Honeybook vs. Dubsado: Which CRM Platform Is Best For You?
If you want to feel like you run a legitimate business, you need to have processes in place for every touchpoint that’ll impress customers and competitors alike. You need a good customer relationship management system (CRM) to:
- Make it easy to sign contracts and pay invoices
- Send workflow emails automatically
- House all your documents and client materials
- Look visually aligned to your brand
There are many CRM tools out there for small businesses, but the two most popular among creative service providers and small business owners are Honeybook vs. Dubsado.
I’ve used both, so I’m going to share the pros and cons of each, so you can choose the right platform for you.
But First, What Is a CRM?
A customer relationship management system (CRM) helps businesses manage customer interactions, analyze the data from these interactions, and improve how you support customers.
It helps to organize, automate, and synchronize tasks like submitting paperwork, sending emails, marketing and check-ins, and customer service!
Basically, it takes care of everything you do repeatedly every day. Helping to improve communication and relationships with your customer, free up your time, save on costs, increase sales, improve how your team works together, and more.
So let’s dive into the two most popular CRM platforms for creative service providers and small businesses: Honeybook vs. Dubsado.
Honeybook | All-in-One Client Management
When I first started Storytella Studios©, I used Honeybook because all the creative service providers I knew use it (I know, talk about a follower in the pack, huh?).
What I cared about most when investing in a CRM platform was having online proposals, contracts, invoices, payments, scheduling, automations, and client relationship management all in one place.
And Honeybook checked all of those boxes.
They have three plan options, and when you pay annually you get 2 months free:
- Starter: $290 annually, which includes:
- Unlimited clients and projects
- Stay organized with dedicated workspaces for clients and projects.
- Invoices and payments
- Proposals and contracts
- Calendar
- All professional templates
- Client portal
- Basic reports
- Up to 2 live lead forms
- Essentials: $490 annually, which includes everything in Starter, plus:
- Scheduler
- Automations
- QuickBooks Online integration
- Up to 2 team members
- Up to 10 live lead forms
- SMS reminders
- Remove “Powered by HoneyBook”
- Standard reports
- HoneyBook AI
- Premium: $1,090 annually, which includes everything in Essentials, plus:
- Unlimited team members
- Priority support
- Multiple companies
- Advanced reports
- Unlimited live lead forms
Dubsado | Software for Creative Service Businesses
When I rebranded Storytella Studios© in 2022, I switched to Dubsado. Not because I didn’t like Honeybook, but because I wanted to try the other popular CRM platform and compare and contrast.
Dubsado enables you to streamline operations, create repeatable processes, and deliver the best client experience—all the essential ingredients of a CRM.
They’ve helped 120,000 entrepreneurs like you grow their businesses since 2015, .
What I like about Dubsado is how much I could customize my documents and branding, adding tax was easy—because as a Canadian-based small business, I needed to charge my Canadian clients based on their provincial tax—and I did a service swap with a systems specialist at the time so setting up my workflows, adding my canned emails, and creating branded headers and graphics for my docs and emails was basically all taken care of for me.
Sidebar: Reveal Studio Co.’s Workflow Emails for Creative Service Providers was so helpful for me when building my CRM.
You can start Dubsado for free, and upgrade when you’re ready to grow with their two plans:
- Starter: $200 annually ($40 savings compared to the monthly plan), which includes:
- Unlimited projects & clients
- Invoicing & payment plans
- Form & email templates
- Premier: $400 annually ($80 savings compared to the monthly plan), which includes everything in Starter plus:
- Scheduling
- Automated workflows
- Public proposals
- Multiple lead captures at once
- Zapier integration
Honeybook vs. Dubsado CRM Comparison
Honeybook Pros
Considered the leading client relationship platform for independent businesses that powers billions of client interactions, Honeybook helps with:
- Business Efficiency: Organizes your business, makes workflows more efficient, and automates manual tasks so you can focus on your clients and craft
- Client Experience: Build the best client experiences with personalized, polished, and professional interactions that strengthen relationships
- Revenue Growth: Financial tools to track and achieve goals, plus insights to prioritize time and grow on your own terms
- Payments: Get paid on time and fast – 90% of members’ invoices are paid on time or early
- Time Savings: According to their recent reporting, Honeybook has saved small businesses up to 20 hours per week on average
Their Starter plan has all the necessary elements for a seamless small business CRM. And personally, I find their user interface very easy to use, which is great for the tech savvy and the… not so savvy.
There are 143 templates available in their template gallery for docs like:
- Contracts & proposals
- Questionnaires
- Invoices & payment plans
- Schedulers
- Design and mood boards
- Testimonial requests, and more!
And you can even browse by industry, helping you discover templates that work for your business.
On top of that, Honeybook AI automates so much more tasks. It can:
- Draft and send personalized responses
- Track project progress
- Summarize meetings and emails into project notes
- Help manage follow-ups, automate scheduling, and ensure no important task gets overlooked
- Analyze data to surface trends in booking rates, cash flow, and project status
With this AI tool, your cost is much less becayse you don’t have to pay for notetakers like Otter.AI, and you can even use Honeybook AI instead of ChatGPT!
BONUS: you can integrate tools like Calendly, QuickBooks, Flodesk, Google Calendar, Zoom, and more.
Honeybook Cons
Honeybook has only increased their pricing once—but when they did, EVERYONE was talking about it.
I’d say their Essentials plan is comparable to the Premier plan, but it’s still $80 more annually. And the premier plan—I don’t know many solopreneurs who can foot a $1090 bill in a one-time payment, even if they are getting two months free.
There aren’t as many customization features—you can’t do much more than add your logo and cover photo to docs.
And if you’re on the Starter plan, you don’t have access to Honeybook AI—without it, automation is lacking compared to Dubsado.
Dubsado Pros
Once you learn how to navigate the system, customization and automation reigns supreme. I’d say automating your workflow is more robust than it is in Honeybook (when you don’t throw Honeybook AI into the mix). And it’s really easy to:
- Create and edit workflows
- Connect tech tools like Stripe
- Link your Google calendar
- Create scheduling links with all kinds of capabilities
- Tailor the visual to your branding colours, fonts, and logo, and more
Big plus: it’s much cheaper annually than Honeybook—and with saving money any where you can being a top priority for small businesses, this is a huge pro for Dubsado.
Even BIGGER plus: you can work with up to 3 clients FOR FREE with a Dubsado trial, so you can try out the platform in actual projects before comitting!
Dubsado Cons
If I didn’t have my systems specialist show me how to navigate Dubsado and update things, I’d be at a total loss. The extra customization and automation features do require a certain proficiency in tech that a lot of small business owners don’t have.
It would be nice if Dubsado had a tool like Honeybook AI to summarize meetings and emails into project notes and highlight key insights—I know that would help me. Because then, I could pay for one less tool (Otter.ai) and use CRM data to improve how I do business.
Also, the few times I submitted help ticked, I found that the customer support team didn’t respond as quickly as I would have hoped. They may have sped up their response time, though, so it’s not a huge strike against them. More of a penalty (my boyfriend is a Liverpool fan, can you tell?)
So What’s The Verdict?
I hate to do a Honeybook vs. Dubsado showdown but if you ask me… I think I’ll stick with Dubsado because of the price, customization, and automation features.
I’m comfortable enough using the platform now, so the steep learning curve I had to traverse is in my rearview mirror.
If you’re not someone who’s a tech aficionado, or have the time to really sit down and get to know the platform, then Dubsado might not be for you. But the fact you can make your client-facing materials more visually-aligned to your brand, can customize better, and can truly set it and forget it makes Dubsado a true contender for creative service providers and small business owners.
HOWEVER, the new and improved Honeybook definitely has me intrigued 👀. Honeybook AI was the clincher for me—it would be so helpful to have the AI transcribe my meetings and summarize my emails into project notes, give me insights from my CRM data, and make tracking my projects easier. If it becomes available in the Starter plan, I might honestly switch back.
Wrapping It Up
If you’re a softie who didn’t like this Honeybook vs. Dubsado showdown and want to try both platforms, you’re in luck! Start your free HoneyBook trial using my link—no credit card required! Plus, get 25% off your first year.
Get 25% off your first year of Honeybook >>>
If you want to try Dubsado, sign up for a free trial using my exclusive link and you’ll save 20% off your first year or month!
If you have no idea how to set up your workflow, I recommend working with a systems specialist or operations agency like Day to Day Assist.
To take repetitive emailing thing off your plate, I suggest grabbing the Workflow Emails for Creative Service Providers from Reveal Studio to get all your canned emails done and dusted in a snap.
And of course, if you’d like to see my CRM for yourself, you can work with me to write your website copy, emails, sales pages, or manage your social content! Inquire for my services, and let’s talk >>>
