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Calendar & Time Management · head to head

Outlook Calendar vs Harvest Forecast

Outlook Calendar logo

Outlook Calendar

Calendar & Time Management

Professional calendar management for Microsoft 365

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Harvest Forecast logo

Harvest Forecast

Calendar & Time Management

Simple visual resource planning

From
$5/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Outlook Calendar has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Outlook Calendar offline support limited to only past 30 days of events, older events unavailable; Harvest Forecast the free plan allows a single seat and 2 projects
  • They diverge on capability: Outlook Calendar covers Meeting scheduling, Harvest Forecast covers Visual scheduling.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Outlook Calendar and Harvest Forecast actually diverge.

Attributes where Outlook Calendar and Harvest Forecast differ
AttributeOutlook CalendarHarvest Forecast
Starting priceFree$5/month
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidWeb
Founded19752006

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Calendar & Time Management).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Outlook Calendar

  • Meeting scheduling
  • Shared calendars
  • Room booking
  • Availability sharing
  • Recurring events
  • Microsoft Teams
  • OneDrive
  • SharePoint

Only in Harvest Forecast

  • Visual scheduling
  • Capacity planning
  • Project assignments
  • Utilization reports
  • Harvest integration
  • Harvest
  • Google Calendar
  • iCal

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Outlook Calendar

  • Schedulingnot Harvest Forecast
  • Appointment bookingnot Harvest Forecast
  • Time trackingnot Harvest Forecast
  • Resource managementnot Harvest Forecast
  • Team coordinationnot Harvest Forecast

Harvest Forecast

  • Time tracking and invoicing against client projectsnot Outlook Calendar
  • Forecasting team capacity and scheduling worknot Outlook Calendar

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Outlook Calendar

  • Offline support limited to only past 30 days of events, older events unavailable
  • Shared calendars and group calendars not available offline
  • Cached Exchange Mode issues can limit available offline data
  • Occasional sync conflicts when coming back online

Harvest Forecast

  • The free plan allows a single seat and 2 projects
  • Paid plans bill per seat with usage charged beyond the base rate rather than being purely flat
  • The Enterprise plan is $14 per seat per month against $9 on Teams
  • The 20% saving requires annual payment
  • Enterprise Plus is custom priced

Pricing, plan by plan

Outlook Calendar

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Outlook.com email and calendar
    • 50MB attachment limit
    • 1GB cloud storage
  • Microsoft 365 Basic$19.99/year
    • Outlook with limited features
    • Cloud storage
  • Microsoft 365 Personal$99.99/year
    • Premium Outlook
    • Ad-free email
    • 100GB mailbox storage
  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic$6/month
    • Business-class email
    • 1TB cloud storage
    • Microsoft Teams

Harvest Forecast

$5/month
  • Per seat$5/month
    • Visual planning
    • Harvest integration
    • Team scheduling

Which should you pick?

Choose Outlook Calendar if

  • You need meeting scheduling.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
  • You also want shared calendars.
Outlook Calendar review

Choose Harvest Forecast if

  • You need visual scheduling.
  • You also want capacity planning.
Harvest Forecast review

Questions people ask

Is Outlook Calendar or Harvest Forecast better?
Neither clearly leads. Outlook Calendar starts at Free and Harvest Forecast at $5/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Outlook Calendar or Harvest Forecast?
Outlook Calendar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Outlook Calendar and $5/month for Harvest Forecast.
Does Outlook Calendar or Harvest Forecast run on more platforms?
Outlook Calendar runs on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Harvest Forecast runs on Web.
Can I use Outlook Calendar for free?
Yes. Outlook Calendar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Harvest Forecast starts at $5/month.
What is Outlook Calendar best used for?
Outlook Calendar is most often used for scheduling, appointment booking, time tracking, resource management. Of those, scheduling and appointment booking are not what Harvest Forecast is typically brought in for.
What can Outlook Calendar do that Harvest Forecast cannot?
Outlook Calendar covers Meeting scheduling, Shared calendars, Room booking, Availability sharing. Harvest Forecast covers Visual scheduling, Capacity planning, Project assignments, Utilization reports. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Outlook Calendar: Is Outlook Calendar free?

Outlook.com with calendar is free via a Microsoft account. Outlook Calendar also comes with Microsoft 365 Personal ($99.99/year), Family ($129.99/year), or Business plans starting at $6/user/month.

Source
Outlook Calendar: Does Outlook Calendar work offline?

Outlook Calendar has limited offline support. New Outlook caches only the past 30 days of calendar items. Shared calendars and group calendars are not supported offline. Changes sync when you reconnect.

Source
Outlook Calendar: What platforms does Outlook Calendar support?

Outlook Calendar is available on Windows (desktop and web), macOS (desktop and web), iOS, and Android. Real-time synchronization works across all devices.

Source
Outlook Calendar: Does Outlook Calendar integrate with Slack?

Yes. Outlook Calendar integrates with Slack to sync your status and receive meeting notifications. You can RSVP to invites directly in Slack and join Microsoft Teams meetings from Slack reminders.

Source
Outlook Calendar: Can you share calendars and set delegate permissions?

Yes. Outlook Calendar supports calendar sharing with delegate permissions, color categories for organization, and the Scheduling Assistant to view attendee availability for meeting times.

Source
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Related pages

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