Event planners looking to leave HoneyBook have seven solid alternatives that cost less — in subscription fees, processing fees, or both. The best overall pick for most planners is Maroo, which offers a free starting tier and lets you pass all processing fees to clients so your business absorbs nothing. For deep workflow automation, Dubsado is strong; for dedicated event logistics, Aisle Planner and Planning Pod lead. Below is an honest breakdown of all seven options, including a full cost-of-ownership comparison.
HoneyBook raised prices by up to 89% in February 2025 — the Starter plan jumped from $19/month to $36/month (monthly billing), and the Essentials plan went from $39 to $59/month (HoneyBook pricing page, as of June 2026). On top of subscription costs, HoneyBook charges 2.9% + $0.25 per card transaction and 1.5% on ACH transfers — with no option to pass fees to clients on lower tiers.
For a planner billing $150,000/year with a typical 70/30 card-to-ACH split, those processing fees add up to roughly $3,100/year absorbed by the business — before the subscription. That combination is what's driving planners to look elsewhere.
Maroo is an all-in-one business-management and payments platform built specifically for US wedding and event professionals. It handles leads/CRM, quotes and proposals, contracts with e-signature, invoicing with payment links, payment processing, and contractor payouts with 1099-NEC e-filing (maroo.us).
The key differentiator: Maroo lets you pass all processing fees directly to clients on every plan. Your business absorbs $0 in card or ACH fees. B2B ACH transfers to vendors and subcontractors are free on all plans — something HoneyBook does not offer at all.
Maroo also offers a Book Now, Pay Later feature: clients can split payments into installments while the planner receives the full amount within approximately one business day.
(maroo.us/pricing, as of June 2026)
Best for: Planners of any size who want to stop paying processing fees out of pocket, who pay subcontractors regularly, and who want a genuinely free starting point.
Where HoneyBook is stronger: HoneyBook's template marketplace and AI-assisted automation features are more polished out of the box. If you rely heavily on pre-built HoneyBook workflow templates, expect a short setup period when migrating.
Dubsado is a highly customizable client management platform with deep workflow automation, canned emails, schedulers, and conditional form logic. It's the tool most often compared to HoneyBook for solo creative professionals (dubsado.com, as of June 2026).
(Dubsado Help Center – processing fees, as of June 2026)
Best for: Planners who want sophisticated workflow automation and can absorb or pass processing fees. Dubsado's ACH cap of $5 per transaction is genuinely strong for large single payments.
Where HoneyBook is stronger: HoneyBook's interface is significantly easier to set up. Dubsado has a notorious learning curve.
Aisle Planner is built specifically for wedding planners and coordinators. Beyond CRM and invoicing, it includes timeline builders, style guides, guest management, seating charts, and vendor portals — tools HoneyBook simply doesn't offer (aisleplanner.com/pricing, as of June 2026).
Annual billing saves approximately 10%.
Processing fees: 3.2% flat rate for credit/debit cards via WedPay (powered by Fullsteam); 1% for ACH (Aisle Planner Help Center, as of June 2026). No native fee-passing/surcharging is offered.
Best for: Full-service wedding planners who need dedicated event logistics (timelines, floorplans, style boards) baked into their business management tool.
Where HoneyBook is stronger: HoneyBook is cheaper at the entry level for planners managing fewer than 10 active events.
Planning Pod is a comprehensive event-management platform designed for planners managing multiple concurrent events, with task management, BEOs, attendee registration, and venue-calendar tools (planningpod.com, as of June 2026).
(Capterra – Planning Pod pricing, as of June 2026)
Processing fees: Accepts payments through integrations (PaySimple, Stripe, Square). No built-in fee-passing feature.
Best for: Corporate event managers and venue operators managing 25+ simultaneous events who need deep operational tools.
Where HoneyBook is stronger: HoneyBook is considerably cheaper and simpler for solopreneurs and small boutique planning firms.
Harpsen is a lightweight CRM built specifically for wedding planners, offering proposals, contracts, invoicing, payment plans, and AI-assisted template creation. It's one of the most affordable options in the category (Capterra – Harpsen, as of June 2026).
Processing fees: Harpsen does not publish processing fees prominently. Payment processing is built in but specific rates are not verified on the public pricing page as of June 2026 — confirm at harpsen.com before signing up.
Best for: New or part-time wedding planners who want basic CRM and invoicing at the lowest possible monthly cost.
Where HoneyBook is stronger: HoneyBook offers significantly more robust automations, integrations, and AI features.
Plutio is a general-purpose all-in-one platform (projects, proposals, contracts, invoicing, time tracking) that works for any service business, not just event planners. It does not have wedding-specific features but is competitively priced (plutio.com/pricing, as of June 2026).
Annual billing saves approximately 16–20%.
Processing fees: Plutio does not include native payment processing — it integrates with Stripe, PayPal, and others. Stripe's standard rates apply (2.9% + $0.30 for cards).
Best for: Event planners who also run other service lines (photography, styling, consulting) and want one platform for their whole practice.
Where HoneyBook is stronger: HoneyBook's wedding-industry focus, template library, and dedicated planner pipeline features are more purpose-built.
17hats is a clean, straightforward client management platform for solopreneurs with CRM, invoicing, contracts, scheduling, and bookkeeping basics (17hats.com, as of June 2026).
A 50% discount on first purchase is frequently available.
Processing fees: 17hats integrates with Stripe and Square; standard Stripe rates apply (2.9% + $0.30 for cards, 0.8% ACH capped at $5). No native fee-passing/surcharging.
Best for: Solo planners who want a simple, no-frills business management tool with predictable flat-rate pricing.
Where HoneyBook is stronger: HoneyBook's AI features and template marketplace are more developed; HoneyBook Essentials at $49/month is actually cheaper than 17hats monthly at $60/month.
Sources: honeybook.com/pricing; maroo.us/pricing; dubsado.com/pricing; aisleplanner.com/pricing; Capterra – Planning Pod; Capterra – Harpsen; plutio.com/pricing; 17hats.com. As of June 2026.
This table models a planner billing $150,000/year in client revenue, with 70% of payments collected by card and 30% by ACH. Subscription costs use annual billing rates. Processing fees are calculated as absorbed by the business (not passed to clients), except for Maroo where fee-passing is the default.
Notes: Processing fee estimates assume $150K in client payments, 70% card / 30% ACH, average transaction $3,500. Maroo's fee-passing shifts the cost to clients; your business cost is the subscription only. Confirm current rates on each platform before switching. Fee-passing is not permitted in Connecticut or Massachusetts (maroo.us/pricing).
If processing fees are your primary pain point, Maroo is worth testing before any other platform. The Starter plan is genuinely free — no trial countdown, no credit card required — for businesses processing under $10,000/month. For larger volumes, the Business plan at $50/month includes fee-passing, contractor payouts, and 1099-NEC filing. See current pricing and features at maroo.us.
Yes. Maroo charges zero processing fees to your business on ACH and debit card payments, and allows you to pass all card fees directly to clients via built-in surcharging on every plan. B2B ACH transfers to contractors and subcontractors are always free. This is the only platform in the event-planner category that offers this combination alongside CRM, contracts, and 1099-NEC filing. See details at maroo.us/pricing.
The most common alternatives are Dubsado (for workflow automation), Aisle Planner (for wedding-specific planning tools like timelines and style guides), and Maroo (for payment management and contractor payouts). The right choice depends on your priorities: if fee savings and contractor payments matter most, Maroo; if you need deep event logistics tools, Aisle Planner; if you want maximum workflow customization, Dubsado.
You can export your HoneyBook client list as a CSV and manually re-create templates in most platforms. HoneyBook does not offer an automated migration export to third-party tools. Most alternatives — including Maroo and Dubsado — provide onboarding support to help you recreate workflows. Maroo's Business plan includes a dedicated onboarding specialist and data transfer support (maroo.us).
At $80K/year in revenue with a typical card/ACH mix, your absorbed HoneyBook processing fees would run roughly $1,650/year on top of the subscription. Harpsen's annual plan at $100/year is the lowest subscription cost, though its processing fees are not publicly verified. Maroo's free Starter plan — at $0/month for up to $120K/year in processing volume — is the cheapest total-cost option if you pass fees to clients.
Yes, in the sense that Dubsado's ACH rate is 0.8% capped at $5 maximum per transaction (Dubsado Help Center). This cap is actually a significant advantage for large payments: a $10,000 payment via ACH on Dubsado costs just $5. HoneyBook's ACH rate is an uncapped 1.5% — the same $10,000 payment costs $150.
Maroo is the only platform in this category with a purpose-built contractor payments feature: free B2B ACH transfers, W-9 storage, and 1099-NEC e-filing. None of the other alternatives — HoneyBook, Dubsado, Aisle Planner, or Planning Pod — offer native contractor payouts or 1099 filing.
