Dubsado is one of the most popular client management platforms that attracts many creative agencies, freelancers and service-based businesses. It functions as a central hub that keeps your tasks and projects in sync.
Dubsado keeps away the daunting feeling of losing control over the project's trajectory by helping businesses and freelancers create customizable workflows, track project submissions, and automate administrative tasks. From onboarding clients to tracking payments, Dubsado enables you to do everything.
But there's a catch.
Dubsado has a severe learning curve. You’ll find it challenging to explore features or how to set up the tool according to your needs. Besides this, Dubsado’s user interface is difficult for users to navigate. Its fairly basic tasks require pretty complex workarounds. There are a lot of other options in the market that are easier and more efficient than Dubsado that you can switch to.
To help you find the right Dubsado alternative, we have compiled a list of 10 client management software to consider in 2024.
10 Dubsado Alternatives to Manage Your Clients
Here are our best Dubsado alternatives in 2024 that are easy to use, affordable, and in-built with excellent client management features.
ManyRequests
ManyRequests is the best client management tool for design and creative agencies
ManyRequests is the only client-facing portal that allows you to manage all your creative operations–from design feedback and time tracking to invoicing and reporting–all in one place.
Instead of juggling with several different tools–that are not built for creative agencies, ManyRequests takes a holistic approach where your billing, client projects, client management, and automations are in one place, all working together. This gives businesses a robust base to run their business and reduces the stress of managing multiple tools.
ManyRequests helps you craft a welcoming space for your clients where you can observe, interact, and engage. It gives an overview of how much time your designers are spending and the value associated with it to avoid any budget leaks.
Unlike Dubsado, ManyRequests has no learning curve. It doesn't require any technical knowledge, and it's easy to use. Anyone can get a hang of ManyRequests features; if not, we offer guides to help users get started.
ManyRequests Features
- White-labeling
As part of its white-label capabilities, ManyRequests allows users to customize their URLs, use their own logos, and choose between dark and light themes. You can also change the look and feel of your dashboard according to your needs. For extreme customizability, simply impersonate a client to see how your portal looks for your clients as well as for other roles. (teams and other admins).
- Task management
ManyRequests excels in providing users a platform where they can track tasks assigned, give feedback and measure the time spent on getting it done. With centralized file storage, revision tracking, and support for the most popular media files, ManyRequests makes it easy to share design feedback.
- Integration
ManyRequests allows you to integrate your favorite tools through Zapier. Besides this, the platform offers direct integration with many other tools like Tawk, HubSpot, Google Analytics, ActiveCampaign, and more.
ManyRequests Pros
- ManyRequests is dedicatedly built to collaborate with your clients. It's a simple yet robust solution to help agencies sell more creative services, manage projects effectively, and ensure client satisfaction.
- It helps you manage customer work effectively through customizable layouts, login screens, and time-tracking. You'll never have the feeling of missing out when collaborating with clients and team members.
- ManyRequests is a modern yet easy-to-use project management platform that has no learning curve.
- The platform offers exceptional customer support via live chat and email and resolves queries within one business day or faster.
ManyRequests Pricing
ManyRequests offers three paid plans, including:
- Starter - $99/month
- Core - $149/month
- Pro - $399/month
User ratings: 4.5/5
HoneyBook
HoneyBook is best for small businesses and freelancers
HoneyBook is an excellent Dubsado alternative for small businesses and freelancers looking to streamline client interaction and build strong relationships. It provides tools for managing projects, invoicing, accepting online payments, and automating workflows.
A key strength of HoneyBook is its AI tool called HoneyBook AI. The tool focuses on advanced lead capturing through automatic follow-up, quick email responses, and data-powered intelligence to predict leads that are high-value.
For startups looking to scale their business and want client management that grows with them, then HoneyBook is an excellent choice.
HoneyBook Features
- Client-centric project management
HoneyBook allows businesses to work at the project level–viewing all tasks, files, communication, and statuses for each project in its own workspace. With a high-level overview for each client, you can manage relationships more efficiently and stay on top of your client's needs.
- Lead forms
HoneyBook lead forms are customizable forms that businesses can share in their marketing channels to provide more details about their business, capture client information, and enable clients to take action.
- HoneyBook mobile app
The HoneBook app works best for businesses that want to keep track of everything in real time. You can check project status, communicate with clients, assign tasks, and many more. Your touchpoints with clients are crucial if you want to build a strong relationship. The HoneyBook app ensures that you stay connected even when you're away.
HoneyBook Pros
- Get's bird's eye view of all projects and tasks to stay on top of the client's needs. You can also see what's coming up on your schedule through the HoneyBook calendar.
- Honebook has a slight learning curve and it's pretty easy for anyone to get started with the platform.
- Besides offering 24x7 support to its users, HoneyBook provides in-depth training through live webinars that cover everything about the platform.
- Honeybook is amongst the most seamless, intuitive, and robust client management software that integrates with calendars and emails and helps my clients stay organized.
HoneyBook Cons
- HoneyBook templates are designed with photographers in mind; anyone else might have to build their own HoneyBook workspace from scratch.
- If you're part of a larger team, then you won't find HoneyBook's features complex enough for your needs.
HoneyBook Pricing
HoneyBook offers three paid plans:
- Starter: $16/month (billed yearly)
- Essentials: $32/month (billed yearly)
- Premium:$66/month (billed yearly)
User ratings: 4.8/5
17Hats
17Hats is best for small businesses that have limited needs
17Hats is a client management platform that offers a wide variety of task management features through quotes, invoices, contracts, and questionnaires for projects and workflows. As a comprehensive business management software, 17Hats stands out for its ability to handle all aspects of managing businesses.
The software includes a dedicated client portal that allows for efficient client management, making it easier to keep track of customer information and interaction. You can stay updated with important client activities such as invoices paid and contracts signed.
17Hats features
- Project management
17Hats is an all-in-one project management platform that includes everything you need to manage your client relationships effectively. Businesses can create projects with tasks and milestones, assign tasks, send reminders, and track progress. This helps ensure that nothing is out of sight and your projects get completed on time.
- Invoicing and payment reminders
With 17Hats, you can create templates for sending automatic payments and recurring invoices and even set up autopay for regular customers. The integration with Google Calendar also provides reminders for upcoming payments or overdue invoices.
- Lead tracking and CRM
The lead tracking features make 17Hats an excellent Dubsado alternative. The Customer Relationship Management tool allows you to store all information about your clients and leads from the initial contract to the final invoice.
17Hats pros
- 17Hats' user-friendly platform makes it easy to access information and navigate through your workspace quickly.
- The if/then logic helps you automate the onboarding process and provide tailored client behavior that makes them feel at home.
- 17Hats streamlines everything from client inquiry to payment and everything in between. You can send clients a bundle with their quote, contract, and invoice.
- The user-friendly interface makes it easy to use. The software is intuitive and easy to navigate. Even creating workflows and automating tasks is pretty much a one-step process.
17Hats cons
- The only downside of using 17Hats is that it can be a little time-consuming to set up. This could be a lot for those looking for a quick setup or those who could be more tech-savvy.
- The mobile app is very limited in features and glitchy, and from what we've seen, they are not planning on improving it.
17Hats Pricing
HoneyBook offers three paid plans:
- Starter: $13/month (billed yearly)
- Essentials: $25/month (billed yearly)
- Premium:$50/month (billed yearly)
User ratings: 4.4/5
Bonsai
Bonsai is best for digital freelancers
Bonsai is an all-in-one client management platform with an easy-to-use interface that simplifies client interactions. From customisable templates and automated workflows to sending invoices and project management, Bonsai helps you with everything.
Freelancers and agency owners can choose from over 500+ ready-to-use proposals and invoicing templates to streamline the client onboarding process. It also boasts several other features like time tracking and scheduling, an online signature maker, and even digital banking.
Bonsai features
- Bonsai proposals
Besides offering a wide array of templates for client proposals, Bonsai also allows you to create various packages for clients. You can start maximizing your earnings by encouraging clients to choose a premium package.
- Task management
You can seamlessly manage your tasks and deliver projects smoothly with Hello Bonsai. Easily assign tasks to your team, schedule work for the week, and see precisely how your project is progressing. Also, get access to instant timesheets showing you how many hours were spent on a project.
- Dedicated CRM software
From prospects to clients, you can now manage everything in one place. With Bonsai, you can build your own contact lists and add relevant information to make it more useful. This way, you'll get a clear view of all leads, clients, and past customers under one roof.
Bonsai pros
- Bonsai is available in 180 countries, so you don't have to worry about working internationally. Also, the platform is used by over 500k freelancers and agencies making it a perfect Dubsado alternative.
- You can seamlessly integrate thousands of apps through Zapier. Besides this, Hello Bonsai offers direct integrations with Quickbooks, Calendly, and Xero.
- Most Bonsai users appreciate the ease of creating business, setting up projects, and sending proposals.
- With hundreds of customizable templates for various documents, Bonsai eliminates the need for creating documents from scratch.
Bonsai cons
- Bonsai is a little on the pricier side. Since, its base plan starts at $25/month and you'll have to pay $10/ month for every additional user.
- It is specifically built for freelancers, agencies, and small business owners who might not benefit from it.
Bonsai pricing
Bonsai offers three paid plans:
- Starter- $25/month + $10/additional user
- Professional: $39/month + $10/additional user
- Business: $79/month + $10/additional user
- Scale: Custom pricing
User ratings: 4.6/5
Plutio
Plutio is best for medium to large-scale businesses that require extensive features
Plutio is an all-in-one CRM platform that works best for medium to large-scale businesses. What makes Plutio different from Dubsado is that you can send proposals, create invoice templates, handle contracts, and do much more, all from one dashboard.
Furthermore, Plutio boasts powerful collaboration tools, enabling real-time communication and collaboration among team members and clients. Its high level of customization allows users to tailor their dashboard according to their specific needs. Like, you can turn features and tools on/off to create your very own setup and workflow.
Plutio features
- Project management:
Plutio allows you to create and manage projects in the most intuitive manner. Each task card will enable you to include attachments, descriptions, sub-tasks, comments, and due dates. You can also switch between different views, such as cards, kanban, tables, timelines, and calendars.
- Drag-and-drop builder
Plutio's drag-and-drop builder is packed with features and styling options that make it incredibly easy to create stunning invoices, forms, proposals, and even schedulers. The platform has a collection of templates that you can choose from if you don't want to build your dashboard from scratch.
- Payment methods
Plutio provides payment options like PayPal and Stripe that your clients can choose for payment. Whether it's one-time, multiple, or recurring payments, Plutio lets you collect all of them. You can easily set up reminders and automate sending invoices and bills so you don't have to worry about missing or forgetting bills.
Plutio pros
- Plutio is incredibly personalized. You can add your branding, change the interface layout and colors, customize your menus, and everything else you need to make the dashboard truly yours.
- Plutio offers integration with tools like Zapier, Paypal, Stripe, Airtable, and many more.
- The user interface of Plutio is extremely organized, simpler, and uncluttered, so you get a single point of reference for the entire product life cycle.
- 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 cons
- The mobile application has limited features. It's difficult for teams to fully adapt their dashboard to their mobile app. Some users have also found it buggy.
- With so many features, it becomes challenging for users to find them and create an unnecessary learning curve.
Plutio pricing
Plutio comes with three pricing plans:
- Solo:$19/month (invite up to 3 clients)
- Studio: $39/month (invite unlimited clients)
- Agency:$99/month (invite unlimited clients)
User ratings: 4.6/5
Britix24
Bitrix 24 is best for small-to-medium sized businesses
Britix24 is a standalone Dubsado alternative because of its automation features, comprehensive functionality, CRM, collaboration tools, and communication features. It has everything you need to acquire leads, turn them into leads, manage projects, run marketing, get payments, and more.
If you are looking for a client management platform that can grow as you scale, then Britix24 should be your priority. Thanks to its customizable features and seamless integration with third-party apps, which makes Britix24 is a very powerful CRM tool.
Britix24 features
- Lead management
The newest feature addition to lead management and contact management in Britix24 CRM is web-based lead capture forms. You can create a web form to which you can add fields such as deals, leads, contracts, and quotes. Lastly, set up automated client notifications via SMS or email, and use customizable triggers to automatically move leads/ deals down the sales pipelines.
- Project management
No matter what project management methodology you adhere to, Britix24 is ideal for all business types. You can choose between a Kanban board, Gantt chart, Scrum, calendar, or a simple list of tasks. Britix24 provides efficient collaboration features that allow your teammates and clients to collaborate seamlessly. You can also conduct video calls with up to 100 participants right from a chat, an event in your calendar, or directly from any task.
- AI-powered assistant CoPilot
CoPilot is a powerful AI tool inside Britix24 that is designed to automate mundane tasks. It can be your ideal brainstorming partner to generate unlimited sources of ideas, validate an existing idea, offer constructive criticism, find logical fallacies, and more. CoPilot is your personal AI assistant that keeps track of conversation, creates task descriptions, and helps automate conversation.
Britix24 pros
- Britix24 has a user-friendly design, making it easy for users to manage customer relationships, follow-up leads, and track interactions. This accessibility ensures that anyone from the team can use Britix24 without any learning curve.
- The platform excels in team collaboration through video conferencing, group chats, and shared calendars, all in real-time. These features streamline team communication, ensuring everyone is aligned and informed.
- Britix24 provides comprehensive reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to seamlessly generate detailed reports on sales, marketing, and other operational areas.
- Britix24 provides integration with over 400+ apps across data migration, sales & CRM, marketing, and tasks & projects.
Britix24 cons
- Since Britix24 has so many features, you might find it challenging to discover. Some users have reported the tool to be laggy and buggy, which can be challenging to scale.
- Britix24 provides limited customer support, with users experiencing slow response times and unhelpful assistance, which can be problematic during critical times.
Britix24 pricing
Britix24 offers a free plan with unlimited users and an array of features that you can sign up for.
Besides this, Britix24 offers four paid plans:
- Basic: US$ 61/organization/month / billed monthly
- Standard: US$ 124/organization/month / billed monthly
- Professional: US$ 249/organization/month / billed monthly
- Enterprise: US$ 499/organization/month / billed monthly
User ratings: 4.2/5
Bloom.io
Bloom.io is best for creative individuals
Bloom.io is a modern and intuitive solution tailored to the needs of creative individuals. Its goal is to eliminate administrative work and provide better assistance for creative professionals. Unlike Dubsado, Bloom.io is quite easy-to-use and allows users to track project milestones and deadlines on a user-friendly interface easily.
Bloom's client portal is a dedicated portal to manage client project documents, invoices, contracts, payments and communication. After your client creates their account, they'll have access to the portal. They can see and pay invoices, download galleries, view project info, and more.
Bloom.io features
- Clean workflows
Bloom's CRM provides a high-altitude perspective on all projects and assigned tasks. You can create unique workflows for the services you offer, view invoice status, check off tasks as you mark them complete, and drag and drop to rearrange tasks.
- Payment and invoicing
Bloom claims to be the only invoicing tool that integrates with popular payment solutions like CashApp, Venmo, Zelle, or Paypal. You can also give your clients the option to pay a deposit and have the balance automatically withdrawn later. Bloom.io also streamlines signing contracts by enabling one click to send contracts or attach them to invoices and instant booking packages.
- Build website portfolios
Running a freelancing business requires you to build an online presence. However, website builders are expensive and too complicated for the needs of freelancers. Bloom is the only all-one CRM platform that lets you create beautiful portfolio templates designed for simple and elegant freelancer websites.
Bloom pros
- Bloom offers a free invoice generator that lets you create and send branded invoices for quick payments via Stripe, PayPay, Venmo, and other payment platforms.
- Bloom is an excellent option for individual creators because of its array of features that can be used across the project lifecycle. You can quote, build forms, receive payments, sell service packages and do a lot more in just one platform.
- One of the best features of Bloom is to allow clients to directly buy from the website. The freelancer can create instant packages with features, helping clients to choose and buy whatever fits their needs.
- Bloom's mobile app will allow you to stay in touch with your clients even when you're away.
Bloom cons
- Many users have complained of Bloom.io being buggy and having a slow loading time. If you try doing multiple things together, Bloom will slow down.
- Bloom provides limited customer support, with users experiencing slow response times and unhelpful assistance, which can be problematic during critical times.
SuiteDash
SuiteDash is the a great software for scaling businesses
SuiteDash is an ultimate all-in-one client portal software that is designed to streamline and automate mundane tasks. The platform provides comprehensive features, eliminating the need for separate applications. Whether you're looking for CRM, time-tracking software, or CRM, SuiteDash includes everything.
With SuiteDash, you can create dedicated client portal pages and make it the first thing your prospect or client sees when they log into the platform. This portal will provide access to project details, project assets, invoices, and calendars. You can also customize the look and feel of your client portal by adding your own font themes, brand logo, and styling elements.
SuiteDash features
- LMS learning
SuiteDash is the only CRM platform that has its own LMS. You can monetize your courses, use them as lead generators, educate your clients, or train your staff. In SuiteDash, you can design and deliver unlimited courses that are perfect for documenting your systems and processes. You can easily add your courses to your workflow and grant access at any time via trigger/ action automation.
- Email marketing
With SuiteDash, you can seamlessly create and send email and drip campaigns. Use the WYSIWYG or advanced code editor and then send/schedule them at optimal timings. You can choose your preferred sending method to ensure your email campaigns reach your target audience.
- Community building
SuiteDash allows you to create interactive communities offering public and private discussion spaces to encourage targeted engagement and interaction. You can streamline communication with discussion forums, keep members informed with unlimited announcements, and gather insights through polls.
SuiteDash pros
- SuiteDash is one of the most diverse business software that replaces the need for every tool. It definitely is an all-in-one software and can help businesses get started without the hassle of using multiple tools.
- Having an all-in-one business platform helps your team work seamlessly. Consolidating different tools into one can potentially save businesses time and money by eliminating the need to pay for any other tool.
- SuiteDash provides a lot of customization options for forms, automation, and workflows, meaning you can bend and shape SuiteDash according to your business needs.
- SuiteDash ensures all client interactions are managed in one place, including tasks, requests, messages, and billings, making it easy to oversee projects and improve efficiency.
SuiteDash cons
- SuiteDash's huge amount of features is a blessing, but this also means a long learning curve, which means increased time to value and, in some cases, additional training.
- Many users have complained that it is slow. For instance, a user mentions, "When I want to create an invoice it can take 4-6 min for one to load. It's like their servers are in Slow-mo." This can take up a lot of time and eventually slow your business down.
SuiteDash pricing
SuiteDash offers three paid plans:
- Start: $19/month
- Thrive: $49/month
- Pinnacle: $99/month
User ratings: 4.8/5
Hubspot
Hubspot is best for businesses getting started with marketing and sales-related operations
Hubspot is one of the closest alternatives to Dubsadao because of its extensive features minus complex workflows and high-end pricing. This free tool lets you manage your clients end-to-end while automating administrative tasks, providing a user-friendly interface, and meeting customer experience.
Hubspot is a cloud-based platform that provides functionalities like contact management, pipeline management, reporting and analytics, sales automation, and seamless integration with other Hubspot tools. Having the best tools in one place eliminates the trouble of juggling multiple software.
Hubspot features
- CRM database
Hubspot allows storing customers' and prospects' information all in one place called the CRM database. You can store up to 1,000,000 contacts with no time limit or expiration date. This way, you don't have to manually add customer data again and again. Each contact info has crucial information like customer name, past interactions, the medium through which the lead has come, and other personal information.
- Task management
Hubspot CRM helps to manage your tasks seamlessly. You can easily schedule, track, and create deals in the CRM. Embedded reporting and tracking make it easy for reps to track their activity task progress. Hubspot provides an extensive overview of past task performance, such as deals created, calls made, and activities completed.
- Content management system (CMS)
Hubspot CMS is a user-friendly platform that provides a range of templates, themes, and modules, giving users the ability to customize their website without needing any technical or coding experience. Hubspot's websites are also SEO-friendly, meaning they are designed to ensure search engines can easily crawl and index their site's content easily.
Hubspot pros
- The biggest benefit of Hubspot is that it's free. It provides access to free CRM, sales, marketing, and customer service tools. Your entire organization can use Hubspot without any user restrictions.
- Hubspot free CRM is a simple and user-friendly tool, which makes it the best option for businesses that are just getting started with marketing and sales operations.
- Hubspot CRM integrates sales, marketing, and customer service operations in one place. This makes it easier for teams to interact with customers and fetch their data, past interactions, and their activity.
- Hubspot analytics and reporting feature makes it easier for businesses to make data-driven decisions by tracking all aspects of their marketing and sales efforts.
Hubspot cons
- Even though you might start free on HUbspot, you'll have to eventually upgrade to a paid plan for better functionality and access to essential features.
- Hubspot is an expensive CRM if you upgrade to its free plan. So, many times, users look for other alternatives that have similar features than upgrading to a paid plan.
Hubspot pricing
Hubspot calls their plan "hubs," and as of 2024, they offer 1 free plan and 5 paid hubs:
- Free tools (previously known as CRM) – the free HubSpot plan that provides a lite mix of all hub features and a robust CRM
- Marketing Hub
- Sales Hub
- Service Hub (a.k.a Customer Service)
- CMS Hub
- Operations Hub
Then, each of these hubs has three paid plans: Starter, Professional, and Enterprise.
So, if you need an all-in-one tool, then go for a CRM suite or mix different bundles by creating your bundle.
User ratings: 4.5/5
AgencyHandy
AgencyHandy is best for agencies of all sizes
AgencyHandy is a standout Dubsado alternative that is specifically designed as an all-in-one client portal software for different industries and sizes. AgencyHandy brings in a full suite of specialized tools that help in juggling complex projects, detailed task tracking, and client communication.
You can create tailored order forms that capture crucial information you need from your clients. With flexible pricing models and self-service checkout, AgencyHandy helps you provide a personalized and convenient ordering experience that streamlines the customer onboarding process.
AgencyHandy features
- Centralized dashboard
AgencyHandy's intuitive dashboard provides a centralized experience to users. You can gain a comprehensive overview of your agency's performance and operations at a glance. The dashboard provides access to crucial metrics like open support tickets, recent client feedback, new orders received, and revenue generated, empowering you to make data-driven decisions and address any potential bottlenecks.
- Order management features
With AgencyHandy, you can gain complete visibility into your agency's workload with a detailed task view list. You can switch to the Kanban view, which provides a visual representation of each project's progress. This way, you can easily identify bottlenecks, prioritize tasks, and maintain client trust by improving efficiency and productivity.
- Client management
Allow your clients to review and provide feedback on tasks through a dedicated client portal. Each client portal consolidates all essential information, such as project history, contact details, and project history, all in a centralized location. You can also provide a dedicated ticketing system that efficiently handles client requests, issues, and support leads.
AgencyHandy pros
- Create and manage your workflows with a built-in task-tracking system that keeps your business organized and deadline-driven.
- Get access to multi-language support to expand your agency's reach and ensure effective collaboration with your global audience.
- Reinforce your business's brand identity by utilizing custom domains and subdomains across the platform.
- Automate your payments for retainer-based or subscription services with customizable schedules and payment terms, eliminating unnecessary back and forth.
AgencyHandy cons
- Some users may find the software complex and challenging to learn, especially if they are new to agency management tools. There may be a steep learning curve involved before users can fully utilize its features.
- Pricing Concerns: Depending on the plan or package chosen, AgencyHandy may be considered expensive for smaller agencies or freelancers who may not need all the advanced features it offers.
AgencyHandy pricing
AgencyHandy offers three paid plans:
- Solopreneuer: $69/month
- Teams: $149/month
- Pro: $199/month
User ratings: 3.7/5
Best Dubsado Alternatives for Your Business
Each of the platforms mentioned above offers unique strengths and features that are tailored to a specific audience. It really comes down to what you are looking to get out of your software and what features you need in order to succeed.
If you are a design and creative agency looking for a dedicated client management tool with comprehensive features, ManyRequests is a great option. It provides a robust suite of tools and features that can optimize your processes while also ensuring your clients feel valued.
For small businesses and freelancers that want to manage everything in one place and are on a tight budget, then HoneyBook, Bonsai, 17Hats, and Bloom are great options.
Lastly, for medium—to large businesses that want an all-in-one platform for project tracking, client management, and high-level customization, then, Plutio, AgencyHandy, SuiteDash should be your priority.
No matter what your need is, this list has an option for everything.
Originally Published: June 19 2021