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Comparison · PM

Harvest vs Wakapi

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Harvest and Wakapi — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:time-tracking

Harvest vs Wakapi: at a glance

FeatureHarvestWakapi
SectorPMPM
Velocity score2.52.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themestime-tracking, redesign, profitability, premium-tiertime-tracking, self-hosted, oidc, auth-bypass
Last editorial update1mo ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Harvest?

Harvest rebuilt its interface and split off a Premium tier for profitability

Harvest is mid-rollout of 'the new Harvest,' a full interface redesign paired with a paid Premium plan (profitability reporting, activity log, SAML SSO), task-level scheduling in Forecast, and reworked invoice sending. Its changelog reads as marketing-heavy blog posts and SEO articles rather than granular release notes, with several near-duplicate posts per release.

Read the full Harvest trajectory →

What is Wakapi?

A critical auth bypass lands in the middle of Wakapi's slow identity rebuild.

Wakapi's recent releases cluster around identity and deployment rather than time tracking itself: OpenID Connect login, then an OIDC-only mode, multiple API keys per user, and a switch from Alpine to a distroless nonroot container image. The 2.17.x line has carried two security fixes now — a responsibly disclosed issue in 2.17.3, and a critical authentication bypass in 2.17.6 caused by a shared cache key namespace. Release notes are mostly bare issue numbers, so several entries state that something changed without saying what.

Read the full Wakapi trajectory →

Harvest vs Wakapi: editorial side-by-side

Harvest logo2.5

Harvest rebuilt its interface and split off a Premium tier for profitability

◆ Current state

Harvest is mid-rollout of 'the new Harvest,' a full interface redesign paired with a paid Premium plan (profitability reporting, activity log, SAML SSO), task-level scheduling in Forecast, and reworked invoice sending. Its changelog reads as marketing-heavy blog posts and SEO articles rather than granular release notes, with several near-duplicate posts per release.

◆ Where it's heading

The redesign is the surface; the deeper move is upmarket. Profitability insights, SSO, and a Premium tier target agencies and larger teams that need margin visibility, not just time entry. Harvest is repositioning from a timesheet tool toward a project-profitability system, with invoicing and Forecast scheduling as supporting pieces.

◆ Prediction

Expect the new interface to finish rolling out to all accounts and more Premium-only reporting to follow the Profitability tier.

W2.5

A critical auth bypass lands in the middle of Wakapi's slow identity rebuild.

◆ Current state

Wakapi's recent releases cluster around identity and deployment rather than time tracking itself: OpenID Connect login, then an OIDC-only mode, multiple API keys per user, and a switch from Alpine to a distroless nonroot container image. The 2.17.x line has carried two security fixes now — a responsibly disclosed issue in 2.17.3, and a critical authentication bypass in 2.17.6 caused by a shared cache key namespace. Release notes are mostly bare issue numbers, so several entries state that something changed without saying what.

◆ Where it's heading

The direction is a self-hosted tool making itself deployable somewhere other than one developer's server. External identity providers, an option to disable local login entirely, per-key credentials and a container that runs as a nonroot user are the requirements that come from someone else's security review. The 2.17.6 bypass sits awkwardly against that: a cache keyed without proper namespacing is exactly the class of bug that multi-tenant deployment surfaces, which suggests the auth work is now being exercised harder than the code was written for. Releases have also thinned to roughly one a month from a much faster earlier cadence.

◆ Prediction

The identity and packaging thread is the only sustained one in this feed, so further hardening in that area is the most likely continuation; the sparse release notes make anything more specific guesswork.

Alternatives to Harvest and Wakapi

Other PM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Harvest or Wakapi.

See all Harvest alternatives → · See all Wakapi alternatives →

Recent activity from Harvest and Wakapi

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 7h agoWakapiCritical auth bypass from a shared cache key namespace
  2. 1mo agoWakapiRelease 2.17.5
  3. 1mo agoHarvestIn Season: The latest from Harvest, Summer 2026
  4. 2mo agoWakapiRelease 2.17.4
  5. 3mo agoHarvestInside the new Harvest
  6. 3mo agoHarvestA fresh Harvest
  7. 3mo agoHarvestA fresh Harvest
  8. 4mo agoHarvestIndustry leader award (PR, not a release)
  9. 4mo agoHarvestIntroducing Harvest Premium: a new plan with Profitability Reporting, Activity Log, and SAML-based SSO
  10. 4mo agoWakapiSecurity fix, relay endpoint dropped, summaries may need regenerating
  11. 5mo agoWakapiDistroless nonroot container image; SQLite permissions need fixing
  12. 6mo agoWakapiOIDC-only login mode disables local accounts

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Harvest and Wakapi?

Both compete on the same themes — time-tracking — within PM. Harvest and Wakapi are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 2.5 vs 2.5, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Harvest better than Wakapi?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Harvest and Wakapi are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 2.5 vs 2.5, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other PM products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Harvest?

Top Harvest alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Harvest alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/harvest for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Wakapi?

Top Wakapi alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Wakapi alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/wakapi for the full list with editorial commentary on each.