audience-agnostic.
Audience-specific tour of the feature surface.
Step-by-step walkthrough — most teams finish in under an hour.
Two-week trial. No credit card. Full feature set.