Dubsado

Pros

My boutique creative agency was looking for a way to send proposals to both our clients and teammates through a platform that also had invoicing. The way Dubsado merges the proposal, contract, and invoice is really seamless. We also liked that our clients and teammates had a login to their portal where they could see all their contracts and correspondence. The latter feature was better than Honeybook because they didn't need to login every time they wanted to see an email. They could see emails in their email.

Cons

Dubsado has a severe learning curve. It has such an active facebook group because it's so hard to set up Dubsado and there are people who literally specialize in Dubsado setup as part of their career. I think there has to be a more simple way to build a platform like this. I never had the time to make my contracts and portals look all specialized because Dubsado didn't make it easy to customize.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Dubsado

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

Workflows are very easy to create and manage. Proposals can populate contracts and invoice with precise detail. Smart fields and canned emails are easy to use.

Cons

I wish Dubsado would incorporate if/then options into their workflow, so I don't have to add so many worst case scenario steps into client workflows. I also wish that they would have folders inside of workflows and even templates. If one aspect of your clients business includes 10+ workflows and 30+ canned emails, it gets confusing without folders to start working on another revenue stream. I use prefixes to separate and organize, but folders would be a game changer.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

It’s great for making client onboarding super simple. The first time I sent over a proposal, my client paid within 5 minutes because it was so easy!

Cons

I really wish the project management aspect was stronger. The client portal isn’t that great so I have to use a different project management tool. But it integrates really well with most things so it’s not too much of a problem.

Pros

I like the contract management and forms. It helps unify my brand and keep all my legal items in one location. Also streamlines the contract signing process and editing the various contracts. I can also track payments on contracts there.

Cons

Overall it just feels a bit clunky and perhaps too expensive and heavy for my business.... but now I honestly feel stuck in the product since I spent so much time creating documents and the various scheduling links and forms are all through my dubsado account. If were to switch to another provider, I would have to do a major overhaul across all my other marketing tools.

Pros

What I love most about Dubsado is the able to create custom fields, contracts, proposals and more. This is super helpful when dealing with various project types. The automated workflows that can be created are also very amazing. You honestly can set it and forget about it.

Cons

Some features that could use some improvement in Dubsado is the email functionality and some of the client information. You are able to have your emails linked to Dubsado, however it doesn't really seem as helpful as I originally perceived it to be. Sometimes there is a lag between my actual email inbox versus the Dubsado inbox. The client information could be cleaned up, for example, I would love if it could recognize that I have already entered the same clients and maybe update information as needed.

Pros

I love the ability to customize everything sent out to clients allowing me to stay on brand. I also love that my clients find it easy to schedule and pay invoices. Very intuitive on the client side.

Cons

Dubsado is a major endeavor for setup. 2+ years later, I still have features I'm not using to the best of their ability.

Pros

It has a level of customizability that seems appealing at first.

I also allows for customized proposals and contracts that you can send to families, thus removing the need for a software like DocuSign.

The idea of workflows seems interesting as well. Thus with the cost, it can ostensibly replace 2-3 different programs (contracts, proposals, invoicing, simple CRM)

Cons

The usability is severely limited, and a lot of the features don't work as intended. We pour hours into this software every week trouble-shooting.

Examples:
-The email pixel doesn't always update properly.
-Drag and Drop features on proposal builders.
-The website forces us to log-in every time we want to access the website.
-Invoicing features are not intuitive and invoices can't be adjusted by date.
-Workflows require a multiple drafts and revisions to even make sure it is working.

Customer support is responsive, but most of the time the answer is "we're working on it!"

They offer classes on their software, but does it make sense to offer a 2 week long course. But most of the course is designed to say "this is how to work around this issue that we know you need to address".

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Dubsado

Switched From

Pros

Having spent 1yr, money and VA time and money, finally it is running how I want it to run. Still not paying annually, as still teething issues.
It does the automations that I need. Customer support is varied and slow as I'm the UK and they are in the USA, so time difference is a big issue.

Cons

They left me for 1 week without sorting out my email connectivity, an issue which was caused by their servers being updated, not any changes my end. My IT dept had to step in and now that it has finally been restored, (a 10min job not 1 week of hassle) they have refused to refund me 1 months subsubsription for the hassle. Extremely frustrating and embarrassing for me and my clients.

Pros

I think it has good intuitive pieces to help funnel and move leads through a CRM

Cons

I think it’s very clunky, I struggle understanding what sections or categories to find things or how to properly set them up it’s very overwhelming and I am tech savvy I just find this difficult and not user friendly

Pros

I like that it over a trial up to 3 clients to see if i liked the product. I also like that their support team helps upload templates.

Cons

Sometimes things are not intuitive. There are several limitations on connecting calendars.

Pros

The integrated forms, the invoicing feature, and the canned emails.

Cons

It can take a long time to get help with a problem, which can cause issues when trying to run a business. They need quicker tech support. You can only send email and wait hours for a reply. They rarely ever answer chat.

Pros

I love how Dubsado has lots of video training and offers tons of templates and support. I love how integrated it can be with my payment system, website, and email.

Cons

The only real complaint and the struggle I have with setting up a variety of invoice types in Dubsado. Some of the problems are definitely user error, but more video training with different scenarios would be wonderful. Since Dusbado caters to creatives, and many creatives are visual, the training videos are a lifesaver for this small business entrepreneur.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

Their interface is really easy to use. I switched from honeybook. Live chat customer service.

Cons

I issued invoice to my client and Dubsado tried to charge 100 times more than what I issued invoice for. I contacted to Stripe but they told me to contact to Dubsado and Dubsado never apologised to me or explained well. I almost lost trust from my client and I’m considering of switching to a different tool.

Pros

The ability to send a proposal, contract and invoice in one make closing sales seamless.

Cons

Lack of multi team features - multiple calendars and emails.

Pros

Beautiful proposal options and great options as well to customise proposals, contracts and invoices. Great integrations and calendar. Client portal suits our needs just fine.

Cons

Learning curve was a bit steep however the training tutorials are amazing!

Pros

- Proposal, Contract, Invoice feature- Automation capabilities

Cons

- Scheduler (can't mass update availability / once scheduler added to project, have to manually update availability - Customer service used to be amazing, not they blame the clients when everyone is experiencing the same pain point- They don't listen to features wanted but steady bring things no one asked for but benefit them- No multi-user calendar feature

Pros

The robust features allow you to create workflows and experiences that provide the touchpoints that align with your brand and service expectations.

Cons

I wish you could copy lead capture content/formatting to proposals.

Pros

Organization, organization, organization!I used to love to have everything written on a journal because I am a very visual person, but since I have Dubsado I don't rely on paper anymore because all I need to add to each job or client I can do it there and keep everything organized in separated areas.I can see all my current jobs in the Dashboard with deadlines, payment status and some little details about the specific job to keep a quick track of everything that needs to be done. One more thing I love about Dubsado is automation. Being able to automate processes like gathering client's information, sending some emails, invoicing and payments, making proposals from packages of products, public proposals... it's all about saving me time and extra unnecessary work on a daily basis.

Cons

There are some things I would fix, especially from the form builder. I don't know why it doesn't have an "undo" option, which is very needed when designing something. Also, the fact that it is a platform that you run through a browser and not an app, bothers me a little. I would love it to be an app with important notifications instead of relying on emails to know when it requests my attention.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

I like everything about Dubsado--full stop. If you're a professional services provider and in the business of delivery digital services, consulting services, etc. Dubsado is 100% for you and 100% worth the cost. (Which is quite affordable, all things considered.) I genuinely don't know how I manage the disconnected workflows of invoicing, contracts, payment reminders, scheduling, etc. before Dubsado. Also--onboarding! Our onboarding process now takes less than 5 minutes for a new project.

Cons

Literally nothing. Do yourself a favour and just buy it. If you need support setting up the forms (it's super user friendly, but some users may need support onboarding or be time poor) reach out to their team and they can upload your first form for you. Done!

Pros

I love the idea, concept and promise behind Dubsado, and I really, really wanted to love it. For businesses outside of australia who don't need to deal with GST, it's probably fine to use and will serve the purpose you require. It has lots of powerful features, and is great to help automate and systemise your small business, especially for service based businesses such as photographers, designers, and bridal industry organisations.

Cons

It didn't handle GST very well for me as an Australian business, and although it integrates with Xero, the data was always mixed up between the two, despite lots of troubleshooting, and I found that the support team were very quick to say the issue was not their end, although it seems that it was due to the way that the system was set to calculate the tax. They also had a lot of items on their roadmap that seem to be in the pipeline for years on end with no implementation in sight.

Pros

What initially drew me to Dubsado was the ability to create custom and visually appealing proposals. However, since starting to use it, there are so many other things that have proven invaluable to me. To sum it all up, what I love most about Dubsado is that my entire client lifecycle can live in this one place. Consolidating all my client contracts, communications, invoicing, etc in one place means that nothing slips through the cracks and I'm able to create an amazing customer experience.

Cons

Some of the features still have some kinks. I attempted to use Workflows a while back and found them confusing and honestly, a bit scary (e.g. automated emails potentially going out at the wrong times) to use. I haven't tried using them for quite a while, and I imagine some of those kinks have been worked out. However, there's definitely room for improvement when it comes to things like intuitiveness of setting up things like workflows, payment plans, and automated invoicing.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Dubsado

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

I love the neat and professionally done templates. The CRM that it is and how it's built to support a growing business since it keeps on improving too.

Cons

The interface can be improved for sure so once new users are inside it won't overwhelm them.

Pros

I love that I can send one link to a client and it contains the proposal, contract, and invoice altogether. This makes it much easier and quicker for the client to sign on. Rather than sending the proposal, having the client agree, then send the contract, then the invoice, etc. It can be a lot of information that gets lost, or more difficult to get the client to follow up. With everything all in one, it is simple and quick!

Cons

Dubsado connects with Quickbooks and other accounting software. It also has some financial management built-in. However, the built-in account is not good. It is decent to see some basic reports about taxes or income for certain categories, but I wouldn't track expenses with it.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

This product helps us to stay very organized as we gain new leads from our website. We're able to automatically send information related to the lead interest and then track and organize these leads as they move through the workflows we've set up. There are layers upon layers of ways to organize leads, clients and jobs. You can stay really simple in this organization or get as detailed as you like.

Cons

I typically have to train and really work at setting up new systems, and often ask for assistance from customer service. While it's worth it, you'll need to invest some time into using this program well.

Pros

It does everything I need it to, it's amazing, I wish I had started with it sooner! Proposals, invoicing, collecting payments, contract signing, bookings, everything is all in one place now and I can automate a lot of what I was doing!

Cons

There's A LOT to learn, it definitely will take some time to get use to so I'm focusing on one project at a time and will continue to implement as I go

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Dubsado

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

I was in love with Dubsado when I first started my Agency. It did everything I didn't even know I needed. There was a big learning curve setting things up and once you get it all done, that makes it harder to move away from it.

Cons

The scheduling tool never worked well and it would still book appointments over top of existing busy slots in my google calendar. I had to keep acuity. I also has issues with clients not understanding how to pay the invoices in the proposals every time. This was one of the main reasons I left because it took way too much time to have to explain for each client.

Pros

Dubsado software has every feature imaginable to help you run your business. Easy to use, customizable, pop in your own logo and brand colors on contracts, invoices, and more. Our top favorite Dubsado feature is the ability to create Client Portals, where we can send, share, and collaborate securely with clients—giving them access to everything we've sent them in one place. You will also find an unexpected and rarely experienced family atmosphere at Dubsado, with absolutely the BEST customer service.

Cons

We haven't discovered anything we dislike about the Dubsado software. Answers to any issues or questions we may encounter can quickly be resolved by contacting a Dubsado team member, the chatbox, or on the customer forum.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Dubsado

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

Dubsado sometimes feels like it can do anything, if you just figure out how to use it creatively enough! It's more affordable than its direct competitors and it always feels as if there's more to explore.

Cons

Dubsado's interface isn't very intuitive, and often, processes for fairly basic tasks require pretty complex workarounds. It would work perfectly right out of the gate for certain kinds of businesses, but as soon as your business strays from the ordinary, you have to get very creative to figure out how to use Dubsado for your purposes. That said, once you do figure it out (and you will), you'll have a much deeper understanding of Dubsado as a tool.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Dubsado

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

I love the way everything is organized around projects. The lead capture form has been a great way to streamline inquiries. I was piecing together several free tools, and Dubsado's cost is well worth being able to integrate things as my business grows.

Cons

There's definitely a learning curve and you have to watch a lot of videos to figure out how to set things up optimally. The videos are helpful, but it's a lot!

Pros

I like the number of features that it contains. We primarily develop WordPress sites and to get the same type of functionality that Dubsado offers for lead capture, project and relationship management would require too many premium plugins and cost for support for our clients. Dubsado is almost a one stop shop for client management.

Cons

It is a bit overwhelming (but totally worth it) when setting up workflow automation routines. I found their customer service very helpful with this.

Pros

I love the proposals which I can embed on my website. People can find them, book, pay and get an automation of all the forms they need before showing up for their call.

Cons

There is a long hard slog to understand how to set it up if you are unfamiliar with the terminology they use. I let it sit for months because I found it intimidating. THey do offer great support once you dive in though". The scheduler is in beta and can be glitchy.

Pros

I like how I can collect leads and create automated workflows so emails can be sent once they sign up for an appointment. I can also sent contracts easily as well.

Cons

It was hard to set up! I needed to purchase a course on how to create the workflows I needed to automate my client leads. But once I got the hang of it it works like a charm

Pros

Dubsado excels in many areas, including automated workflows, proposals, invoicing, and client portals. It has almost everything I need to manage each client from the time the lead comes in to the conclusion of working with that client. There are many ways to really customize things and make it fit your business, and it has helped me to streamline many of my processes.

Cons

As I transitioned from a solopreneur to a small team of three, I quickly realized that Dubsado isn't great for team use even though it bills itself as a multi-user platform. The scheduler can only be tied to one person's calendar, and multiple users can't each operate independently using their own email addresses. So the term "multi-user" really just means that multiple people can log into one account. It takes some ingenuity to find workarounds so that multiple teammates can use Dubsado.

Pros

I like that Dubsado is relatively easy to use. They have good customer support and lots of great options in their software to keep clients, projects, and financials organized.

Cons

It would be helpful if there was a way to integrate your bank account do transactions could be added automatically.

Pros

It is very customizable with templates and workflows which is seriously amazing if you have the time and patience to set it up. If you already have workflows and templates, they'll migrate them over for you which helps. They also have some pretty awesome

Cons

It's a big system and the setup can be daunting if you are a new business owner. Could be a more modern looking interface, but it doesn't affect the funtionality.

Pros

Workflow automation....when it actually works

Cons

The software is constantly having bugs and errors.

Pros

I love dubsado!!!! It is ideal for managing an event venue. I can assign employees task and clients with ease.

Cons

The workflows malfunction frequently and even though it’s paused it will send an email not meant to be sent causing confusion with the clients

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

Dubsado offers a wide range of solutions for a small business. It provides us with invoicing, project and client management as well as contracts, digital signatures and forms.

Cons

It takes some time to set everything up. Its flexibility can make it a little complicated to set up and wrap your head around. Once you do, it’s one of the more capable platforms.

Pros

Easy to use and setup, but you have to invest the time to set up correctly.

Cons

It can be overwhelming at the beginning. There are no templates to get you going.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Dubsado

Pros

Before using Dubsado my husband and I had spreadsheets and documents all over for our business. It was a very chaotic "system" and once we implented Dubsado into our routine our business started to improve! No more searching for random client emails, or tracking work time on a phone timer!

Cons

For the basic package I wish there were a few more features, $200.00 is pretty steep.

Pros

I love that Dubsado houses nearly all the fiddly-bits in one home. Contracts, leads, questionnaires - it's incredibly expansive and I deeply appreciate how much thought has gone into creating an all-in-one home.

Cons

AND YET. Despite using it for years I still find it confusing and frustrating to use. I've never gotten the hang of workflows and routinely have scheduler issues.

Pros

On the occasions that I have needed to contact customer support, they have been excellent. They have replied promptly and always helped solve my query.

Cons

I found this software very difficult and time-consuming to set up. I imagine it works well if you have set pricing and packages, but offering more customised services isn't suitable.

Pros

everything is great honestly, i will always refer them depending on the industry.

Cons

some functions for reoccuring clients with multiple businesses didnt work in my favor.

Pros

I like the automation and scheduler function. I liked being able to have the videoconference sync with Google Meet.

Cons

The setup. I never got it fully setup as it became overwhelming.

Pros

I love that it is an all in one software that includes proposals, contracts and payments. I also like that I can do intake questionnaires for further info required.

Cons

The scheduling integration isn't that easy to use and it only lets you sync one calendar, I also found that you can only bill in one currency a real pain. Having to set up a separate brand for each new currency is off-putting. I also find the design of the proposals and forms very limited. Having to learn HTML to make proposals look good is something I don't need. The Xero integration needs work as it keeps cutting in and out.

Pros

The ability to customize and beautify your proposals, forms, questionnaires, etc.

Cons

That I practically had to learn code AND purchase outside tools in order to truly customize the forms and proposals.

Pros

the automation of the client follow up is great

Cons

there are many details to set up, the automated emails are numerous to set up.

Pros

I like all the features it has to enable me to automate systems and processes in my business, including quotes, invoices, forms etc.

Cons

I am a new user and I am still setting it up, its slow more to needing to create content for the forms, quotes etc.. rather than it being hard to use

Pros

I like that you can create proposals and send to people, they pay right in there and there’s no hassle to find people to get them to pay.

Cons

There’s no app yet. I know this is something that has been in the works for a while but I’d love to see what happens when it launches.

Pros

Currently using Dubsado to onboard new clients and it has been an enjoyable experience. Once the workflows are setup, your entire business can run on automation.

Cons

Could use a better UX design. A bit outdated