Dubsado Alternatives and Dubsado Competitors, Priced for Solo Owners and Small Teams
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In short
The main Dubsado alternatives are HoneyBook ($36, $59 or $129 a month, fastest to set up), 17hats (one plan at $60 a month or $600 a year), Plutio ($19 a month for up to 9 active clients, $49 for unlimited clients and 30 contributors), Bonsai ($15 to $59 per user a month) and FreshBooks ($23 to $70 a month) if what you really want is accounting. Dubsado itself now costs $35 or $55 a month, or $335 and $525 a year, after rising from $20 and $40 on December 1, 2025. For a solo freelancer, Plutio Core is the cheapest switch. For a team of four, Dubsado Premier is still hard to beat, because three extra users are included and it adds no payment fee of its own.
The honest read
Most people searching for a Dubsado alternative in 2026 are reacting to one of two things: the December 2025 price increase (Starter went from $20 to $35, Premier from $40 to $55) or the setup time Dubsado asks for before its workflows run. Nearly every list that ranks for this search is written by a competitor, and at least one gets Dubsado itself wrong. We read each vendor's US pricing page in September 2026, including Dubsado's, and priced every tool for a solo owner and for a team of four. The honest result is that Dubsado is not always the tool to leave. Earnly is here because it solves a different problem: it tracks the platform income a client-work tool never sees, next to your client invoices.
Published prices
Dubsado alternatives by price, read on vendor pages in September 2026
US prices in USD before sales tax. Month-to-month price first, then the yearly price where the vendor publishes one. Users included is the number of logins before you pay more.
| Tool | Month to month | Billed yearly | Users included | Payment fee of its own | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubsado | $35 / $55 | $335 / $525 a year | Owner plus 3 additional users | None; Stripe, Square or PayPal rates | Studios that want deep forms and workflows |
| HoneyBook | $36 / $59 / $129 | $29 / $49 / $109 a month | Owner only, up to 2, unlimited | Built in; cards 2.9% + $0.25, ACH 1.5% no cap | Owners who want it running in an afternoon |
| 17hats | $60, one plan | $600 a year or $800 for two years | Extra users $5 a month each | None listed; Stripe or Square rates | Solo owners who want one price for everything |
| Plutio | $19 / $49 / $199 | About 2 months free on yearly | Core solo only, Pro 30 contributors | Through the payment account you connect | Freelancers and small teams on a budget |
| Bonsai | $15 / $25 / $39 / $59 per user | $9 / $19 / $29 / $49 per user | Per user, Elite needs 3 | Built in | Consultants who bill by the hour |
| FreshBooks | $23 / $43 / $70 | About 10% off yearly | 1 user, extra team members $11 a month | Built in | Invoice-led businesses that want a real ledger |
Dubsado Starter includes unlimited projects and clients and client portals, but not public proposals, scheduling, workflows or the bookkeeping integration, which are on Premier. Bonsai invoicing, proposals and contracts start on Essentials at $25 per user, not Basic.
Published prices
What the December 2025 Dubsado price increase did to a year
Month-to-month billing, before payment processing. The old prices are the rates Dubsado charged new accounts until December 1, 2025. Reports from switchers say accounts opened before that date kept their old rate; check your own billing page.
| Plan | Old monthly | New monthly | Old per year | New per year | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $20 | $35 | $240 | $420 | +$180 (75%) |
| Premier | $40 | $55 | $480 | $660 | +$180 (37.5%) |
| Premier, billed yearly today | $525 | $135 less than monthly |
Both plans rose by the same $15 a month, so the percentage hit is twice as large on Starter. If you are on a grandfathered rate, switching means giving it up for good, which changes the math below.
Published prices
Yearly cost for a team of four that needs workflows and a booking scheduler
Owner plus three team members, cheapest yearly option on each tool that covers proposals, contracts, invoices and scheduling, subscription only. Payment processing is in the next section because it depends on how your clients pay.
| Tool | Plan needed | Year one | Year two onward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubsado | Premier yearly, 3 extra users included | $525 | $525 |
| HoneyBook | Premium yearly (Essentials allows 2 team members) | $1,308 | $1,308 |
| 17hats | $600 plan plus 3 users at $5 a month | $480 if bought without the trial, else $780 | $780 |
| Plutio | Pro yearly, 30 contributors included | About $490 | About $490 |
| Bonsai | Essentials yearly, 4 users at $19 | $912 | $912 |
| FreshBooks | Plus, 3 extra team members at $11 (not a CRM) | About $821 on yearly billing | About $821 |
The 17hats year-one figure uses its half-price first year ($300) when you buy outright. Plutio yearly is $49 times 10 months. FreshBooks is shown for completeness: it has no workflows or client portal, so a team moving there is also changing how it works. Solo owners should read the first table instead; the order changes completely.
Why people look for a Dubsado alternative
Three reasons come up again and again. The first is price. On December 1, 2025 Dubsado moved Starter from $20 to $35 a month and Premier from $40 to $55, and anyone who opens an account today pays the new rates. The second is setup. Dubsado's forms and workflows are among the most flexible in this category, which is exactly why a new account can take a few weekends to configure. The third is the Starter plan itself: it has no scheduler and no workflows, so most working studios end up paying for Premier.
Before you switch, check which of those three is actually your problem. If it is setup time, HoneyBook fixes it. If it is price and you work alone, Plutio fixes it. If you run a team, the table above shows that leaving Dubsado often costs more, not less.
HoneyBook, the easiest switch and the most expensive one for teams
HoneyBook is the tool most Dubsado users look at first. It does the same job with less setup: smart files that combine a proposal, contract and invoice, a scheduler on every plan, and payments that work the day you sign up. Plans are $36, $59 and $129 a month, or $29, $49 and $109 billed yearly. Our HoneyBook pricing page has the full plan and fee schedule.
Two costs catch Dubsado users out. Team size: Starter is owner only and Essentials allows two team members, so a team of four lands on Premium at $1,308 a year. And payments: HoneyBook is the processor and charges a flat 1.5% on ACH bank transfers with no cap, where Stripe through Dubsado caps ACH at $5. We priced the two side by side in HoneyBook vs Dubsado pricing.
17hats, one plan and a half-price first year
17hats sells a single plan at $60 a month, $600 a year or $800 for two years. If you buy without taking the 7-day trial, the first term is half price ($300 yearly, $400 for two years), backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. Contacts and projects are unlimited, payments run through Stripe or Square, and it syncs with QuickBooks Online. Add-ons cost extra: Bank Connect and time tracking are $5 a month each, and each additional user is $5 a month.
For a solo owner coming off Dubsado Premier at $525 a year, 17hats is $300 in year one and $600 after that, so the saving is real only for the first year. One caution: the feature grid on the 17hats pricing page still shows columns from its older three-level structure. Confirm in the trial that what you need is on your account. Our 17hats pricing breakdown covers the add-ons.
Plutio, the cheapest serious option, and a claim to check
Plutio Core is $19 a month with every feature, including proposals, contracts, invoices, a scheduler, forms and a client portal. The limits are 9 active clients and no extra contributors. Pro at $49 removes the client cap and includes 30 contributors, and Max at $199 is for agencies. Yearly billing gives about two months free. For a freelancer with a handful of clients at a time, Core replaces Dubsado Premier for roughly a third of the price.
One thing to know if you are comparing on Plutio's own site. Its pricing page describes Dubsado Starter as limited to 3 active clients and says Dubsado has no client portal login. Dubsado's pricing page, read the same week, lists unlimited projects and clients and client portals on both Starter and Premier. Judge Dubsado from its own page.
Bonsai and FreshBooks, when the job is billing rather than booking
Bonsai is priced per user: $15, $25, $39 and $59 a month, or $9 to $49 billed yearly. Basic has no invoicing, proposals or contracts, so Essentials at $25 per user is the realistic starting point. Its strength is time tracking and hourly billing, which Dubsado does not really do. It gets expensive as a team grows. Our Hello Bonsai alternatives page covers it in depth.
FreshBooks is the answer when you are not really looking for a CRM. It is $23, $43 or $70 a month, with 5 billable clients on Lite and 50 on Plus, one user per plan and $11 a month for each additional team member. Invoices land in a real ledger with expenses and a profit and loss report your accountant can use. There is no client portal or workflow builder. If you already miss those, see our FreshBooks alternatives page for the tradeoffs.
Payment fees decide more than the plan price
A client-work tool takes payments, and the processing fee is often a larger yearly number than the subscription. Dubsado adds no fee of its own: through Dubsado Payments (Stripe) a US card costs 2.9% + $0.30 and an ACH bank transfer costs 0.8% capped at $5. HoneyBook charges 2.9% + $0.25 on Visa and Mastercard and 1.5% on ACH with no cap.
Take a studio that collects 30 balances of $3,000 a year by bank transfer. Through Stripe that is $150 in ACH fees. Through HoneyBook it is $1,350. That $1,200 gap is larger than any plan difference on this page, and it is the most common reason studios that leave Dubsado for HoneyBook come back. If your clients mostly pay by card, the gap mostly disappears. If your invoices tend to go unpaid rather than paid late, automated invoice follow-up is a separate problem from which CRM you choose.
The income your client tool never sees
Dubsado, HoneyBook and every tool above track money that comes in through a client invoice. Many photographers, designers, planners and coaches also earn from platforms: prints on Etsy, presets and templates on Gumroad, a YouTube channel, a Patreon, affiliate payouts. Each one pays on its own schedule and deducts its fee before the deposit reaches your bank.
Earnly puts that side of the business on one board: gross, fees and take-home for each platform, a payout calendar with expected pay dates, and a next-month forecast labeled as an estimate. Its invoice tracker keeps client invoices and overdue balances beside it, so your real yearly income is in one place. It does not send contracts or take payments, and it works next to Dubsado or whichever tool you pick, from $12 a month billed yearly.
Side by side
Where the boards differ
| What you get | Earnly | Dubsado |
|---|---|---|
| Proposals, contracts and e-signature | No | Yes |
| Client invoices | Tracks sent, paid and overdue | Yes |
| Forms, workflows and scheduler | No | Premier plan |
| Payment processing | No | Through Stripe, Square or PayPal |
| Per-platform gross -> fees -> take-home | Yes | No |
| Payout calendar for Etsy, Stripe, PayPal, YouTube and more | Yes | No |
| Income from platforms outside the CRM | Yes | No |
| Price | From $12/mo billed yearly | From $335/yr |
Comparison reflects published pricing and feature descriptions at the time of our last check; both products change. Pick the tool that fits how you earn. See what the board looks like on the income tracker homepage, or start with the revenue dashboard.
Questions people actually ask
What is better than Dubsado?
It depends on why you are leaving. For faster setup, HoneyBook is better: smart files, a scheduler on every plan and payments on day one. For a lower price as a solo freelancer, Plutio Core at $19 a month is better. For hourly billing, Bonsai. For a team of four, Dubsado Premier at $525 a year is still cheaper than every CRM-style option here except Plutio Pro and 17hats in its discounted first year.
What is cheaper than Dubsado?
Plutio Core at $19 a month, Bonsai Basic at $15 per user and FreshBooks Lite at $23 all cost less than Dubsado Starter at $35. HoneyBook Starter is $29 billed yearly against Dubsado Starter at $335 a year. 17hats is $300 in the first year when bought outright, then $600, which is more than Dubsado Premier yearly at $525.
Did Dubsado raise their prices?
Yes. On December 1, 2025 Dubsado raised Starter from $20 to $35 a month and Premier from $40 to $55. Yearly billing is $335 for Starter and $525 for Premier. Switchers report that accounts opened before the change kept their old rates, so check your own billing page before you compare.
Is HoneyBook better than Dubsado?
HoneyBook is easier and Dubsado is cheaper for teams and bank-transfer payments. HoneyBook sets up faster and includes a scheduler on Starter. Dubsado includes three additional users, goes deeper on forms and workflows and adds no processing fee, so ACH through Stripe is capped at $5 where HoneyBook charges 1.5% with no cap.
Does Dubsado have a free version?
No. Dubsado has no free plan. It offers a 21-day trial with full Premier access and no card required, then Starter at $35 a month or Premier at $55. None of the Dubsado alternatives on this page have a permanent no-cost tier for the full client workflow either.
Is Dubsado worth it in 2026?
For a studio with a team or clients who pay by bank transfer, yes: Premier at $525 a year with three extra users and Stripe ACH capped at $5 is hard to beat. For a solo freelancer with under ten active clients, Plutio Core at $19 a month covers the same core tools for far less.
What is the best Dubsado alternative for photographers?
For most photographers the closest switch is HoneyBook, because it is quick to set up and includes scheduling. Watch the ACH fee: on a $2,800 wedding balance HoneyBook charges $42 where Stripe through Dubsado charges $5. See our accounting software for photographers page for the bookkeeping side.
Can I use Earnly instead of Dubsado?
No. Earnly does not send proposals, contracts or payments. It tracks platform income such as Etsy, Gumroad, YouTube and Patreon payouts with fees and pay dates, next to your client invoices. Most people use it beside Dubsado or HoneyBook, and our HoneyBook alternatives page covers the other side of the same choice.