HoneyBook Reviews

The Best Client Management Resource-- goes beyond normal software

Comments: Before I used HoneyBook, I had tried several other client management platforms. All of them were clunky, and often I'd have to hunt around for things in the interest of the app developer's attention to folders and organization. What a mess! I'm so glad I switched to HoneyBook. They've consistently made product improvements and seem to really care about their customers. It gets easier and more fun to use every day, with just enough features to accomplish what I need without overwhelming me. I highly suggest this to anyone who is managing multiple clients, especially if you have client projects that tend to go dormant for awhile then pick back up.

Pros:

I love how easy it is to use, and how amenable the HB team is to updating the software if you have a feature request or complaint. It provides very visual, easy user prompts that allow me to easily accomplish what I need in a fraction of the time of other software apps I've tried.

Cons:

It's annoying that I can't delete the default emails that came with my account to replace them with my own workflow, so myself or a team member doesn't get confused with their suggested emails vs. the ones I actually want to use.

Great for contracts and invoicing

Comments: I use the software for the valuable contracts and simplified invoicing. The added features of auto-billing and recurring billing is great. The increased transaction fees are unfortunate, whereas competitors offer quicker deposits vs Honeybook. There have been dozens of new features and expanded capabilities added to the software, however, I have never been able to learn the initial project features to try taking advantage of the new smartfile features. Hiring a pro is incredibly expensive.

Pros:

Easy to use invoicing platformCRM helps maintain contacts and specificsContract templates are perfect for my needs

Cons:

Payments take much longer to deposit vs competitorsThe pipeline and smart file functionality takes a degree to figure out. After two years I am still not using these featuresClients do not like the notifications on every change within their project

Traumatized: 2 Years of Headaches then back Square 1

Comments: Traumatizing. They’ve got the right idea but not a single clue about operating a business. In the end, the lesson learned in my own business is to stop paying for headaches sooner rather than later.

Pros:

Customizing the aesthetics of Client facing files was the reason we used it and the time invested in getting those things created, was why we stuck with it far longer than we should have. Regret every penny and every hour spent on this software, ultimately they “updated” their format (again) and we had to start all over - at our expense and time investment. They lost every payment dispute, dispute our never having lost one when we could handle them: our contracts are iron clad. You’re not given the choice to handle dispute: they must do it - they charge you for it too!

Cons:

Customer service is pass-the-buck and no phone number and call backs hours to days later…don’t bother calling on a Friday afternoon, and if u do biz on weekends - too bad for you. Extremely slow to create something, it freezes, slow to upload assets, not intuitive to use whatsoever, help docs are vague. I once begged them to add non-gmail email and they told me their software was “not sophisticated” enough for me.

Plan for successful events

Comments: Honeybook is definitely professional level event planning. That made it a little harder to get used to and harder to customize but all in all it was a plus. It's a reasonable price for what you get. Customer support is actually a human instead of a chat bot.

Pros:

So for the planning, coordinating, and tracking aspects, Honeybook is awesome. Our business is presented well to our clientele.

Cons:

The reason I didn't renew is the payment processing speed.

This is the very fast and useful apps

Comments: Honeybook is the power full photo editing apps so this is the useful and safe and secure.

Pros:

This is the very fast and useful appsThat this app is most important timing is very best

Cons:

This is the very powerful and very useful, different.

HoneyBook review by Jen

Comments: Considering how well most of the experience went, I would recommend HB.

Pros:

Hand off booking to HoneyBook. They have several automated services that keep business on track even if you've gone off the rails for a moment.. (l.o.l.)We came to Honeybook because I'd heard great reviews of their contracts, I wasn't disappointed at all. Easy peasy.

Cons:

While HB shined in some ways, I guess it just wasn't what I expected in others. Payments lagged behind.

HoneyBook made managing my work so much easier and more efficient.

Comments: My experience with HoneyBook was great. The automation and payment options were a major plus, and the customer service was great. It's a great tool for small business owners looking for a comprehensive CRM solution.

Pros:

What I liked most was its ease of use and the ability to easily customize my workflow. With HoneyBook, I was able to quickly add, edit and delete contacts, access contact activity, and collaborate with customers.

Cons:

The thing I liked least about HoneyBook was the cost. Despite being an incredibly useful tool for a small business, it comes with a premium price tag.

The most effective and efficient method tool

Pros:

I like how easy it is to use and how everything is in one spot. It's also really useful for leads; if I receive a new lead, it reminds me to follow up with them so that I'm more likely to land the customer, so it's a very positive experience. The simplicity with which contracts could be sent and the opportunity for my customer to sign immediately. Honeybook contains practically all of the features I need to run my business simply and efficiently. It also gives my clients the impression that they have a thorough understanding of everything that is going on in their projects.

Cons:

I dislike that there is no option to arrange your date before booking. I only wish clients could choose the amount they want to pay at any given moment. Some of my clients find the email threads quite bothersome. In comparison to other firms, the processing and quick deposit costs appear to be expensive.

Honeybook is an online BEST business management platform.

Comments: HoneyBook has been an incredibly positive experience , user interface is easy to use and their customer service team is super helpful and responsive.

Pros:

The features that are most impactful in Honeybook include automated workflow management, personalized proposal and contract creation, invoicing automation, automated payment reminders, client portal and collaboration tools, custom branding, online booking and scheduling options, integrations with payment processors, an intuitive user interface, content libraries, and rich collaboration tools.

Cons:

There are a few features I feel could be improved in Honeybook. The most notable one being a better editing and proofreading capability within the platform. Currently, it is difficult and tedious to check and make corrections to text, image and colors throughout a project.It would be great if there was an automated system that could help with this.

A good software to manage workflows and business processes.

Comments: HoneyBook is an excellent choice for creative entrepreneurs and freelancers who are looking for a comprehensive business management tool that can help them streamline their operations and improve their efficiency.

Pros:

HoneyBook is its all-in-one functionality. The platform provides users with a range of tools and features that can help them manage their business operations from a single dashboard. This includes tools for managing leads, creating and sending contracts and invoices, and tracking payments and expenses.Another advantage of HoneyBook is its user-friendly interface. The platform is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, with a range of templates and pre-built workflows that can be customized to fit your specific needs. Additionally, HoneyBook provides users with access to a dedicated customer support team, as well as a range of online resources and tutorials to help them get the most out of the platform.

Cons:

HoneyBook offers a range of pricing plans that are designed to be accessible to businesses of all sizes, the cost can add up quickly if you require a large number of features or have a high volume of transactions.Another potential issue with HoneyBook is its limited customization options. While the platform does provide users with a range of templates and pre-built workflows, some users may find that these are not customizable enough to fit their specific needs.

The sweetest solution for photographers

Comments: Honeybook continues to be a game-changer for our photography business. It has been an integral part of our daily workflow for years now. This year they added calendar and booking functionality.

Pros:

Love the customer service. Whenever I need help they are always right there. We use HB for every booking. As soon as a lead goes active, we start a new project and manage everything from communication to proposal to contact to invoicing with HB.

Cons:

There could maybe be more freedom to customize but really it's just an advanced issue. First world problems.

The easiest way to get paid fast!

Comments: My overall experience has been very pleasant! The customer service is always very helpful and the little frustrations of working with a start up or nothing compared to the benefit that it’s given our business in the past two years!

Pros:

1.Template building for sure. Not having to hand customize every single contract has saved so much time. 2. The fact that, in the wedding industry, it is heavily female dominant.... which means a lot of us are moms.... which means that this app allowed me to take care of critical work while on my phone. THAT is a lifesaver with kiddos. If you know you know! 3. The time between sending a proposal and getting paid (depending on how ready to book a client was) was minutes at most. I’d get live feedback when they opened the file, signed the contract, and made a payment. I never had to guess. 4. Customer service was great!!! They actively ask for feedback from their customers and even go granular with their questions so they can consider the nuances of each client’s industry!

Cons:

1. The email communication side of the app is very hit or miss. Where they soar with sending files and making payments a BREEZE, the ability to create a streamlined, semi-automated Follow-up process for leads that come in is sorely lacking. Even if HoneyBook never intends to be the best at that portion of sales, I feel it is a simple task to add a feature that makes it easy to add tags to leads so that you can export those contacts to a service that DOES soar in email communication and lead nurturing. 2. There is still a lot of room for more organization in the communication process from sales to project completion.

My favorite CRM ever

Comments: I've loved every minute! Even with the few things that I think could be improved on, I think their team is doing an amazing job!

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.

HoneyBook is the right CRM for you!

Comments: I love HoneyBook. I have looked at switching just because I’m interested in seeing what else is available & how they compare, but I think my loyalty & the overall satisfaction with HoneyBook will keep me here!

Pros:

HoneyBook just overall has so many great features that will help you run & maintain your business every day. During the onset of Covid & with so many of us experiencing cancellations & such, they were the only CRM I knew of that rolled out any help with legal documents to help you convey the right words to your clients to not only help you stay level headed & in charge of your business, but also helped your clients realize that cancelling should be a last resort & that we business owners are here for them! I am also a big fan of most all of the templates that they provide for you to help set your business up for success! Aaaand in the Winter, I love the little Snowman icon that sips hot cocoa & makes the computer screen be a wintery scene. Adorable! HoneyBook is very easy to use, & their customer service & tech departments are da bomb!

Cons:

The only things I wish that HoneyBook would improve on the most would be trying different variations with the project pipeline, with adding more availability or being able to choose between pipelines for different project types, & working out some kinks with the scheduling system between what we intend for clients to see in availability & what they actually see; & for the client to be able to go in & change their selection of date & time immediately afterwards & up to half an hour later.

Definitely a game changer!

Pros:

I love how organized I feel using this product - I can see at a glance where I am in the process with all of my clients and it is amazing to pull up all the correspondence with each client in one place. It has made a world of difference and I am beyond happy with it!

Cons:

The thing I like least is the limitation when building templates for contracts, proposals, questionnaires, etc. - I am in the business of photography and delivering beautiful images is what sets my soul on fire! I wish I could add some of my images into some of my documents and have full control over the size and their location in the document. The way it is set up right now is a square crop on any image which can only be left, center, and right page. Dubsado has the leg up on Honeybook in that regard but otherwise I am totally happy with Honeybook.

The learning curve is flat

Comments: Honeybook is responsible for the success of my business. Before Honeybook I had to follow up and demand to get paid and often get my payments postponed. Now it is all automated, clients even put their invoices in auto-pay.

Pros:

I get paid without hassle. Everything is automated. The proposal is so amazing, you send the invoice and contract together, and it goes with a pay button where the customer has no choice besides to sign the contract and paying.

Cons:

The app. The time tracking - the fact you have to calculate the time in fractions, what should have been an easy task becomes a "let me google what 1h35min is in time fractions". You can just put the time in the app, but not on the webapp. But I can never login at the app because it doesn't accept Google SSO, but it does on the web, so I always have to change my password. The app doesn't stay connected for long. So I just don't use the app, I have it installed because maybe one day it will update and login with Google.

HoneyBook is a lifesaver!

Comments: I love HoneyBook because it's easy to use and if I can't figure something out, I can easily ask! The customer service and care is golden!

Pros:

I love the brochures and proposals features. It makes things SO easy for me and my clients! I also love that I can use HoneyBook for project specific emails, so I have everything in one place!

Cons:

It's not really a con, but I don't use the community aspect of the platform. I'm sure it's amazing too though. 😄

Best Business Decision we have made

Comments: Great! Fabulous! Wonderful! Customer Service is awesome and the website is NEVER Down. I have business friends that are always complaining about their systems not working. We can't say that about Honeybook. Reliability is HUGE in the profession. It's very reliable!

Pros:

We can conduct all of the business we need to within one software. We can create contracts, get them signed and get paid, all within HoneyBook. Our team can communicate with clients straight from HoneyBook. It will even allow us to communicate from emails within the website. Love it! Makes our jobs so much easier. It allows our creatives to create and not have to worry about all of the details associated with the business practice.

Cons:

We don't have any complaints. We book 40ish weddings a year and I strongly believe HoneyBook pushed us up to the next level with professionalism.

Studio Management Software for Photographers

Comments: I am still relatively new to HoneyBook, but the customer service is top-notch. There is a lot of support, esp. in the set up of your business on their platform. They offer lots of help at every level. There are also weekly webinars to help users at any level, that save time for Q&A.

Pros:

Being able to integrate this program/system with the other parts of my business is great. HoneyBook allows me to integrate a booking calendar into my website and to integrate financial software.

Cons:

The learning curve is a little higher than other applications, but I think it is because it is so unique in its mission - to help organize multiple parts of a photography business.

Honeybook has changed the way I do business!

Comments: So far it has already made the business side of my photography more professional. If I am able to get it fully customized to my business workflow and strategy I think it will be an amazing product. Honey book has made communicating with clients, scheduling or rescheduling a session, and taking payments much easier than the way I was doing things.

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.

I wish I had found HoneyBook sooner.

Comments: I can easily set up meetings, send proposals, get signatures and create subscriptions to my agency services.

Pros:

HoneyBook has the features I need to run my small digital agency. I shopped around and paid too much for other systems which was frustrating. HoneyBook fits perfectly with my agency's sales flow.

Cons:

Because I was migrating from another system with many existing clients, onboarding was challenging. I would like to have had a personal and live onboarding session with specific advice on how best to set things up. It took a while to find the optimal use for brochures, proposals, invoices etc...

This Product is a Must.

Comments: This software organizes our contracts, our proposals, our payments and essentially preps all our accounting in such a quick easy way. Our business became so much easier. We don't have to sit over paperwork for hours and that gives us time to give it our clients...which in turn gives us more clients. Our clients have never had to ask how to pay through the software because it is easy. The system even sends out payment reminders to our clients so we don't have to...which is definitely a major plus. I have already recommended HoneyBook to several other businesses who were struggling with all the paperwork and payments for their companies. This software makes that much of a difference.

Pros:

The complete set up of contracts, invoices and legal portions was so quick and easy. Now we don't have to struggle with creating new proposals with each client. The auto population of products previously used is a huge time saver and makes it really easy for new employees to get the right price with the right product.

Cons:

The only thing I would like to see, and truly, I haven't asked, so it may even be there already; the monthly report of income shows the total of all contracts that came in during the month. We only collect a deposit from each. We would like to see the income report reflect just the deposit total of the month for our accounting purposes.

Honeybook is the best!

Comments: Before Honeybook, we were having issues with past due account and staying on top of them. With Honeybook-that issue has gone away. Our customers are thrilled with the reminders and the ability to pay online. Before Honeybook we either had to have couples come back to the venue to book or would mail out the contracts delaying bookings by up to 2 weeks. Now we can send out everything and have our bookings completed in just hours! Working with clients and assisting in the coordinating /planning of their weddings are soo much easier with Honeybook. All emails are stored with the project-from the lead contact to the final thank you! No more hunting through email accounts. Notes and information stored there. And the ability to work from home without hauling home a stack of files is unbeatable. This is the BEST program for a wedding venue!

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.

Love Honeybook!!

Comments: Customer service is prompt, attentive, and friendly. The program helps me manage all of my couples' needs efficiently and with ease from the first contact to follow up after their wedding ceremony.

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.

Like having a personal assistant!

Comments: The main benefit of HoneyBook that I love is that I'm able to give my clients an exceptional experience. The way contracts are shared, payments are presented makes it so easy for me to do business with my clients. I think the biggest perk I loved at first was the electronic signature. It's seamless and allows you to pull in more clients quicker. It also keeps my voice consistent with different clients. I can have automated responses ready to send. The price was worth it to me to get my sanity back!

Pros:

When I was drowning in emails in my inbox, HoneyBook was the place that everything was in one place. No emails were being looked over anymore, my contract and invoices were easily accessible (no more unprofessional word doc), easy to accept payments and HoneyBook made it so easy for me to do my taxes this year. I contemplated hiring someone to help take the load off the back work but HoneyBook does that for me with easy to use templates, reminders and automated email responses. I can't recommend HoneyBook enough!

Cons:

I have very few negative things to say about HoneyBook. The couple things I did note that may be helpful in the future, HoneyBook wants to know about. They offer surveys and take users suggestions to possibly implement in the future. All things were very minor and don't take away from the overall experience of using HoneyBook.