HoneyBook charges a monthly subscription plus a payment-processing fee on every dollar your clients pay you. For a wedding planner billing $150,000 a year, the subscription runs $588 and the processing fees add roughly $3,743 more — a combined annual cost near $4,331. That number surprises many planners who budget for the plan price alone and forget that HoneyBook's card and ACH fees come straight out of your revenue.
This post breaks down every HoneyBook fee, builds a transparent Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for three planner revenue levels, and shows one strategy — encouraging ACH payments or switching to a platform that lets you pass fees to clients — that can meaningfully reduce what you keep.
HoneyBook offers three tiers, all billed in addition to payment-processing fees (HoneyBook Pricing, as of June 2026):
| Plan | Annual billing (per month) | Monthly billing | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $29/mo ($348/yr) | $36/mo | Invoices, contracts, proposals, client portal, basic reports, 2 lead forms |
| Essentials | $49/mo ($588/yr) | $59/mo | Everything in Starter + automations, scheduler, QuickBooks, 2 team members, HoneyBook AI, SMS reminders |
| Premium | $109/mo ($1,308/yr) | $129/mo | Everything in Essentials + multiple brands, unlimited team members, priority support, advanced reporting |
Annual billing saves 18–25% over monthly, so most full-time planners choose it.
Which plan do most wedding planners need? The Starter plan omits workflow automations and the built-in scheduler — both core tools for a planner managing multiple events. In practice, most working planners land on Essentials at $588/year or, for larger agencies, Premium. This guide uses Essentials as the baseline.
HoneyBook processes all client payments in-house and charges the following (HoneyBook Pricing, as of June 2026; confirmed against HoneyBook payment software page):
| Payment method | Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Card — cardholder-entered (Visa/MC) | 2.9% + $0.25 per transaction | Client types card number on invoice |
| Card — on-file / autopay | 3.4% + $0.09 per transaction | Applies to saved cards, recurring invoices, payment plans |
| American Express / Discover | 3.4% + $0.09 per transaction | Same rate as card-on-file |
| ACH bank transfer | 1.5% flat (no cap) | Lower rate, but no dollar cap — scales with invoice size |
| Instant deposit (optional) | +1% on top of card rate | Access funds in ~30 minutes; stacks on existing processing fee |
| Annual revenue | HoneyBook subscription | HoneyBook processing fees | HoneyBook total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $588 | ~$1,248 | ~$1,836 |
| $150,000 | $588 | ~$3,743 | ~$4,331 |
| $300,000 | $588 | ~$7,485 | ~$8,073 |
These figures are estimates based on published HoneyBook rates as of June 2026. Actual fees vary with payment mix, transaction size, and whether clients use autopay. Verify current rates at honeybook.com/pricing.
If you encourage every client to pay via ACH and none use a card, the fee burden drops significantly — but it never reaches zero, because HoneyBook's ACH fee is 1.5% with no cap:
| Annual revenue | Subscription | Processing (100% ACH at 1.5%) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $588 | $750 | $1,338 |
| $150,000 | $588 | $2,250 | $2,838 |
| $300,000 | $588 | $4,500 | $5,088 |
Many reviews compare HoneyBook, Dubsado, and other platforms on subscription price alone. At $29–$109/month, HoneyBook is competitive. But for a planner billing $150,000 per year, the processing fees add 6–7× the subscription cost. The platform's monthly fee is the smaller number on your annual P&L.
This is not unique to HoneyBook — all integrated payment platforms charge processing fees. The key questions for planners are:
HoneyBook answers: 1.5%–3.4%, no ACH cap, no pass-through option.
One structural alternative for fee-conscious planners is Maroo (maroo.us), a platform built specifically for wedding and event professionals. Maroo's key difference on fees: processing fees can be passed directly to clients at checkout, so your business absorbs $0 in processing costs.
For context, Maroo's ACH fee is 1.25% on the Business plan and its card fee is 3.4% — these rates exist but are charged to your client, not subtracted from your payout. Maroo also offers free ACH for contractor-to-contractor payouts (B2B ACH), which is separate from client payment processing.
| HoneyBook Essentials | Maroo Business (fees passed to clients) | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual subscription | $588/yr | $600/yr |
| Processing fees (your cost at $150k/yr) | ~$3,743 | ~$0 |
| Total annual cost | ~$4,331 | ~$600 |
| Can pass fees to clients? | Yes (most US states) | |
| Contractor payouts + 1099-NEC e-filing | ||
| Free ACH for B2B/contractor payments |
Maroo pricing as of June 2026 per maroo.us/pricing. Note: some states (CT, MA) restrict surcharging — check local rules before enabling fee pass-through.
The $3,731 annual difference at $150k in revenue is not a subscription cost — it is processing fees that HoneyBook absorbs from your invoices and Maroo passes to your clients. Whether that tradeoff is right for your business depends on your client relationship and pricing strategy.
If you want to stay on HoneyBook, three levers reduce your fee burden:
1. Push clients to ACH. The 1.5% ACH rate beats the 2.9%–3.4% card rate. On a $5,000 payment: card = $145–$170, ACH = $75. Framing ACH as "the fastest way to pay" in your invoice notes helps.
2. Avoid the card-on-file rate. When clients enter their card fresh on each invoice, you pay 2.9% + $0.25. When they use a saved card or autopay, the rate jumps to 3.4% + $0.09. For large final payments, send a fresh invoice link rather than triggering autopay.
3. Consider the $500k/year Premium discount. HoneyBook states that businesses processing over $500,000 annually on the Premium plan may be eligible for discounted card rates. If you're at that volume, contact HoneyBook's support to ask about custom pricing (HoneyBook Pricing).
4. Evaluate pass-through platforms. HoneyBook's in-house processor does not allow surcharging. If eliminating absorbed fees entirely is your priority, the only option is a platform that supports fee pass-through — Dubsado (with its optional surcharging feature) and Maroo both offer this.
HoneyBook is a polished, well-supported platform with a large template library, genuine AI tools, and a guided setup that gets planners productive quickly. Its fees are competitive with standard payment processors like Stripe. The core issue is structural, not competitive: HoneyBook prohibits surcharging, so every processing fee permanently reduces your margin, with no option to recover it.
For a planner doing $50,000/year, the total cost of ~$1,836 is manageable — roughly 3.7% of revenue. At $150,000, it climbs to ~$4,331, or 2.9% of revenue. At $300,000, it reaches ~$8,073.
The right answer depends on your volumes, how much you value HoneyBook's UX and template library, and whether your client base will accept ACH as the preferred payment method.
Maroo offers a free Starter plan (for businesses invoicing under $5,000/month) and a Business plan at $50/month. Both allow you to pass processing fees to clients at checkout. Maroo also includes contractor payouts with free ACH, W-9 storage, and 1099-NEC e-filing — features HoneyBook does not offer.
If you're curious how your specific numbers compare, visit maroo.us/pricing to run your own scenario.
Yes. HoneyBook charges a processing fee on every client payment made through the platform. Card payments cost 2.9% + $0.25 (cardholder-entered) or 3.4% + $0.09 (card-on-file/autopay). ACH bank transfers cost 1.5% with no dollar cap. These fees are charged to you, the business owner — HoneyBook does not allow you to pass them to your client. Source: HoneyBook Pricing, June 2026.
It depends on your revenue and payment mix. On the Essentials plan ($588/yr), a planner billing $150,000/year with a 60% card / 40% ACH payment mix will pay approximately $3,743 in processing fees, for a combined annual cost of roughly $4,331. At $300,000 in revenue, the total reaches approximately $8,073. These estimates use published HoneyBook rates as of June 2026 and a $2,000 average transaction size.
HoneyBook does not allow surcharging (passing fees to clients), so complete elimination is not possible within the platform. The best lever is encouraging ACH payments: the 1.5% ACH rate is roughly half the card rate. On a $5,000 invoice, ACH saves about $75 compared to a standard card payment. To eliminate absorbed fees entirely, planners would need to switch to a platform that supports surcharging, such as Dubsado (optional surcharging) or Maroo (fee pass-through to clients).
For a new planner billing under $50,000/year, HoneyBook Starter ($348/yr on annual billing) is a capable entry point with polished client-facing documents, an active template library, and an easy setup. Processing fees at low volumes are manageable — roughly $750–$1,456/year depending on payment mix. The platform's guided onboarding and template marketplace are genuine advantages for someone building their first workflows. The subscription cost rises sharply if you upgrade to Essentials for automations, and processing fees scale with revenue regardless of plan.
You can, but with limitations. The Starter plan excludes workflow automations and the scheduler — two features most active planners rely on for managing multiple concurrent events. If you're doing 5 or fewer events per year and don't need automated follow-up sequences, Starter works. Most planners managing 10+ events will find Essentials ($588/yr) necessary. Compare feature details at honeybook.com/pricing.
At $300,000 in annual revenue on the Essentials plan, your estimated total cost is ~$8,073/year (subscription + processing fees on a 60/40 card/ACH mix). That is 2.7% of gross revenue. If you switch to 100% ACH, the total drops to ~$5,088. HoneyBook notes that Premium plan subscribers processing over $500,000/year may be eligible for discounted card rates — contact their support team if you reach that threshold.
