HoneyBook Review: Beautiful Client Experience, But Is It For You?
I tried HoneyBook for a month because a photographer friend couldn’t stop raving about it. She was right — for photographers, it’s incredible. As a web developer, it wasn’t my fit. But I can see exactly who should use it and why.
What HoneyBook Does Differently
HoneyBook is built around the client experience, not just your back-office needs. When a client interacts with your HoneyBook-powered proposals, contracts, and invoices, everything is branded, beautiful, and seamless.
The client portal is genuinely impressive — your logo, your colors, a timeline of the project, all documents in one place. For freelancers whose clients expect a premium, white-glove experience, this matters.
Where It Shines
Photographers: Inquiry → consultation → proposal → contract → invoice → delivery timeline. The workflow is designed for this exact pipeline.
Event planners: Multiple events, detailed timelines, payment schedules with deposits and milestones. Built for event workflows.
Designers: Portfolio integration, mood boards, client approval workflows. Very visual.
The automation: HoneyBook’s workflow automation sends emails, generates documents, and moves clients through stages automatically. “When contract is signed, send welcome email and create project timeline” — all automatic.
Where It Falls Short (For Me)
Accounting is minimal. No real bookkeeping, no bank connections, no P&L reports. You need a separate tool (Wave, FreshBooks) for actual accounting.
The templates lean creative. As a developer, the proposal and contract templates felt like they were designed for a wedding planner. I could customize them, but it took more effort than starting from scratch in FreshBooks.
Price for what you get. At $32/month (Essentials), you’re paying more than FreshBooks Plus ($33) but getting less accounting functionality. The value is in the client experience, not the back-office tools.
My Recommendation
If you’re a photographer, event planner, or designer — try HoneyBook. The 7-day trial will show you immediately whether the workflow fits.
If you’re a developer, writer, consultant, or other non-visual freelancer — skip it. FreshBooks or Bonsai serve your needs better at similar or lower prices.
HoneyBook is excellent at what it does. It just doesn’t do what every freelancer needs.