Ellie Planner
Solo-built daily planner adds an AI assistant and more calendar/tool integrations.
Comparison · PM
Leantime vs Harvest
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Leantime and Harvest — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:project-management
Leantime vs Harvest: at a glance
What is Leantime?
Leantime is stabilizing its big 3.9 rewrite while extending cross-project planning and a mobile API
Leantime is deep in a modernization cycle. The 3.9.0 release rebuilt the app around a native, fail-closed permission engine, a JSON-RPC API, and a consolidated Blueprints domain; the releases since then mostly stabilize that foundation. Recent point releases fix regressions (repeated Bearer/PAT auth fixes) while adding cross-project program views and a mobile app backend.
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.
Leantime vs Harvest: editorial side-by-side
Leantime
6.3PM
Leantime is stabilizing its big 3.9 rewrite while extending cross-project planning and a mobile API
◆ Current state
Leantime is deep in a modernization cycle. The 3.9.0 release rebuilt the app around a native, fail-closed permission engine, a JSON-RPC API, and a consolidated Blueprints domain; the releases since then mostly stabilize that foundation. Recent point releases fix regressions (repeated Bearer/PAT auth fixes) while adding cross-project program views and a mobile app backend.
◆ Where it's heading
The work is consolidation over expansion: hardening the new auth/permission and API layers, closing security IDORs domain by domain, and building the surface a mobile app and program-level planning need. The steady stream of small patch releases reflects shaking out regressions from the 3.9.0 refactor rather than opening new product directions.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued point releases fixing regressions from the permission-engine and JSON-RPC migration, plus buildout of the Leantime Mobile app now that its Bearer-authenticated backend API is landing.
Harvest
2.5PM
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.
Alternatives to Leantime and Harvest
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 Leantime or Harvest.
Favro
Planning tool ships small collaboration and dashboard refinements, cadence slowing.
TimeCamp
TimeCamp's public feed is competitor-comparison marketing, not shipping news.
Hostaway
Hostaway is building the compliance and automation layer around rental invoicing
Aha!
Aha! is extending from roadmapping into an AI app builder with real access controls.
Atlassian
Atlassian is rebuilding Jira around managing human-plus-AI-agent work.
See all Leantime alternatives → · See all Harvest alternatives →
Recent activity from Leantime and Harvest
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoHarvestIn Season: The latest from Harvest, Summer 2026
- 7d agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.8: milestone reporting and MCP endpoint fixes
- 10d agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.7 adds cross-project program views
- 11d agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.6: security hardening plus content templates
- 27d agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.5 adds mobile notification and calendar APIs
- 1mo agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.4 fixes cross-project 'My Work' loading
- 1mo agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.3 fixes Bearer-token API authentication
- 2mo agoHarvestInside the new Harvest
- 2mo agoHarvestA fresh Harvest
- 2mo agoHarvestA fresh Harvest
- 3mo agoHarvestIndustry leader award (PR, not a release)
- 3mo agoHarvestIntroducing Harvest Premium: a new plan with Profitability Reporting, Activity Log, and SAML-based SSO ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Leantime and Harvest?
Both compete on the same themes — project-management — within PM. Leantime is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Leantime better than Harvest?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Leantime is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other PM products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Leantime?
Top Leantime alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Leantime alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/leantime for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
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.