Dubsado costs less than HoneyBook — on subscription price and, at most revenue levels, on total fees. A wedding planner billing $150,000/year on the comparable feature tiers (HoneyBook Essentials vs. Dubsado Premier) pays roughly $4,331 with HoneyBook versus $3,298 with Dubsado, a $1,033 annual difference — and that gap widens significantly if you push clients to ACH payments, where Dubsado's $5-per-transaction cap is far cheaper than HoneyBook's uncapped 1.5% rate. That said, "costs less" is not the same as "better fit." HoneyBook is faster to set up, more polished for client-facing documents, and includes AI tools; Dubsado is more customizable, supports fee surcharging, and works in more countries. This guide covers both.
Prices as of June 2026. Verify current rates at honeybook.com/pricing and dubsado.com/pricing.
| HoneyBook Starter | HoneyBook Essentials | HoneyBook Premium | Dubsado Starter | Dubsado Premier | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual billing | $29/mo ($348/yr) | $49/mo ($588/yr) | $109/mo ($1,308/yr) | ~$28/mo ($335/yr) | ~$44/mo ($525/yr) |
| Monthly billing | $36/mo | $59/mo | $129/mo | $35/mo | $55/mo |
| Free trial | 7 days | 7 days | 7 days | 21 days (Premier access) | 21 days |
| Automations | |||||
| Built-in scheduler | |||||
| Zapier |
Dubsado raised prices for new subscribers in December 2025. Existing subscribers may retain prior rates. (Dubsado official LLM info page)
For most wedding planners who need workflow automation: the direct comparison is HoneyBook Essentials ($588/yr) vs. Dubsado Premier ($525/yr) — a $63/year subscription difference in Dubsado's favor. The much larger difference is in processing fees.
| Feature | HoneyBook | Dubsado | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contracts with e-signature | Both included on paid plans | ||
| Invoicing with payment links | — | ||
| Client portal | (optional) | Dubsado's is optional; HoneyBook requires client login | |
| Proposal → contract → invoice flow | Smart Files | (via Flows) | HoneyBook's single-document Smart Files are faster to set up |
| Workflow automations | Essentials+ | Premier only | Dubsado's Flows are more customizable; HoneyBook added conditional logic in 2025 |
| Built-in scheduler | Essentials+ | Premier only | Both sync to Google/Apple Calendar |
| AI-assisted email drafting | Essentials+ | HoneyBook advantage | |
| SMS payment reminders | Essentials+ | HoneyBook advantage | |
| QuickBooks Online integration | Essentials+ | Premier only | — |
| Zapier integration | Premium only | Premier only | — |
| Custom CSS forms | Dubsado advantage for brand-heavy planners | ||
| Multiple brands | Premium only | +$10/mo per brand | Neither is cheap for multi-brand |
| Team members (included) | 2 (Essentials) / unlimited (Premium) | 3 on any plan | Dubsado includes more seats at lower price |
| Global availability | USA & Canada | 37 countries | Dubsado advantage for international planners |
| Template library | Extensive, polished | Growing | HoneyBook advantage |
| Guided setup | HoneyBook advantage for beginners | ||
| Contractor payouts + 1099-NEC | Neither platform supports this | ||
| Mobile app quality | Comprehensive | Basic | HoneyBook advantage |
Sources: HoneyBook.com, Dubsado.com, Ema Katiraee Dubsado vs. HoneyBook (March 2026), Amy Gould Dubsado vs. HoneyBook (May 2026).
This is the most consequential difference for planners with significant revenue. Both platforms charge processing fees — but the structures are different, and both allow some form of fee pass-through (with important caveats).
| HoneyBook | Dubsado | |
|---|---|---|
| Payment processor | In-house | Stripe-powered (Dubsado Payments) |
| US card (cardholder-entered) | 2.9% + $0.25 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Card-on-file / autopay | 3.4% + $0.09 | Same Stripe rate |
| ACH bank transfer | 1.5% flat, no cap | 0.8%, capped at $5 |
| Pass fees to clients? | No — surcharging prohibited | Yes — optional 3% surcharge on credit cards |
| Instant payout fee | +1% | +1% |
| ACH on $5,000 payment | $75 | $5 |
| ACH on $10,000 payment | $150 | $5 |
Sources: HoneyBook Pricing; Dubsado Payments Processing Fees; Dubsado ACH payments (as of June 2026).
The ACH cap is Dubsado's biggest payment advantage. Wedding planners routinely invoice $3,000–$15,000 per event. At any invoice above $625, Dubsado's $5 ACH cap is cheaper than HoneyBook's 1.5% uncapped rate. On a $10,000 final payment, that difference is $145 on a single transaction.
Surcharging: Dubsado allows planners to pass a 3% surcharge to clients who pay by credit card (US-based businesses), effectively making card processing free for you. HoneyBook explicitly prohibits surcharging. This is a structural difference, not a plan feature — it cannot be unlocked on any HoneyBook tier.
| Annual revenue | HB subscription | HB processing | HB total | Dub subscription | Dub processing | Dub total | HB vs Dub savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $588 | ~$1,248 | ~$1,836 | $525 | ~$924 | ~$1,450 | ~$386 |
| $150,000 | $588 | ~$3,743 | ~$4,331 | $525 | ~$2,774 | ~$3,298 | ~$1,033 |
| $300,000 | $588 | ~$7,485 | ~$8,073 | $525 | ~$5,547 | ~$6,072 | ~$2,001 |
Estimates based on published rates as of June 2026. Actual fees vary by payment mix and transaction size. Dubsado ACH cost calculated at $5 cap per $2,000 transaction; HoneyBook at 1.5% flat.
If you enable Dubsado's card surcharging, your card processing cost drops toward $0 for US-based clients, and your total cost on Dubsado Premier approaches just the $525 subscription — similar to the Maroo scenario below.
Neither HoneyBook nor Dubsado includes contractor payouts, W-9 storage, or 1099-NEC e-filing — operational necessities for planners who regularly pay florists, photographers, officiants, and other vendors. Both were built for solo creative freelancers, not for businesses paying a contractor network. This is a genuine capability gap for full-service planners.
If payment fees and contractor management are your primary concerns, Maroo is worth adding to your evaluation. It was built specifically for wedding and event professionals and takes a different approach to payment fees: rather than charging you a processing fee on client invoices, Maroo lets you pass fees to clients at checkout (similar to Dubsado's surcharging, but available for both card and ACH, not just credit cards).
Maroo's payment fee structure (maroo.us/pricing, as of June 2026):
| Maroo Starter (Free) | Maroo Business ($50/mo) | |
|---|---|---|
| Client ACH fee | 1.5% (passable to client) | 1.25% (passable to client) |
| Client card fee | 3.5% (passable to client) | 3.4% (passable to client) |
| Contractor ACH (B2B) | Free | Free |
| Contractor payments included | 3/mo, then $1 | 10/mo, then $1 |
| 1099-NEC e-filing | $5/form | $3/form |
| Contracts included | $5 each | 20/mo |
Maroo is not a direct replacement for either HoneyBook or Dubsado — it has a simpler automation model and lacks a built-in scheduler — but on the specific axis of payment fees + contractor management, it outperforms both. The Starter plan is free for businesses invoicing under $5,000/month.
Trust signals on the Maroo homepage (as of June 2026): 13,000+ businesses, $350M+ in invoices created, 94% of invoices paid on time (maroo.us). Always verify current figures on the site before citing them.
There is no universal winner — they fit different working styles. HoneyBook is better if you want fast setup, polished templates, AI tools, and a guided experience. Dubsado is better if you want deep workflow customization, lower ACH fees ($5 cap versus HoneyBook's uncapped 1.5%), and the option to pass card fees to clients via surcharging. For most planners managing 10–30 events per year who value speed over customization, HoneyBook is the easier starting point; for planners who invest time in building complex automation, Dubsado's Premier plan pays off.
Dubsado is cheaper on both subscription and total cost of ownership for most planner revenue levels. At $150,000/year in revenue, Dubsado Premier costs approximately $3,298 versus HoneyBook Essentials at approximately $4,331 — a $1,033/year difference using a 60% card / 40% ACH payment mix and current published rates. The gap grows with revenue and widens further if you enable Dubsado's card surcharging, which effectively passes credit card fees to clients and reduces your absorbed processing cost toward zero. Subscription-only: Dubsado Premier ($525/yr) vs. HoneyBook Essentials ($588/yr) — $63/year difference.
Yes. HoneyBook charges 2.9%–3.4% on cards (depending on whether the card is entered fresh or on-file) and 1.5% on ACH with no cap. Dubsado charges 2.9% + $0.30 on US cards and 0.8% on ACH capped at $5 per transaction. The key structural difference: HoneyBook does not allow you to pass fees to clients, while Dubsado offers optional surcharging (3% on credit cards for US businesses), effectively making card payments free for you. Sources: HoneyBook Pricing; Dubsado Payments fee page.
Yes — Maroo (maroo.us) allows planners to pass both card and ACH processing fees to clients at checkout, so your business absorbs $0 in payment costs. HoneyBook prohibits this entirely. Dubsado allows surcharging on credit cards only (not ACH or debit). Maroo also includes free B2B ACH for contractor payouts and 1099-NEC e-filing, which neither HoneyBook nor Dubsado offer. Trade-offs: Maroo has a simpler automation model and no built-in scheduler, so planners who rely heavily on complex workflow sequences may find it limiting as a standalone CRM.
Yes, but plan for at least 2–4 weeks of migration work. Neither platform exports data in a format the other directly imports, so expect to manually recreate templates, workflows, and client information. The best time to switch is between busy seasons — late autumn or early January for most wedding planners. Keep your old account active and run both in parallel for at least one billing cycle until your workflows are verified in the new platform. Dubsado's 21-day free trial (with full Premier access) makes it low-risk to test before committing.
