Harvest alternative for marketing agencies

Time tracking that already knows the retainer. Every hour lands on the right budget and moves the margin the same day.

The short answer

Where Harvest stops.

A clean, well-liked time tracker with invoicing bolted on. It measures how long the work took, which is a different question from whether the client is paying for it.

Verbial is a Harvest alternative for agencies that need to see what each client earns. Start with time tracking and client margin visibility. Harvest still suits a simple timer with hourly invoicing.

What Harvest does well

One of the simplest, most reliable timers on the market.
Apps for every platform, desktop and mobile.
Integrations with Asana, Trello, Slack and QuickBooks Online, plus a free single seat.

What changes with Verbial

Every hour lands on the retainer it belongs to. You see the month while it is still running.
Bill the way agencies bill. Retainers in advance, hourly from approved time, media passed through.
Real margin, from what clients pay against what your team costs. Not hours times a hoped-for rate.
Your history comes with you. Clients, projects, tasks, every time entry.

Side by side

Verbial against Harvest.

Agency workflowWith VerbialWith Harvest

Timer and timesheetsTimer, weekly timesheet, approvals, remindersTimer, timesheets, approvals, mobile and desktop apps

Retainer budgetsPer department, with overages, carryover and historyProject budgets in hours or fees

Budget alertsBy client and department, in-app, email or SlackBy project

InvoicingRetainers in advance, overages, hourly, media pass-throughFrom tracked time and expenses, paid via Stripe or PayPal

ProposalsNative, first invoice on approvalNot a Harvest feature

CRMSee current plans and availabilityNot a Harvest feature

Utilization and capacityBy person and department, against retainer allocationsCapacity reports by person

ProfitabilityContracted revenue, absorbed cost, idle time, servicing gapBillable versus cost rate per project

Client reportingWhite-label reports and portal under your brandNot a Harvest feature

RolesMembers see hours, account managers budgets, admins costMember, manager, administrator

Pricing basisPer full seat, with a three-full-seat minimumPer seat plus usage fees above plan limits

Choose Harvest if you want the simplest possible timer. Choose Verbial if the hours have to pace a retainer and end up on an invoice.

Modules

The parts that take over from Harvest.

85% of retainerTime trackingKnow which clients are over-serviced while you can still fix it, and invoice from hours you trust.Time tracking software for marketing agencies →Paid · $26,000InvoicingBill every kind of work from what the client signed, get paid faster, and stop losing unbilled hours.Invoicing software for marketing agencies →38.2% marginProfitabilitySee which clients actually make you money, and price the next renewal from evidence.Profitability software for marketing agencies →

Common questions

Why do agencies move from Harvest to Verbial?

Harvest tracks time against projects; agencies sell retainers by department. Verbial paces each allocation live, invoices retainers in advance and computes margin from contracted revenue and absorbed cost.

What happens to our Harvest history?

It comes with you. The migration hub connects to your Harvest account or reads its CSV exports and imports clients, projects, tasks and every time entry, with people matched by email.

Does Verbial have a timer?

Yes. Track time against client work and see what those hours mean for your margin.

How does the price compare?

Compare current agency plans, seats and add-ons on the pricing page.

Try Verbial next to Harvest for a billing cycle.

Bring your data across, keep the old tool read-only, and compare the numbers on real work.

Start free trial