HoneyBook

HoneyBook keeps a client from first enquiry through proposal, contract and payment in one place, which is aimed squarely at people who currently run that sequence across a form, a document and an invoicing app. Payments are taken inside it at a stated card rate, with a faster payout available for a fee. The plans differ on automation and team seats rather than on whether the basics are there. Anybody whose work is not project-shaped will be paying for a pipeline they do not have.

Starter is $29 a month billed yearly, Essentials is $49 and Premium is $109, with the plans separated by automation and team seats rather than by whether the basics are present. Payments run at 2.9 percent plus 25 cents, with an optional 1 percent fee to access funds faster subject to eligibility. Every plan begins with a free trial whose length the page does not state, and there is a 60-day full refund.

A freelancer or small studio whose work arrives as discrete client projects, where the same sequence of proposal, contract and invoice repeats every time. The refund window makes it low risk to try properly rather than in a trial week. Anybody whose income is products rather than projects has no pipeline to manage and will be paying for a client workflow they never open.