HoneyBook vs. Picsello

I would recommend Honeybook to other coaches, consultants, and small business owners. It may not be appropriate for a large team's use, but works for the size of organization I currently own and manage. It also integrates with QuickBooks and makes financial data management fairly seamless.

Incentivized

Picsello helps you stay on task. I have struggled with being too nice to clients in regards to when they pay for my services but Picsello fixed that. A payment schedule is included in the proposal process so when you send the email to your client, they'll get their contract, questionnaire, pricing details and a request for payment to secure booking. That's one less item on my to-do list and I can move forward with my workflow.

• HoneyBook offers incredible resources to train users how to best use their system. It's informative and eye-opening to watch one of their training sessions.
• I love how easy HoneyBook makes it to create highly professional materials that are beautiful. Its brochures and selling materials are stellar and I'm able to streamline the process without feeling like I actually have to sell my capabilities.
• I'm thrilled with the billing system and how simple it is to automate. I love that I can see how my customers have engaged with the bills.
• The app helps me feel connected to my leads and data while I'm away from my computer.

Incentivized

• Smart Profit Calculator helps you make money from your business!
• Photo Galleries are already linked to a world class printer so your clients can start ordering right away.
• Control over pricing allows you to set the profit you earn from print and product sales.
• An embed lead form is available so you can get new clients directly from your website started as a lead in Picsello.

• The online scheduling tool does not work with different time zones very well. It doesn't automatically adjust to my clients' timezones and it doesn't even have many international time zones as an option! I had 3 clients in a row schedule meetings at the wrong time when I first started using HoneyBook's scheduler. I had to switch to Calendly because HoneyBook's scheduling tool was causing me to lose business.
• The transaction fees for instant deposits are expensive.
• [I believe} many of the features on HoneyBook are half-baked. It's marketed as an all-in-one business management platform, but I'm still using Calendly, Google Drive, Typeform, Clockify, and ClickUp because HoneyBook's equivalent features aren't as sophisticated or as easy to use.
• The notes section for client projects does not have much space or allow for any custom formatting such as hyperlinks, bold text, highlighted text, etc. Tools such as Teamwork, Pipedrive, Asana, and ClickUp do a much better job at displaying this type of information.

Incentivized

• People like flexibility and being able to work with previously established vendors that are different from the print vendor currently available in Picsello. I know additional partnerships are forthcoming and once they do I think this product will only increase in popularity.
• One feature that would be helpful is to be able to block off time in the calendar so potential clients can view your availability.
• I'd like to be able to enter multiple contacts under a single client. If you have a large group and you have their email addresses you could send the gallery to more than one person but from the same job.

Since I do not use ALL the functionality in HoneyBook, I have wondered if the plan I am on is too much. That is why I rated a 9 rather than 10. I have definitely considered downgrading but not leaving HoneyBook.

This is now a copy-paste response since this platform is asking me to answer every single question. It is such a negative experience with Honeybook that they even upset me while I'm trying to warn others of all the horrible pitfalls in working with the platform.

Picsello is a 10 because it has everything I need to successfully run my photography business. I can communicate with my client, get them booked and paid all in one location. I don't need a separate gallery manager, I don't need to remember gallery passwords, I don't have to worry if I remembered to send a contract to a client, I don't have to worry if I don't hear back from a client about their gallery because Picsello will tell me when they logged in to view it. And best of all, I know what I need to charge in order to earn the goal I set for myself and at the end of the day, it's all about earning money doing something you love!

They have ALWAYS been amazing when I needed any type of service or help. Their concierge service is also amazing vs other services I have used in the past. I have confidence when I ask for help - both through Chat or even on their Facebook group that I will get an answer quickly.

Incentivized

The people at Picsello are genuinely interested in seeing you succeed! Are you having trouble deciding what to charge? They have a Mastermind Facebook group, and they have business coaching available. Are you frazzled and just need a little extra help, Customer Success is there to listen and dive into the app with you. Are you new and just need some guidance? Customer Success is there to walk you through the process or send links to demo videos or to sign you up for a one-on-one meeting. These people have been truly nice to me as I've gotten help and learned the product. Customer Service is a big deal to me and this company is going to have my business for a long time.

We switched to HubSpot after a few years of the company using HoneyBook. We switched to HubSpot because we needed more features that would allow us to automate our processes and pull better data on our clients, their vendors, and our overall client process. I appreciated that HoneyBook was its own booking/payment system, that it was easy to use and set up, but ultimately that was not enough to keep us in the platform.

Incentivized

Against Pixieset: I like Picsello better for a client experience and managing pricing and galleries. Pixieset is too complicated and cumbersome. Setting up the store is required before you can sell products on Pixieset and that's one large step more than Picsello. Against Honeybook: This is a product that's too generic and doesn't have even half the features of Picsello. It might work for freelance type work but a photographer needs way more than what is offered. It's just not made for photographers so it fails to hit the mark. Shootproof is another I tried but it's just not robust enough. There aren't enough features to help you successfully run your business, but if you'd like to add music to a photo montage, they've got you covered. That's fun to have but it's more important to earn a livable income and Picsello has them all beat with the Smart Profit Calculator!

• Workflow/task management has increased our bookings and saved lost opportunities by 25%.
• Customization of brochures and contracts allows us to fully represent our brand through the sales process.

Incentivized

• By incorporating everything I need in a single email to my client, it saves me time. The contract, questionnaire, pricing details and payment are all sent over in one email and the automation takes over from there as the client signs everything and returns it with payment. So much time saved!
• Having all my clients saved in this platform is a space saver for my Contacts app and so easy for me to contact them on the go since Picsello is mobile-ready. I can use it's full features anywhere!
• The questionnaires are a godsend! I use to have word documents saved all over my laptop from clients but having everything in the Picsello app is way move convenient!
• The photo galleries are given a password and it's automatically entered into the email you send your clients when you share the gallery. I used to have to come up with a password and keep track of it in case a client lost it. Such a pain! This is so much easier and I literally don't even think about this anymore since Picsello does it for me!