1. Overview
  2. Questionnaires 
  3. Quotes/Contracts/Invoicing
  4. Bookkeeping
  5. Workflow
  6. Scheduling
  7. Non-Scheduling Integrations
  8. Mobile App
  9. Pricing
  10. Conclusion

1. Overview

17hats is a business management solution equipped to serve the business needs of solopreneurs and entrepreneurs alike. To quote 17hats CEO Amanda Rae, “You may think, ‘I only need help with invoices.’ Or, ‘I only need a calendar app.’ But what you really need – what would really make business easier – is a comprehensive, all-in-one platform that allows you to manage everything. That’s 17hats.”

Dubsado is another option when it comes to business management. Feature-wise, Dubsado has all the basics you’ll need and a few more just in case!

In this comparison, we will be breaking down the various features offered by both 17hats and Dubsado, seeing their practicality, and user-friendliness by diving behind the scenes for a more in-depth understanding.

2. Questionnaires 

Questionnaires are essential to discovering both the clients you are working with, and how you can best optimize their experience.

When comparing questionnaires between 17hats and Dubsado, there are more similarities than differences. Both allow for the types of questions that you would expect to find in a questionnaire. Though both platforms are similar with questionnaire features, 17hats has one quality that most small businesses would find irreplaceable.

17hats takes a simple questionnaire one step further with its ability to create if/then logic. With the transformative power of if/then logic your questionnaires are elevated into an interactive experience that your clients can explore. 

Overall, when creating Questionnaires

Despite having advanced questionnaires, I found it significantly easier to create a questionnaire within 17hats than Dubsado. Much was due to Dubsado’s non-traditional terminology and drag-and-drop feature as opposed to 17hats straightforward “Add question” feature.

Outside of styling, when it comes to questionnaires specifically, there are two main factors that apply;

Questionnaire Question Types:

What type of questions can you ask on your questionnaire?

Question Types for Questionnaires17hats logoDubsado
Short Answer
Long Answer
Yes/No
Choose From a List (Radio Buttons)
Checkboxes
Date
Related Contact
File Upload
If/Then Logic (Branch Questions)

Questionnaire Mapping Options:

When a question is answered, the answer can often be linked (mapped) somewhere within the client’s project or their contact card. This makes information even easier to find.

Question Mapping Options17hats logoDubsado
Phone Number
Address
Email
Contact Name
Contact Title
Company Name
Website
Date
Person Referred by
Facebook Username
LinkedIn Username
Pinterest Username
Twitter Username
Instagram Username
Project Notes
Related Contact
[Anything You Would Like Via





Custom Field Mapping]

Custom Fields for Questionnaires

Custom fields are incredibly important. With custom fields, you have the ability to map any detail of the client experience and have your CRM memorize that detail for later use. Both 17hats and Dubsado have the ability to create a custom field, (Dubsado calls them “Smart Fields”).

Questionnaire Wins:

17hats

  • If/then logic
  • Title mapping
  • Referral mapping
  • LinkedIn Username mapping
  • Project Notes mapping
  • More robust custom field mapping

Dubsado

  • Dropdown questions
  • Pinterest Username Mapping

Overall
I am pleased that both platforms offer custom mapping for questionnaires. It wasn’t until I went to create a custom field with Dubsado that I discovered there were only two options, short answer or date. 17hats also allows us to map a multi-line answer from one of our clients, as well as a yes/no response, checkboxes, or even their selection when they choose from a list of options. If you want to keep your client’s answers top of mind, or easily accessible for personalized automation, 17hats has the solution you need.

3. Quotes/Contracts/Invoicing

Once your lead is ready to work with your company, the quote, contract, and invoice make it official. These are the basic documents necessary for any CRM and both 17hats and Dubsado offer them in a “bundle” option. Bundling the quote, contract, and invoice allows you to send your lead a single document and have them make a selection from various options found within a quote, sign and contract, and pay their invoice all from a single window.

Quote Features

Quotes enhance the interaction between the business and the client by allowing the client to specify how much they are willing to purchase, and evaluate what they are willing to spend.

Quote FeaturesDubsado
Standard Quote Item
Choose One Option
Choose Any Option
Interactive Client Experience


Standard Quote Items

A “Standard Item” is an item that is pre-selected, and unchangeable, e.g., travel fee, consultation fee, session fee, etc. With 17hats, you can set it and it is unable to be modified. Using the default settings with Dubsado, if your client doesn’t want to pay your travel fee, they can simply “unselect” that item. 🤯

Choose One Option

A “Choose One Option” tells your potential client that they can choose one– and only one- service  from a list of quoted options. With 17hats, you set the options they can choose from, and they cannot advance beyond the quote without telling you which option they would like to do. With Dubsado, by default, leads can select one, all, some, or none of the options before continuing on to their invoice. 🤯 (So Dubsado’s “choose one” doesn’t exactly work as expected.)

Choose Any Option

The “Choose Any Option” is a great way to add an upsell opportunity, and allow your clients to experience more of the great products/services you have to offer. This is one thing that Dubsado almost did correctly. My biggest complaint with Dubsado’s feature is the fact that you have to go through a workaround to add an image to the add-on options. I found with my business that our quote amounts increased ~20% when we added photos so this is one area that I always look for when building a quote. I realize the fact that adding an image requires a workaround with Dubsado is a minor frustration, however, 17hats makes it so easy to add one, I found it on brand for how both platforms operate.

Contract Features

Contracts are a necessary part of most businesses.

Contract FeatureDubsado
Tokens
Checkboxes
Short Text Input
Long Text Input
Initials

Invoice Features

Quotes are automatically converted into invoices upon completion.

Invoice FeatureDubsado
Online Payments
Recurring Invoice
Payment Schedule
Saved Card Data
Automatic Payments
Tipping/Gratuity

Wins:

17hats

  • Initial box on Contracts

Dubsado

  • A few more font options

Overall

For quotes, contracts, and invoices, both 17hats and Dubsado have a lot to offer. 17hats focuses on ease of use for both the business owner and client. Dubsado technically boasts a lot of the features found with 17hats but has a difficult time bringing them home, making the building experience difficult for the business owner, and user experience confusing for the client.

4. Bookkeeping

There is great power in knowing your numbers. Let’s see how both companies handle reporting.

BookkeepingDubsado
Profit & Loss
Sales Tax Report
Upcoming Receivables Report
Aged Receivables Report
Client Sales Report
Product Sales Report
Add Expense
Add Income
Quickbooks Integration
Link to Bank Account(s)
Custom Transaction Categories
Import Transactions
Export Transactions
Reporting’s “Quick Select” Options
Visual Reporting References for Upcoming and Aged Receivables

Wins:

17hats

  • Profit & Loss Statement is much more in-depth
  • Sales Tax Report for easy-to-obtain data when filing sales tax returns
  • Client sales report to see how much has been paid per client
  • Product sales report to see which product/service has been performing best
  • Ability to link to your personal and/or business bank account(s)
  • Custom transaction categories
  • Import & export transactions
  • The “quick select” options are more in line with what we need as business owners
  • Visual reporting references that give a monthly frame of reference over the next several months.

Dubsado

  • Reporting’s “Quick Select” option has a “next week” option

Overall
The strength that comes with knowing your numbers is something the 17hats team understands well. Knowing what your business is expected to earn in upcoming 30-day increments allows for the ability to plan ahead. Additionally, having a sales tax report at your fingertips saves time and reduces errors when filing with the government– especially important for those who file their sales tax reports monthly.

5. Workflow Features

Workflow FeatureDubsado
Create a To-Do Task
Send an Email
Send a Questionnaire
Send a Quote
Send a Contract
Send an Invoice
Start a Workflow
Change Calendar
Archive the Project
Add/Remove Tags
Pause the Workflow
Assign Workflow Tasks to a Specific Team Member

Wins:

17hats  

  • Workflows can be triggered from online scheduling bookings
  • Workflows can change the selected calendar
  • Workflows can be assigned to a specific team member 

Dubsado

  • Client Portals can be activated/deactivated from a workflow

Overall
Dubsado is the first CRM that comes somewhat close to offering the level of automation found with 17hats. Since 17hats built their scheduling platform from the ground up, it allows for full workflow integration beyond what Dubsado is capable of. When in your 17hats booking services settings, simply add a workflow once an appointment is booked and/or confirmed, and you’re set!

The ability for 17hats to change calendars is a reflection of the fact that 17hats allows for multiple calendars on their platform. Unlike Dubsado which can only connect one calendar account– even across multiple brands – 17hats has the ability to add a multitude of calendars. This becomes important when you want someone to change from your ‘lead’ calendar to your ‘booked’ calendar automatically after they pay their retainer, with 17hats you can do that.

Assigning a task to a team member becomes important as your team expands and different people in your group have different tasks. As an example, if Beth handles sales, and Taylor is in charge of fulfillment, you can have your workflows add specific tasks to their respective calendars, maximizing efficiency, and letting your team function as one cohesive unit.

Dubsado has the ability to activate/deactivate a client portal which is neat. With 17hats, you can always enable/disable what a client sees, and even choose if you want your client to have access to their client portal, but it was listed on Dubsado’s options, so I felt it should be included in the discussion.

6. Online Scheduling Features

Online Scheduling FeaturesDubsado
Service Name & Description
In Person, Phone call, or Zoom Call Scheduling
Pay in Full to Book
Pay Fixed Amount or Percentage to Book
Custom Service Timeframe
Multiple Email Reminders
Availability Buffers
Minimum Notice for Booking
Incremental Start Times
Name, Email, and Phone Number Required to Book
Long Comment Box Available
Ability to Ask/Require Additional Questions
Post Booking Message
Confirmation Page & Email
Rescheduling & Cancellations
Custom Availability
Terms of S
ervice
Contact & Project Tags
Add to the Last Project (if available)
Pay a Fixed Amount or Percentage to Book
Require Approval to Confirm
Calendar Selection
Ability to Start a Workflow Once Confirmed
Scheduling Website Embed
Multiple Services With a Single Availability
Client Ability to Select a Team Member(s) Available for Booking
Add Custom Header/Logo
Cross Check Calendar(s)
Override Selected Availability Schedules
Option to Limit the Number of Bookings Per Day or Week
Schedule One-Time Meeting
Repeat Availability Time Slots Every Week on the Same Day
Repeat Availability Time Slots Every 2 or 3 Weeks


or on a Select Day Every Month
Repeat Availability Time Slots on a Select Day of a Select Week Every Month (i.e. the Third Thursday of Every Month)
End Repeating Rule After “x” Occurrences or on a Specific Day
Add Multiple Rules to a Single Calendar

Wins:

17hats  

  • Scheduling functionality built in-house by 17hats, for 17hats members
  • Pay in full to book
  • Pay a fixed amount to book
  • Pay a fixed percentage to book
  • Ability to ask/require additional questions while booking
  • Terms of service 
  • Contact tags
  • Project tags
  • Option to automatically create a new project or add it to the originating project (if available)
  • Option to update project date/time to booking 
  • Option to confirm booking manually
  • Scheduling embed code into your business’ website
  • Multiple services are available to book simultaneously
  • The ability for you and/or your client to select the team member
  • Addition of custom header/logo
  • Cross-check various calendars
  • Ability to override the availability of other calendars
  • Option to limit the number of bookings per day/week
  • Ability to repeat the availability of your service every one, two, or three weeks
  • Ability to repeat availability of your service every month or select day of the week per month (e.g., the third Thursday of every month)
  • End repeating rule after “x” occurrences or on a specific day
  • Ability to add multiple rules to a single calendar

Dubsado

Overall
If scheduling is important for how you would like to do business, 17hats scheduling is significantly ahead of Dubsado. 17hats makes it easy to automatically start a workflow that helps previously booked sessions book with you again! This level of automation helps to grow your business year after year without you having to track down previous clients. 

17hats is simply the best platform for scheduling appointments and services.

7. Integrations into the Platforms

IntegrationsDubsado
Quickbooks
Gmail
Zapier
Zoom
8×8
Xero (Beta)
N-VU
Fundy
ProSelect
ShootProof

Wins:

17hats  

  • N-VU
  • Fundy
  • ProSelect
  • ShootProof

Dubsado 

  • 8×8
  • Xero (Beta)

Overall
When it comes to integrations, for photographers, 17hats is lightyears beyond Dubsado. For everyone else, Dubsado almost has two advantages; 8×8 and Xero. I had to look up 8×8 to see what they did, and in short, 8×8 is a cloud-based video provider, essentially if you want to use Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or GoToMeeting, it looks like you can link them to your 8×8 account, and link that account to Dubsado. With 17hats, just add the url as a location, and you’re set! An integration, yes. Necessary, no.

Xero is another challenge in and of itself. I have heard of people wanting integration with Xero, unfortunately, it is still in Beta and based on every other “Beta” stage I’ve experienced with Dubsado, I’m not the most optimistic when it comes to a smooth integration. Adding the lack of real bookkeeping and reporting functionality, I almost find the integration with Xero more of a liability than an asset. I hope I am wrong, however, because it is difficult to run a business without sound reporting.

8. Mobile App

Mobile AppDubsado
Push Notifications
Downloadable App
Full Web Page Functionality

Wins:

17hats 

  • Full web page functionality (everything you can do on the desktop version, you can do on the mobile version as well)

Dubsado

  • …There is no mobile app. None. 

Overall
If you need to be able to work from anywhere, the robust 17hats app can provide the flexibility you need. However, if your business can be run entirely from a single computer, the app may not currently be a priority for you. I still find it hard to believe that Dubsado still doesn’t have a mobile app. To verify I searched, “Dubsado mobile app”, which takes me to a page where it lists their mobile app as “In the works” and 17hats mobile app as “⎯”.

Though 17hats has had a mobile app for years, Dubsado refuses to update their page either modifying their statement of “in the works” or adding the fact that 17hats has a mobile app as robust as the platform. I don’t see any record of the page being older than June of this year, but I can see how showing a “Yes” next to your three top competitors and a “In the works” next to your logo could be difficult to see despite how misleading it actually is. 😅

9. Pricing Comparison

Dubsado
Premier – $60/month
$600/year
Premier – $40/month $400/year
Standard – $30/month $300/yearStarter – $20/month $200/year
Essentials – $15/month $150/year

Experience the 17hats Difference.

The best alternative to Dubsado.

Special 50% Offer for 17hats – You can get 50% off your first year of 17hats when you sign up using this referral code: 17hatsVS

Wins:

17hats   

  • The Essentials plan from 17hats is less than the Starter plan from Dubsado
  • 17hats has a Standard plan for those not yet ready to dive into Standard, but need more than the Essentials option
  • 17hats Premier plan is over twice as capable and functional as Dubsado’s top offering.

Dubsado 

  • Their top offering is less than the top offering by 17hats.

Overall 
17hats has 3 options instead of 2 as offered by Dubsado. With 17hats, your business has the ability to grow with your business, and is here whenever you are ready to take your business into the next chapter of your success.

Whenever you’re ready, Premier has an immense level of automations, far surpassing those found with Dubsado. This level of automation easily pays for itself by respecting your valuable time and delivering a personalized, yet automated experience, generating massive growth, and the work-life balance we dream of having as entrepreneurs.

10. Conclusion

I’ll start by mentioning that I love research. It makes my brain happy to do endless comparisons, I research nearly every big purchase extensively before going in, and believe that most companies provide an honest and respectful approach to their various offerings. I have zero joy in speaking ill of anyone or anything, that said, I also believe in transparency, and when I’m doing research, I want to bring anything I see to light in case it can help someone else.

This was by far the most difficult comparison I’ve ever had to do. Dubsado really does a great job of featuring “features” and it wasn’t until I dove into their platform that I realized just how broken these features are. Despite years of working within a CRM, I actually became frustrated at times trying to figure out how to do the basic things required to successfully run a business. As someone who has grown their business into a multi-6-figure business on autopilot, I was stunned to see just how stunted my growth would be if I used Dubsado as my platform.

I want the best for every small business, and if you would like to see how 17hats works in action, I would invite you to join a 17hats demo! Alternatively, at this time most are ready to start their new beginning! Ultimately your hard work has brought you to this point in your story, but now it’s time for a new chapter– let’s turn the page together by starting your 7-day free trial of 17hats!

Get Started Today

Special 50% Offer for 17hats – You can get 50% off your first year of 17hats when you sign up using this referral code: 17hatsVS

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