HoneyBook payments itself as a clientflow administration platform for impartial companies. It goals to mix a number of features — together with invoices, on-line funds, scheduling and CRM software program — into one single platform.
On this evaluation, we dive deep into the professionals and cons of HoneyBook that can assist you resolve if it’s the correct selection to your small enterprise.
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HoneyBook’s pricing
HoneyBook provides three totally different pricing plans. A seven-day free trial is offered for all three plans, they usually every include a 60-day a reimbursement assure as effectively.
Starter
The Starter plan begins at $8 monthly billed yearly for the primary 12 months or $1 billed month-to-month for the primary two months. After the promotional interval, the plan prices $16 monthly billed yearly or $19 monthly billed month-to-month. The Starter plan consists of limitless shoppers and initiatives, invoices, funds, proposals, contracts and a shopper portal.
Necessities
The Necessities plan begins at $16 monthly billed yearly for the primary 12 months or $1 billed month-to-month for the primary two months. After the promotional interval, the plan prices $32 monthly billed yearly or $39 monthly billed month-to-month. The Necessities plan consists of automations, a QuickBooks On-line integration, as much as two crew members and expense administration.
Premium
The Premium plan begins at $33 monthly billed yearly for the primary 12 months or $1 billed month-to-month for the primary two months. After the promotional interval, the plan prices $66 monthly billed yearly or $79 monthly billed month-to-month. The Premium plan consists of limitless crew members, a number of firms, precedence help, an onboarding specialist and a devoted account supervisor.
HoneyBook’s key options
Invoices, proposals and contracts
Determine A
HoneyBook makes it easy to create an bill (Determine A), customise it together with your model and ship a hyperlink proper to a buyer. The software program will stroll new customers by the whole course of with pleasant pop-ups, although the system is effectively laid-out and simple to determine by yourself.
You probably have an intermediate proposal stage as an alternative of leaping straight into invoices, you possibly can select from just a few contract templates, fill in your data and ship it to your shopper for eSigning.
On-line funds
Determine B
When you’ve created your bill, your shoppers will pay you immediately by HoneyBook (Determine B). HoneyBook accepts main debit and bank cards in addition to financial institution transfers, however it doesn’t combine with exterior fee gateways comparable to PayPal, Sq. and Stripe. Purchasers can even select to arrange auto-pay if they need, and HoneyBook will routinely ship fee reminders to those that don’t.
Processing charges are as little as 2.9% + 25¢ for card funds or 1.5% for ACH funds. HoneyBook additionally provides the choice of Instantaneous Deposit to get your funds instantly as an alternative of in 2-3 enterprise days.
Scheduling
Determine C
HoneyBook is understood for its seamless scheduling device (Determine C), which is offered for the Necessities and Premium plans. Merely set your availability and share the hyperlink with potential shoppers to allow them to guide conferences with you immediately at a time that works for them.
You possibly can even construct in time buffers and arrange various kinds of periods so that you don’t overbook your self. New periods will routinely be added to your calendar and the shoppers’, and automatic reminders will maintain your shoppers on observe.
CRM
Determine D
HoneyBook additionally provides easy buyer relationship administration (CRM) instruments for freelancers and small companies. When you create a contact, your entire messages and funds can be logged on their contact web page. You too can add shoppers to totally different initiatives and provides them entry to a shared workspace utilizing the shopper portal possibility. New leads and communications will present up on the HoneyBook dashboard (Determine D).
Automations and AI
Determine E
You probably have the Necessities or Premium plan, you additionally get entry to HoneyBook’s automations. These automations will be personalized to your workflows and lower down on sure repetitive, handbook duties (Determine E).
As an illustration, you should use automations to ship a questionnaire to a brand new shopper or get a reminder when you might have a job due. HoneyBook’s AI perform will routinely pull branding out of your web site into the platform and enable you to compose skilled emails.
HoneyBook professionals
- Combines many various features into one easy-to-use platform.
- Guided setup course of for brand spanking new customers.
- Pleasant tone and approachable visible design.
- Intuitive for shoppers to make use of.
- Chat and e-mail help accessible seven days per week for all plans.
- Safe on-line funds.
HoneyBook cons
- Restricted integrations.
- Should improve to the Necessities plan for scheduling, automations and the QuickBooks integration.
- Prices greater than some rivals.
- Not excellent for bigger firms or teams.
- Superior reviews are within the pipeline however aren’t but accessible for Premium customers.
HoneyBook integrations
HoneyBook largely depends on Zapier for its integrations. Whereas Zapier can join HoneyBook to 1000’s of apps, it does require you to create one other account — and relying on which integrations you need, you would possibly want a paid subscription as effectively. Nevertheless, HoneyBook does provide a handful of native integrations as effectively:
- Sync HoneyBook paybooks immediately into QuickBooks (this integration requires an Necessities or Premium subscription).
- Ship emails with Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, iCloud, Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail and Stay.
- Let your shoppers schedule conferences with Calendly.
- Seize leads from social media with Fb and Instagram integrations.
Who’s HoneyBook greatest for?
HoneyBook is designed for freelancers, solopreneurs and microbusinesses. In case you are half of a bigger firm or crew, you most likely received’t discover HoneyBook advanced sufficient to your wants. But when most platforms you’ve checked out appear too overwhelming for you, then HoneyBook could be the correct selection to your smaller enterprise.
HoneyBook is dearer than some rivals, particularly as soon as the introductory interval ends. Nevertheless, you must needless to say HoneyBook does mix many various features into one. This prevents you from having to pay for a separate CRM, scheduler and invoicing device, so that you would possibly really lower your expenses in the long term with HoneyBook. However in case you’ve already obtained most of your software program stack discovered and also you’re taking a look at HoneyBook to do one particular factor, you could be higher off taking a look at cheaper options.
If you happen to’re on the lookout for an invoicing device to sync up with common accounting software program, it’s best to keep in mind that HoneyBook integrates immediately with solely QuickBooks On-line, and it’s essential to improve to a minimum of the Important plan for that. To sync HoneyBook’s invoices and funds with every other accounting software program, you’ll should set it up in Zapier, which could be a deterrent for some small companies.
If HoneyBook isn’t excellent for you, try these options
Whereas HoneyBook provides many benefits, it’s not the correct resolution for everybody. Its pricing plans could be too costly for smaller companies, and its options won’t be superior sufficient for sure bigger companies. Some companies may additionally be on the lookout for an invoicing platform that integrates with programs apart from QuickBooks in addition to fee gateways like PayPal, Stripe and Sq..
So listed below are some HoneyBook options that you just would possibly need to contemplate.
Zoho Books and Bill
If you happen to’re on a critical finances, try the Zoho Books accounting platform and its companion device, Zoho Bill. Each of them include entry-level ceaselessly free plans which might be excellent for small companies that may’t actually afford to pay for software program. Zoho additionally provides a number of tiers of reasonably priced, clear pricing plans to select from in case you resolve that you just want extra options.
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is an intuitive accounting and invoicing platform that’s extra reasonably priced than QuickBooks, with pricing plans beginning at $17 a month. Along with accepting funds immediately, it additionally integrates with PayPal and Stripe, whereas HoneyBook doesn’t work with outdoors fee gateways. FreshBooks additionally consists of extra sturdy instruments for time monitoring and expense administration.
Xero
Whereas it’s recognized for its accounting software program, Xero additionally consists of invoicing and fee instruments that make it corresponding to HoneyBook. Xero additionally has a contact administration perform similar to HoneyBook that provides you with a full image of their transactions and communication historical past. You too can retailer notes and paperwork related to every contact. Pricing plans begin at solely $13 a month, making this an reasonably priced various.
Overview methodology
To evaluation HoneyBook, we signed up for a free trial. We additionally consulted product documentation and person opinions. We contemplate options comparable to invoices, proposals, contracts, on-line funds, scheduling and CRM. We additionally weighed elements comparable to pricing plans, automation, integrations, person interface design and buyer help.