Dubsado vs Honeybook – Which is best?

Today I’m tackling one of the most common questions I get as a systems expert for creative entrepreneurs: Dubsado vs Honeybook! Which is best for my business? Both systems are solid and there is a reason they are so popular! They are generally easy and fun to use and both have a wide breadth of features needed to run a creative small business. However, I have come to the conclusion that one of these systems is slightly better than the other. Read on to reveal my findings!

What is a CRM?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. A CRM system acts as the “system of record” for your business and houses everything from basic customer information to contracts and invoices. A good CRM should do everything you need to run your business or integrate with systems that do! For instance, a CRM is not a full accounting software, but most CRMs will integrate with an accounting system like Quickbooks. Think of your CRM as the main hub of your business and you can plug additional softwares into it like an outlet!

Feature Comparison

Dubsado and Honeybook contain very similar features. Both softwares are geared toward creative entrepreneurs such as photographers, graphic designers, wedding and event professionals, etc. Therefore, they have similar basic features such as automated workflow management, invoicing, digital-signature contracts, and more. However, I will highlight a few features that I believe have significant enough differences to warrant further analysis.

Client Portal/Process

Arguably the most important part of a CRM is the customer’s experience with it. You would hate to have a client management system that deters clients from booking with you because it’s not easy to use!

Both Dubsado and Honeybook have versions of a client portal where clients can log in and manage their forms, questionnaires, invoices and more. However, Honeybook requires everything to go through this portal, while Dubsado allows you to email links directly to items and send them via email. Some folks may enjoy Honeybook’s more streamlined Project interface, but I have talked to various photographers and graphic designers who have said their clients find this portal process confusing and they wish they could simply email items directly rather than requiring clients to go through the portal process. I would argue the flexibility offered by Dubsado offers another win in this realm.

Scheduler

Both systems have an online scheduling tool, geared mostly toward scheduling consult calls or meetings. This is an important distinction, because both Schedulers are fairly basic. These Schedulers are great for one-time meetings over Zoom. However, if you’re looking for a tool to schedule sessions as a photographer, for example, you may find the schedulers to be too limiting. Now, I used Dubsado exclusively to schedule all of my portrait sessions as a senior pictures photographer. So, it’s possible, it’s just a little tedious.

One major difference in the schedulers in Dubsado vs Honeybook is Dubsado has the option to collect payments in order to confirm your appointment. Honeybook currently doesn’t offer this. I love this feature for collecting a deposit for my photography clients. I also use it for mentor sessions. Clients can choose their date and time and are then prompted to enter payment information before their spot is officially secured. It makes the scheduling process completely seamless if you require payment or deposits for your scheduled sessions. Here is where I see Dubsado having a big advantage to Honeybook.

Automated Workflows

Here is where things start to really get interesting! Both Honeybook and Dubsado boast automated workflows. And trust me, automation is key when you’re a solo entrepreneur! However, when it comes to the available options and triggers in these workflows, Dubsado takes the win here again. Honeybook’s workflow features allow automations to trigger off of very basic steps like “after contract is signed” or “after invoice is paid.” However, Dubsado has created far more automation triggers, including triggers off of appointment schedulers! I love this feature because it really allows more customization and automation in general. If you’re looking to take as much work off of your plate as possible, Dubsado is the clear winner here.

Payments

Honeybook has its own payment platform to which you can connect your bank to receive payments. Dubsado requires an integration with PayPal, Stripe, or Square. Besides the initial setup and configuration, I’m not convinced this is a make-or-break type of difference. However, I’m always a fan of “less is more” when it comes to systems. If you’re already using Stripe, Square or PayPal in your business, this may be an advantage for Dubsado, but otherwise, I like Honeybook’s proprietary option and the fees are comparable to other online payment options.

Reporting & Analytics

Both systems have some basic reporting and analytic capabilities. I always say, your reporting is only as good as the data you put into the system. If you’re not a clean record-keeper, your reports will be useless! I believe Honeybook’s reporting is slightly better than Dubsado’s. Dubsado’s standard reports are very minimal and offer little insight. You can export a lot of information to CSV files, which is helpful for creating your own reports, but Honeybook’s standard reports list is slightly better overall.

The Clear Winner

I’ve concluded that Dubsado is the clear winner for the best creative small business CRM systems. While it may have a steeper learning curve on the front-end, I firmly believe it is easier to use for your clients. What’s more important than that?! Dubsado also contains a few key differences in its features that I believe tip the scales in its favor. While it still is not a perfect system, Dubsado also continues to develop and release new features to improve the user’s experience.

Have I convinced you?! Use my Dubsado discount code for 20% your first year of Dubsado!