Buddy Punch vs. Harvest

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Buddy Punch
Score 9.1 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Buddy Punch is an online time tracking, scheduling, and payroll application. Track time, time off, locations, and jobs. The solution aims to help make punching in and out intuitive for employees and easy for users to view and export time. Employees can clock in using a browser or the Buddy Punch Google, iOS, and Android apps. Users can view who's working, their GPS position, or even limit where they can punch. The solution integrates with QuickBooks, ADP, Paychex, and SurePayroll, to name a…
$5.49
per month per user
Harvest
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Harvest is used to track time, gain insights from past projects, and get paid for work. Dedicated apps and integrations with popular tools like Asana and Slack allow Harvest to fit into a team’s workflow. A selection of visual reports are offered to keep projects running smoothly and an organization's team supported. Harvest also helps to turn a team’s tracked time and expenses into professional nvoices and collect payment quickly with integrated online payments.
$13.75
per month per seat
Pricing
Buddy PunchHarvest
Editions & Modules
Starter
$5.49
per month per user
Pro
$6.99
per month per user
Enterprise
$11.99
per month per user
Harvest Pro
$13.75
per month per seat
Harvest Premium
$17.50
per month per seat
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Buddy PunchHarvest
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsThree plans are available via a monthly or annual payment option. Each plan has a per user price and a base fee of $19. There are no startup, cancellation, support, or additional fees of any kind. A discount is available for the annual payment option.20% discount for annual billing on Pro and Premium plans.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Buddy PunchHarvest
Considered Both Products
Buddy Punch
Chose Buddy Punch
It features a feature that Connecteam dislikes: GPS tracking, PTO monitoring, and photo capture when someone logs in and out.
Chose Buddy Punch
It's been over 15 years where I had to punch in for work. I did this with two different companies. Prior to this, both of those companies had their own personal punching system. It was much harder to use than this when it came to editing or entering in PTO. Even though I …
Chose Buddy Punch
I really like everything about Buddy Punch.
Chose Buddy Punch
going from Paychex Flex to Buddy Punch has been a huge improvement! For peace of mind and time management. As a manager, it's streamlined for me with the website being easy to use and navigate. I am very thankful for the move.
Chose Buddy Punch
This was the first platform this organization has tried to implement. I cannot remember if we used a trial on another company like this.
Chose Buddy Punch
I would prefer Buddy Punch, every day, any time.
Chose Buddy Punch
When we decided to try Buddy Punch we were using a normal time clock and needed to have a better way to track time. I reviewed a few products, but went with Buddy Punch and have been happy ever since.
Chose Buddy Punch
Buddy Punch was chosen for it's security. In the past service we used had a breach in their user base, i.e., it was hacked. We found Buddy Punch easy to access and edit.
Chose Buddy Punch
I have not used any other product that I can remember. I used whatever system the retail stores had when I worked there short term and part time 6,7, 8 years ago.
Chose Buddy Punch
I have not reviewed or evaluated any other similar products and this is the first time I am using this type of product. I have been a salaried employee for 25 years and this is my first contract position, but Buddy Punch has made the time tracking very simple and efficient.
Chose Buddy Punch
I did not use a system prior to Buddy, but when comparing they were the best price and had all the features I needed.
Chose Buddy Punch
We originally scheduled and ran payroll through Homebase, but in the last few months the software became very buggy, customer service was slow and when they did respond, was not helpful. When we cancelled our account they didn't even try to make things right. We are so happy …
Harvest
Chose Harvest
Harvest is a bit more robust and offers additional related options such as invoicing (which Clockify does not have) though most people invoice through another system anyway.
Chose Harvest
The team collaboration in Harvest is the main reason this software was selected for our organization. Having the ability to assign projects to certain managers, while still having all the necessary information for the accounting and stakeholders in one place. Being able to work …
Chose Harvest
Asana, Pipedrive, Vena, Pigment and Alteryx
Chose Harvest
Everhour is just very rudimentary and ugly. It did the okay for time tracking and basic reports — but it wasn’t very intuitive and could’ve been a lot more elegant. You couldn’t edit other users time or make corrections it was just a data pull and that was it.

Open air is even …
Chose Harvest
Harvest had automated expense tracking features which neither had and more robust time tracking capability around client and project structuring.
Chose Harvest
Upwork works great at tracking time for projects, however it doesn't allow you to track your own time.
ADP is the opposite to Upwork, you can track personal time, but there's nothing to track for projects or other clients.
Overall, Harvest is better in every way.
Chose Harvest
I like Harvest because it is more simple, it's very easy for all employees to use as well and total up payment for pay periods.
Chose Harvest
Harvest Chrome extension is not as refined as Toggl but it integrates expenses which is a lot better. The reporting element of it is better than Toggl as well. With Toggl you don't have to confirm submission on a week by week basis which can be a little irritating. Toggle does …
Chose Harvest
They both had simple, easy to use interfaces but Harvest cannot even come close in completeness and usefulness and PROPER ACCESS capabilities, plus easy import and export of critical financial data when compared to Generations Homecare System.
I did not select Harvest. It was …
Chose Harvest
Other products that we've used did not show the projects that were being worked on during the employee's workday.
Chose Harvest
I've only used in-house time tracking/payroll systems or managed my own invoicing system. I have no opinion on how Harvest compares to other programs.
Chose Harvest
Like Asana, Harvest is great for project management, though it definitely skews more toward the time tracking rather than the step by step process. Some of our team members write out their to-do list as project tasks in Havest and start the tracker when they're ready to get to …
Chose Harvest
I currently use Daptiv PPM by Changepoint for time tracking and it is a much less enjoyable experience than using Harvest. It does allow some more customization but the user interface is much worse and it is difficult to search and organize based on projects. We used Harvest to …
Chose Harvest
Harvest tends to be a little bit more expensive than other options such as Clockify (depending on how many users you have) but it's more robust and includes additional features that, depending on your business, may be necessary. It's very reliable, user-friendly, and easy to …
Chose Harvest
Freshbooks is a great program and I used to use it before my needs changed and I needed different features. When I switched, Harvest had made the most progress versus other platforms of making time tracking easy. This is important for accuracy versus having team members forget …
Chose Harvest
Harvest has everything you need in one software, excellent support, and a simple and clean interface.
Chose Harvest
We already had Harvest implemented at my company, but the setup was lacking good structure. It was questioned if it was the appropriate tool and I determined that it just needed to be revamped to properly support the business. My recommendation is to set up Harvest however you …
Chose Harvest
Harvest is pretty darn good vs. these other options. I recommend trying it out on trial.
Chose Harvest
We have used multiple products that are similar. The main one we were using previously is called DeskTime. However, our team felt like DeskTime was a little bit creepy and didn't feel like we fully trusted them and their time. Thankfully Asana was able to integrate with …
Chose Harvest
Harvest is significantly better than Jira. I think Jira's is not originally intended to be used as a time logging/management system, but we had been previously using it as that. It was much clunkier, and many employees had a difficult time using it as a user interface goes.

Harve…
Chose Harvest
The Harvest UI was much simpler. The others felt like they had too much going on and setting up and maintaining was confusing. Harvest's interface is very straightforward and easy enough for a non-techie to set up for their business. Toggl was the closest competitor and looked …
Chose Harvest
We tried Quickbooks Online for project invoices and Harvest far exceeds its ability. QuickBooks did not allow us to easily track time or create easy to use line-item estimates. We have not been able to find a service that can offer everything Harvest can help with. Harvest …
Chose Harvest
I honestly cannot remember the name of the last time tracking system I used, but I personally prefer Harvest. The tracking software I used before forced users to schedule their services with a timestamp and felt that it was very difficult to maintain this system honestly. I …
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Buddy PunchHarvest
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Medium-sized Companies
TimeClock Plus
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Score 9.5 out of 10
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User Ratings
Buddy PunchHarvest
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.4
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Buddy PunchHarvest
Likelihood to Recommend
I think that is very convenient as far as tracking your employees when they are punching in or out to ensure they are physically at the location they are supposed to be for that shift. I also think that the option to download this app to your personal phone is amazing, it makes it more convenient to punch in or out when you aren't near a laptop or a residence to use one. The feature of being able to attach a note with your punches explaining possible late punchers or absences is very beneficial to the employee allows show proof if needed.
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Harvest is ideally suited for a variety of scenarios, particularly in the realms of freelance or consulting work, where accurate hour tracking for billing is crucial. It excels in small to medium businesses managing team projects, allowing for effective resource allocation and time management across multiple concurrent projects. For budgeting and forecasting, Harvest provides valuable data, aiding in accurately estimating the duration and cost of future projects based on past data. It's also highly beneficial for remote or distributed teams, thanks to its cloud-based platform that facilitates seamless coordination. Additionally, its detailed reporting features enhance client transparency, fostering trust through clear communication of time spent on projects. However, Harvest may be less suitable for larger enterprises with complex integration needs or specialized industries requiring more niche features. Small startups or individuals on tight budgets might find the cost challenging, especially if they don't fully utilize all its features. Lastly, for those needing only basic time tracking, simpler or free tools might be more appropriate, making Harvest an unnecessary expenditure for basic needs.
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Pros
  • Customer service is the best we've seen! Their knowledge base is clear, and when we do have a question it can't answer, we get a quick, informed solution.
  • The software allows us to schedule our staff seamlessly for work in more than one department in a day, so tracking how many payroll hours are being used in each department is easy.
  • The reporting for Payroll hours is easy and fast.
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  • Consistently making updates to better serve their wide variety of users
  • Allows for a decent amount of customization - you can put in different tasks for different departments, you can put in project costs on a one-time or recurring basis to compare time to money, etc.
  • It's pretty easy to pull customizable reports to fit what data you want to look at.
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Cons
  • the simplicity can go to far in that direction. So it seems a bit sparse at times. Theres a lot of dead space on some page landings.
  • update on colors to be more vibrant and fun.
  • menu buttons to go to particular specifics like vacation and sick submissions
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  • We would love to see Harvest build a feature for more detailed proposals that could be signed by the client and then automatically be turned into a billable invoice. The estimate falls short of this for larger projects.
  • Sending an invoice directly to the client from the Harvest dashboard can sometimes fail. Because it's coming from a spoofed email- some clients never get the invoice because it get's trapped in their spam folder.
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Usability
Buddy Punch is really easy to use. It's easy to punch in and out when needed as it's on the home page. It's also easy to track your colleagues who are on leave so you know how to plan for coverage. This makes it easy for us to adjust accordingly.
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Again, just a minor compatibility issues using with other platforms such as Basecamp, but it does do everything promised. The only downfall we have found is having to create a job in both platforms and then connecting them later vs being able to create a project once and having them automatically connect.
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Support Rating
No answers on this topic
I have not actually had any customer support issues as the product just works for me and I have not needed it. So using that as the basis of making my assessment on support I would reckon the team are pretty responsive and attentive to customer needs. I have only used the solution on Chrome and Android so have no idea what the experience is like on other browsers or phone operating systems.
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Alternatives Considered
I have not reviewed or evaluated any other similar products and this is the first time I am using this type of product. I have been a salaried employee for 25 years and this is my first contract position, but Buddy Punch has made the time tracking very simple and efficient.
Read full review
Everhour is just very rudimentary and ugly. It did the okay for time tracking and basic reports — but it wasn’t very intuitive and could’ve been a lot more elegant. You couldn’t edit other users time or make corrections it was just a data pull and that was it.
Open air is even worse. it’s like something out of 1985. Extremely ugly and not at all easy to use. It fulfilled the basic requirement of tracking time and we did not use it for anything else. When they raised the price to eight grand a year, despite our limited use of it’s functionality. We quickly dropped them.
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Return on Investment
  • Improved Efficiency: Allows us to track time when employees are on site.
  • Reduced Costs: Able to avoid unnecessary OT due to employees getting alerts.
  • Reduced Costs: No longer paying an employee to tally hours like when we used a regular time clock.
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  • Better tracking of time for projects = better quotes for clients! In turn, they trust us more, because we're only billing for the time used and projects completed.
  • We can also have clear conversations with employees about productivity and provide feedback with real numbers that the employee has control over.
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ScreenShots

Buddy Punch Screenshots

Screenshot of the Administrator's DashboardScreenshot of Time Off CalendarScreenshot of Schedule View

Harvest Screenshots

Screenshot of the time tracking experience in HarvestScreenshot of project progress tracking, with budgets and costsScreenshot of team capacity trackingScreenshot of a visualization displaying where a team's time is goingScreenshot of Harvest invoicing, that turns tracked time and expenses into invoices so users can get paid online