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Productive alternatives

Productive charges a price per seat for at least 3 paid seats on every plan, so a freelancer pays for three. It keeps email reminders, recurring invoices and timesheet approvals for its Professional plan, and its MCP server for its Ultimate plan, which has no published price.

By Fred Wu, maker of Hourbun · Hourbun is our app · Checked · Report a mistake

The short answer

This page lists Hourbun, our app, and TimeCamp, Avaza, Invoice Ninja, Harpoon and Harvest. Each one costs less than Productive for 2 people, or does more on a feature that the pages of Productive limit or leave out.

The apps

6 alternatives to Productive

Hourbun first, as it is our app. Then the others by their price for 2 people, lowest first. Each one costs less than Productive, or does more on a feature in bold.

  1. 1. Hourbun Our app

    Freelancers, consultants and small teams who bill their clients by the hour

    Hourbun vs Productive

    2 people, a month

    $15 (lower price)

    Duo

    Email reminders of late invoices (ahead of Productive)
    Yes
    Recurring invoices (ahead of Productive)
    Yes
    Timesheet approvals
    Higher plan On the Team plan
    An MCP server for AI assistants (ahead of Productive)
    Yes ChatGPT, Claude and others connect with its address and one sign-in, on every plan

  2. 2. TimeCamp

    Teams that want automatic time tracking, attendance and desktop and mobile apps, with a free plan to start

    Hourbun vs TimeCamp

    2 people, a month

    $10.98 (lower price)

    Starter

    Email reminders of late invoices
    No
    Recurring invoices
    No
    Timesheet approvals
    Higher plan On Ultimate
    An MCP server for AI assistants (ahead of Productive)
    Yes A remote MCP server on every plan, for time and projects; no invoices yet

  3. 3. Avaza

    Teams that want projects, tasks, scheduling, chat, timesheets and invoicing in one app

    Hourbun vs Avaza

    2 people, a month

    $11.95 (lower price)

    Startup

    Email reminders of late invoices
    Higher plan Up to five automatic reminders, on the paid plans
    Recurring invoices (ahead of Productive)
    Yes
    Timesheet approvals (ahead of Productive)
    Yes
    An MCP server for AI assistants
    Higher plan A remote MCP server, read and write, on the paid plans

  4. 4. Invoice Ninja

    Freelancers and small businesses that want a free plan, many payment gateways, native apps or a self-hosted server

    Hourbun vs Invoice Ninja

    2 people, a month

    $18 (lower price)

    Enterprise (1–2 users)

    Email reminders of late invoices
    Higher plan From Ninja Pro
    Recurring invoices (ahead of Productive)
    Yes
    Timesheet approvals
    No
    An MCP server for AI assistants
    No

  5. 5. Harpoon

    Agencies and freelancers that want yearly revenue goals and forecasts beside time tracking and invoicing

    Hourbun vs Harpoon

    2 people, a month

    $19 (lower price)

    Freelancer

    Email reminders of late invoices (ahead of Productive)
    Yes
    Recurring invoices (ahead of Productive)
    Yes
    Timesheet approvals
    No
    An MCP server for AI assistants (ahead of Productive)
    Yes A remote MCP server with sign-in, read and write, on every plan

  6. 6. Harvest

    Teams that want desktop, mobile and browser apps, QuickBooks Online or project-tool integrations

    Hourbun vs Harvest

    2 people, a month

    ≈ $130

    Teams · estimate

    Email reminders of late invoices (ahead of Productive)
    Yes
    Recurring invoices (ahead of Productive)
    Yes
    Timesheet approvals
    Higher plan On the Enterprise plan
    An MCP server for AI assistants (ahead of Productive)
    Yes A remote MCP server with sign-in: it reads and writes time, and makes draft invoices

For comparison

Productive

Agencies and consultancies that want resource planning, project management, a sales CRM and budgets with profitability in one app

Hourbun vs Productive

2 people, a month

$36

Essential

Email reminders of late invoices
Higher plan On the Professional and Ultimate plans
Recurring invoices
Higher plan Invoice drafts from recurring budgets, from the Professional plan
Timesheet approvals
Higher plan From the Professional plan
An MCP server for AI assistants
Higher plan A remote MCP server, read and write, on the Ultimate plan
  • USD list prices, billed monthly
  • ≈ marks an estimate
  • Highlight = cheaper than Productive
  • Bold row = ahead of Productive
  • The example: 2 people · 8 clients · 10 projects · 8 tasks · 10 invoices and $16k invoiced a month

Questions

Questions and answers

What are the alternatives to Productive?

This page lists Hourbun, our app, and TimeCamp, Avaza, Invoice Ninja, Harpoon and Harvest. Each one costs less than Productive for 2 people, or does more on a feature that the pages of Productive limit or leave out.

Which Productive alternative costs the least?

For 2 people, TimeCamp costs the least on this page: $10.98 a month on its Starter plan. Hourbun, our app, costs $15 a month on its Duo plan, and Productive $36 a month on its Essential plan.

Is Hourbun an alternative to Productive?

Yes. Hourbun gives a freelancer or a small team time tracking and client invoicing for a flat price per workspace, with late-invoice reminders, recurring invoices and a Xero sync on every plan. Productive charges per seat for at least 3 seats, and keeps reminders, recurring invoices and accounting integrations for its Professional plan. Productive fits agencies that want resource planning and project management in the same app.

Sources

  • Each fact comes from the comparison page of its app, which names its sources
  • A feature that no page of an app states is a No
  • Prices change: check the pricing page of each app

TimeCamp, Avaza, Invoice Ninja, Harpoon, Harvest and Productive are trademarks of their owners, and Hourbun is not affiliated with them.

Try Hourbun for free.

14 days, no card. Add a client, track your first hour, and send the invoice.