Maroo and Dubsado both combine CRM, contracts, invoicing, and payment collection for service businesses. Maroo focuses on wedding and event financial workflows, including contractor administration. Dubsado serves a broader creative-business audience and emphasizes forms, client portals, scheduling, and automated workflows.
The best choice depends on whether your hardest problem is collecting and routing event-business money or automating a detailed client journey.
This comparison uses official sources checked August 21, 2026. Prices, payment fees, plan limits, and feature availability can change, so verify the linked pages and checkout before subscribing.
Maroo connects a free Starter CRM and associated core features with quotes, contracts, invoicing, payments, contractor payouts, W-9 requests, and published 1099 workflows for wedding and event businesses.
Dubsado is a client-management platform for creative and service businesses. Its current pricing page lists unlimited projects and clients, invoices, payment plans, form and email templates, client portals, calendar connection, and mobile access on both paid plans; Premier adds scheduling, automated workflows, public proposals, bookkeeping integration, and Zapier.
Both products are credible. Compare the exact client flow, payment configuration, contractor needs, automation depth, and total cost for your business.
Maroo Starter is free for businesses invoicing under $5,000 per month within published limits; its CRM and associated core features do not require a subscription. Business is $50 per month, or $600 per year. Dubsado currently lists Starter at $335 per year and Premier at $525 per year, plus a 21-day full-Premier trial. Review the current Maroo limits and Dubsado checkout rather than comparing subscription price alone.
Payment cost depends on method, transaction count, who absorbs eligible fees, and the rules that apply to the payment. Both Maroo and Dubsado can shift some eligible card costs to clients, but the supported methods and mechanics are not identical.
Maroo publishes plan-specific card and client ACH rates on its payment page. If a Business-plan user passes every eligible processing fee and absorbs no other transaction fee, its business-side cost is only the $50 monthly subscription, or $600 per year; clients pay the shifted eligible fees. Passing shifts the fee and does not eliminate it.
Eligibility, disclosure, card-network rules, processor settings, and applicable law still matter. The available fee-pass treatment can differ by payment method and client card type.
Dubsado's current U.S. fee schedule lists 2.9% + $0.30 for U.S. cards, 4.4% + $0.30 for international cards, and 0.8% for ACH capped at $5 per transaction. It also lists failed-ACH, dispute, and Instant Payout fees.
For a business that absorbs bank-payment costs, Dubsado's 0.8% ACH rate capped at $5 per transaction can be inexpensive on large invoices. Dubsado also offers credit-card surcharging in supported regions; its guide says the U.S. surcharge is 3% and cannot apply to debit cards, ACH, Affirm, or Klarna.
For a $5,000 package paid in two equal U.S.-card transactions, an absorbing business would pay about $145.60 at 2.9% + $0.30. If an eligible credit-card surcharge is enabled, the client may offset that cost subject to the documented limits. The outcome therefore depends on payment type and configuration, not a platform-wide assumption.
For a $5,000 package paid in two transactions, before allocating either platform's subscription cost:
The table shows three different settings, not an automatic winner. Dubsado's ACH cost is low when the business absorbs it; Maroo's business-side processing cost can be zero only when every eligible fee is passed and the business absorbs no other transaction fee.
Dubsado's current paid plans combine client management with several workflow tools that Maroo does not claim to match feature for feature.
1. Forms and questionnaires. Dubsado offers a mature form builder, lead capture, templates, and portal-based intake. Maroo now has reusable Questionnaires with sharing, reminders, status tracking, and responses, but Dubsado can fit teams that rely on a deeper form-and-portal system.
2. Automated workflows. Dubsado Premier includes flows that can trigger emails, tasks, forms, contracts, invoices, and other steps. Its recurring-invoice guide also distinguishes a newly generated invoice on a schedule from a payment plan that splits one invoice into installments.
3. Absorbed ACH cost. The published 0.8% fee capped at $5 per transaction can be attractive for large bank payments when the business chooses to absorb fees.
4. International reach. Dubsado Payments documents merchants in many countries and country-specific card rates. A business serving international clients should confirm its supported merchant country, currency, and payout configuration.
5. Client financing. Dubsado documents Affirm and Klarna options in eligible configurations. Availability and client terms should be checked in the current account.
6. Portals, scheduling, and mobile access. Dubsado provides a dedicated portal and mobile app on both plans, while Premier adds advanced scheduling.
1. Qualified fee passing across the published client-payment workflow. When every eligible fee is passed and no other transaction fee is absorbed, a Business user pays the $600 annual subscription while clients pay the shifted eligible fees.
2. Event-business focus. Maroo's client and financial workflow is designed around wedding and event businesses, including milestone-style collections and contractor records.
3. Free Starter CRM and associated core features. A business invoicing under $5,000 per month can start without a subscription within published limits. Maroo also supports recurring invoices, which are distinct from installments and Autopay.
4. Contractor administration. Maroo connects B2B ACH contractor payouts within plan limits with individual and bulk W-9 requests and published 1099 preparation, e-filing, and mailing terms.
5. B2B ACH. Maroo publishes free business-to-business ACH within plan limits, which can help businesses paying venues, contractors, and other companies.
6. Integrations. Maroo publishes Zapier and Make integrations plus a QuickBooks Online integration. Check the required plan and exact sync behavior.
7. Focused setup. A team that primarily needs CRM, contracts, invoices, payments, and contractor records may prefer a narrower operating surface. A team that needs deep forms and automation may prefer Dubsado.
The figures below are examples, not quotes. They use these assumptions:
The ACH-only Dubsado column assumes 20, 50, and 100 payments, each large enough to reach the $5 cap. That produces $100, $250, and $500 in ACH fees plus the $525 subscription. Credit-card surcharging can create another Dubsado scenario, but debit, ACH, financing methods, regional limits, and actual card mix must be modeled separately.
Both platforms can fit a wedding or event business. The better choice depends on the operating workflow, not a universal ranking.
Maroo may fit businesses that prioritize free Starter CRM/core tools, event-based collections, contractor administration, and qualified fee passing. Dubsado may fit businesses that prioritize forms, portals, scheduling, and automated client journeys.
For payments, compare the actual ACH/card/debit mix, transaction count, surcharge eligibility, and who absorbs each fee. Dubsado's capped ACH can be economical; Maroo Business can cost the business only $600 per year when every eligible processing fee is passed and no other transaction fee is absorbed.
Using both is possible, but it creates two systems. Define which product owns clients, forms, contracts, invoices, payment status, and contractor records before connecting tools.
Test one real lead-to-payment workflow in each product, then calculate the total annual cost from the exact plan and payment settings.
Maroo Starter's CRM and associated core features are free for businesses invoicing under $5,000 per month within published limits. Processing, contracts, tax documents, and other per-use charges can still apply.
The optional Business plan is $50 per month, or $600 per year, and raises limits while lowering published client-processing rates.
Review the current plan terms and model your payment mix before changing systems.
Does Maroo offer the same workflow automation as Dubsado? No. Maroo connects CRM, quotes, contracts, invoices, payments, reminders, and contractor records, but Dubsado Premier provides deeper multi-step flows. Choose based on the actions and triggers the business actually needs.
Can Maroo users pass processing fees to clients? Maroo supports passing eligible fees when properly configured. Passing shifts the fee to the client and does not eliminate it. Eligibility, disclosure, card-network rules, processor settings, payment method, and applicable law still matter.
Is Dubsado's ACH rate lower? Dubsado currently publishes 0.8% capped at $5 per U.S. ACH transaction. Maroo publishes client ACH at 1.5% on Starter, 1.25% on Business, and 1% on Pro, while supporting qualified fee passing. Compare the business-side outcome for the actual configuration.
Does Maroo handle contractor payments and tax-document workflows? Maroo publishes B2B ACH contractor payouts within plan limits, W-9 requests, and 1099 preparation, e-filing, and mailing options. Businesses should verify worker classification and current filing requirements for their facts.
Pricing, features, and fees were checked against official sources on August 21, 2026. Verify the current Maroo and Dubsado pages before deciding.
