How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- HoneyBook, Dubsado, 17hats and Bloom are built for client-based businesses: proposals, contracts, invoices and payments in one flow.
- Bonsai adds project management, time tracking and bookkeeping for freelancers and small service firms.
- FreshBooks and Wave are the invoicing-first options: FreshBooks for polished billing, Wave for genuinely free invoicing and accounting.
- vcita and Invoice Ninja cover the spectrum from service-business CRM with scheduling to free, full-featured invoicing.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 HoneyBook | Client businesses that want inquiry-to-payment in one branded flow | From $29/month (Starter, billed yearly) | No |
 Dubsado | Creative professionals who want deeply customizable workflows | See website | Trial |
 vcita | Service businesses that live on scheduling and client engagement | From $29/month | No |
 Bonsai | Freelancers who want CRM, projects, time tracking and billing together | See website | Free trial |
 17hats | Small businesses that want every feature in one flat plan | $60/month ($600/year) | No |
 Bloom | Photographers and creatives who deliver work through galleries | From $14/month | Trial |
 FreshBooks | Service businesses that want polished invoicing with light CRM | See website | Trial |
 Wave | Freelancers who want invoicing and accounting for free | Free | Free |
 Invoice Ninja | Freelancers who want free, full-featured invoicing with a client portal | Free forever (paid plans from $280/year) | Free |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best CRM and invoicing software
The freelancer's admin trap looks like this: leads in email, proposals in a doc tool, contracts as PDFs, invoices in a spreadsheet, and payments chased by awkward follow-up messages. Every client costs you hours of unpaid admin. CRM and invoicing software exists to collapse that chain: one client record from first inquiry to final payment, with proposals, contracts and invoices flowing from the same data. These nine tools are built for freelancers and small service businesses, not enterprise sales teams.
Client-work CRM is not sales CRM, and buying the wrong one hurts
Traditional CRMs like Salesforce track deals through pipelines. Client-work CRMs track people through projects: inquiry, proposal, contract, scheduling, delivery, invoice, payment. If you buy a sales CRM for a photography studio or a consulting practice, you will fight it every day.
The tools on this list are organized around the client lifecycle. HoneyBook, Dubsado, 17hats and Bloom live for the proposal-to-payment flow. FreshBooks, Wave and Invoice Ninja are invoicing-first with enough client management to work. vcita adds scheduling and client engagement. Match the tool to where your admin pain actually is: if contracts and onboarding eat your time, pick a client-work platform; if getting paid on time is the problem, pick an invoicing specialist.
#1
HoneyBook
Best for: Client businesses that want inquiry-to-payment in one branded flow
Visit honeybook.com
Starting priceFrom $29/month (Starter, billed yearly)
Free planNo
HoneyBook takes a client from inquiry to paid invoice without leaving the platform: branded proposals, contracts with e-signature, invoicing, payment plans and automated follow-ups, all tied to one client record. The Starter plan at $29/month billed yearly makes it accessible to solo operators, with Essentials at $49 and Premium at $109 adding team features and deeper automation.
It is a client-work platform, not a project manager: once the project starts, delivery tracking is light. But for the freelancer whose bottleneck is onboarding and getting paid, HoneyBook's unified flow is the fix.
What we like- Proposal, contract, invoice and payment in one send: branded client portal and automations
- Priced for solo operators up to teams
- Strong adoption among creatives and coaches
Watch out for- No free plan
- The Starter tier limits some features
- Deeper project management needs another tool
#2
Dubsado
Best for: Creative professionals who want deeply customizable workflows
Visit dubsado.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planTrial
Dubsado is the power user's client CRM: lead capture forms, scheduling, proposals, contracts, invoices, payment plans, questionnaires and workflows that trigger around your milestones, all customizable to fit how you actually work. One send delivers proposal, contract and invoice together, and payment reminders chase themselves.
That flexibility costs setup time; Dubsado rewards the owner who enjoys building systems. For photographers, designers, planners and coaches with a defined process they want automated end to end, it is the most capable tool on this list.
What we like- Remarkably flexible workflows, forms and automations: proposal, contract and invoice in one send
- Branded client portals
- Trusted by 30,000+ creative businesses
Watch out for- The flexibility means a real setup investment
- Pricing not shown on the homepage
- The interface prioritizes power over simplicity
#3
vcita
Best for: Service businesses that live on scheduling and client engagement
Visit vcita.com
Starting priceFrom $29/month
Free planNo
vcita is built for the appointment economy: salons, clinics, consultants, home services. It combines online scheduling, a client CRM, invoicing, payments and marketing automation, so a client can book, get reminded, show up and pay without the business owner touching five tools.
At from $29/month, it is priced for small service businesses. If your work runs on appointments and your admin pain is no-shows and scheduling chaos rather than proposals, vcita's scheduling-first design fits better than the creative CRMs.
What we like- Scheduling, CRM, invoicing and payments in one client management platform: built for appointment-based businesses
- Client portal and automated reminders
- Reasonable entry price
Watch out for- No free plan
- The marketing features may exceed what simple practices need
- Less known than the creative-industry CRMs
#4
Bonsai
Best for: Freelancers who want CRM, projects, time tracking and billing together
Visit hellobonsai.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial
Bonsai goes further than the client CRMs: it adds project management, time tracking, expenses and bookkeeping, so a freelancer can run the whole business from one platform. Proposals, contracts and invoices flow into projects; time tracked becomes billable; finance reports show real profitability.
The free trial lets you test the full platform. For the freelancer or small agency that wants one system from lead to ledger, without stitching a CRM to a project tool to an accounting app, Bonsai's completeness is the selling point.
What we like- True all-in-one: client management, projects, time tracking, proposals, contracts, invoicing and bookkeeping: automations and real-time profitability reports
- Free trial to start
Watch out for- Pricing not published on the homepage
- The breadth can feel like a lot for pure invoicing needs
- Smaller community than HoneyBook
#5
17hats
Best for: Small businesses that want every feature in one flat plan
Visit 17hats.com
Starting price$60/month ($600/year)
Free planNo
17hats takes the opposite approach to tiered pricing: one all-inclusive plan, $60/month or $600/year, with nearly everything included. SMS texting, online booking, pipelines, contracts, invoices, questionnaires and automated workflows are all built in-house rather than integrated, so everything talks to everything.
There is no free tier, though first purchases are discounted. For the small business owner who hates feature gates and per-seat math and wants the whole toolbox for one flat price, 17hats' simplicity is refreshing.
What we like- One all-inclusive plan with nearly every feature: SMS texting, booking, pipelines, contracts, invoices and bookkeeping built in-house
- Transparent flat pricing
- 25,000+ business owners
Watch out for- No free plan or trial tier
- The single-plan model means paying for features you may not use
- The interface shows its age
#6
Bloom
Best for: Photographers and creatives who deliver work through galleries
Visit bloom.io
Starting priceFrom $14/month
Free planTrial
Bloom is the CRM for businesses that deliver visual work: client galleries with proofing and download controls sit next to invoicing, contracts, booking packages and workflows. A photographer can deliver the shoot, get the invoice paid and collect the next booking from one branded portal.
Plans start at $14/month for side work, $34 for solo businesses and $66 for small teams, with promotional discounts shown on the pricing page. For visual creatives, Bloom's delivery-plus-billing combination is purpose-built.
What we like- Galleries and asset delivery built in alongside CRM and invoicing: branded client portals, contracts and booking packages
- Entry pricing from $14/month
- Mobile apps for on-the-go invoicing
Watch out for- The creative focus is less relevant outside visual industries
- Advanced plans rise quickly
- Smaller ecosystem than HoneyBook
#7
FreshBooks
Best for: Service businesses that want polished invoicing with light CRM
Visit freshbooks.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planTrial
FreshBooks is the invoicing specialist: beautiful estimates and invoices, time tracking that converts to bills, expense capture and client records, all wrapped in an interface service businesses actually enjoy. It has served freelancers and agencies for over two decades.
It will not run your proposals, contracts and onboarding like a client-work CRM. But if your workflow starts at "work agreed" and your pain is professional billing, expense tracking and getting paid, FreshBooks' polish is unmatched.
What we like- The most polished invoicing experience in its class: professional estimates, time tracking, expenses and client records
- Strong mobile apps
- Long track record with service businesses
Watch out for- The CRM side is lighter than HoneyBook or Dubsado
- Pricing not shown on the homepage
- Advanced accounting needs a real accounting tool
#8
Wave
Best for: Freelancers who want invoicing and accounting for free
Visit waveapps.com
Starting priceFree
Free planFree
Wave is the free option that is actually complete: unlimited invoicing and estimates, accounting, receipt scanning and reports, all free. Payments processing and payroll are paid add-ons, which is how the business model works.
It is not a CRM: there are no proposals, contracts or client workflows. But for the freelancer whose needs are "send professional invoices, track income and expenses, do my taxes," Wave does it for zero dollars. Pair it with a contract tool and you have a workable stack for free.
What we like- Genuinely free invoicing, accounting and receipts: unlimited invoices and estimates
- Payments and payroll as paid add-ons
- No trial games
Watch out for- No real CRM or proposal/contract flow
- Support is limited on the free tier
- The free model means paid features where competitors include them
#9
Invoice Ninja
Best for: Freelancers who want free, full-featured invoicing with a client portal
Visit invoiceninja.com
Starting priceFree forever (paid plans from $280/year)
Free planFree
Invoice Ninja is the open-source-spirited invoicing platform: free forever, with professional invoices, quotes with e-signature, recurring and auto-billing, time tracking, expenses and a branded client portal. Paid plans from $280/year add users and advanced features, and you can self-host.
It is invoicing-first, not a client-work CRM. But for the freelancer who wants every billing feature imaginable without paying, and likes the idea of owning their data, Invoice Ninja is the most generous free tier in the category.
What we like- Free forever plan with no credit card: 11 customizable invoice templates, quotes, recurring billing, time tracking and expenses
- Branded client portal
- Self-hosting option
Watch out for- The CRM side is minimal
- The interface is functional rather than beautiful
- Advanced features need the paid tiers
How we chose
We focused on tools built for freelancers and small service businesses, where the need is client lifecycle plus invoicing rather than enterprise sales pipelines. Every homepage was opened and verified. Pricing comes from vendor pages where published: 17hats, Bloom and Invoice Ninja show prices; HoneyBook, vcita and Wave prices were confirmed on their vendor sites; the rest are "See website."
Ask yourself: where does a client currently cost you the most unpaid time? If the answer is proposals, contracts and onboarding, you need a client-work CRM: HoneyBook, Dubsado, 17hats or Bloom. If the answer is chasing payments and looking unprofessional at billing time, you need an invoicing specialist: FreshBooks, Wave or Invoice Ninja. If it is scheduling and no-shows, vcita. If it is everything, Bonsai.
Most freelancers misdiagnose this and buy the tool with the longest feature list. The right tool is the one that attacks your actual bottleneck. List your last five clients and note where each one ate unpaid hours. The pattern will point at the category, and the category will point at the tool.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best CRM and invoicing software for freelancers?
HoneyBook and Dubsado lead for client-work businesses needing proposals, contracts and invoicing in one flow. Bonsai adds project management. Wave and Invoice Ninja are the best free invoicing options. The right pick depends on whether your bottleneck is onboarding, billing or project delivery.
Is there free CRM and invoicing software?
Wave offers free invoicing and accounting with no limits. Invoice Ninja is free forever with quotes, recurring billing and a client portal. Neither is a full client-work CRM, but both cover billing completely for zero dollars.
HoneyBook vs Dubsado: which is better?
HoneyBook is easier to set up and runs the proposal-to-payment flow with less configuration. Dubsado is more flexible and customizable, rewarding owners who want to build detailed automated workflows. Creatives who want power choose Dubsado; those who want simplicity choose HoneyBook.
Do I need a CRM if I just send invoices?
If your work starts after the client says yes and your only pain is billing, an invoicing tool like FreshBooks, Wave or Invoice Ninja is enough. A CRM earns its keep when proposals, contracts, scheduling and follow-ups eat unpaid hours.
How much does client-work CRM software cost?
Expect $14 to $60 per month for solo operators: Bloom from $14, HoneyBook from $29, vcita from $29, 17hats at $60 flat. Wave and Invoice Ninja are free. Annual billing usually saves two months.
Can these tools replace my accountant?
No. They handle client management, invoicing and basic expense tracking, but tax filing, payroll compliance and financial advice still need an accountant. Bonsai and Wave go furthest toward bookkeeping, but none replace professional accounting.
Sources we checked (9)
- https://honeybook.com/
- https://www.dubsado.com
- https://vcita.com/
- https://hellobonsai.com/
- https://www.17hats.com/
- https://bloom.io/
- https://www.freshbooks.com/
- https://www.waveapps.com/
- https://invoiceninja.com
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.