Agency Handy vs Bloom: Which Is Better?
Creative agency and freelancer portal platforms compared.
Tom Bradley
2026-02-27
Agency Handy and Bloom both promise to consolidate client work into a single platform, but they're built for different users with different needs. Agency Handy targets digital and creative agencies managing multiple clients and team members, while Bloom focuses on solo creatives and small professional service businesses like photographers, coaches, and writers.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Agency Handy | Bloom |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29/mo (1 user) | Free tier available |
| Best for | Agencies, multi-client operations | Solo creatives, freelancers |
| Team members | Up to 50 (Business Pro) | Teams on paid plans |
| Client portal | Yes | Yes |
| Service catalog | Yes, with self-checkout | Yes, via packages & add-ons |
| Contract signing | No | Yes |
| Client galleries | No | Yes (visual asset delivery) |
| White label | From $99/mo | Paid plans |
| Time tracking | Yes | No |
| Scheduling | No | Yes |
| Free tier | No | Yes (3 active projects) |
| Payment methods | Standard (Stripe/PayPal) | Stripe, ACH, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle |
Agency Handy
Agency Handy is built around the operational needs of agencies: you catalog your services, clients order them, your team fulfills them, and you bill for everything in one place. The workflow is linear and logical for service businesses running multiple concurrent engagements.
Features
The service catalog is one of Agency Handy's stronger features. You can create detailed listings with packages, add-ons, upsells, coupons, free trials, and setup fees — both one-time and recurring. Clients can self-checkout directly, and you can embed the catalog on your existing website via iFrame or share a public catalog link. For agencies that sell standardized services, this reduces the back-and-forth of custom quoting.
Order and task management uses a Kanban board model. Each order breaks down into tasks that can be assigned to team members with deadlines and tracked to completion. Clients can be assigned tasks too, which is useful when deliverables require client input. File feedback with annotations on images, PDFs, and videos is built in, along with version histories.
The CRM tracks leads through a pipeline, lets you import/export contacts, and converts leads to active clients. On the Freelancer plan, you're capped at 100 leads — enough for a solo operator, but the Team Starter's 3,000 and Business Pro's 10,000 limits are what most growing agencies actually need.
Time tracking is included across all plans via timesheets and manual log entries, which is a notable inclusion at this price point. Invoicing covers automated recurring billing, QuickBooks sync, multi-currency, custom VAT, and W9/tax form support.
Pricing
- Freelancer: $29/mo — 1 user, 10 GB storage, 100 leads, basic white label (logo and agency name only, no custom domain)
- Team Starter: $99/mo — 10 users, 2 TB storage, 3,000 leads, full white label with custom domain, custom brand, email sync and templates
- Business Pro: $199/mo — 50 users, 10 TB storage, 10,000 leads, full white label
The jump from Freelancer to Team Starter is steep — $29 to $99 — and the Freelancer plan's 10 GB storage and lack of custom domain make it a genuine entry-level product rather than a full-featured solo option. Notably, there's no free tier.
Limitations
Agency Handy doesn't offer scheduling, contract signing, or client galleries for visual asset delivery. If your workflow depends on any of those — particularly if you're a photographer needing proofing galleries or a consultant who signs contracts before kicking off work — you'll need supplemental tools. The platform also only supports one workspace per account across all plans, which limits agencies that want to fully separate brands or business units.
Bloom
Bloom positions itself as a studio manager for creative professionals, and that shows in both its feature set and its design sensibility. It's less about agency operations and more about helping individual service providers look and run professionally.
Features
Bloom's standout features reflect a creative services audience. Client galleries let you deliver visual work with layout controls, proofing, feedback, download permissions, and activity tracking — something Agency Handy doesn't touch. Contract signing is built in and integrates directly with invoices and booking packages, so clients can sign and pay in one flow.
The instant booking system is a genuine differentiator: clients can browse packages with add-ons, pick scheduling slots, sign a contract, and pay — all in a single link you can embed on your website. For photographers, coaches, or anyone who sells time-based services, this substantially reduces administrative overhead.
Bloom's invoicing goes further on payment flexibility than most competitors. Beyond standard credit card processing, it integrates with Cash App, Venmo, Zelle, and PayPal — payment methods that many independent service providers and their clients actually prefer. ACH bank transfers are available at 0.8% capped at $5 per transaction, significantly cheaper than the standard 2.9% card rate for larger invoices. Clients can also leave tips. The starter plan carries a 1.5% platform fee on digital payments; paid plans remove this.
Automation handles follow-up emails and other repetitive tasks, which helps solo operators maintain responsiveness without constant attention. A built-in website builder and portfolio tool rounds out the offering for creatives who need a professional web presence without a separate service.
Pricing
Bloom offers a free tier with meaningful limitations: 3 active projects, 1 workflow, 1 package, and 1 automation. The "Powered by Bloom" branding is removed on paid plans. Paid tiers are available monthly or annually (annual saves up to 30%), and a 7-day free trial applies to all plans. Exact pricing tiers weren't published in detail at the time of this review — check Bloom's pricing page for current figures.
Limitations
Bloom doesn't include time tracking, a meaningful service catalog with self-checkout, or the kind of structured lead pipeline management that Agency Handy provides. It's designed for smaller operations — the free tier's limits (3 active projects) make that clear. Agencies managing dozens of clients simultaneously would quickly find Bloom's project constraints and lack of team-focused CRM tools limiting.
When to Choose Agency Handy
Agency Handy makes sense if you're running an actual agency — even a small one — where you need to manage multiple team members, track time across client projects, and run a service catalog that clients can browse and buy from directly. The structured order-to-fulfillment workflow, multi-user support from $99/mo, and deep invoicing (including QuickBooks sync and multi-currency) are built for operations that have moved past solo freelancing. If white-label client portals matter for your brand presentation, Agency Handy delivers that cleanly from the Team Starter plan.
When to Choose Bloom
Bloom is the better fit for independent creative professionals — photographers, coaches, consultants, designers, writers — who need a polished, all-in-one system that covers booking, contracts, invoicing, and client delivery without the operational overhead of agency-scale tools. The built-in contract signing, client galleries, and flexible payment options (including ACH and peer-to-peer payment apps) address real friction points in creative service businesses. The free tier also makes it genuinely low-risk to evaluate.
Bottom Line
These tools solve similar problems for different audiences. Agency Handy is the stronger choice for teams and agencies that need structured order management, a service catalog with self-checkout, and scalable multi-user operations. Bloom is better suited to solo professionals and small creative businesses that prioritize polished client experiences, contract workflows, visual asset delivery, and booking automation. If you're a freelancer making the jump to a small team, Agency Handy's Freelancer plan at $29/mo is an accessible starting point — but Bloom's free tier lets you get started without spending anything while you validate the workflow fits.