Introduction
Honeybook is an all-in-one business management software built specifically for creative businesses like photographers, designers, event planners and more. It brings tools for client contracts, proposals, invoicing, payments, email marketing, scheduling, and more together on one intuitive platform.
But like all robust software, what you get with Honeybook depends heavily on which pricing plan you choose. Honeybook offers four tiers: Free, Lite, Pro, and Enterprise. Costs range from $0/month to $129/month for their most premium plan.
In this article, we’ll break down Honeybook’s pricing in detail so you can understand exactly what’s included and which tier is the best fit and value:
- Honeybook’s four pricing plan options and what’s in each
- Factors that impact your overall costs like number of users and invoice volume
- Features comparison across Free, Lite, Pro, and Enterprise plans
- Transaction fee structure – when you pay a flat rate vs. variable fees per transaction
- How Honeybook compares to alternative options like Dubsado
- Tips for getting the most value from Honeybook based on your business size and needs
Let’s start by looking at…
Honeybook’s Four Pricing Plan Options
Honeybook lets you test out basic features in their Free plan, then offers expanded capabilities and volumes across three paid tiers: Lite, Pro, and Enterprise.
Here is an overview of the pricing for each Honeybook plan if paying monthly, including the main limitations with the free version:
Free Plan
The Honeybook free plan allows 1 user and lets you manage up to 5 active clients and send unlimited invoices. However, payment and contract capabilities are only unlocked on paid plans. So the free version works best for early testing.
Paid Plans
Honeybook’s three paid tiers offer expanding features, volumes, and support:
Lite – Best for solopreneurs. Allows 1 user, 50 active clients, $50k yearly invoices, and standard support.
Pro – For growing small business teams. 5 users, 200 active clients, $150k yearly invoices, expanded capabilities and priority support.
Enterprise – For established mid-sized agencies. 15 users, 500 active clients, custom pricing, premier support, and highest limits.
Volume thresholds can be raised for additional fees on Pro and Enterprise plans if your business outgrows the included limits.
Next let’s walk through some of the top factors that impact your costs…
Factors That Impact Overall Honeybook Cost
While the core monthly or annual rates provide a base price point, your overall costs and the best Honeybook tier for your business can shift depending on:
Number of Users – Pro and Enterprise plans allow for multiple users. Adding more team members increases costs, so factor employee needs into choosing your plan.
Client and Invoice Volume – Higher volume businesses will outgrow Lite’s limits faster. Review volume thresholds for each tier and consider projected growth when selecting to optimize spend.
Integrations & Features – Determine must have features like contracts, scheduling software sync, or payment gateways you need integrated, which varies cost.
Now let’s do a deeper comparison across tiers on functionality…
Features In Each Honeybook Plan
While core components like proposals, client management, and invoicing exist across plans, the number of features expands significantly in the higher Pro and Enterprise tiers.
Core Features
Every Honeybook plan includes:
- Client profiles & relationships
- Proposals & contracts
- Invoicing & payments
- Project/job dashboards
- Visual calendar
- Mobile apps
But Free lacks automated payments. And Lite limits your active client count until you upgrade.
Billing & Payments
Accepting online payments requires one of the paid Honeybook plans below Basic limits:
| Plan | Yearly Volume Limit | Payment Methods |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $50k | Stripe, PayPal |
| Pro | $150k | Stripe, PayPal +7 more PSPs |
| Enterprise | Custom | + Additional PSP Options |
Higher tiers offer significantly more payment and invoicing volume as well as more integrated payment service processors.
Integrations & Automation
Expand automation and sync connected apps based on your tier and needs:
Lite – Zapier only
Pro – 7 native integrations, Zapier, API access
Enterprise – 7 native integrations, Zapier, premium level API access
Popular integrations include email services, accounting, scheduling/calendaring software and CRMs.
Storage & Support
Both your included storage space and degree of customer support increases with each package:
- 5 GB storage – Lite
- Unlimited storage – Pro and Enterprise
- Standard support – Lite
- Priority support – Pro and Enterprise
- Premier support – Enterprise
Next let’s review Honeybook’s transaction fee structure…
Understanding Honeybook’s Transaction Fees
In addition to the flat monthly or annual pricing for your plan, Honeybook also charges transaction fees each time clients pay online invoices through your Honeybook payments account.
Here is the fee breakdown by payment type:
2.9% + 30 cents
- U.S. credit, debit cards and ACH bank payments
5% + 30 cents
- PayPal
So for example, if you collect $1000 in credit card payments in a month via Honeybook, you would owe $32.90 in transaction fees for that month (2.9% of $1000 plus 30 cents per transaction).
Pro Tip: You can bring your own payment processor from supported options below Enterprise tier to reduce transaction costs. Options include Stripe, Square, Braintree and Authorize.Net.
Next let’s compare Honeybook’s pricing and offerings to some popular alternatives…
Comparing Honeybook to Alternatives
Many independent professionals and creative agencies turn to Honeybook over payment processors alone since it combines client management, proposal creation, and invoicing with payment acceptance in one streamlined workflow.
However, if you already have systems you like, competitors Dubsado and 17Hats offer comparable all-in-one client portals priced from $15 – $49/month. Honeybook costs a premium by comparison but offers far more native features versus relying on plugins and integrations.
For rapidly scaling agencies, Honeybook also makes more financial sense over point solutions that require paid plans from Quickbooks Online, Trello, Calendly, Mailchimp and a CRM separately just to replicate Honeybook’s native capabilities under one platform.
Evaluating the best value depends heavily on your business growth stage, team size, reliance on automation, openness to new systems, and cost sensitivity.
Next let’s analyze whether Honeybook offers enough ROI for different business types and sizes.
Is Honeybook Worth the Cost For Your Business?
Determining if Honeybook justifies the spend depends on your goals, volumes, and budget. Here is an overview of the pricing suitability across business types:
Solopreneurs – Honeybook’s paid plans fit many freelancer budgets at $34-$74/month. Focus on automation tools over manual processes you can handle alone to maximize value.
Small Teams – For small companies, Honeybook drives more productivity across employees over individual software systems. Consider reallocating costs into one solution.
Mid-Market Agencies – With higher volumes but lean operations, tools like Honeybook optimize profits. Calculate potential time and cost savings against current workflows.
Enterprise – Large firms may have too many complex legacy systems to migrate easily. Validate adoption and utilization before scaling business-wide.
Key Takeaways– Select features aligned to immediate pain points. Start small, tracking utilization and tangible benefits to the business before expanding access and capabilities.
Conclusion & Next Steps
I hope mapping out Honeybook’s pricing in detail helps provide clarity on which tier aligns best to your business needs and budget right now versus longer term goals.
Most importantly, leverage the free trial to test Honeybook hands-on with your own workflows before subscribing. And reach out to their support team for customized pricing if you fall between plan limits.