HoneyBook alternatives: where to go, and how to switch cleanly
Five tools in detail, one per reason to leave, and an eight-step plan to move your clients over.
The short answer: Dubsado if you want the same client flow with stronger automation and one yearly bill, Bonsai if you bill by the hour or on retainer, Bloom if you are a photographer who wants galleries in the same place, 17hats if you want one tool for everything and can lock in a deal, Moxie if you want the cheapest proposal-to-invoice setup.
One thing to know before you pick: HoneyBook only exports your contacts. Projects, contracts, invoices, templates and automations stay behind, so budget a day or two to rebuild. We compared the five tools in this guide and checked their prices in 2026. The ranking is editorial: a sponsored placement is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Some links are affiliate links. They don't change the order or the opinions on this page.
Why so many HoneyBook users are looking around
HoneyBook made one idea popular: a single place for the inquiry, the proposal, the contract, the deposit and the invoice. The idea still holds. What pushes people out is the bill, the fees, the bugs, and what stays locked in when you try to leave. Six reasons, all checked in 2026.
A steep price increase
In 2025 HoneyBook raised its prices sharply, hardest on the entry plan. In 2026 Starter is $29 a month, Essentials $49 and Premium $109, billed yearly (yearly saves up to 18% against monthly). On HoneyBook's own community forum, a recurring complaint is that new AI features were used to justify the increase, for people who never asked for them.
Fees taken on every payment
Every online payment runs through HoneyBook, which deducts its fee before paying you out. The official rates start at 2.9% + 25¢ on a card and 1.5% on an ACH bank transfer. On $20,000 of deposits and balances paid by card in a year, that is roughly $600, more than a year of Starter (our math). Several forum members say HoneyBook earns more from their business than they do.
Slow ACH payouts
A card payment lands in 2 to 3 business days. An ACH transfer, the cheaper option for you, takes 7 to 8. If you push clients toward ACH to save on fees, you wait longer for your money, which hurts when a big deposit has to cover a second shooter or a venue.
Contacts are all you can export
HoneyBook's export gives you a CSV with each contact's name, email, phone, address, notes and creation date. Nothing else. Projects, signed contracts, invoices, templates and automations stay inside. Invoices download as PDFs, one at a time.
Bugs and features that disappear
On review sites the score sits around 4 out of 5, but roughly one reviewer in ten gives one star. The same complaints come back: bugs on the client side when signing or paying, time tracking removed, automations and scheduling that ignore your availability, refunds refused.
Four countries only
HoneyBook only accepts businesses based in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, in USD, CAD, GBP or AUD. Everyone else joins a waitlist. If you plan to move abroad, or you partner with a studio based in Europe, the account will not follow you.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right HoneyBook alternative depends on what is pushing you out and on what you sell. Usually only one card fits. Each one jumps to the full write-up below.
Forms, proposals, contracts and workflows, paid once a year: $525 for Premier.
You bill by the hour or on retainerBonsaiTime tracking, proposals, contracts and a client portal on Essentials, $19 a month billed yearly.
You're a photographer who delivers galleriesBloomGalleries included, from $7 a month billed yearly (3 active projects).
You want one tool for everything17hatsQuotes, contracts, invoices, questionnaires and scheduling, with a 30-day refund window.
You want the lowest monthly billMoxieProposals, contracts, invoices and time tracking for $10 a month billed yearly.
You want to choose your own payment processorDubsadoStripe, Square or PayPal, picked by you, instead of a single in-house option.
HoneyBook alternatives, one by one
For each tool: why move there, who it suits, its catch, how to switch from HoneyBook, and what it costs. Prices are the ones shown in 2026, in US dollars, before tax.
Two more names come up a lot among photographers: Studio Ninja, and Pixieset if your galleries already live there. We could not confirm their official pricing in 2026, so they stay off this list for now.
Dubsado: the closest replacement
Closest matchWhy move to Dubsado. It rebuilds HoneyBook's flow most faithfully: an inquiry form on your site, a proposal that bundles quote and contract, a signature, a deposit, then automatic reminders. Its workflows (chains of actions that fire on their own, like sending the questionnaire 30 days out and nudging the balance 7 days out) go further than HoneyBook's. Clients and projects are unlimited on every plan. When HoneyBook community members describe where they went, Dubsado is the name that comes up most, and a large photographer survey points the same way.
Who it suits. Wedding planners, photographers, videographers and designers running many similar projects at once who want them to move forward on their own.
Who it doesn't. Anyone who wants to be live in one evening. Dubsado takes real setup time, and the learning curve is the most common complaint.
The catch. Starter ($335 a year) has one form, no workflows and no scheduler. You need Premier ($525 a year) for the automation that is the reason to come. Payments go through Dubsado Payments (built on Stripe), Square or PayPal, and you pick country and currency before your first payment.
How to switch. Use the 21-day Premier trial, no card needed. Build your inquiry form and your standard proposal first, then one workflow for your main service. Import your HoneyBook contacts CSV last. Up to three extra users are free, then $25 a month for users 4 to 10; an extra brand is $10 a month.
- Starter
- $335/year
- Premier
- $525/year
- Best for
- workflows, repeat projects
- Catch
- long setup
Bonsai: for hourly and retainer work
Hourly billingWhy move to Bonsai. HoneyBook is built around events and bookings; Bonsai is built around service freelancing. It tracks time, turns hours into invoices, and handles proposals, contracts, forms, scheduling and a client portal (a space where your client finds documents and payments). If you are a designer, developer, consultant or writer, its vocabulary fits you better than wedding talk.
Who it suits. Freelancers billing by the hour, by the day or on monthly retainers, with a handful of long projects rather than dozens of short ones.
Who it doesn't. A wedding photographer running forty near-identical bookings a year: Dubsado or Bloom fit that pattern better.
The catch. Pricing is per user, and Basic ($9 a month billed yearly) does not include the full flow. Essentials, at $19 a month billed yearly or $25 monthly, brings invoices, proposals, contracts, forms, scheduling and the portal. Premium is $29, Elite $49 with a three-user minimum. The trial is only 7 days, so draft your templates before you start it.
How to switch. Keep running live projects in HoneyBook and start new ones in Bonsai. Rebuild your contract and proposal on day one of the trial, then import the contacts CSV. Our project management software for freelancers ranking puts it against ClickUp and the rest.
- Essentials
- $19/month yearly
- Monthly
- $25
- Best for
- hourly freelancers
- Catch
- 7-day trial
Bloom: for photographers, galleries included
PhotographersWhy move to Bloom. A photographer on HoneyBook often pays for a second tool to deliver galleries. Bloom puts both in one place: inquiry, contract, invoice and the delivery gallery. Billed yearly, it is also the cheapest option in this guide.
Who it suits. Photographers and videographers, especially those starting out or juggling fewer than ten big jobs at a time.
Who it doesn't. People who live by their automations. In wedding photography threads, several users who tried it found it far lighter than HoneyBook on that front.
The catch. Starter ($14 monthly, $7 a month billed yearly) holds only 3 active projects and takes a 1.5% platform fee on each online payment, on top of the processor's own fee. Move to Standard ($34 monthly, $17 billed yearly) as soon as you pass three open jobs; the 1.5% goes away with it. Plus is $66 monthly, $33 billed yearly.
How to switch. Run one real job through the 7-day trial, from form to gallery. If the loop holds, import your contacts. For your portfolio site, see our website builders for photographers.
- Starter
- $7/month yearly
- Standard
- $17/month yearly
- Best for
- photographers, galleries
- Catch
- 1.5% fee on Starter
17hats: the all-in-one, if you catch the deal
All-in-oneWhy move to 17hats. It covers the same ground as HoneyBook: quotes, contracts, invoices, questionnaires, scheduling and client tracking. It openly courts unhappy HoneyBook users with dedicated switch offers. A free tier capped at 4 invoices per quarter lets you look around without paying.
Who it suits. Solo business owners who want one tool, bookkeeping side included, and who are happy to prepay for two years.
Who it doesn't. Anyone on a tight monthly budget: without a promotion, it is the priciest tool here.
The catch. List price is $60 a month, $600 a year or $800 for two years, with 50% off the first year if you buy without taking the trial. It is a single plan paid monthly, yearly or every two years, but documents per month (quotes, contracts, invoices, questionnaires) are capped depending on the option; 25 extra documents cost $10. Several features are paid add-ons, like advanced scheduling ($10 a month) and QuickBooks sync ($5). Add them up before you commit.
How to switch. The trial is 7 days and there is a 30-day refund window. Count your documents in a busy HoneyBook month to check the cap fits, then rebuild your questionnaires first: they take the longest.
- List price
- $60/month or $600/year
- Free
- 4 invoices per quarter
- Best for
- one tool for everything
- Catch
- paid add-ons
Moxie: the cheapest proposal-to-invoice setup
Lowest priceWhy move to Moxie. If HoneyBook's price is the only problem, Moxie packs the freelancer basics into its entry plan: proposals, contracts, invoices and time tracking, for $10 a month billed yearly ($120 a year) or $12 month to month. That is roughly a third of HoneyBook Starter.
Who it suits. Solo freelancers and small studios who sell projects or retainers and want a lean, low-cost client flow.
Who it doesn't. Event businesses that rely on long questionnaires and heavy booking automation; Dubsado covers that better.
The catch. You pay more for branding: a client portal under your own logo needs Pro, $20 a month on a yearly bill. Moxie is also smaller and less known than Bonsai or HoneyBook, so expect fewer integrations and fewer tutorials.
How to switch. Start with your proposal and contract templates, then add active clients by hand or from your HoneyBook CSV. Our invoicing software for freelancers ranking compares it on the billing side.
- Starter
- $10/month yearly
- Pro
- $20/month yearly
- Best for
- lowest monthly cost
- Catch
- portal on Pro only
The 5 alternatives side by side
Our default pick: Dubsado if automation is why you used HoneyBook, Bonsai if you bill time, Bloom if you deliver galleries. For a sense of scale, a year of HoneyBook Essentials is $588, against $525 for Dubsado Premier, $228 for Bonsai Essentials and $204 for Bloom Standard, before payment fees (our math). For more CRMs built for solo work, see our CRM for freelancers ranking.
| Entry price | Payments and migration | |
|---|---|---|
| HoneyBookWhere you start | Starter $29/month yearly, Essentials $49 | Card from 2.9% + 25¢, ACH 1.5%; exports contacts only |
| DubsadoClosest match | Starter $335/year, Premier $525/year | Stripe, Square or PayPal; 21-day trial, no card |
| BonsaiHourly billing | Essentials $19/month yearly | Client portal and time tracking; 7-day trial |
| BloomPhotographers | Starter $7/month yearly (3 projects) | Galleries included; 1.5% fee on Starter |
| 17hatsAll-in-one | $60/month or $600/year | Monthly document cap; paid add-ons |
| MoxieLowest price | Starter $10/month yearly | Proposals, contracts, invoices, time; portal on Pro |
Entry prices before tax, subject to change. Always check against your own number of projects.
Leaving HoneyBook in eight steps
Order matters. Each step protects something: your signed paperwork, your deposits, your next inquiries.
List everything running in HoneyBook
Day 1Write down every open project and its next payment, every template (proposal, contract, questionnaire, brochure), every automation and its timing, your site's contact form and connected tools (QuickBooks, calendar, Zapier). A simple sheet with one row per item is enough.
Why? Anything you don't write down won't get rebuilt. That sheet becomes your checklist on switch day.
- Time
- one to two hours
- Risk if rushed
- a forgotten deposit
Export your contacts as a CSV
Day 1In HoneyBook, go to Clients, then Contacts, then "Download spreadsheet". You get a CSV with name, email, phone, address, notes and creation date.
Open it before importing anywhere: remove duplicates, split first and last names if your new tool wants them, and add a status column (lead, client, past client). Ten minutes of cleanup saves hundreds of one-by-one fixes.
- What comes out
- contacts and notes
- What doesn't
- projects, contracts, invoices
Save contracts and invoices as PDFs
Week 1Invoices download one at a time as PDFs, and so do signed contracts. Start with the current year and every contract still in force. File them in one folder per client, named by date then client.
These are your tax records and your proof of what a client agreed to. Access after you cancel is not guaranteed: ask support in writing before you close the account.
- Time
- depends on volume
- Priority
- active contracts
Let part-paid projects finish where they started
Week 1A project whose deposit went through HoneyBook ends in HoneyBook: the balance, the reminders, the final invoice. Moving it risks a double reminder to your client, or a payment lost between two tools.
New inquiries go to the new tool as soon as it is ready. For a few months you run both. That is the price of a clean exit.
- Time
- until the last balance
- Risk if rushed
- a client chased twice
Rebuild your templates, simpler
Week 2Rebuild what brings money in first: the standard proposal, the contract, the deposit invoice. Then the questionnaire and follow-up emails.
Use the move to trim. If your HoneyBook workflow had twelve steps, ask which ones really earned their place. If your new tool is thin on proposals, our proposal software ranking helps.
- Time
- one to two days
- Order
- proposal, contract, deposit
Connect payments and run a test charge
Week 2Pick your country and currency before the first payment: some tools won't let you change them later. Connect Stripe, PayPal or Square depending on the tool, then charge yourself $1 with your own card to see the whole loop, all the way to the payout.
Compare fees while you are at it. Our guides to leaving Stripe and leaving PayPal lay out cheaper processors.
- Time
- one hour
- Trap
- currency locked at setup
Switch your contact form and booking link
Week 3Replace the HoneyBook form on your site with the new tool's, then change the booking link in your email signature, your Instagram bio and your canned replies.
Send yourself a fake inquiry from your phone. Check that it arrives, triggers the right email, and blocks the slot in your calendar.
- Time
- half a day
- Risk if rushed
- lost inquiries
Cancel after the last payout
After the last balanceWait until the last payment reaches your bank: 7 to 8 business days for ACH, 2 to 3 for a card. Run a final contacts export, check your PDF folder, then cancel.
If you pay yearly, look up your renewal date on day one of the move. That date sets your whole timeline.
- Time
- fifteen minutes
- Check
- renewal date
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a HoneyBook exit go wrong
The same mistakes come up again and again in stories from people who left HoneyBook. None is technical. They are oversights, and each costs more than the time it would have taken to avoid it.
Assuming everything exports
Only contacts come out as a CSV. Everything else is a PDF download or a rebuild by hand. Plan one to two days of rebuilding, not one hour.
Moving a half-paid project
A deposit taken in HoneyBook and a balance requested elsewhere is a client lost between two tools. Finish live projects where they started.
Comparing subscriptions, not total cost
A cheap plan with a 1.5% platform fee can cost more than a pricier plan without one. Add a year of payment fees to each option before you choose.
Rushing the setup trial
Bonsai and Bloom give you 7 days, Dubsado 21. Draft your templates in a document first, then open the trial and use every day of it on a real job.
Copying workflows one to one
HoneyBook automations don't export. Keep only the ones that pay off: three well-tuned automations beat twelve half-working ones.
Cancelling too early
An ACH transfer can take 8 business days to land, and access after cancellation isn't guaranteed. Cancel after the last payout and the last export.
- Inventory of open projects, templates, automations and connected tools
- Contacts CSV exported and cleaned
- Active contracts and this year's invoices saved as PDFs, by client
- Projects with a deposit paid finished inside HoneyBook
- Proposal, contract and deposit invoice rebuilt
- Country, currency and processor picked, $1 test charge done
- A year of fees added to each option's subscription
- Site form and booking link switched, fake inquiry sent
- Last payout received before cancelling
HoneyBook alternatives: common questions
What is the best free alternative to HoneyBook?
No free tool covers the whole flow. 17hats has a free tier capped at 4 invoices per quarter, which is fine to explore, not to run a business. Beyond that it comes down to trials: 21 days on Dubsado Premier with no card, 7 days on Bonsai and Bloom. The cheapest paid setup in this guide is Bloom Starter or Moxie Starter.
Dubsado vs HoneyBook: which one should I pick?
Dubsado wins on automation and on yearly cost ($525 a year for Premier versus $588 for a year of HoneyBook Essentials). HoneyBook wins on ease of setup and a cleaner client view. If you run many similar bookings and want them to move on their own, Dubsado is worth the extra setup time.
How do I export my data from HoneyBook?
Go to Clients, then Contacts, then "Download spreadsheet" to get a CSV of names, emails, phones, addresses and notes. Invoices and contracts download as PDFs, one at a time. Projects, templates and automations don't export and have to be rebuilt.
Does HoneyBook charge fees on payments?
Yes. It deducts a processing fee before paying you: from 2.9% + 25¢ on cards and 1.5% on ACH transfers. Cash or checks you record by hand carry no fee. Check the current rates in your account before you compare.
What is the cheapest HoneyBook alternative?
Bloom Starter at $7 a month billed yearly, but it caps you at 3 active projects and takes a 1.5% platform fee. Moxie Starter at $10 a month billed yearly has no project cap and includes proposals, contracts, invoices and time tracking. Bonsai Basic is $9 but leaves out most of the client flow.
What is the best HoneyBook alternative for photographers?
Bloom if you want galleries and contracts in one place. Dubsado if you shoot many weddings a year and want to automate questionnaires and reminders. Pixieset is worth a look only if your galleries already live there.
Can I use HoneyBook outside the US?
Only in Canada, the UK and Australia. Businesses elsewhere join a waitlist. If you have clients or a second base in Europe, Dubsado lets you pick your country and currency at setup, with Stripe, Square or PayPal behind it. For e-signature on its own, see our e-signature tools for freelancers.
Which alternative works best for coaches?
Bonsai or Moxie, since coaching is usually sold as packages or retainers, with scheduling and a client portal. Dubsado works too if you run a structured intake. Our CRM for coaches ranking goes deeper.
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