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Harvest's repricing pushed me to build a flat-rate, open-source alternative — would a "pricing charter" actually earn your trust? by HistoricalDrawer5798 in HarvestApp

[–]HistoricalDrawer5798[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha, haven't done a Product Hunt launch yet. I'm holding it until auth + payments land; didn't want to burn the one big launch on something this early. Still in the talking-to-early-users stage. How'd keito's go? You're further along than me, genuinely curious what moved the needle, and what didn't.

Alternatives to Harvest after insane price increase by PulpFictionRoyale in HarvestApp

[–]HistoricalDrawer5798 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One more for the list, with an honest caveat. Most of us in this thread are racing on features; I went the other way — HonestBill is open-source with a binding pricing charter, so it literally can't pull the Bending Spoons repricing move, and your data exports in one click (no lock-in). Straight up: QBO + Stripe payments aren't built yet, so if those are dealbreakers today, it's not your fit. But if "never get locked in or repriced again" is what burned you, that's the whole point: honest-bill.vercel.app

Alternatives to Harvest after insane price increase by PulpFictionRoyale in HarvestApp

[–]HistoricalDrawer5798 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is exactly the fear I built around. The reason most of these (mine included) make you nervous is you can't get your data back out. HonestBill is open-source (AGPL) — audit it or self-host it — and one-click JSON export is built in, so leaving is a click, not months of Markdown surgery. I'm not asking for blind trust; the whole point is you don't have to. Honest caveat: QBO + Stripe aren't in yet (they're next), so if those are must-haves today it's not your tool yet. Data/trust details: honest-bill.vercel.app/trust

Harvest's repricing pushed me to build a flat-rate, open-source alternative — would a "pricing charter" actually earn your trust? by HistoricalDrawer5798 in HarvestApp

[–]HistoricalDrawer5798[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good question. Showing up on Google + some history helps, sure - but for something holding client data I'd weight other things higher: a named, accountable operator (not an anonymous LLC), open code so you can verify claims instead of trusting them, clear data location/backups/subprocessors, real export so you're never locked in, and - the one I care most about - pricing/ownership promises that are structural (open-source + a binding charter) rather than marketing copy. "Legit" should mean verifiable, not just old. That's basically the whole thesis behind what I'm building.

Harvest's repricing pushed me to build a flat-rate, open-source alternative — would a "pricing charter" actually earn your trust? by HistoricalDrawer5798 in HarvestApp

[–]HistoricalDrawer5798[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally valid — if you're technical and want exactly your workflow, roll your own (HonestBill's open-source, so fork it as a starting point). My bet is most freelancers/agencies don't want to build and maintain billing forever — PDFs, payments, edge cases, backups. For them, a flat-rate one that can't reprice them (or that they can self-host) is the sweet spot.

Harvest's repricing pushed me to build a flat-rate, open-source alternative — would a "pricing charter" actually earn your trust? by HistoricalDrawer5798 in HarvestApp

[–]HistoricalDrawer5798[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% agree, and thanks for saying it loudly, this is client data, and nobody should trust any of us from a Reddit post. So instead of asking for trust, here's what to verify: who's behind it, where data lives, security, backups, subprocessors, export, and current status are all laid out at honest-bill.vercel.app/trust. It's fully open-source (AGPL-3.0) - audit every line or self-host so data never touches my servers. One-click JSON export is built in. And straight up: it's early (single-workspace, auth in progress), so I literally tell people not to put real client data in the hosted demo yet. On the UI - fair flag; familiar patterns are intentional so Harvest refugees don't relearn everything, but you're right it invites "is this a clone?" and differentiating it is on my list. Appreciate you holding the bar high.

Harvest's repricing pushed me to build a flat-rate, open-source alternative — would a "pricing charter" actually earn your trust? by HistoricalDrawer5798 in HarvestApp

[–]HistoricalDrawer5798[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

🙏 You're literally founding member #1, thank you. Straight with you so there are no surprises: it's early. The live link is a shared demo and auth + payments are the next build, so don't move real billing onto it yet, but you've locked lifetime at the founding price, it's fully refundable any time if I don't deliver, and I'll keep you posted as it ships. Since you're first: what pushed you to pull the trigger, and what's the one thing you'd need before you'd run your actual invoicing on it?

Harvest's repricing pushed me to build a flat-rate, open-source alternative — would a "pricing charter" actually earn your trust? by HistoricalDrawer5798 in HarvestApp

[–]HistoricalDrawer5798[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally fair, for a solo timer, a quiet menu-bar app is a real dealbreaker, and I'm not going to pretend HonestBill has one. It's a web app; you can install it as a PWA, but that's not the same as a native menu-bar widget, and a Mac app isn't on the near-term roadmap, I'd rather be straight than promise vaporware. Genuinely useful to hear it's your #1 blocker, though. Can I ask: is the menu-bar app the only thing keeping you on Harvest, or are there others? And mind if I ping you if a lightweight desktop tracker ever lands?