HoneyBook vs 17hats for Photographers
A fair comparison of HoneyBook and 17hats for freelance photographers, covering focus, features, price and support.
In this article
HoneyBook and 17hats both help a freelance photographer move from inquiry to signed contract to paid invoice. HoneyBook is known for a polished client-facing flow. 17hats is known for covering a wide range of small-business tasks in one tool. Prices and plans change, so check each vendor's site for current figures, and use the structure below to compare them fairly.
Focus
HoneyBook is built around the client process for creative and service businesses: a brochure or inquiry form, a proposal, a contract and an invoice, with a project view behind it. The emphasis is the experience the client sees.
17hats is a toolkit for small businesses with leads, projects, quotes, contracts, invoices, scheduling and some accounting-style tools. The emphasis is the breadth of what a one-person business needs.
For a photographer, that means HoneyBook may feel more focused on selling and onboarding, while 17hats may feel broader and a little more administrative.
Features
Compare these side by side from the vendors' own pages:
- Lead capture and forms.
- Proposals and packages, and whether the client can choose add-ons.
- Contract templates and e-signature on mobile.
- Payment plans and recurring invoices.
- Scheduling and calendar links.
- Questionnaires.
- Task lists and workflows.
- Reports on income.
- Team access and permissions.
Mark each as strong, adequate or missing for your work. A wedding photographer will care about payment plans tied to dates and questionnaires. A portrait photographer may care more about quick booking links and short-session packages. Some features you would never use, which is why a feature count alone misleads.
Price
Build your own table on the day you decide:
| Question | HoneyBook | 17hats |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly vs yearly price | check site | check site |
| Seats | check site | check site |
| Payment fees | provider and vendor terms | provider and vendor terms |
| Trial | check site | check site |
Example with invented numbers: if you collect 30,000 a year online and fees total 3 percent, that is 900, which could outweigh a gap of a few currency units per month in the subscription. Always run your own revenue through the fee column.
Plan for growth as well. If you add a second shooter or an assistant next year, find out what an extra user costs now, not later.
Support
Check the help centre, live chat or email options, and how quickly questions are answered. Both tools have active user communities, and photographer groups often share recent experiences. A practical test: ask one real question during your trial and see how the reply feels.
If you are outside the US, also look at support hours and whether local payment methods are supported. We cover one case in Can Indian photographers use HoneyBook.
Who fits which
HoneyBook may fit if you want a refined client experience, work in a supported region and like a straightforward pipeline. 17hats may fit if you want one broad toolkit for the whole small business and are happy with a plainer interface.
If your studio is growing into a team with crew, an editing stage and freelancers who should not see pricing, you may outgrow either and want something built around that. Our best CRM for photographers and Sprout Studio alternatives posts list others. If you are also thinking about the year ahead, planning your photography business year helps you decide how much tooling you need.
ClickBook is aimed at that team case: leads, proposals, contracts, payment plans, invoices, shoots, crew and the edit queue in one dashboard, with your own Stripe, Razorpay or PayPal account and no cut taken on payments. You can see it in a demo.
The fair test
Whichever two you compare, run these steps in each: enter a lead, send a proposal with two packages, sign on a phone, create a three-step payment plan and send a reminder. Write down the minutes it took and anything confusing. Keep the notes. A tool that feels slow on day one rarely gets faster during busy season.
Things worth checking this week
Before you decide, open each vendor's help centre and search for three topics: payment plans, team access and exporting data. How the help pages answer tells you how mature that area is. Then look at recent photographer discussions in forums, read the newest posts and ignore the old ones, because both tools change often. Finally, write down the single feature you would miss most if it were absent, and check that both tools have it. Decisions made on one clear requirement tend to hold up better than decisions made on a long list.
A final comparison table
| Question | HoneyBook | 17hats |
|---|---|---|
| Works with my payment methods | check | check |
| Rupee, pound or local currency invoices | check | check |
| Local tax lines | check | check |
| Extra user cost | check | check |
| Export format | check | check |
Fill in the table from each vendor's current pages, and let the blanks show you what to ask.
Frequently asked questions
Is HoneyBook better than 17hats?
Neither is better for everyone. HoneyBook is known for a polished client flow, and 17hats for covering a broad set of small business tasks. Test both against your own booking process.
Which is cheaper, HoneyBook or 17hats?
Prices change, so check both vendors' sites. Compare the full yearly cost, including payment processing and any extra users.
Which is better for a solo photographer?
Both are used by solo photographers. Choose by region support, payment options and how much setup time you want to spend.
Can I try both?
Check each vendor's current trial terms. Run the same test with both so the comparison is fair.