Every small business owner should have a good CRM (Client Relationship Management) platform. Both 17hats and Honeybook are excellent choices.
But which one is better?
With so many great features between the two of them, it can be hard to tell which is right for you.
In this article, we’ll break down which is the better client management software.
Introducing 17hats & Honeybook
17hats
Released in 2012, 17hats is only a little older than its counterpart.
It comes with a huge range of features, from client communication to time tracking. Its list of features make it versatile and mean that you’ll get great use out of it no matter your needs.
It’s a great all-rounder piece of software that has something for almost everyone. Whether you’re a freelance accountant or a wedding photographer, 17hats has something for every small business.
It is actually a favorite for wedding photographers,
Honeybook
A year younger than its counterpart, Honeybook has been available since 2013.
Honeybook offers one or two fewer features. That doesn’t make it any less of a great CRM platform, though. It advertises itself as a more streamlined experience better-suited to creative individuals.
It still has a ton of great features, though. With so much to offer, its features easily compete with 17hats.
Features of Honeybook vs 17hats
With such a great offering of features from both programs, it’s hard to tell which one is better right off the bat. Let’s get into a more detailed look at them to see which has the better features.
Cost
Both 17hats and Honeybook have a free trial. This way, you can take a look at both and figure out which one you like best.
The actual pricing of 17hats depends on which version you want to use. It has a limited free version with only a few features. It also has a lite version that costs $17 per month. These versions do not have access to the full list of features, though.
These limited versions can be useful if you don’t have many clients or are just starting out.
In this article, we will be discussing the features that come with the unlimited version. This version costs $45 per month.
Honeybook, on the other hand, just has one, flat rate. After the 7-day free trial, it will cost you $34 per month.
Availability
17hats is available worldwide and supports a large list of currencies. This means you can use it wherever you are and bill in whatever currency is most convenient for you.
Honeybook unfortunately only available in the US and Canada at the moment. While there are plans to expand, it won’t be for some time. If you’re a small business outside of those countries, you’re out of luck.
User-Friendliness
17hats has a ton of features. Not all of them are streamlined very well. This makes learning the software a touch more difficult for first-time CRM users.
It also means that you’ll need to spend more time bogged down by learning the app and by admin. But, you will get to customize your process a little more and fine-tune it to your exact needs.
On the flip side, one of Honeybook’s biggest selling points is its user-friendliness.
It is streamlined and easy-to-use, making it perfect for beginners and small-scale business owners. This means you can spend less time worrying about admin, and more time on your actual products.
This streamlined process is fairly static, though, so you won’t really be able to customize much.
Customer Service
Both 17hats and Honeybook have great customer service and support. Their websites both have chat support with someone ready to answer your query at almost any time of the day.
This means that if you run into an issue on either platform, you’ll have it resolved in no time.
Invoicing
Both 17hats and Honeybook integrate Quickbooks Online for their invoicing. They do so in slightly different ways, though.
17hats’ invoicing system is very well-automated and easy to use. With 17hats, you can connect your business bank account to the app. This allows you to automatically import all of your business expenses.
This makes it super easy to track your expenses and create a profit and loss margin at the end of the month.
Honeybook, on the other hand, requires you to import each expense manually. This is fine if you’re just starting out or are a small-scale entrepreneurs, but can get tedious if you have a lot of expenses.
Both apps have professional invoice templates that allow you to track your paid and unpaid invoices from within the program.
Templates
Both pieces of software have their own templates. This includes invoicing, contracts, proposals, and questionnaires.
17hats’ templates are all quite stock standard. They don’t allow for any customization outside of adding your logo to the document.
Honeybook, on the other hand, has some limited customization options for its templates. It doesn’t have much, but you can at least add a little bit of your brand to the forms you use.
Honeybook’s templates are also by far the easiest to use. Managing and building them is straightforward and intuitive.
This makes it incredibly quick and easy to draw up a contract or an agreement with all of the necessary legal information already in it.
Time Tracking
This is one of 17hats’ great, unique features. It has an in-app time tracker that allows you to track and time hourly services.
Not only that, but you can track different services with different rates, too. You can set your time tracker to be able to track one service that costs $15 per hour and another that costs $30 per hour, for example.
Honeybook unfortunately doesn’t have such a built-in feature. It allows you to import time recordings, but you need to use a separate app to actually record them.
Automation
When it comes to automation, both pieces of software have decent features.
17hats allows you to generate automatic responses to inquiries via website forms. It also allows you to send booking and invoice reminders automatically.
Honeybook also allows you to send automatic requests for payment as well as thank-you and follow-up emails.
Neither app really allows you to fully automate, so you’ll still need to do some things manually. But the features that they both have will make any small business owner’s life far easier.
Bookings
17hats has a straightforward booking system that allows clients to request booking times. You then can accept or reject the request depending on your own schedule.
This allows you to take greater control over your schedule and bookings. You can decide when to see clients depending on your own needs.
Honeybook’s integrated booking system is a little newer. It doesn’t have the same request system as 17hats.
You also can’t set up a questionnaire or invoice payment prior to a booking being confirmed. This means you have a little less control and customization options with Honeybook.
Integration
Both 17hats and Honeybook are capable of integrating with different apps.
As we mentioned previously, 17hats can integrate with your business bank account to easily track your income and expenses. This makes it great if accounting is important to your business and you need an easy and painless way to do it.
Honeybook is integrated with Google Calendar, Gmail, and Zapier.
The google integration allows for easier streamlining and automation. It’s a much more simple process.
Zapier allows you to connect Honeybook with other tools and services you might need. This can make it more versatile in certain situations.
Client Friendliness
Both 17hats and Honeybook have a client portal that the client can easily access.
Both apps have professional-looking portals that allow clients to access everything they need.
17hats and Honeybook definitely tie when it comes to their client portals. Both are great and easy to use.
Phone Apps
17hats and Honeybook have two of the best CRM phone apps available. This makes them both great options for on-the-go client management and tracking.
In line with the rest of its user experience, Honeybook’s app is super straight-forward and easy to use. But as we mentioned before, Honeybook is not available outside of the US and Canada. The same goes for its app.
17hats’ app is a little more clunky and tricky to get the hang of. It is still great at what it does, though, and is available worldwide.
Task Management
17hats makes multitasking easier than ever before. Its project and task tracking are super easy to use and view. You can easily look at an overview of the status of each project at the press of a button.
Not only that, but you can also filter tasks by archived projects, active projects, and leads. You won’t ever get overwhelmed by manually tracking your projects ever again.
This makes it great for small businesses who are already set up with multiple clients and projects.
Honeybook is unfortunately lacking in the task management department. It doesn’t have an intuitive project-tracking system like 17hats does. This makes it a lot more difficult to track multiple tasks and projects at once.
Because of this, Honeybook is far better suited for small business owners who don’t have many clients or projects just yet.
User Reports
While 17hats doesn’t have a feature that allows you to view where your users and leads are coming from, this is a feature that makes Honeybook shine.
With Honeybook, you can track how your users are finding you, and which sources give you the most value. You can even see which sources bring you the highest-paying clients.
This makes it super useful for anyone that doesn’t have an in-depth understanding of social media and marketing just yet. It makes learning these things far easier. It also allows you to make a much more informed decision on which avenues are worth your time and money.
As we said, 17hats, unfortunately, doesn’t have this feature. But, if you already know where your clients are coming from and how to get them, it’s not really a necessary feature.
Conclusion
Both 17hats and Honeybook bring a lot to the table when it comes to CRM.
17hats has an extensive list of unique, in-depth features. This allows experienced users to customize their processes and track a greater amount of projects and clients. While it can be a more difficult program to use, its features are fantastic.
Honeybook, on the other hand, is much more user-friendly. This makes it accessible to newer small businesses and those that aren’t quite as tech-savvy. Its process is streamlined and simple, while still having good features.
So which is the better CRM platform?
We’re going to have to say that it depends a little.
If you have a better idea of what you’re doing and want something to track all of your clients, projects, and your time and schedule, then 17hats is the way to go. Plus, it has integrated bookkeeping.
If you’re just starting out (or you’re not great with technology) and want something simple and easy to use, then Honeybook is for you.
We wouldn’t be doing you justice if we didn’t mention one of our other favorite CRMs. If you’re looking for a CRM that you can completely customize, then you should definitely consider Dubsado. It takes some time to get set up to your liking, but it has a simple interface and can be completely customized to suit your unique business.