Honeybook vs Dubsado: Which Freelance Platform is Right for You?

Freelancers are a group of motivated, professional, resilient, hard-working people. It is almost impossible to make it in the gig economy without these traits.

So what’s the one thing freelancers lack?

Time.

There’s always so many things to get done, and there never seems to be enough time to focus on the tasks that will truly help grow your business.

Enter a third-party management product that can offload some of the more mundane chores of being a business owner. But how do you choose which one? Honeybook and Dubsado are two all-in-one freelance software suites that are great options for freelancers like yourself.

Although both are great CRM options to consider, we’ll break down the differences of Honeybook vs Dubsado to see if one is better suited for your business.

Honeybook

According to Honeybook, they help, “creative entrepreneurs and freelancers book more clients, manage projects and get paid—all in one place.” Sounds great, right? Dig into it more and you’ll find this CRM has an array of tools ready for you to use.

Features

If you’re evaluating Honeybook vs Dubsado, it’s all about the features. Honeybook offers a variety of bells and whistles that can help small business owners keep things rolling. Here’s a more in-depth look.

1. Contracts

Every freelancer knows that contracts are vital to keep you in business. Without that formal agreement, it’s harder to stay within the scope of work and harder to get paid. Honeybook offers templates, e-signatures, and automatic tracking and notifications.

2. Invoices

Honeybook offers the ability to send and track invoices right in their convenient app. Additionally, you can offer discount codes and even set up gift cards. Everything is integrated so there’s no confusion when you’re handling your invoicing and bookkeeping.

3. Proposals

The proposals feature is a unique way to string together contracts, invoices and payments. With fewer documents and fewer places to click and sign, clients are likely to convert and pay faster.

4. Online payments

Some clients insist on paying by check, but I think we’d all really prefer if online transfers become the norm, right? Honeybook offers the ability to accept online payments with just a single click, integrated right in the invoice. You can track everything in one place, and you’ll get your money much faster.

5. Automation

The automation program within Honeybook is great for keeping up communications with clients without eating into all of your productive hours. You can set up emails and files that are sent based on the rules you set up. So you can create a follow up process on signatures, approvals and payments and then never think about them again.

6. Project management

The automation tool in this CRM, along with other features, allows you to create a workflow process for yourself. You can get reminders when tasks are due, track the status of projects and attach files all in one place so that nothing gets dropped.

7. Scheduling

Personal meetings are a great way to establish a repertoire and ensure that clients are happy. Honeybook helps you with that added personal touch through their scheduling process. You set up the times you are available, then clients can choose with the click of a button.

Pricing

Honeybook offers a free 7-day trial, then starts from $16/month if purchased annually, or $19 month to month with it’s most basic plan.

Pros

Since we’re looking at Honeybook vs Dubsado, let’s evaluate some of the pros of the first solution.

The automation feature of Honeybook is awesome. Everything is incredibly user-friendly. You can custom brand all of the templates so you look great in front of clients, and they have several third-party integration options, such as QuickBooks, Calendly, Zapier, and Google.

There is also a great timeline option that helps in planning events like weddings, trade shows, and photography bookings.

Cons

While Honeybook is competitively priced, they do charge a 3% commission on all payments. Additionally, all of your client data is stored on the Honeybook platform, and not everything is exportable.

While it can be a bonus to have everything in one place, it can cause problems if your client wants to see paperwork a different way or if you decide to switch platforms down the road. Lastly, Honeybook doesn’t offer a lot of team integration options.

Final take

Honeybook offers a lot of features and is a pretty good value for the money. It’s undoubtedly a contender to help manage your freelancer business. However, it’s not the only option available. So let’s compare another popular choice and see what Honeybook vs Dubsado looks like.

Dubsado

Much like Honeybook’s mission, Dubsado, “is a business management solution designed to cut out the busywork.” This is essentially what every freelancer is looking for in their freelance business, and Dubsado doesn’t disappoint.

Features

Dubsado offers a lot of CRM features that are similar to Honeybook, but there are definitely differences in their functionality. Dubsado focuses more on customization and financial management. Here’s some of the standouts:

1. Client management

Dubsado has a cool feature that allows you to give each client a custom, password-protected client portal to manage all of their paperwork in a single space. You can also tag projects and organize them on your end almost any way you want to, so workflow is easy to manage. This makes Dubsado an excellent CRM tool.

2. Contracts & Forms

Like Honeybook, Dubsado offers templates, e-signatures, and mobile access for all contracts and forms. They also offer white-labeled forms and custom domains. Dubsado goes a step further by giving you CSS styling access, so every detail can be adjusted to fit your branding.

3. Automation

Similar to Honeybook, Dubsado allows you to set up software controlled emails, reminders, and task lists. The automation gives you back so many precious hours in your freelance business.

4. Invoicing & Payments

Dubsado invoicing allows for online payments, and can also integrate with Paypal, Stripe and Square, so you control where your money goes. You can also accept international currencies, include a gratuity option, and set up recurring invoices to help you get paid on time every month.

5. Scheduling

When comparing Honeybook vs Dubsado, Dubsado’s scheduling tool has a bit more meat on it than the Honeybook version. In addition to a convenient form, Dubsado offers the ability to attach forms and questionnaires to appointment bookings. Another option we love is the ability to set a maximum number of appointments per day, so you don’t accidentally over schedule yourself, leaving no time to complete other tasks.

6. Accounting & Reporting

Dubsado has a robust accounting function that tracks expenses, goals, transactions, and tax forms. It also has the incredibly useful ability to tie income dollars to lead generation, so you can evaluate where to spend your time. This is a great bookkeeping feature not many CRM tools have.

Pricing

Dubsado starts with an open-ended free trial, then moves to $350 paid annually, or $35 month to month.

Pros

In the Dubsado vs Honeybook battle, the pros are pretty similar for each product.

Dubsado offers nearly unlimited customization. You can even have multiple brands built into the software if you run more than one company.

It has the same automation features as Honeybook and a ton of financial features to dive into. Third-party payment integration is a huge plus.

Cons

Dubsado has so many features and customization options that it can be a bit overwhelming. The steep learning curve may negate the time you’re gaining through using an automated suite, especially if tech isn’t necessarily your thing.

Additionally, the Dubsado trial, while unlimited on time, does limit the number of clients you can add to just three. So if you have a large freelance business, it might be difficult to find out if the software really does what you need it to do without paying up front.

Honeybook vs Dubsado: What’s the best choice for you?

So, which will it be in the Honeybook vs Dubsado question? Like with so many tools out there, it really comes down to what functionality you are looking for. If you’re looking for a quick fix to offload tasks as you grow your freelance income, Honeybook offers a simple, ready-to-integrate option.

If you need more control and have time to invest in creating a fully customized professional platform, Dubsado is the clear winner.

Each one is great for freelancers, and depends on your own preference — try a free trial and see for yourself.

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