The Harvest Alternative Built for Solo Freelancers
Verdict
If Harvest's post-acquisition pricing pushed you out, CronLoom is the independent, flat-$9 alternative built for one person. It isn't chasing the enterprise accounts Harvest now optimizes for.
Pricing verified 2026-06-02. Figures change, so check each tool's pricing page for current numbers.
The longer story
Harvest was, for years, the default time-and-invoicing tool for freelancers and small studios. That changed on July 10, 2025, when Bending Spoons acquired it. Bending Spoons is the company known for buying Evernote, Vimeo and WeTransfer and aggressively reworking their pricing. Since the acquisition, Harvest customers have reported steep renewal increases, in some cases an order of magnitude above what they previously paid, as plans shift toward enterprise and usage-based pricing.
That's created a wave of freelancers searching for a Harvest alternative that won't get repriced out from under them. CronLoom is built to be exactly that: a flat $9/month, owned and run by one independent developer in Germany, with no private-equity playbook waiting to repackage your plan. Harvest now leans toward teams and agencies. CronLoom stays focused on the solo freelancer, and it ships the rate analytics (floor flagging, fixed-fee margins, projected income) as standard rather than a higher tier.
Side by side
Harvest vs CronLoom at a glance
| What you get | Harvest | CronLoom |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Pro ~$11/seat annually (~$14 monthly) + reported renewal hikes | Free in early access, then $9/mo flat |
| Free tier | Limited free plan (1 seat, 2 projects) | Free during early access, no permanent free tier |
| Ownership | Owned by Bending Spoons (acquired 2025) | Independent solo founder |
| Profitability analytics | Reporting; deeper insight on higher tiers | Rate analytics: floor flagging + fixed-fee margins, included |
| Built for | Teams, agencies, enterprise | Solo freelancers |
| Hosting / privacy | US-based | EU-hosted, GDPR-first, no ad trackers |
| Invoicing | Full invoicing + payments | Billing-ready PDF/Excel export |
Where Harvest genuinely wins
- Mature invoicing and payments built directly into the product, with online payment collection.
- Deep integration ecosystem (QuickBooks, Xero, and 40+ tools) for established agency workflows.
- Team and project-management features designed for multi-person studios.
Where CronLoom fits better
- Flat, predictable $9/month, with no acquisition-driven renewal shocks or enterprise upsell.
- Rate analytics included for everyone, not gated behind a higher plan: floor flagging, fixed-fee margins, projected income.
- EU-hosted and GDPR-first, run by an independent founder rather than a PE-owned conglomerate.
- Purpose-built for one person, so there's no team/seat complexity to wade through.
The reason to switch
The analytics are why people move
You set a floor rate, and CronLoom keeps score against it: which clients really pay it, how fixed bids are tracking, where the month lands. It's visible at a glance and updates as you track.
Get started freeNo credit card · no contracts
Bringing your history
Switching from Harvest
Export your time entries from Harvest as CSV (Reports → Detailed time → Export), then import them into CronLoom. Your clients and projects come across so you can pick up where you left off without rebuilding your history.
Questions, answered straight
Frequently asked questions
- Is CronLoom cheaper than Harvest?
- Yes. CronLoom is free during early access, then a flat $9/month ($90/year) for everything, with no per-seat pricing and no acquisition-driven renewal increases. Harvest's effective cost has risen for many customers since the 2025 Bending Spoons acquisition.
- Can I import my Harvest data?
- Yes. Export your time entries from Harvest as CSV and import them into CronLoom. Clients and projects carry over.
- Does CronLoom do invoicing like Harvest?
- CronLoom focuses on time tracking and keeping score against your floor rate, with billing-ready PDF and Excel exports you can attach to invoices. It is not a full invoicing and payments suite like Harvest. If integrated payment collection is essential, Harvest still wins there.
- Where is my data hosted?
- Entirely in the EU. CronLoom is GDPR-compliant and runs privacy-friendly analytics on EU servers, with no ad-tech and no cross-site tracking.