Harvest tracks the hours. Ancor also asks what they were worth.
Harvest is one of the best-liked time trackers there is: simple, fast, with invoicing built in. Agencies outgrow it when the questions move past "how many hours" to "who is free next week, which retainer is over, and did the client approve version three".
Last reviewed: 7 October 2026
How does Ancor compare with Harvest?
Harvest is time tracking with invoicing and expenses, priced per seat, with profitability reports and timesheet approvals on its Enterprise plan. Ancor is an agency operating system for 10 to 100 people: time with reminders, weekly approvals and locking, invoices drafted from unbilled hours, plus capacity planning, live margin, retainers with allowances, a no-login client approval portal, GST invoicing, Tally export and a UPI QR on INR invoices, at one flat price per team. Choose Harvest for a light timer; choose Ancor to run the agency around the hours.
A great timer, or the system around it.
Time tracking and invoicing
Loved for its simple timer, apps and integrations. Fits freelancers and teams that mainly need hours, expenses and invoices, and are happy to plan, approve and report elsewhere.
Agency operating system
For marketing, creative and digital agencies of 10 to 100 people that bill for time and want hours, capacity, margin, retainers, client approvals and Indian GST in one place.
Line by line, from their own published plans.
| Capability | Harvest | Ancor |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per seat: free for 1 seat, Teams about $9, Enterprise about $14 a month | Flat per team: Rs 9,999 / $99 up to 10 people, Rs 14,999 / $149 up to 20, Rs 19,999 / $199 up to 30 |
| Timer and timesheets | Yes, with Mac and iOS apps | Yes, a timer on every task, plus reminders for people behind on hours |
| Timesheet approvals and locking | Enterprise plan | Every plan, as an org setting; admin unlock with a recorded reason |
| Invoice from logged hours | Yes | Yes, priced from rate cards, each hour billed once; milestones for fixed fee |
| Profitability reports | Enterprise plan | Live projected margin on every project, every plan |
| Capacity and resource planning | Not in Harvest itself | Yes, hours planned vs available, with leave and holidays |
| Retainers with deliverable allowances | No | Yes, with burn-down, rollover and overage drafts |
| Client approvals | No | No-login portal, approvals pinned to a version |
| Indian GST, Tally, UPI | Not built for it; accounting links are Stripe, QuickBooks Online, Xero and Deel | CGST/SGST/IGST by place of supply, TallyPrime export, UPI QR on INR invoices |
| Currency of the price | USD | INR, USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD |
Harvest details from getharvest.com/pricing, checked October 2026. Plans change, so check their site for the latest.
Be honest about fit. Sometimes it is them.
- Freelancers and very small teams. Harvest has a free plan for one seat; Ancor has no free plan after its 14-day trial.
- You only want a timer. If planning, approvals and margin live elsewhere and work well, Harvest is lighter.
- Native Mac and iOS apps and a large integration list matter more to you than agency features.
- Card payments on invoices. Harvest connects to Stripe; Ancor's UPI QR has no gateway behind it, so payments are recorded by hand.
Switching from Harvest. The questions worth asking first.
Is Ancor a good Harvest alternative for agencies?
Yes, if you want more than time and invoices: capacity, live project margin, retainers, client approvals with no login and GST invoicing in one system. If you only need a simple, polished timer and invoices, Harvest is lighter and has a free plan for one person.
Does Ancor have timesheet approvals like Harvest?
Yes. Harvest lists timesheet approvals on its Enterprise plan. In Ancor, approvals are an organisation setting on every plan: people submit each week, owners, admins, operations and team leads approve or send it back with a note, and approved weeks are locked until an admin unlocks them with a recorded reason.
Can Ancor invoice from logged hours like Harvest?
Yes. On a time-and-materials project Ancor drafts an invoice from the unbilled hours in a date range, priced from your rate cards, with GST, and links each hour to its invoice line so it is never billed twice. Fixed-fee projects bill by milestone.
Is Harvest good for Indian agencies?
Harvest is priced in US dollars and its accounting integrations are Stripe, QuickBooks Online, Xero and Deel. Ancor is priced in rupees, works out CGST and SGST or IGST by place of supply, exports to TallyPrime, puts a UPI QR on INR invoices and is hosted in Mumbai.
How does pricing compare?
Harvest is priced per seat: about $9 per seat a month on Teams and $14 on Enterprise, with a free plan for one seat. Ancor is priced per team: Rs 9,999 or $99 a month for up to 10 people, Rs 14,999 or $149 for up to 20, and Rs 19,999 or $199 for up to 30.