Harvest moves to usage-based pricing after the Bending Spoons acquisition, and customers report bills rising up to 1500 percent

Sources: BBC report, HN discussion
Summary: Harvest replaced a flat per-user monthly fee with charges tied to active projects, clients, tasks and the revenue invoiced through the platform, so a team cannot compute its cost before the bill arrives. Reported effects are a UK consultancy going from 130 to 2,110 dollars per month and a US customer from 2,800 to 23,000 dollars per year, both relayed by the BBC from customers. The BBC states Bending Spoons has acquired more than 50 major tech firms since 2013 and reports a track record of raising prices after acquisitions, naming subscription increases at Evernote and tighter free-tool limits at Vimeo and WeTransfer. The BBC states it approached Harvest for comment and carries no vendor statement.
Why it matters: Pricing tied to invoiced revenue and project counts makes a tool's cost unpredictable for the team that depends on it, which is the transferable part of this acquisition pattern.