MindSalt vs Harvest
MindSalt vs Harvest: which time tracking tool fits your team?
MindSalt and Harvest both help teams track time, expenses, projects, budgets, and billable work. The main difference is how much control you have over who reviews the work, how rates are applied, and how the system fits your company’s process.
Key Takeaways
The biggest differences between MindSalt and Harvest
- Lower published seat prices. MindSalt paid plans range from $6 to $13 per user each month. Harvest paid plans range from $9 to $17.50 per seat each month, before possible usage charges on Flex plans.
- More control over reviews. MindSalt can send a timesheet or expense report through as many as five review steps. Harvest allows for a single approval step.
- Deeper reporting options. MindSalt combines a report builder, dashboards, Explore reports, more than 100 built-in reports, custom fields, and scheduled delivery.
- Hands-on help is part of the basic MindSalt experience. We help with onboarding, migration, and adapting MindSalt to fit your workflows from the start. Harvest offers that deeper level of support through its custom-priced Enterprise Plus plan.
The Short Version
MindSalt vs Harvest at a glance
Choose MindSalt When
You need flexible reviews and setup
You need project managers, employee managers, finance staff, or other people to review time and expenses. You may also want different rates by client or project, built-in PTO balances, and hands-on help moving your data.
Choose Harvest When
Your process is simple and consistent
Your team is comfortable with one manager reviewing time and expenses as well as simpler rate and reporting options. Harvest can also collect invoice payments through Stripe when the workspace is connected.
Why Move From Harvest to MindSalt?
Choose software that can grow with the way your team works
Your process does not need to fit the software
As your business grows, the little differences start to matter. Different clients need different rates. Finance wants its own close dates. Certain work needs extra review. MindSalt gives you room to handle those things without forcing everyone into the same setup.
Get answers without rebuilding the report every time
Your time, expense, rate, and budget data should be useful after it is entered. MindSalt lets you dig into margins, budgets, utilization, client activity, expenses, and more without exporting everything to a spreadsheet and starting over.
Work with people who actually know your account
When you need help, you are not starting from scratch with someone new every time. We help with setup, moving data, training, integrations, and even changes that could make MindSalt work better for your business.
Harvest vs MindSalt feature comparison
✓ Included ◐ Limited or different ✕ Not offered
| Best for | Teams that want flexible reviews, time and expense tracking, PTO, project budgets, and hands-on setup help | Professional-services teams with a simple review process and a large integration catalog |
| Published paid price range | $6 to $13 Per user each month | $9 to $17.50 Per user each month, before possible usage charges on Flex plans |
| Timer and manual time entry | ✓ Included Track with a timer or enter time manually | ✓ Included Track with a timer or enter time manually |
| Ways to enter time | ✓ Included Day View and weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly timesheets | ✓ Included Day, Week, and Calendar views |
| Favorite time entries | ✓ Included Save frequently used time entries for fast entry on both mobile and web | ◐ Limited Favorites are documented in the mobile and desktop apps, not the web timesheet |
| Mobile app | ✓ Included Enter and submit time and expenses, then approve them from mobile | ◐ Limited Enter and submit time and expenses from mobile. Manager approval is mainly documented on the web |
| Project assignments | ✓ Included Choose who can use each project | ✓ Included Choose who can use each project |
| Custom fields | ✓ Included Add your own fields to clients, projects, and employees, then use them throughout MindSalt, including reports. | ✕ Not offered Harvest has standard fields such as notes and roles, but it does not offer fields that you create yourself |
| Close dates for past time and expenses | ✓ Included Set separate close dates for time and expenses to prevent changes to prior periods | ✕ Not offered Harvest does not provide separate close dates for locking past time and expense periods |
| Reminders and alerts | ✓ Included Send manual or scheduled reminders and approval alerts | ✓ Included Send one-time or recurring reminders and submission notices |
| Approve or send work back | ✓ Included Approve, reject with comments, correct, and resubmit | ◐ Limited Approve or edit the work, but there is no formal reject step |
| More than one approval step | ✓ Included Use up to five steps and require several people at the same step | ✕ Not offered One manager or administrator approval completes the review |
| Project manager review | ✓ Included Project managers can bet setup to review only the work from their own projects before it moves to the next reviewer | ◐ Limited Managers can review assigned people or projects, but that one approval completes the review |
| Choose exactly who reviews the work | ✓ Included Add project managers, employee managers, finance staff, or any other MindSalt user | ✕ Not offered No separate step for another named reviewer |
| Separate approval flows for time and expenses | ✓ Included Route timesheets and expense reports through different approval flows and reviewers | ✕ Not offered Time and expenses follow the same review workflow |
| Expenses, receipts, and mileage | ✓ Included Track expenses with receipts, mileage or quantities, and foreign currency | ✓ Included Track expenses and attach receipts |
| Time off balances and accruals | ✓ Included Use company-wide, employee-type, or individual policies for balances, accrual schedules, and negative-balance controls | ◐ Different and rolling out Built-in Time Off includes balances, accruals, carryover, requests, and administrator approval, with company defaults and individual overrides |
| Different billing rates | ✓ Included Set rates by employee, client, project, task, or project assignment | ◐ Limited Each project uses a project, person, or task rate method, but no mix |
| Different labor cost rates | ✓ Included Set employee cost rates and use different rates for different clients | ◐ Limited Each person has one cost rate across all projects |
| Project and task budgets | ✓ Included Set budgets for hours, costs, billing, or expenses at the project or task level | ◐ Limited Budget project hours, fees, or task hours, but not expenses separately |
| Reports and dashboards | ✓ Included Flexible reporting for time, expenses, budgets, utilization, revenue, costs, profit, and more | ✓ Included Reports for time, expenses, profitability, utilization, and activity |
| Saved and scheduled reports | ✓ Included Save, share, and schedule reports so the right people receive them automatically | ✓ Included Save, share, and schedule reports, with limits on some detailed reports |
| Invoices and payments | ✓ Included Create invoices and export billing data | ✓ Included Create invoices and accept online payments when the workspace is connected to Stripe |
| Help moving from another system | ✓ Included Hands-on onboarding, training, setup help, and assistance importing your data on any paid plan | ◐ Custom plan Custom onboarding, training, assisted migration, and product customization are listed under custom-priced Enterprise Plus |
Capabilities reviewed against official product and help documentation in September 2026. Product availability and plan packaging can change.
A Closer Look
MindSalt vs Harvest: detailed feature comparison
Price per seat
MindSalt pricing
- Paid plans range from $6 to $13 per user each month.
- The 30-day trial includes every feature and does not require a credit card.
- Hands-on setup, training, and help importing data are part of the MindSalt experience.
Harvest pricing
- Teams costs $9 per seat each month with annual billing or $11 with monthly billing.
- Enterprise costs $14 per seat each month with annual billing or $17.50 with monthly billing.
- Flex plans can add usage charges for active projects, clients, tasks, and invoicing. Custom onboarding, training, migration, and product customization are listed under custom-priced Enterprise Plus.
Time tracking methods
MindSalt time tracking
- Use a running timer or enter time manually.
- Choose Day View or a weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly timesheet.
- Save favorite entries with the project, task, default hours, color, and comment you use often.
- Enter and submit time from a desktop or mobile device.
Harvest time tracking
- Use a running timer or enter time manually.
- Choose Day, Week, or Calendar view.
- Track duration or start and end times, with desktop apps, mobile apps, and browser extensions.
- Every entry uses a project and task. Harvest provides notes and roles, but not general custom fields.
Project budgets
MindSalt project budgets
- Set project and task budgets for hours, billable amounts, labor costs, and expenses.
- Compare each budget with actual time, billing, cost, and spending.
- Reset recurring budgets monthly, quarterly, or yearly for retainers and repeat work.
- Review budget performance alongside project profitability and other project details.
Harvest project budgets
- Set hourly budgets for a project, person, or task, or fee budgets for a project or task.
- Only the total project fee budget can include expenses. Other budget types may require a separate expense project.
- Eligible budgets can reset monthly only.
- Budget status appears in Projects and project analysis, but Harvest says it does not provide a dedicated budget report.
Reporting depth
MindSalt reporting
- Start with more than 100 built-in reports, or build your own with the fields, filters, groups, and date range you need.
- Create dashboards for revenue, labor cost, profit, utilization, project activity, and budget performance.
- Find answers to questions like which projects are nearing budget, where non-billable time is growing, and which clients or projects are producing the strongest margins.
- Bring custom client, project, and employee fields into reports, then save and schedule them for automatic delivery.
- Export reports to PDF, Excel, and CSV.
Harvest reporting
- Run time, detailed time, expense, contractor, uninvoiced, utilization, and profitability reports.
- Teams can create up to four custom reports. Enterprise includes unlimited custom reports, profitability reporting, approvals, and an activity log.
- Save, share, and schedule reports for automatic delivery, though some detailed time and expense reports cannot be scheduled.
- Fixed-fee profitability cannot break revenue and profit down by person or task.
- Harvest does not provide general custom fields or a dedicated budget report.
Time off and PTO accruals
MindSalt time off
- Create a company-wide accrual policy for everyone who uses a time-off type.
- Add employee-type policies for groups such as part-time, 5-year full-time, or 10-year full-time employees.
- Give one employee a unique accrual schedule when an individual agreement needs to override the broader policy.
- Track current balances and balance history, show balances on timesheets, and decide whether employees can enter more time off than they have available.
Harvest time off
- Harvest is rolling out built-in Time Off to all accounts.
- Set annual allowances, carryover, and annual, monthly, bimonthly, biweekly, hourly, or unlimited balance rules.
- Team members can request time off, and administrators can approve, request changes, or reject it.
- Harvest documents company defaults and individual overrides, but not a separate employee-type policy layer.
Pricing and product availability can change. Harvest prices shown are published prices as of September 2026.
When Harvest may be a good fit
Harvest may be a good fit for a small professional-services team that wants a simple setup, expects one manager to review time, and values a large selection of ready-made integrations. Harvest is also rolling out built-in time off, and customers can pay invoices online when a workspace is connected to Stripe.
That setup works best when everyone follows the same review process. If you need project managers and finance involved, different reviewers for time and expenses, more granular rates, PTO rules by employee type, deeper report building, or hands-on help moving your data, MindSalt is likely the better fit.
Harvest’s clearest fit
Simple time tracking for teams that use one review step and want a large catalog of integrations.
Switch From Harvest to MindSalt
You do not have to make the move alone
MindSalt provides hands-on onboarding. We learn how your company works, help move your data, and stay involved through setup and launch.
1. Plan the move
We review how you track time, expenses, projects, approvals, rates, invoices, and reports today.
2. Move your data
We help map and import the customers, projects, tasks, people, rates, and history your team needs.
3. Set up and launch
We configure the account with you, test the process, train your team, and help with integrations or feature needs.
Who should choose MindSalt or Harvest?
Choose MindSalt if you need:
- Project managers, employee managers, clients, or finance staff reviewing work in order
- Different reviewers for time and expense reports
- Different rates by client, project, task, or project assignment
- PTO accruals and visible balances
- Separate close dates for time and expenses
- Budgets that cover hours, labor, billing, and expenses
- Hands-on help moving your data and setting up the account
Choose Harvest if you primarily need:
- A straightforward time tracking process
- One manager or administrator reviewing time
- Online invoice payments through Stripe
- A large catalog of ready-made integrations
- Professional-services profitability and utilization reports
- Scheduling and capacity through the broader Harvest product family
FAQ
Common MindSalt vs Harvest questions
Does Harvest support multi-level timesheet approvals?
No. Harvest uses one manager or administrator approval. MindSalt can ask several people to review the same timesheet in order. For example, a project manager can check project hours first, the employee’s manager can review the full timesheet next, and finance can approve it last. You can use up to five review steps.
Can Harvest approve time and expenses separately?
No. Harvest reviews and locks time and expenses together. MindSalt can send timesheets to one group of reviewers and expense reports to another. It can also use different close dates for time and expenses.
Does Harvest support biweekly or semimonthly timesheets?
Harvest provides Day, Week, and Calendar views, with weekly or custom date ranges for submission. MindSalt supports weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly timesheets.
Does Harvest track PTO balances and accruals?
Yes. Harvest is rolling out built-in Time Off with balances, several accrual schedules, carryover, requests, and administrator approval. MindSalt also includes time-off balances and accruals, with company-wide rules, employee-type rules, individual employee overrides, balance history, and controls for negative balances.
How much do MindSalt and Harvest cost?
MindSalt paid plans currently range from $6 to $13 per user each month. Harvest paid plans range from $9 to $17.50 per seat each month. Harvest Flex plans may also add usage charges based on active projects, clients, tasks, and invoicing. Harvest lists custom onboarding, training, assisted migration, and product customization under its custom-priced Enterprise Plus offering.
How do I switch from Harvest to MindSalt?
Contact MindSalt and tell us how your company uses Harvest today. We will help plan your setup, map and import the data you need, configure your reviews and reports, test the new account, and help your team get started.
See MindSalt in action
Need more control without making time entry harder?
Try every MindSalt feature for 30 days. No credit card or setup fee required.
