HoneyBook Reviews

Pros

Honeybook is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. Luckily, I started using it when I began my business, so I didn't need to transfer any existing CRM or sales data over. When I was onboarding, HoneyBook's support staff loaded in a bunch of pre-designed templates specific to my industry. They also took images I sent them of my products and prices and turned them into usable sales proposals. That alone has saved me WEEKS of time that I would have had to spend learning how to use HoneyBook and manually inputting my content.

Cons

The time tracker does not function to the extent that I need it to. I currently use Time Doctor to track my time, but it would be nice if I could keep everything in HoneyBook.

Also, I oftentimes don't see my reminders for following up with "tasks" for clients in my projects pipeline. If there's a way to have those notifications automatically sync with my personal google calendar and send me an email reminder, that would be helpful. Pipedrive's CRM and sales pipeline does a really great job of showing urgent prospects to follow up with. I think it color-codes them too.

Also, the email feature within HoneyBook can be a bit confusing. Sometimes, I can't tell if an email sent or not. The notes are also not displayed in a way that's very easy to read. It would be nice to add bullets, bold text, underline, etc. Pipedrive does a really great job of showing all of the email threads and notes between clients and multiple team members in their CRM.

Also, the first time I sent an invoice, HoneyBook automatically included a place for gratuity/tip. I've now figured out how to turn that setting off, but I couldn't see that it was automatically included in my invoice ahead of time. With my business (and I think most), they will never need gratuity, so I think that's kind of an odd setting. Maybe instead of having to click and review the settings in the left side bar of invoices, there could be an extra prompt to review those settings before the user sends the proposal to their client.

Pros

Everyone kept telling me, "Honeybook is great, but there's a learning curve." So I was a little intimidated. They were wrong, I could jump in face first and start using it exclusively immediately. Even in the middle of a terrible time for my little business, I will pull all the strings I can find to be able to afford Honeybook. It's easy for me, easy for my clients and keeps me focused. It saves me time and energy and thats the most important thing!

Cons

The only thing I'm having issues with right now is making a brochure. It probably user error, but I wish it there more extensive editing capabilities within the brochure making operation. I will play around with it some more though.

Pros

Booking clients and communicating with them throughout the planning stages of their project has become seamless. I have all emails and files in one place. I can easily make changes to their upcoming appointment, reschedule make suggestions on another location. I am able to send all documents in one proposal email. and get their signature on everything at once. Payments go through easily and client payment reminders have been very helpful.

Cons

I am a new user and it's a little difficult to set up to how I do business. It's taking me a lot longer than I would like to get things just how I want them. There are things I want to change such as the flow of automatic emails. I am having a hard time figuring out exactly where to change those settings.

Pros

I love love love the proposal feature and how everything is integrated.

Cons

It did take me a little bit to understand the workflow of the platform. No big deal though.

Pros

I love the ability to use Honeybook in place of standard email. It makes the process of searching for specifics discussions significantly easier. I also really love the proposal templates, ease of invoicing, and the ability for my proposals to double as contracts. I LOVE the app!

Cons

I wasn't able to easily use connect to Quickbooks online.

Pros

Too many things to list! You can create, customize, and assign workflows to every project. It links to your calendar so everything is there at a glance, even brand new inquiries! You can create so many templates to save yourself time and energy by not rewriting the same thing with every project. Your contracts and invoicing are all in one place for the client to easily access. It also links with your Quickbooks account!

Cons

Some features could use a bit of refining. My main concern is that the signature lines on contracts aren't customizable, and for someone operating an LLC, we need to be able to add a title next to our name so that we are signing on behalf of the company, rather than personally as ourselves.

I would also love to see better integration with Quickbooks. I regularly have to go in to QB and manually edit the tax rate for each project so that it will categorize properly. I also have had regular issues with tax being calculated/rounded differently for HB vs QB so that they show $0.01 balance still due in QB after a project is paid in full via HB.

Pros

HoneyBook has all the features I needed: invoicing, creating contracts and proposals, digital signing for clients, time tracking, etc. But it also has everything I wanted on top of those: automated workflows, email templates, digital brochures for prospects to click and choose, a pipeline to track everyone from inquiry to signed contract to deposit paid. Each tool is beautifully designed, and I get positive feedback from clients about how seamless the experience is on their end.

Cons

Most of the templates seem designed with photographers in mind. As a graphic designer, marketing consultant, and business coach, I have to adapt everything pretty heavily. However, HoneyBook provides an awesome foundation to start with and tons of flexibility.

Pros

Honestly, HoneyBook has made my entire workflow more organized and easier. My work is so much faster and easier to find now. I love that I can see all of my incoming money in one place. It is organized by client/project. You can integrate your calendar so that your sessions show up on your Google calendar on your phone. It's wonderful. Plus, anytime you need help, customer service responds super fast!

Cons

I wish I could do even more customizations. But it's getting there!

Pros

HoneyBook organizes our client's information into separate files, sorted by what stage they are in the booking process. This allows us to easily follow up and convert leads. They also provide analytics to help our business track our success rate, advertising, and more.

Cons

The do updates a lot- which is great, but they can have bugs. usually they work out any issues associated with new features quickly.

Pros

I've only had this program for less than 3 months now but the number one thing that I can absolutely rave about this program is their customer support. A representative guides you along the entirety of the process but not only that they set up the documents into their system for you, so it definitely helps with the headache of changing your entire business module over, with the documents, contracts and expenses prepared in the program by someone who knows the program well.

Cons

In the beginning even with the mass amount of help that it takes to set up it does require a lot of time. Which is quite reasonable since the program does so much you would have to input and invest so much time within that first week. You're creating, changing, evolving your paperwork, streamlining your work flow so it basically moving everything paper work wise about your business onto a computer system. Of course after you are all done with then everything is a cake walk.

Pros

I love the honey book team the most and how they are responsive to our suggestions. I see a lot of potential for growth in the software and hope that eventually it can be an all inclusive platform including album hosting and email management.

Cons

There are some odd hiccups - like I can block off days within HB. I have to use (and have yet to set up) a Calendly account. I'd rather just use HB for these things.

I don't love how communication functions with clients. Clients have told me to "email them directly" because the HB platform is confusing to them. Maybe if all vendors used it and all of their planning happened on HB then it would not be so foreign to them, but currently it is frustrating for some of my clients.

Pros

This software has always been a no brainer for me. I am able to streamline my booking process, create projects and design events all in one place. It is user-friendly and client-friendly.

Cons

I have no real cons about this product, If I had to choose one it would be feature implantation. Releasing new features quicker would help solve a couple of problems.

Pros

Keeping my clients in order, keeping the communication all in one place, the contracts are invaluable, and the proposals are clean, simple, and beautiful. I have other software for pricing (I'm a florist) but I still do my proposals in HoneyBook because they're easy to read and don't overwhelm my clients.

Cons

Having to resend a proposal after it's signed AND after it's paid is kind of annoying. I also wish I could see what the clients sees sometimes.

Pros

I love how I can set up automated replies and half of my work is done with an new inquiry before even logging in! It makes my communication more professional and streamlined.

Cons

I wish there were an option for the project timeline that included reminders and a gantt chart or calendar visible to me and my clients. The workflow doesn't quite do it and the tasks don't give the big picture. As a wedding planner - if I could upload a detailed timeline for us both to see and follow along with it would eliminate my need to use Excel or other tools.

Pros

I love how responsive support is, how adaptable the templates are to my business, and how much is automated for me to save time.

Cons

Wish there was an app for androids. Would like to be able to truly schedule emails to go out at specific times when I write...this is for custom emails not the automated ones.

Pros

I love that HoneyBook allows you to keep all of your client's contracts, payments, conversations and questionnaires all in one place. Before using HoneyBook I was still scanning documents, sending things back and forth in the mail, etc. Going paper-free has made my life so much easier. Having a client management system also saves me so much time. It's so easy to create templates and set up workflows. I'm now noticing how many opportunities I've missed just from forgetting to follow up with people. With the reminders from honeybook and having all of my leads in one place, it's super easy to keep track of.

Cons

The only thing I didn't like at first was that they did not originally have an Android app. However, they now have one and I use it all the time!

Pros

All of my projects are in one place.
All of my income is recorded and easy to track.
Works with with my calendar.
Reminds clients when a payment is due, so I don't have to.

Cons

I wish there I could have multiple contact forms.
I wish it didn't give me an error when I book more than one session on a day.
I wish I could reach customer service a little more quickly.

Pros

HoneyBook is very user friendly which is always important. The platform is clean and organized. I like being able to contact clients with invoices (and accept online payments), questionaires (something I use to improve my customer service), and my pre-written email templates. HoneyBook keeps it all in one place for me, making it easy and preferable.

Cons

As a photographer, I offer a few different types of services, and I like to advertise them all. However, HoneyBook only lets me list myself as one specific thing and doesn’t give the option to list multiple services.

Pros

I love the ability to have all your packages and pricing in there and to be able to send to prospects. Not only that, but I love that I can track all my prospects in one place easily with their pipeline. I used to send out Word docs and track on Excel sheets but it was not very professional looking and really difficult to stay on top of.

Cons

I wish the pipeline was a little more customizable. There are some things you can customize but over 50% are static and they don't always fit the flow of our organization.

Pros

I love the fact that everything I need is all in one place. It reminds me when things are due and in turn also reminds my customers. From start to finish everything is all in one place-initial contact to final proposal, contract and invoicing.

Cons

So far I have no cons! I can’t say enough good things about this program!

Pros

I love how Honeybook automates its system, so once you set up what you want, it does all the hard work for you. It is very easy to use and has A LOT of templates that take the guesswork out of "what to say." Once you get the paid version it also comes with a COVID resource kit that gives you tons of emails and contract info (written by lawyers) to help keep you protected. You can do your proposals, invoicing, payments, brochures, and contracts, etc., all from the same program. And what makes the deal sweeter is for the for year, with a code, you get $200 off.

Cons

I think that their options for composing forms could be better. I still find myself having to use Google Forms because their field options are very limited. I also wish that you could customize if you want to include certain options on documents. For example, I may want to use their proposal, but may not want to include an invoice because I use a third-party program for that. I also wish that they had more integrations with gallery companies. I use Shootproof and there is no way to seamlessly integrate the two, so I have to send documents and galleries from two different places.

Pros

I LOVE LOVE LOVE them seamless process from the moment they inquire to the completed process. It is so nice not worrying about drafting up a lengthy contract and invoice each and everytime... Templates are my best friend.

Cons

It is a bit hard to learn at first but once you get the hang of it, it is the best thing you could have.

Pros

I love that I can have my to-do list ready for me each day and keep all my projects organized.

Cons

You cannot add a contact without having an email. I encourage phone calls first and would like to create a project/contact without having an email first so I can get it in the pipeline.

It also takes awhile to get things set up even though they offer customer service help.

Also it isn't a la carte friendly on the invoicing.

Pros

The Workflows ensure that I don't miss a step in my client process

Cons

the mobile app does not allow me to see all of my clients' contact information

Pros

I like that I can streamline my invoicing, questionnaire, contract, timekeeping​, lead capture, etc. into one program.

Cons

It took me a bit to figure out how to use the program initially