HoneyBook vs. Wave Accounting

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
HoneyBook
Score 6.6 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
HoneyBook aims to help creative entrepreneurs and freelancers book more clients, manage projects and get paid all in one place. With HoneyBook, users can automate busy work and stay on top of to-dos, saving time and money, while growing a business. HoneyBook is designed to emulate a personal assistant. The vendor states that small business owners and freelancer customers have tripled their bookings and saved multiple hours a day using HoneyBook. They further state that a variety of small…
$1
6 Months Promo Code = ONLY1
Wave Accounting
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
Wave Accounting is a free, cloud-based accounting platform exclusively for small businesses. It supports double-entry bookkeeping and permits unlimited user access, invoicing, and expense management. Wave Accounting integrates with Wave's invoicing, receipt scanning, payment processing and payroll apps.N/A
Pricing
HoneyBookWave Accounting
Editions & Modules
$1 Promo
$1 Per Month
6 Months Promo Code = ONLY1
Unlimited Plan - Monthly
$39
Month
Unlimited Plan - Annual
$390
Year
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
HoneyBookWave Accounting
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFor the first 6 months, get HoneyBook for $1 per month with code ONLY1!
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
HoneyBookWave Accounting
Considered Both Products
HoneyBook

No answer on this topic

Wave Accounting
Chose Wave Accounting
The best feature about wave is that they let you use it for free for basic accounting and pay per use payments. But based on my horrible experience with how they cancelled my payments feature, I would never use them again!
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
HoneyBookWave Accounting
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
6.3
12 Ratings
20% below category average
Wave Accounting
-
Ratings
Customer data management / contact management6.312 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management5.510 Ratings00 Ratings
Opportunity management5.011 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)8.711 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract management7.012 Ratings00 Ratings
Quote & order management5.310 Ratings00 Ratings
Interaction tracking6.59 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
7.7
10 Ratings
2% above category average
Wave Accounting
-
Ratings
Case management8.78 Ratings00 Ratings
Help desk management6.79 Ratings00 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
4.7
10 Ratings
47% below category average
Wave Accounting
-
Ratings
Lead management4.710 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
7.0
12 Ratings
8% below category average
Wave Accounting
-
Ratings
Task management5.712 Ratings00 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management7.011 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting8.311 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
5.5
8 Ratings
32% below category average
Wave Accounting
-
Ratings
Customizable reports5.58 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
9.0
10 Ratings
18% above category average
Wave Accounting
8.5
13 Ratings
12% above category average
Custom fields9.010 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom objects9.010 Ratings00 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings9.99 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings7.011 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
6.5
11 Ratings
25% below category average
Wave Accounting
6.6
45 Ratings
22% below category average
Single sign-on capability6.39 Ratings6.632 Ratings
Role-based user permissions6.710 Ratings6.636 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
6.5
10 Ratings
13% below category average
Wave Accounting
-
Ratings
Mobile access6.510 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
6.2
24 Ratings
19% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings7.123 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings7.54 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings1.220 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings7.712 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.48 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
6.4
72 Ratings
19% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings6.170 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings8.069 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings5.036 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
7.0
75 Ratings
9% below category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings7.158 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings7.169 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings8.561 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings8.565 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings7.663 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings9.811 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings9.812 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings10.019 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings7.19 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings5.016 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings5.914 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings8.040 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings4.05 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings5.23 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings8.530 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings4.07 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings5.017 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings1.03 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings7.019 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
8.1
11 Ratings
11% above category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings5.68 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings9.95 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings8.12 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
HoneyBook
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
7.6
52 Ratings
1% below category average
Pricing00 Ratings9.926 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings10.018 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings2.345 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings10.033 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings5.85 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings8.24 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
HoneyBookWave Accounting
Small Businesses
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.4 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.4 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 6.8 out of 10
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User Ratings
HoneyBookWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
6.3
(12 ratings)
4.6
(81 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(1 ratings)
7.8
(3 ratings)
Usability
5.7
(10 ratings)
6.5
(16 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
6.7
(4 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
2.9
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
2.6
(7 ratings)
2.1
(12 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
4.7
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
3.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
HoneyBookWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
HoneyBook
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.
Read full review
Wave
Wave Accounting was used for a small practice without a lot of the accounting considerations a large company would have. For the price, you really can't beat what Wave offers out of the box. All of the basic tools for things like invoicing and expenses are all easy to use. End of year accounting is easy with exports of data.
Read full review
Pros
HoneyBook
  • 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.
Read full review
Wave
  • Reconciliation is very difficult with multiple Wave transactions that need to be deleted or merged before it can be matched to a bank transaction.
  • Payroll worked fine for us but took several days to get it set up. We have switched to another bookkeeping system and another payroll system. Canceling with Wave took several days and they charge $6 for something even though the month was paid for in advance.
  • Credit card processing is nice and worked fine for us.
Read full review
Cons
HoneyBook
  • 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.
Read full review
Wave
  • I know that credit card processing is a way for Wave to make money, but I really wish they offered ACH payment on Invoices.
  • I do cash-based accounting, which means I have to make little journal entries at the start and end of each year to get my books to balance because Wave wants to do everything differently. This should just be a setting to flip, whether you want cash-based or accrual-based.
  • They use Yodlee for bank connection, which doesn't play nice with 2FA. Pretty much every time I log in I have to re-enter credentials, get a code sent to me, reauthenticate, and know that I'm going to have to do it again next week. Not really on Wave, but wish they could get it together nonetheless.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
HoneyBook
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.
Read full review
Wave
Easy to use for clients with no accounting background and the price is right.
Read full review
Usability
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.
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Wave
I am a professional bookkeeper and I have no problems using Wave and all of it's features. I can see that certain individuals who have no accounting knowledge might struggle with a few different features and entries, but that is why Wave has an emphasis in connecting users to Wave Pro's who will walk them through things
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Reliability and Availability
HoneyBook
No answers on this topic
Wave
WAVE is always available when we need it ! Peter
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Performance
HoneyBook
No answers on this topic
Wave
Wave does tend to slow down when filtering your transactions screen especially by date. This is more of an issue when trying to trouble shoot certain transactions or clean-up a set of books.
Read full review
Support Rating
HoneyBook
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.
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Wave
I never had to call Wave Support as we barely experienced any support-related problems on our side. However, I do know a few people that complained about Wave support. It would be nice as well, though if they could have more in your face tutorials for new users or how-to videos should we struggle to do something
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Online Training
HoneyBook
No answers on this topic
Wave
easy to use and east to train on ! Our WAVE clients enjoy the ease of use
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
HoneyBook
Honeybook and Dubsado have a lot of similarities. I'd say the only big difference is that Dubsado still has more advanced workflow capabilities. Dubsado also is much harder to set up. Honeybook is simpler and easier to use right from the start.
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Wave
Wave is FREE for most functions. Payment processing costs no matter where you go (as does payroll or taxes). Wave rises above tools like QuickBooks Online because they know that for our small firm, being nimble is the name of the game. We don't need exhaustive reporting and management like QB offers and we certainly don't want to pay for it
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Scalability
HoneyBook
No answers on this topic
Wave
Once they out grow what is ability to move up to a more robust system?
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Return on Investment
HoneyBook
  • HoneyBook was very cost effective which was great for ROI!
  • HoneyBook was easy to use which made for a quick employee on-boarding for new team members.
  • HoneyBook had some features that were not available on the platform that are considered standard for any other CRM such as data pull, platform integrations, and customization options.
Read full review
Wave
  • Wave has been ROI positive for our company. With not having to pay for the service we can use our money for growing our business.
  • The fees on credit card transactions for invoices are reasonable especially as we don't pay a monthly subscription.
  • The invoicing feature has made our lives easier for us and our customers. The invoicing piece and AR tracking has been ROI positive as well.
Read full review
ScreenShots

HoneyBook Screenshots

Screenshot of BrochureScreenshot of GratuityScreenshot of Homepage PipelineScreenshot of HomepageScreenshot of ProjectScreenshot of Workflows