According to a 2019 report by Statista, there are more than fifty-seven million freelancers from the United States, with majority emanating from other countries such as Brazil, United Kingdom, Ukraine, India, Russia, and others.
However, freelancers experience several challenges that come in the cloak of proposal writing, invoice preparation, time management, and other customer relationship management aspects.
In recognition of these challenges, several customer relationship management (CRM) tools has emerged to help ardent freelancers streamline their freelancing business.
In the same vein, Hello Bonsai and Dubsabo are popular CRM tools used by thousands of freelancers across the globe. With any of these CRM tools, freelancers can streamline their workflow while spending more time on their work to be more productive.
For the productivity-inclined freelance, a significant challenge will be determining which of these tools are suitable for usage as a freelancer. To help make your choice easier, we will be comparing two of the most commonly used CRM tools, i.e. Hello Bonsai and Dubsado.
This unbiased comparative review will help you to determine what to look out for in a CRM tool. Also, it will help you in making the best choice for your freelancing business between Hello Bonsai and Dubsado.
What Is Hello Bonsai?
Hello Bonsai is an all-in-one freelancing CRM solution which was founded in 2016 by Matt Brown, with the intent of helping freelancers to automate their freelance business.
It comes with loads of features which enable proposals, contracts, time tracking, invoicing and payments, expenses and reporting, etc.
With thousands of users worldwide, Hello Bonsai has evolved into becoming the digital solution for connecting companies and freelancers together on its unified platform.
As an affordable CRM tool, Hello Bonsai comes with a friendly user interface that helps freelancers to work better.
With Hello Bonsai, you can do the following:
- Send quotes and proposals to your clients
- Send contracts and invoices
- Keep track of your billable hours
- Organize your projects and clients
- Manage your accounting records and more.
From proposals, projects, invoices & expenses to time-tracking, accounting, taxes & more, Bonsai seamlessly integrates all your business functions. Get Bonsai to be on top of your business.
Hello Bonsai Features
Let’s take a closer look at the key features of Hello Bonsai.
Hello Bonsai Freelance Proposal
Hello Bonsai comes with a proposal management feature that allows users to create professional-looking proposals within a matter of seconds.
It incorporates a proposal form, a drop-down menu for adding a client to the proposal form, and a broad array of proposal templates. This allows you to create customized proposal for your clients by adding texts or attaching media files.
After creating a customized proposal for your client, you can opt to send the proposal directly to your client via their email address or download the PDF version of the proposal and send it to them manually.
Hello Bonsai Contract Management
Hello Bonsai’s contract management feature helps you to manage each contract by keeping all the contract information on its unified platform. You can also add features like website, social media handles, contact information, etc. for each contract and client.
Under the contract management dashboard, you can select your currency of choice for payment, and also set your payment rate, whether hourly or fixed, depending on what works best for you.
From proposals, projects, invoices & expenses to time-tracking, accounting, taxes & more, Bonsai seamlessly integrates all your business functions. Get Bonsai to be on top of your business.
To set the timer for an hourly payment rate, all you need to do is click on the timer to select your contract or project type and set the hourly rate.
Besides that, Hello Bonsai comes with different types of contract templates for every kind of freelancer on its platform. Therefore, contract templates for designers, developers, writers, photographers, videographers, and consultants are available on the Hello Bonsai platform.
Hello Bonsai Time Tracking
Hello Bonsai’s time tracking feature allows you to record the time spent on a particular project.
Also, Hello Bonsai allows you to automate time tracking through its provision of applications for Operating Systems such as Mac, iOS, Android, not to mention a Google Chrome extension. Also, users can manually enter their time entries as well on its built-in timesheets for the specified client.
Furthermore, freelancers can allocate a time frame for each project, whether they are working alone or in collaboration with other freelancers.
Hello Bonsai Expense Tracking
Hello Bonsai comes with an expense tracking feature which allows freelancers to organize their income and expenses for bookkeeping purposes.
Users can create a new expense for their account from any connected device, whether mobile or desktop. Not to mention, Hello Bonsai also allows you to import bank transactions directly to its platform for transparent expense management.
Besides that, you can attach billable expenses for a particular project directly to its invoice for transparent payment. This allows you to track the expenses associated with the project execution, taxation, and other miscellaneous expenditures.
Hello Bonsai Invoicing & Payments
Hello Bonsai facilitates invoicing and payment features, which allows you to create invoices for clients and also receive payments for the invoices from your clients.
Also, you can add your brand logo to your invoice for a professional feel. Conversely, Hello Bonsai also allows you to create invoices for editing without assigning it to clients or contracts.
With Hello Bonsai, you can receive payments via PayPal, Stripe, Wire Transfer, or mailed cheques. Its seamless integration with PayPal and Stripe allow you to send automatic reminders, receive ACH or credit card payments, and monitor external payments on its dynamic platform without hassles.
Hello Bonsai Pricing
Limited Plan – Free
The Limited Plan is a free plan which is suitable for new freelancers. Even though this plan is limited, it comes with the following features:
- View existing projects
- View existing documents such as proposals, invoices and invoices
- Time & expense tracking on existing projects
- Client records and leads management
- Profile and contact form management
- Task management
Plus Plan – $16 per month when billed annually
- All the features of the Limited Plan
- Unlimited projects per year
- Customizable branding options
- Reporting tools
- Contract, task, and proposal templates
Note: The Plus Plan is available on a 14-day free trial before subscription.
Premium Plan – $24 per month when billed annually
- All the features of the Plus Plan, including;
- Subcontracting (client-mode)
- Multiple user access
- White-label branding
- Advanced collaboration tools
- Dedicated product support
Note: The Premium Plan is also available on a 14-day free trial before subscription.
From proposals, projects, invoices & expenses to time-tracking, accounting, taxes & more, Bonsai seamlessly integrates all your business functions. Get Bonsai to be on top of your business.
Hello Bonsai Pros
- Hello Bonsai stores all information about your projects on its central platform.
- The contract creation wizard makes creating contract a smooth and seamless process on Hello Bonsai.
- You can track all the documents associated with your contract form your dashboard.
- Hello Bonsai’s invoicing and payment processing features allows you to receive payments from your clients without having to go through the stress of using third-party payment processing platforms.
- Its time tracking feature makes it easy to keep track of the time spent on each project.
- Hello Bonsai has a vast proposal template you can utilize to create unique and customized proposals.
- Hello Bonsai offers you a 14-day free trial period when you subscribe to any of its paid plans.
Hello Bonsai Cons
- Hello Bonsai supports only English language. Hence, users who don’t understand the English language will find it challenging to use Hello Bonsai.
- Unlike some of its alternatives, Hello Bonsai accounting tool cannot perform complex accounting processes.
- Its time tracking feature does not show your client evidence of work done.
What Is Dubsado?
Dubsado is a business management tool founded by the couple – Jake and Becca Berg, which is geared towards freelancers and other entrepreneurs.
With Dubsado, users can streamline their business management workflows to improve their productivity and achieve their business goals.
Dubsado is quite a popular choice in the market due to some of its unique features, which makes it applicable for both freelancers and business owners alike.
Moreover, Dubsado allows you to build business relationships, schedule appointments, create project workflows, manage clients, track time spent, process payment, and more.
Dubsado Features
Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the Dubsado’s top features.
Dubsado Client Management
Dubsabo’s client management feature allows you to manage your clients and projects efficiently.
Also, it allows you to provide your client with a customizable portal for authorized access to all their emails, forms, and invoices.
With the client management dashboard, you can do the following:
- Create and manage projects, completed forms, and deadlines.
- Capture more leads by integrating the lead capture form on your website or landing page to get more leads.
- Set up automated business workflows.
- Keep track of time spent on each project using the time tracker tool.
- Track client emails from within the platform
- Organize and manage clients based on categories, onboarding stages, or preference.
- Create private task boards for you and your team or public task board for staying in touch with your clients.
Dubsado Contracts & Forms
Dubsado provides users with a vast collection of unique contract templates and forms to create unique documents for their business. Also, users can create custom contracts and forms templates based on their preferences.
Besides that, Dubsado facilitates white-labeled domain names and custom forms, which allows you to utilize your custom branding elements.
With the contracts and forms dashboard, users are provided with the following unique features:
- E-signature for creating legally binding contracts, agreements, and other documents.
- A diverse array of forms and contract templates.
- Proposals and quotes for creating a proposal related to the services you intend to offer your client.
- Questionnaires with checkboxes, customized text fields, and other essential fields.
- File uploading feature for sharing media files less than 5MB in size.
- Client access from any mobile device of their choice.
- Custom CSS styling for adding unique elements to your forms and templates.
Dubsado Automation
With Dubsabo’s automation feature, you can automate your entire business workflows without hassles. This allows you to focus more on completing projects without declining in productivity.
Here’s what to expect from the automation feature:
- Create a workflow pattern that sends automated emails, forms, and invoices to your client. Also, you can set up approval pauses within a workflow for tasks requiring your approval.
- Use the ‘Smart Fields’ feature to gather data from your clients for auto-filling fields and forms, thereby eliminating the need for manual form entry.
- Send automatic reminders to remind clients about uncompleted contract forms.
- Trigger workflow actions conditionally or at a pre-defined time.
- Automate responses by setting up auto-reply emails to automatically respond to clients’ emails.
- Keep your projects organized by tagging and changing project status upon completion.
- Create reminders to continually remind you and your team members about a particular pending project.
Dubsado Get Paid
Dubsabo’s Get Paid feature allows you to automate your payment processing activity in a streamlined manner.
With the Dubsabo’s Get Paid feature, you can do the following:
- Send invoices to your clients so as to receive quick payments through your connected PayPal, Square, or Stripe account.
- Set up recurring invoices or automated deductions for periodic services.
- Schedule payments with your clients by setting up customized payment plans with dates and auto-reminders for your clients. Also, you can send reminders to clients who have missed their payment deadlines.
- Set your language and currency with Dubsado’s international accessibility feature.
Dubsado Scheduling
Another Dubsado feature you should look out for is the scheduling feature. It allows you to schedule appointments with clients within the Dubsado platform or from your website.
Here’s what to expect from the Dubsado scheduling feature:
- Enable clients to schedule appointments with you based on your availability. Also, you can send automated reminders about the scheduled appointments to your clients.
- Accept booking fees from your clients before securing an appointment with you.
- Set daily limits for the number of your daily desired number of appointments.
- Sync your Dubsado calendar with Google Calendar, iCloud Calendar, Outlook, or Office 365 to prevent overbooking.
- Embed the scheduler on your website to facilitate appointment booking on your service-based website – outside the Dubsado platform.
Dubsado Accounting & Reporting
Dubsado incorporates accounting and reporting features, which provides you with an overview of your financial and lead generation information.
Here’s what to expect from the Dubsado accounting & reporting feature:
- Generate periodic financial history and breakdowns. Also, view your profit and loss records.
- Organize your income and expenditures into categories for visual oversight.
- Export financial statements for tax purposes.
- View a complete history of your transaction records, overdue invoices, as well as lead sources.
- Keep track of the amount of revenue generated from each client.
- Set a monthly or yearly financial goal.
Dubsado Pros
- Dubsado has advanced automation tools.
- It has an extensive library of proposal and contract templates.
- Dubsado’s accounting and reporting tools are more advanced. You can do more with Dubsado. You can calculate profit after tax, etc.
- Dubsado’s lead generation feature makes it stand out amongst other CRM tools.
- It supports multiple non-English languages such as Arabic, French, Hebrew, Hindi, Spanish, Russian, and others.
Dubsado Cons
- Dubsado’s user interface makes navigation complicated for new users.
- Aside from Dubsado’s lead generation feature, it does not have advanced marketing tools for marketing campaigns.
Dubsado Pricing
Dubsado comes with affordable pricing plans, which makes it suitable for all kinds of users, most especially freelancers or small businesses alike.
Here are the Dubsado pricing plans:
Free Trial – $0
This Plan provides you with a free trial of Dubsado. It is an excellent plan for you as a freelancer or if you’re just starting with Dubsado.
- All the basic features of Dubsado
- Up to three clients
- Free unlimited trial (no time limit)
- No credit card required
Monthly Plan – $35 per month when billed every month
- All the basic features of Dubsado
- Unlimited clients and projects
- Add first 3 additional users for free
Yearly Plan – $350 per year when billed annually
- All the basic features of Dubsado
- Unlimited clients and projects
- Add first 3 additional users for free
Dubsado Add-ons
Dubsado comes with add-ons that are adaptable to its premium plans.
Brands: $10 per brand per month
This add-on is suitable for entrepreneurs who run multiple businesses or brands. Billed at $10 per month for every additional brand, the business owner can toggle between various brands simultaneously to manage their business on the Dubsado platform.
Users
All the Dubsado premium plans facilitate free 3 team members. However, for additional team members, the pricing varies as outlined below:
- 4-10 users: $25 per month
- 11-20 users: $45 per month
- 21-30 users: $60 per month
- 31+ users: Contact Dubsado
Hello Bonsai Vs Dubsado – Which Is Better?
Hello Bonsai and Dubsado are both excellent tools that serve the same purpose of streamlining business management for both freelancers and entrepreneurs alike.
Nevertheless, let us compare these two tools using the following criteria:
Ease of use
Both Hello Bonsai and Dubsado incorporates a user-friendly interface. However, Hello Bonsai comes with an intuitive user interface when compared with Dubsado. As a new user, you can navigate around the Hello Bonsai’s platform without hassles.
On the other hand, Dubsado has a sophisticated dashboard with arrays of features that makes it difficult for new users to familiarize themselves with its platform without going through a series of walkthrough tutorials.
Therefore, Hello Bonsai is highly recommended for freelancers who prefer a simple CRM tool to complement their efforts.
Cost
Both Hello Bonsai and Dubsado come with a free version plan which includes basic features any freelancer can enjoy.
However, Hello Bonsai premium plans are more affordable when compared with Dubsado’s pricing plans.
For instance, Hello Bonsai’s lowest plan is billed at $16 per month when billed annually, while Dubsado’s most economical plan is billed at $35 per month when billed monthly.
Also, Dubsado has a wide array of plans and also allows an additional three users for free, which makes it flexible enough to meet the needs of team-based users. However, it boasts of more expensive plans when compared with Hello Bonsai’s inexpensive pricing plans.
Therefore, Hello Bonsai is suitable for users with small budgets for a CRM tool that can simplify their business management processes.
Support for multiple users
Hello Bonsai comes with two premium plans which do not support multiple users and brands. While any of Dubsado’s premium plans facilitate additional three users for free.
Furthermore, Dubsado has unique plans which supports more than three multiple users. If you are collaborating with more than three different freelancers, you can enjoy Dubsado’s Users Plan available as an add-on, which supports more than 30 multiple users.
Also, Dubsado’s Brand Plan for freelancers with multiple business brands offers freelancers the choice of managing multiple brands from a single Dubsado account. However, the Brand Plan comes at an additional cost of $10 per brand every month.
Lead generation
Dubsado allows users to embed lead capture form directly on their website to generate more leads. On the other hand, Hello Bonsai does not facilitate website embedding.
Therefore, freelancers with personal websites will find Dubsado exciting to use.
Integrations
Hello Bonsai seamlessly integrates with Google Calendar, Slack, PayPal, Zapier, and Stripe.
Conversely, Dubsado integrates with more software solutions such as Google Calendar, PayPal, Stripe, iCloud Calendar, Outlook, Office 365 Calendar, CloudSpot, and Zapier.
Nevertheless, Zapier facilitates integrations with thousands of web apps, which allows users to expand their preferred platform dynamically based on preference.
Applications
Hello Bonsai provides users with applications for Mac, iOS, Android, and Google Chrome extension. Not to mention, Hello Bonsai is mobile responsive and accessible on any internet-enabled device.
On the other hand, Dubsado does not have device-based applications; however, its web application is equally efficient on internet-enabled devices.
Customer support
Hello Bonsai have a strong support team that can be reached via email or live chat. Plus, they facilitate additional resources such as FAQ and blog for both new and existing customers.
Conversely, the Dubsado support team can be contacted through email, phone calls, and live chat. Also, they have a useful help center, blog, and webinars geared towards their customers.
Hello Bonsai Vs Dubsado – Our Choice
Both Hello Bonsai and Dubsado are great tools for your freelancing or small business management.
Dubsado is perfect for freelancers who collaborate or work in a team-based setting.
Nevertheless, for this comparison, our top pick is Hello Bonsai because they offer budget-friendly pricing plans and applications for Mac, Android, and iOS devices.
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