HoneyBook vs Dubsado: Which Is Better?

HoneyBook and Dubsado both target independent service businesses — photographers, coaches, designers, consultants — with an all-in-one CRM approach covering leads, contracts, invoices, and client communication. They're more similar than different, which makes choosing between them genuinely difficult.

Quick Comparison

	HoneyBook	Dubsado
Starting price	$29/mo (billed annually)	$20/mo (billed annually)
Free trial	Yes, no credit card required	Yes, no credit card required
Automations	Essentials plan and up	Included on Premier plan
Team members	Up to 2 (Essentials), unlimited (Premium)	3 additional users included
Multiple brands	Premium plan only	Premier plan
AI features	Yes (email drafts, meeting notes, insights)	No
Payment processing	Yes	Yes (135+ currencies, ACH, instant payouts)
Zapier integration	Not native	Yes
QuickBooks integration	Essentials and up	Bookkeeping integration included
SMS reminders	Essentials and up	Not mentioned

HoneyBook

HoneyBook is the more polished, consumer-friendly option. Over 100,000 small businesses use it, and the product shows evidence of that scale — the onboarding is smooth, templates are genuinely professional, and the interface prioritizes accessibility over power.

Pricing: - Starter — $29/mo (annual) or $36/mo (monthly): Unlimited clients and projects, invoices, payments, proposals, contracts, calendar, client portal, basic reports, up to 2 live lead forms, HoneyBook AI - Essentials — $36.75/mo (annual) or $44.25/mo (monthly): Adds scheduler, automations, QuickBooks integration, up to 2 team members, up to 10 live lead forms, SMS reminders, removes HoneyBook branding, standard reports - Premium — $81.75/mo (annual) or $96.75/mo (monthly): Unlimited team members, priority support, multiple companies, advanced reports, unlimited lead forms

The jump from Starter to Essentials is significant in terms of capability — automations and the scheduler are locked behind it. For solo operators who want automation without paying Premium-tier prices, Essentials at $36.75/mo is probably the sweet spot.

HoneyBook's AI integration is genuinely differentiating. It drafts email replies based on your tone and context, generates meeting summaries, surfaces project recaps before calls, and provides business trend insights. No competing tool in this category has built AI this deeply into the workflow.

The client portal is clean and functional — clients can view documents, make payments, and communicate without logging into your internal system. Lead forms embed on your website and trigger workflows automatically.

Limitations: Automations require the Essentials plan ($36.75/mo), not the entry-level Starter. Team features cap out awkwardly — 2 members on Essentials, then a big jump to $81.75/mo for unlimited. International payment support is less robust than Dubsado's.

Dubsado

Dubsado has a steeper learning curve but rewards users who invest the time to configure it. The workflow customization is deeper, the form builder is more flexible, and the payment infrastructure handles more complexity.

Pricing: - Starter — $20/mo (annual) or $24/mo (monthly): Unlimited clients and projects, invoicing, payment plans, form and email templates, client portals, calendar sync, mobile app, lead capture forms, email and live chat support - Premier — $40/mo (annual) or $45/mo (monthly): Adds automated workflows, scheduling templates, bookkeeping integration, Zapier, public proposals, multiple brands, team members (3 additional users free)

At $20/mo to start, Dubsado is meaningfully cheaper than HoneyBook's Starter. Premier at $40/mo still undercuts HoneyBook's Essentials for most of the same capabilities.

Where Dubsado pulls ahead is payment flexibility. It processes credit cards in 135+ currencies, handles ACH transfers in the US and Canada, offers instant payouts within 30 minutes, and supports recurring billing, buy-now-pay-later, and even in-person tap-to-pay without extra hardware. HoneyBook's payment processing is solid but more US-centric and less configurable.

Dubsado's form builder is notably more powerful. Custom lead capture forms, questionnaires, surveys, welcome packets, and embedded proposals that trigger full automated workflows are all supported. Smart field auto-population reduces manual data entry. For businesses with complex intake processes, this flexibility matters.

Zapier integration is included on Premier, giving Dubsado users access to thousands of third-party app connections that HoneyBook doesn't support natively.

Limitations: The interface is less intuitive than HoneyBook's — plan for a real onboarding investment. Automations require Premier. No AI features. The mobile experience is functional but not a strong point.

When to Choose HoneyBook

• You want something you can get running this week without a configuration project
• AI-assisted email drafting and meeting notes would genuinely save you time
• SMS reminders to clients are important to your workflow
• You're in the US and don't need complex international payment setups
• The polish and template quality matter for your brand presentation

When to Choose Dubsado

• You're price-sensitive and want more features per dollar
• You need deep workflow automation and a flexible form builder
• You process payments internationally or need ACH, tap-to-pay, or BNPL
• You want Zapier to connect your other tools
• You're willing to invest time upfront to configure a system that fits precisely

Bottom Line

Both tools are genuinely good, and most users would be well-served by either. HoneyBook wins on ease of use, AI features, and polish — it's the better choice if you want to get productive quickly and value a refined experience. Dubsado wins on price, payment flexibility, and customization depth — it's the better choice if you're willing to do the configuration work and want more control over your workflows.

The practical tiebreaker: if you're based outside the US or have complex payment needs, go Dubsado. If AI tools would change how you work and you want something your clients immediately trust, go HoneyBook.