Top 10 Dubsado Alternatives to Manage your Clients

Dubsado is one of the most popular business management tools, especially among freelancers.

However, it can fall short on some fronts: The UI can be clunky, and there are some features missing.

In this post we will take a look at the alternatives available to Dubsado, to help you make your decision.

While we also run our own client and business management software, we will try to be as impartial as possible in this review.

What is Dubsado?

Dubsado is an all-in-one business management tool. It's best for freelancers, especially those running a creative business since you can send proposals, quotes, contracts, and invoices.

Pricing starts at $35/month, and there is also an unlimited free trial for up to 3 clients, which is great if you're just getting started with your business.

Without further ado, let's take a look at some key features and pros and cons of Dubsado.

Key features:

• Project and client management
• CRM
• Invoicing
• Forms and templates
• Scheduling
• Reporting
• Automations and workflows

All in all, it has everything you need to manage your freelance business.

Pros:

• There are a lot of customizations available.
• You can integrate Dubsado with your existing tools (Calendly, Google Calendar, ...)
• It's free for up to 3 clients, which is great if you're a small business getting started. Their pricing is also very fair.

Cons:

• The user interface may seem clunky at times.
• If you have a lot of projects or team members, keeping track of them can be difficult. Dubsado is better suited for freelancers
• Dubsado doesn't have a mobile app.

So what are the alternatives available? Let's take a look!

1. HoneyBook

HoneyBook is the most popular alternative to Dubsado.

Its features comprise contracts, proposals, invoicing, scheduling, automations, and project management.

The biggest difference with Dubsado is the user interface. HoneyBook has much more elegant interface.

Pricing starts at $9/month for HoneyBook (for up to $10k in transactions) or $39/month if you want unlimited transactions. All plans comprise unlimited team members.

Pros:

• Pricing is very affordable as well.
• There is a mobile app which is very handy if you want to manage your business on the go.
• The user interface is elegant and easy to use for your clients.

Cons:

• There's only a 7-day trial which might not be enough time to see if the app is for you.
• You have to use HoneyBook payment gateway. There is no Paypal or Stripe integration.

2. 17Hats

17Hats is a small business management tool that focuses on automation.

It features projects, scheduling, a CRM, invoicing, reporting, contracts, client portal, as well as various automations and workflows.

The biggest advantage of 17Hats is the automations. If you are feeling overwhelmed and need a robust system where you can set up workflows and automations, 17Hats is a great choice.

Pricing starts at $15/month up to $60/month depending on how many documents and lead captures you have. There are also different modules you can activate for an additional monthly fee (Time tracking, Advanced scheduling, and Recurring billing).

Pros:

• The automations are really powerful. You can use a feature to trigger another action so that you can save time.
• There is a free CRM if you're just getting started with your business.
• There is a mobile app to manage your business on the go.

Cons:

• If you have a lot of contracts, quotes, or documents the pricing can quickly add up. However you can purchase extra documents starting at 25 for $10.

3. Bonsai

Bonsai is another very popular option that caters to freelancers.

It features invoicing, proposals, contracts, a CRM, time tracking, forms, as well as an accounting system to estimate your taxes.

The biggest advantage of Bonsai it that it is built for freelancers. It has everything you need to run your freelance business.

Pricing starts at $19/month and there is a 14-day trial.

Pros:

• The interface is really easy to use.
• There is a mobile app.
• There is a way to estimate your expenses for accounting purposes.

Cons:

• It's mostly built for freelancers. While you can add collaborators on Bonsai, it's not specifically built for agencies.

4. ManyRequests

ManyRequests is our software, which is a client portal for agencies and service-based business. It's used by more than 1000 agencies.

It features a CRM, onboarding. project and task management, a white label client portal, order forms, invoicing, automations, and team management.

It's best suited for agencies that want to have everything in one place.

Pricing starts at $59/month (for 2 team seats) up to $249/month (for unlimited team seats)

Pros:

• It is very easy to use and you can get started in a few minutes.
• It has all the features you need to run a modern agency: From accepting payments, to client onboarding, notifications, and a robust project management tool.

Cons:

• No mobile app (yet)
• No other major cons

5. Wave

Wave (or Wave accounting) is also an option we decided to include since it's used by many freelancers who just need one feature: Accounting.

It has three main features: Accounting, invoicing, receipts.

If you run a business and just need a simple solution to invoice your clients and keep track of your finances, Wave is your best choice.

Wave is completely free. They make money by offering payroll services as well as by using their own payment processor.

Pros:

• Wave is free. If you run a freelance business and just need a tool to invoice your clients and keep track of expenses, using a no frills solution is a good choice.
• The interface of Wave is clean and easy to use.

Cons:

• The biggest downside is that Wave doesn't integrate with Stripe. They use their own payment processor.
• Wave just focuses on invoicing and accounting. However, it has a Zapier integration and you can integrate it with your other tools.

6. Bloom.io

Bloom is another software that focuses on the freelancer market.

It features order forms, scheduling, project management, workflows, lead management, contracts, CRM, as well as a website portfolio.

Bloom is a really modern and elegant software. It features beautiful forms, contracts, and even gives you a portfolio.

Pricing starts at $49/month (or $39/month if you choose a yearly plan) but there is also a free plan that is limited to one project.

Pros:

• Bloom has two nice features which are website portfolio and image gallery. This helps you showcase your work and services in a beautiful and professional way to your clients.
• It also has an iOS app if you want to manage your business on the go.

Cons:

• It doesn't have proposals or quotes. Only contracts.
• The project management feature is very basic and lacks built in client communication.

7. Plutio

Plutio is another great small business management tool that very popular among freelancers. We recently compared it to Dubsado.

It features forms, tasks, a client portal, invoicing, contracts, a knowledge base, file manager, surveys, time tracking, and scheduling as well as calendar.

It is a very feature packed solution (with a great user interface) for freelancers that want flexible tools to run their business.

Pricing starts at $15/month (without client portal).

Pros:

• It probably has the most features you can imagine to run a freelance business.
• In addition, it has a drag and drop design editor to make proposals, contracts, invoices, as well as a template library.
• Plutio also have their own mobile app.

Cons:

• The amount of features can feel overwhelming if you just need a simple to use solution.
• It doesn't have automations yet but their team is planning to work on that. However, it already integrates with Zapier.

8. SuiteDash

SuiteDash is an all-in-one client portal software. We recently did a review of SuiteDash.

It features a CRM, a portal for your clients, file management, projects, contracts, scheduling, and forms.

That said, while SuiteDash has a lot of features, the learning curve can be steep.

Pricing starts at $19/month and there’s also a 14-day trial with gives you access to all features of SuiteDash.

Pros:

• It has all the features you need. Invoicing, proposals, contracts, recurring billing, projects, automations, integrations.
• You can set up advanced workflows.
• It offers advanced customization options.
• It has a mobile app which can help you manage your business on the go.

Cons:

• The UI/UX can seem cluttered at times and old.
• The amount of features can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re just starting your business.
• The learning curve to use the software can be high as well.
  

9. Paperbell

Paperbell is one of the new comer software for managing a coaching business.

It features payments, scheduling, client management, contract signing, group coaching, but also digital products which is a nice addition.

PaperBell is probably the best option if you're running a coaching business as it's built specifically for them.

Pricing starts at $50/month.

Pros:

• It built features much needed by coaches such as digital products, group coaching, as well as payment plans.

Cons:

• No major cons.

10. Trello

Trello is one of the most well known project management software that is often used by small businesses to manage their clients.

It features a kanban board project management tool where you can drag and drop tasks.

The biggest advantage of Trello is its simplicity. You can create a board for your clients and invite them.

Pricing starts at $10/month per user if you need extra feature but there is also a free plan that features unlimited users and up to 10 boards.

Pros:

• It is very easy to use.
• It has a mobile app.

Cons:

• If you're managing multiple boards or have many tasks or requests, you can quickly feel overwhelmed and things will start to be difficult to track.
• It doesn't have the other features you may need to run your entire business such as invoicing, proposals, contracts. So you will have to use other tools in conjunction with Trello.