Solo helps freelancers manage clients, send invoices, and automate busywork with AI — so you can focus on the work that matters.
See Solo plansLooking for a HoneyBook alternative after the 2025 price increase? We compare 7 options for freelancers — pricing, features, pros, cons, and who each one is best for.
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When HoneyBook raised its prices in February 2025, many freelancers asked a reasonable question: "Could I just build my own tool stack for less?" The answer is more nuanced than you might expect. A DIY approach can save money on subscription fees, but hidden costs — in time, friction, and missed opportunities — often make it more expensive than it appears.
Here is a transparent breakdown of both approaches, plus a third option that most freelancers overlook.
After the February 2025 price increase, HoneyBook's plans look like this:
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $36/month | ~$29/month | Basic invoicing, proposals, scheduling |
| Essentials | $59/month | ~$47/month | Automations, priority support, all features |
| Premium | $109/month | ~$87/month | Reporting, team features, priority everything |
Most freelancers need the Essentials plan to access automation and the full feature set, putting the realistic annual cost at $564-$708/year depending on billing frequency.
Beyond the subscription, consider processing fees. HoneyBook charges 2.9% + $0.25 per card transaction and 1.5% for ACH payments. On $100,000 in annual billing processed through HoneyBook, that is roughly $3,150 in processing fees (assuming a mix of card and ACH).
Users have also reported deposit times of 5+ business days, which creates a real cash flow cost that does not show up on any invoice. When you are waiting five days for a $5,000 payment to clear, the float costs you — especially if you have expenses to cover in the meantime.
Total annual cost of HoneyBook (Essentials, monthly billing, $100K billed): ~$3,858
Here is what it actually costs to replicate HoneyBook's functionality with individual tools:
Cost: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (cards), 0.8% for ACH (capped at $5)
Stripe is the industry standard for payment processing. It is faster than HoneyBook's built-in processing — most deposits reach your bank in 2 business days, not 5+. The processing fees are comparable to HoneyBook's.
On $100,000 in annual billing: ~$3,050 (slightly less than HoneyBook, with faster deposits).
Cost: $0-$22/month ($0-$264/year)
Wave is genuinely free for invoicing and basic accounting. FreshBooks Lite starts at $22/month but offers a polished interface and better reporting. Both can generate professional invoices and track payment status.
Cost: $0-$10/month ($0-$120/year)
Notion's free tier handles most project management needs for solo freelancers. Trello's free tier works for simpler task tracking. Neither is purpose-built for freelancer workflows, so you will spend time adapting templates.
Cost: $7.20/month ($86/year)
Professional email, calendar, and document storage. Most freelancers already have this, so it may not be an incremental cost.
Cost: $0-$15/month ($0-$180/year)
Canva Pro offers proposal templates and brand kit features. Google Docs is free but requires more manual formatting. Neither connects to your invoicing or project management tools.
Cost: $15-$25/month ($180-$300/year)
E-signature tools for sending and managing contracts. Essential for professional freelancers, but another separate subscription and login.
Cost: $0
HubSpot's free CRM works for tracking client relationships and deal pipelines. A well-maintained spreadsheet works too, but scaling beyond 20 clients becomes unwieldy.
| Tool | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe processing ($100K billed) | ~$254 | ~$3,050 |
| Invoicing (Wave free / FreshBooks) | $0-$22 | $0-$264 |
| Project management (Notion free) | $0 | $0 |
| Google Workspace | $7.20 | $86 |
| Proposals (Canva Pro) | $15 | $180 |
| Contracts (HelloSign) | $15 | $180 |
| CRM (HubSpot free) | $0 | $0 |
| Total (excluding processing) | $37-$59 | $446-$710 |
| Total (including processing) | $291-$313 | $3,496-$3,760 |
On paper, the subscription costs are comparable — $446-$710/year for DIY vs. $564-$708/year for HoneyBook. The processing fees are roughly similar regardless of which approach you take. So why does it feel different?
Slow deposits. When your money takes 5+ business days to arrive, you are essentially giving HoneyBook a free short-term loan. On a $5,000 invoice, five extra days of float means your money is working for someone else, not you. Over a year with regular billing, this adds up.
Email deliverability. If your invoices or proposals land in a client's spam folder, you lose time following up — and you may not even know the email was not received until the payment is late. That is unpaid time spent on a problem your tool created.
Feature gating. If you start on the Starter plan and realize you need automation or better reporting, you are looking at a jump from $36 to $59 or $109/month. The upgrade path is steep.
Context switching. Moving between 5-7 different tools throughout the day imposes a cognitive tax. Every login, every different interface, every copy-paste of client information from one tool to another costs time. Research suggests context switching costs approximately 23 minutes per switch. Even three extra switches per day add up to over an hour of lost productivity.
Integration gaps. Your invoicing tool does not know what your project management tool knows. Your CRM does not sync with your proposal tool. You are the integration layer — manually copying client details, updating statuses across tools, and reconciling data. This labor is invisible but real.
No unified view. With a DIY stack, there is no single dashboard showing your business health. You cannot see at a glance which clients have outstanding invoices, which projects are behind schedule, and what your revenue looks like this month without opening three different tools and cross-referencing data.
Maintenance overhead. When one tool updates its API, another changes its pricing, or a free tier gets restricted, you have to research alternatives, migrate data, and rebuild integrations. This maintenance work happens 2-3 times per year and can consume a full day each time.
Time cost. If you value your time at $100-$150/hour and the DIY stack costs you an extra 2-3 hours per week in context switching and manual coordination, that is $800-$1,800/month in opportunity cost. Suddenly the "savings" from avoiding a $59/month subscription look very different.
HoneyBook's core insight was correct: freelancers need an all-in-one tool, not a pile of separate apps. The problem is that HoneyBook's pricing has outgrown the budgets of many independent professionals — especially at the entry level.
Solo offers the integrated experience of an all-in-one platform at pricing that respects where freelancers actually are financially:
| Feature | HoneyBook Essentials | DIY Stack | Solo Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly subscription | $59 | $37-$59 | $29 |
| Annual subscription cost | $708 | $446-$710 | $348 |
| Payment processing | Built-in (slow) | Stripe (fast) | Stripe (fast) |
| Number of tools to manage | 1 | 5-7 | 1 |
| AI capabilities | Limited | None | Yes |
| Setup time | 1-2 hours | Days-weeks | Minutes |
| Context switching | None | Constant | None |
| Free tier | No | Partial | Yes |
The math is straightforward. Solo's Plus plan at $29/month gives you the integrated experience of HoneyBook at roughly half the subscription cost, with AI capabilities that neither HoneyBook nor a DIY stack can match. The Pro plan at $39/month adds more AI credits and advanced features — and still costs less than HoneyBook's Essentials plan.
Ask yourself these questions:
How much is your time worth? If context switching and manual coordination cost you 2+ hours per week, a single integrated tool saves you more than any subscription costs. An all-in-one approach wins over DIY.
Do you need AI capabilities? If you spend significant time on email drafting, proposal writing, and client communications, AI workflows can save 8-10 hours per week. Neither HoneyBook nor a DIY stack offers this. Solo does.
What is your budget? If you are just starting out and every dollar matters, Solo's free tier gives you core features with no subscription cost. HoneyBook has no free tier, and a DIY stack still requires some paid tools.
How much do you value simplicity? If managing 5-7 different tools sounds exhausting, an all-in-one platform is the right call. The question is just which one fits your budget and needs.
The "real cost" of any tool is not just the subscription price — it is the total cost of ownership including processing fees, time spent on administration, opportunity cost of context switching, and the value of features you gain or miss.
HoneyBook is a good tool at a price point that has become difficult to justify for many freelancers. A DIY stack can match it on subscription costs but introduces hidden time costs that often exceed the savings. Solo offers the integration and simplicity of an all-in-one platform with AI capabilities and pricing that starts at free.
Solo starts free. No credit card required. See pricing.
For more context on HoneyBook's changes, read our HoneyBook pricing analysis. Or see how Solo compares to other alternatives in our complete HoneyBook alternatives guide. For tips on getting paid faster regardless of which tool you use, check out our freelance invoice best practices.