HoneyBook Reviews

Pros

I like it because I don't have to move between several applications to do my job, it has all the necessary tools to make my job more efficient, and the closing deliveries are more organized and faster. Sending invoices is much easier for me and I manage my projects much more organized

Cons

The response time from customer service is not as effective and fast as I would like, they are good at their responses but they don't do it quickly

Pros

I love that they are always updating their features and allow users to give input on the usefulness. The software is always improving.

Cons

There are some small things i wish where available in the smart files, such as drop down lists and check boxes.

Alternatives Considered

Dubsado and HubSpot CRM

Reasons for Switching to HoneyBook

Ease of use and price was most reasonable

Pros

It will be great for those who have their own coaching business to let clients book their spots.

Cons

It’s not as good for booking group classes for clients compared to other websites. I will use the other website is set more...

Pros

I appreciate it because I can perform my work without switching between multiple applications; it offers all the essential tools to enhance my efficiency, and I find that my closing tasks are more organized and quicker. Invoicing is simpler, and I can manage my projects in a more structured manner.

Cons

The customer service response time isn't as prompt and efficient as I hope; while they provide good answers, they don't respond quickly.

Pros

I enjoyed this user friendly software. I was offered a seven day trial to see if it was a good fit for my company. Sending invoices was a breeze. One of my favorite features is being able to send crisp, professional looking proposals to possible business prospects. This feature alone helped take my business up a notch.

Cons

As compared to others, The payout speed for invoices takes close to a week as opposed to a couple of days with other software I have tried. Perhaps that will change in the future.

Pros

Robust contract and proposal tool. Very efficient to use. Seamless invoicing and payment processing.

Cons

Initial customisation takes time. Limited integration with certain third party apps.

Pros

The branding, logo and name are all trendy and up to date. This is very important when interating with new people, new clients. One wants the interface to be inviting.

Cons

It could have better contract signing features.

Pros

If you're a freelancer or running a small business, HoneyBook is a fantastic project management tool that’s worth considering. I absolutely love it for its comprehensive suite of features designed to streamline workflows and improve efficiency.

Cons

I don't have any dislikes thus far regarding the platform.

Pros

What I like most about HoneyBook is how efficient the software is for appointment scheduling.

Cons

There is currently nothing I dislike about Honeybook, it has been very effective and efficient.

Pros

Well, I really like about honey Book. It was very professional and easy to use

Cons

I didn’t like that the pricing system was very high, especially for startup businesses

Pros

When singing up with Honeybook they took my exhausting contracts, forms, questionnaires and placed them into their system. This saved me so much time switching from DIY client management to this online resource.

Cons

When responding to an email through the software, it makes a new email. Some clients have more questions and I’d like a way to organize with in a project the emails.

Alternatives Considered

17hats, Docusign and Adobe PDF Library

Reasons for Choosing HoneyBook

I did a trail run of both 17hats and Honeybook. Honeybook put my documents into the system and the customer service help to learn their system was stellar. It made me more confident that if I had trouble in the future, someone would answer.

Switched From

17hats

Reasons for Switching to HoneyBook

See above. It applies to all the potential products used

Pros

I love how seamless and easy to use it is. It may be a transition at first but once you get changed over you will NEVER go back. The workflow is so easy to use and very customizable. Other softwares i've tested are not even comparable to how simple honeybook is to use.

Cons

The only thing i wish were better is the calendar system. It would be nice to be able to block dates out on the calendar to avoid booking, like if you had planned a vacation. I also with it would sync directly to ical. I hate having to make it use google becuase if google runs out of space it doesnt tell me and then i have a calendar issue.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Enterprise

Reasons for Choosing HoneyBook

I switched because i was wasting time manually making contracts each time, and i was lacking in the workflow department. I was hardly booking because it wasn't a professional look before honeybook

Switched From

Square Point of Sale

Reasons for Switching to HoneyBook

This is geared more towards photographers and that is hard to find something that works so well that is build for us

Pros

Honeybook is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. Luckily, I started using it when I began my business, so I didn't need to transfer any existing CRM or sales data over. When I was onboarding, HoneyBook's support staff loaded in a bunch of pre-designed templates specific to my industry. They also took images I sent them of my products and prices and turned them into usable sales proposals. That alone has saved me WEEKS of time that I would have had to spend learning how to use HoneyBook and manually inputting my content.

Cons

The time tracker does not function to the extent that I need it to. I currently use Time Doctor to track my time, but it would be nice if I could keep everything in HoneyBook.

Also, I oftentimes don't see my reminders for following up with "tasks" for clients in my projects pipeline. If there's a way to have those notifications automatically sync with my personal google calendar and send me an email reminder, that would be helpful. Pipedrive's CRM and sales pipeline does a really great job of showing urgent prospects to follow up with. I think it color-codes them too.

Also, the email feature within HoneyBook can be a bit confusing. Sometimes, I can't tell if an email sent or not. The notes are also not displayed in a way that's very easy to read. It would be nice to add bullets, bold text, underline, etc. Pipedrive does a really great job of showing all of the email threads and notes between clients and multiple team members in their CRM.

Also, the first time I sent an invoice, HoneyBook automatically included a place for gratuity/tip. I've now figured out how to turn that setting off, but I couldn't see that it was automatically included in my invoice ahead of time. With my business (and I think most), they will never need gratuity, so I think that's kind of an odd setting. Maybe instead of having to click and review the settings in the left side bar of invoices, there could be an extra prompt to review those settings before the user sends the proposal to their client.

Alternatives Considered

Jira, Pipedrive, Proposify, Ignition, HubSpot CRM and Qwilr

Reasons for Switching to HoneyBook

Price, ease of use, everything being in one place, support staff to help with onboarding, good UX and UI.

Pros

The best part about HoneyBook is that I'm able to fully customize everything to match my brand's visuals. Everything about this CRM is easy to use. The support team is always incredible if you need help - they're seriously the best around. The community around HB is also amazing. I love how easy it is to go from an inquiry to a booked project with my automated workflows! The newer client portal feature is always a client favorite, too!

Cons

I would love to see a more flexible method for viewing pipelines and tasks. I prefer to view a Kanban-type of pipeline/workflow and tasks. I'd like to be able to click on a workflow and see how many clients/projects I have under it.

I also don't like that I can't charge for certain appointment types. I would love to use the scheduling feature for booking mini sessions or other items that I would charge for outside of weddings/brand sessions. It would also be great if certain appointment types could work as lead capture forms (i.e.: when an appointment is booked, a new inquiry is created).

For financial tracking, it would be nice to be able to create a recurring expense.

Alternatives Considered

Dubsado

Reasons for Choosing HoneyBook

HoneyBook was offering a lifetime membership at the time and I loved their user interface!

Switched From

17hats

Reasons for Switching to HoneyBook

The community and support team.

Pros

I really like how seamless, intuitive, and robust honeybook is. I like how it keeps me on track and integrates with calendars, emails, and helps my clients stay organized.

Cons

Some of the features I would like to see in the future would be the ability to integrate a "store"-like function directly into the crm. I would like my clients to be able to choose from options that I offer and those choices to become a proposal or invoice.

Alternatives Considered

Dubsado

Reasons for Choosing HoneyBook

Dj Event Planner was clunky and bloated with features that I never used.

Reasons for Switching to HoneyBook

I liked Honeybook's interface more.

Pros

I love that all my projects are in one space, and organized so I can see where I am with what at what time...with just a click!

Cons

I don't have a con...Although it is worth each penny that they charge, it is hard justifying when business stopped bc of a virus (which shall not be named lol) I wanted to keep it to keep everything together but could not when even communication stopped with clients for a while.

Pros

Booking clients and communicating with them throughout the planning stages of their project has become seamless. I have all emails and files in one place. I can easily make changes to their upcoming appointment, reschedule make suggestions on another location. I am able to send all documents in one proposal email. and get their signature on everything at once. Payments go through easily and client payment reminders have been very helpful.

Cons

I am a new user and it's a little difficult to set up to how I do business. It's taking me a lot longer than I would like to get things just how I want them. There are things I want to change such as the flow of automatic emails. I am having a hard time figuring out exactly where to change those settings.

Pros

The ability to work from anywhere at any time is one of the best features. I can access all the information for our clients from home and answer any questions. Since leads go directly to this program, all emails are attached to each project so you have a record of everything you said. The Library stores all our documents and handouts. I love the report section--last month the owner was starting a project to see what months was our best months for bookings. He said he was going to have to dig through Quickbooks for the information. I pointed out that the information was already in the Honeybooks!

Cons

The only thing have to say that is bad about this program is when there is an update of change. Opening up the program to do something and finding that things have changed with no notice is frustrating.

Pros

Honeybook is essential to running my business and now that I've been a user for more than 2 years, I can't imagine not using it. As a photographer, it is important for me to keep all of my scheduling, contracting, payments, and details as organized as possible so that I don't miss a meeting, or special detail for a wedding or photo session. Every part of my business is streamlined now that I use Honeybook. Reporting on Honeybook is made very easy from being able to see what % I've booked based on the number of signed contracts, where most of my clients find me, and how much money in taxes I need to pay for the quarter. Additionally, Honeybook has an opportunity board where creatives can post about need for associates, styled photo sessions. Finally, if you refer 2 people per year to Honeybook, your cost for the entire year is covered.. can't beat that!

Cons

There are times when I donate photo sessions to non-profits and want to be able to send an invoice showing how much the session would have cost, then adding a discount to show a $0 invoice but there is not a way to send that without charging the invoice and refunding. I wish that I could do more on the mobile app, but new features are being added frequently.

Pros

Honeybook provides many tutorials to help you get the most out of the program. Setting it up is fairly simple and worth the effort for the ease of use in managing your clients and how much time you save when using the features such as email and contract templates and task management. I love having everything about my couples in one place - the contract, tasks, payments, all messages and any notes. Plus, I can see the details at a glance and love the ability to integrate my own pictures so my clients and I can all see the beautiful eye catching graphics of my choosing.

Cons

I honestly can't think of anything I don't like. I thought I liked my old program a few years ago, but when it went defunct and I had to change, I was so grateful I was forced into an upgrade. I did not know what I was missing. This program simplified the management of my business beyond what I thought was possible.

Pros

I love this program. This is great for photographers and event planners. Likely could be good for another business as well, but as an event planner this program allows me to get inquiries, navigate them through the pipeline stage of booking, invoice clients and send contracts, process payments and build task management and automations all in one place. This program does so much, and connects to QuickBooks which is a huge bonus for me.

Cons

There isn't really much about the program that I dislike. I don't like that the automations now have two types of files (legacy and templates). They are basically the same and it really makes no sense to me why they exist separately, but it doesn't impede on using the software. Also, the reporting is good but it doesn't really make sense as it's not as functional as I'd like. You can't look at a report in the program, you have to download every time, but, I make due with what's available.

Pros

That everything is at my fingertips no matter where I am. I also like that I can track a clients contract, contact info, entire email exchange, invoicing at once. I like the reports and data that I can access easily. I like the ease of seeing the pipeline and where I'm at with my bookings. I like the daily reminders to follow up on my clients.

Cons

I would like the ability to look up a clients files by date - the calendar only shows bookings that have a retainer paid. I'd like to search by date and find prospectives. I'd like to search by category - for instance school dances versus weddings versus company parties. And, I'd like to see reports of how many of each type of gig we do each year.

Pros

I love that it makes everything so easy. you can send out your contracts, you can send out your emails, you can set reminders that will tell you when things are due you can send out invoices. If someone enters in their information through the contact page that honey but provides they put everything into the system for you that the client has provided to sell the name the email address all of that making it that much more easy for you . I also really love the customer service everyone is very professional and helpful and they go out of their way to make you feel taken care of. it’s also very easy to understand. It makes you look very professional as a business owner I highly recommend Honey Book

Cons

Honestly there’s not really a whole lot of cons the only one that I can think of is that the mobile app is not as interactive as if you were using a computer or laptop but honey book constantly works on improving things so I’m sure that in the future it will be fully interactive from your phone where you can check on things like bookkeeping and Send out contacts faster. So for me it’s not really a con just something to be aware of other than that I really honestly can’t really think of any cons.

Pros

I love the pre made templates, it makes answering emails and creating files for my clients extremely easy and cuts my time down. Before using HoneyBook, I was going crazy managing all my weddings and searching for certain correspondence from a certain bride, I was sometimes mixing up dates and losing certain files all together. I love being able to pull up my bride’s file and having all of our correspondence in one place, along with all of my files for them.

Cons

I wish there were more options for the pre made templates, that we can title and choose from. For now, I can only make the one follow up email. There are others that I would like to make. Also, I wish I could change the body of the email and it would save it to how I would like to word it. For now, I have to change some wording around every time I send out files to my potential clients. I also really would like to be able to make a timeline through HoneyBook. For now I have to create it in another space and email it separately to my client. It would be nice to have it all under the same file, especially with handling so many brides and weddings.

Pros

Honeybook's easy-to-use invoicing features have set a new standard for efficiency. As a professional managing multiple clients and projects, HoneyBook has made the task of creating and managing invoices simple for myself and easy for my clients to make payments.

Cons

There is nothing that I dislike about Honeybook.

Alternatives Considered

PayPal