10 HoneyBook alternatives and competitors in 2020

In order to be successful, a business owner has to be organized throughout the process of working with clients. If you’re running your own business, that means a lot of time spent tracking all those administrative tasks, keeping clients happy, and ensuring you get paid.

An online, all-in-one business management platform can make that work a lot easier, while keeping you organized and ensuring you look professional.

One popular platform is HoneyBook, which provides cohesive management of every aspect of your business. It enables you to work with clients throughout the process, from an inquiry that serves as a new lead through to booking to project completion. It has invoices, contracts and project management features that are integrated.

HoneyBook is one good option, but may not be best for your freelance business. There are HoneyBook alternatives on the market that can support your work and provide different features and pricing. 

Here’s a list of 10 great alternatives to HoneyBook, one of which could be the best solution for your business. 

#1. Bonsai

Bonsai has a product suite that’s designed for freelancers, with a full slate of tasks related to running a freelance business. That makes it the perfect HoneyBook alternative. Each of the products are integrated, and provide templates to get you started, with the ability to customize for your needs. You can prepare and send proposals and contracts, including the ability for e-signatures to make it official.

Those are then integrated with invoices and project management, so you can view each of your projects and know exactly where you are with all your work. You can also use it for time tracking, task management, and bonus features like automatic reminders to clients, as well as support for accounting and taxes. Bonsai supports 180 different currencies, ideal for the freelancer who wants to work internationally.

To date, the Bonsai suite has been trusted by more than 200,000 freelancers and agencies - go ahead and sign up for a free trial today!

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#2. Dubsado

Dubsado is a popular business management solution with features that help freelancers handle contracts, invoices and workflow. Manage clients by communicating with them from your own email address, but with Dubsado’s custom forms, contracts and invoices. Book appointments with clients and connect your email to your calendar and payment processor to ensure your system is integrated. You can also create payment schedules and send automatic reminders. Use the system to custom design forms with your brand, and build a client portal to make life easier for your clients. Watch your finances grow as you track leads, generate reports, and set financial goals with this HoneyBook alternative.

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#3. 17hats

Since an entrepreneur wears so many different hats, this system has a name that rings true for freelancers. 17hats brings together integrated calendars, contacts, and invoices in one place, making it easy to run your business. Paperwork becomes paperless with an online system that’s easy for you and your clients. Use it to track leads, coordinate bookings, create quotes, contracts, and invoices, and fulfill tasks with a project management system. You’ll also be able to monitor the progress of your company with at-a-glance financial details, tracking your results by job, month, or quarter.

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#4. Insightly

Insightly is a CRM platform that also provides a range of functionality and integration to support your business, with marketing, sales and project management tools in one place. It’s particularly useful for freelancers who have a team. You can use it to manage a sales force, by distributing leads to sales reps, sending tracked emails to prospects, and managing sales opportunities. You can also use it for project management, and connect to tools you already use, like Office 365 or Google Apps.

#5. Plutio

This is another platform that’s ideal for freelancers and a great HoneyBook alternative, because Plutio has multiple integrated features perfect for those managing their own business. You can use it to manage projects, track your time, and send invoices. Create proposals and contracts using a drag-and-drop tool that’s easy to figure out. You can track when proposals and contracts are opened and signed, and when invoices are opened, providing clients with multiple payment options and easy online payment integration. The CRM component is also powerful, helping you build and track relationships with clients.

#6. Monday

This system is powerful if you work with teams and you’re not in the same location. Monday will support marketing and sales, but also has project management tools, workflow, and the ability to manage a remote team. If you’re building an agency and want to collaborate with other freelancers, Monday has the tools you’ll need.

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#7. StudioNinja

If you’re a freelance photographer, StudioNinja is made specifically to suit your needs. In fact, its user interface is praised by photographers and videographers for its simplicity in setup and use. You can use it to convert leads and enquiries into sales, and then manage them in a workflow system. For enquiries through your website, the system sets up a series of trigger emails. Track progress on jobs, automatically send emails, contracts and questionnaires to clients, and use it for quotes, contracts and invoices. You can also set a payment system and generate reporting to make tax time easy.

#8. Bloom

Considered a top client management system for photographers and other creative freelancers, Bloom has a suite of products that help creative types handle those administrative tasks that take time away from creative pursuits. It's one of the great HoneyBook alternatives. The workflow system makes it simple to track tasks and projects, the integrated invoicing software makes it simple to send invoices and process payments, and a powerful calendar system makes life easy for your clients.

By getting a link to your Bloom calendar, clients can book appointments when you’re available, making it simple for them to sync their calendar with yours. You even embed an event planner link in a contract to make it simple to onboard new clients. Then you can sync the Bloom calendar with Google and iCal to make it easy to manage your work and personal life. This and other slick features make Bloom a good alternative to HoneyBook for creative freelancers.

#9. Tave

Another system designed for photographers, Tave is easy to use for any type of creative freelancer. It will help with your business processes, organize workflow and more. You can automate it to send invoice reminders and other inquiries, prepare calendars and to-do lists, and track client communication with emails, quotes, contracts, questionnaires and invoices. It offers e-signature for contracts, connects to payment gateways, and provides advanced tax reporting. Customize your client-facing communication with your brand.

#10. Keap

Keap is a CRM and sales and marketing tool with many similar features to HoneyBook, and ideal for a service-based freelance business. Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) supports your efforts to acquire new leads, including website capture, and then track and manage them. It allows you to create a repeatable sales process and build marketing campaigns, collect client information, send branded invoices, and even set up recurring payments.

Ready to try out a new freelance-focused solution?

Do you want to get started with Bonsai, the best HoneyBook alternative? You can sign up for a free trial - no strings attached - and explore the powers of Bonsai to transform how you run your freelance business.