7 Best 17hats Alternatives 2023

17hats is a business and client management software that allows you to organize projects and documents, draft contracts, send invoices, collect payments, and more.

While 17hats is not a bad tool, it does have some downsides. One of the biggest complaints new users have is that it isn’t very intuitive and has a clunky interface.

17hats has a lot of features, but they’re not all that streamlined. It can take some time figuring out how to do stuff – if you’re a beginner at client management, you might be looking for something a bit simpler.

Furthermore, a common complaint about 17hats is that it has poor customer support. It can also get expensive if you need to create more than 20 documents a month (including invoices, contracts, questionnaires, etc.).

Fortunately, various 17hats alternatives are available. Here are the seven best 17hats alternatives.

Best 17hats Alternatives

1. Bonsai

If you’re a freelancer or small business owner, Bonsai is a better alternative than 17hats. It’s designed for freelancers and entrepreneurs, and it has a beautiful interface that’s a lot less clunky than 17hats.

Everything is streamlined on Bonsai, from contracts to time tracking to invoicing to tax preparation.

Start by drafting a proposal. Choose from one of the customizable proposal templates, add your branding, and add custom packages or upsells for your client to choose from.

You’ll receive a notification when the client views your proposal. Clients can accept the proposal from their mobile devices.

The next step is sending a contract. There are many freelance contract templates to pick from, but you can change the legal wording as needed.

Your client can add their electronic signature from anywhere. Once you’ve sent them the contract via Bonsai or the secure link, you can send them reminders to make sure they don’t forget to sign.

In the project dashboard, you can keep track of all your clients and documents. Although Bonsai is made for freelancers, that doesn’t mean it’s only for those who work alone.

You can invite other freelancers or contractors to the platform and collaborate with them, whether they are a subcontractor you hired or another freelancer working on the same project.

The next step is tracking time, so you know how many hours to bill clients for. You can track time using the Chrome extension or web or mobile apps, and set a rate for each hour, so you can add time worked to invoices.

You can round time up, if you want, to smooth out the time tracking and invoicing process.

Simple task management tools on Bonsai allow you to keep track of what you need to do each day, assign tasks to collaborators, and sync tasks to the timesheet.

Sending invoices is easy, too. You can automate reminders and even bill clients for late invoices by charging them late fees.

A cool feature is the ability to lock attachments on the invoice until the client pays. So, for example, if the completed work is in a document, you can attach that document to the invoice and restrict access until you get what you are owed.

Clients can pay in a variety of ways, such as PayPal, bank transfer, or credit card. Bonsai accepts 180 currencies, so you can use it regardless of where you or your clients are.

While 17hats does support multiple currencies, it only supports around 40 at the moment. You can see an updated list of supported currencies on 17hats here.

Partial payments are possible as well, and clients can tip you extra for good work.

Freelancers need to pay estimated taxes at least four times a year to the IRS, and Bonsai will remind you of the estimated payments you owe, so you don’t miss them. You can also track your expenses to get quick write-offs and save on taxes.

Just connect your bank account and Bonsai will do the rest, tracking expenses and categorizing them automatically. Look at your profit & loss reports to make sure you are staying on the right track with your business.

Bonsai has simple pricing and doesn’t restrict you in the number of documents you can use. You can see updated Bonsai pricing here.

Find more tools like Bonsai here.

2. HoneyBook

HoneyBook offers most of the same features as 17hats. For example, you can create and send online contracts, estimates, and invoices, either separately or as an all-in-one document.

You can accept payments from clients on HoneyBook, and clients can even set up recurring payments, so they never miss bills. Using HoneyBook, you can even accept tips from clients when they want to show their appreciation and give you something extra.

Like 17hats, HoneyBook lets you send questionnaires. There are tons of templates available for documents, and a questionnaire is among them.

Similarly, you can create an online booking calendar, so clients can see when you are available and select a slot for appointments and meetings. Like 17hats, HoneyBook lets you send automated reminders to clients before meetings, so they don’t miss them.

The contact form on HoneyBook lets you collect leads. You can set up an automation to reply to people who fill out a contact form with an automatic email.

However, HoneyBook is easier to use than 17hats. It’s more intuitive and streamlined and a better option for newbies, with excellent help articles and documentation to guide you through the learning curve.

Furthermore, HoneyBook gets exceptional reviews for its customer support, unlike 17hats.

There’s another big reason to choose HoneyBook over 17hats: It doesn’t limit you to 20 or 35 documents, even on the cheapest plan.

It does limit you to a certain monetary amount of transactions per month on the cheapest plan, but you can send as many invoices, contracts, or other documents as you’d like.

It’s cheaper, too, at just $9/month for the starter plan. See updated pricing here.

Explore the best alternatives to HoneyBook here.

3. Wave Financial

Wave Financial is a nifty little tool for sending invoices to clients and tracking your income and expenses. It’s a two-in-one tool – invoicing and accounting, so it’s a lot simpler to use than 17hats.

Moreover, unlike 17hats, Wave is entirely free for sending estimates, sending invoices, collecting payments, and tracking expenses. If you only need to send invoices and do basic accounting, Wave is the way to go, especially if you are on a budget.

You can start by sending an estimate, which you can turn into an invoice once you agree upon a price. Invoices can be sent directly via Wave or via a third-party service, like Gmail or Outlook.

After sending an invoice, which you can set in any currency, you can send automated payment reminders and overdue account statements. You’ll see when a client has opened and viewed your invoice, so you will know if they are ignoring you.

Both manual and recurring payments are available, and you can switch between one and the other at any time. Clients can pay you via credit card or bank transfer.

Using the iOS and Android apps, you can create and send invoices on the go. The app will give you push notifications when your clients view and pay invoices.

Of course, although Wave is free to use, they still charge a small payment processing fee when you get paid with Wave. That starts at just 1% for bank transfers and goes up to 2.9% + $0.30 for credit card transactions, a rate that is on par with those of major payment processors like PayPal.

Let’s move on to the accounting aspect of Wave. Wave will track your invoices, payments, income, and expenses to prepare reports you can use when tax time comes around.

In your dashboard, you will be able to see simple cash flow reports, profit & loss reports, and more. You can filter for different time ranges and see a graph displaying how your cash flow has increased or decreased over time.

Wave uses a double-entry accounting system.

Accounting on Wave is free, too.

All in all, Wave is up there in my list of the top 17hats alternatives. It’s not because it offers more features than 17hats, because it doesn’t, but it is so simplified – and it’s free to use!

Interesting Comparison: HoneyBook vs QuickBooks

4. Dubsado

Another excellent alternative to 17hats is Dubsado, which beats 17hats in a variety of ways.

Overall, most of what can be done with 17hats can be done with Dubsado, and more. For example, you can manage projects through an interactive dashboard and client portals.

You can send invoices, collect payments online, set up payment plans, send payment reminders, and create other automation workflows. Clients can book appointments from your website, using Dubsado’s online scheduler.

Dubsado will give you in-depth reports based on your invoices and expenses to help you monitor your profits.

However, there are also some features that Dubsado offers that 17hats doesn’t – for example, clients can upload documents of up to 5 MB within any form.

Another feature that might make Dubsado worthwhile is that you can offer optional upsells in proposals. That way, you can increase your profits without being too pushy.

Another tool you will find in Dubsado and not 17hats is the task board. Task boards let you take your to-do list and organize your to-dos into columns.

Dubsado is free for up to three clients. After that, you can subscribe to add more clients.

If you manage multiple brands, you can purchase the brand add-on, at just $10 per additional brand. There are also team accounts available – check updated pricing options here.

Check out the alternative tools to Dubsado.

5. Fiverr Workspace

Fiverr Workspace, formerly AND.co, isn’t just for Fiverr sellers. Any freelancer or small business owner can use it to send invoices online, accept payments, and more.

In fact, Fiverr Workspace isn’t for work done on Fiverr, as the Fiverr platform handles payment for such work. Fiverr Workspace is specifically for work done outside the Fiverr website.

Start by sending a proposal, using one of the available templates, You can set different milestones and guidelines for each project.

Once the client accepts the proposal, you can generate a contract for them to sign electronically. Contract templates on Fiverr Workspace are vetted by the Freelancers Union and contain language that is designed to protect you, the freelancer, in case of a legal dispute with a client.

Freelancers Union is a nonprofit, based in New York, that advocates for freelancers.

However, you’re not limited by the language in the contract template, either. You can turn clauses on or off or add new language, depending on your needs and the situation at hand.

You can have a client make a deposit while signing a contract. That way, you can get some money upfront and make sure the client is serious about paying you for your services.

Staying on track when working on projects is easy when using Fiverr Workspace, as it generates tasks based on your contracts, projects, and deadlines. You’ll see your most important tasks first.

Of course, you can also add your own tasks or push off a task for later.

While working on projects, use the time tracking web app to generate timesheets to bill clients.

When it comes to sending invoices to clients, most of the work will be done for you. You can generate invoices automatically based on contracts clients signed or based on the timesheets you have generated.

Clients can pay you online, using a credit card or bank transfer. You can set up an online payment page and connect your PayPal or Stripe account to get money into your PayPal account or bank account.

Both you and the client will get notified when a payment is past the due date.

You don’t have to get paid in USD, either. Simply set the currency you want to get paid in.

For clients you do regular work for, you can set up recurring invoices. Invoices can come with attached files.

If you’d like, you can give some clients a price reduction by applying a fixed or percentage-based discount on invoices.

Remember what I said about setting milestones for projects? You can set up alerts for when certain milestones in a project are reached and generate invoices when that happens.

Finally, Fiverr Workspace lets you connect your credit cards for automatic income and expense tracking, helping you prepare for tax season. You’ll get in-depth reports detailing your expenses and the state of your business in general.

Unlike 17hats, Fiverr Workspace offers a free plan, allowing you to send contracts and collect payments. However, the free plan is for those who have only one client – if you have multiple clients, you’ll need the premium plan.

However, there’s only one premium plan, and you’re never limited in the number of documents or clients you can have.

See updated pricing here.

Also, if you’ve been frustrated by the clunky interface of 17hats, you’ll love the clean and simple interface of Fiverr Workspace.

Check Out: Bonsai vs Dubsado

6. ProWorkflow

ProWorkflow is a fantastic 17hats alternative for managing both teams and clients. There are three types of people you can track in ProWorkflow: clients, contractors, and staff.

You can add as many contracts and clients as you want for free, but you will need a premium plan to add staff accounts.

For all of your contacts, you can see all tasks they have completed and projects they have worked on.

In ProWorkflow, you can see your weekly workload and who is available, so you can assign tasks to available team members.

You can track time using the time tracker on desktop or mobile, using the tracked time to generate invoices. The tasks feature lets you set up to-do lists for projects, with the ability to set up recurring tasks, sub-tasks, and dependent tasks.

Dependent tasks require a previous task to be done first. Similarly, you can set up task hierarchies to quickly determine which tasks are most important.

Within a task, you can track time when completing the task, send messages to team members, and upload documents. You can even make a task the only thing visible to a specific team member, so they don’t get distracted.

Task management is simple with the Kanban board, a feature that 17hats doesn’t have. Simply drag and drop tasks from one column to another to organize them.

When it comes to task management, ProWorkflow easily beats 17hats.

ProWorkflow also beats 17hats when it comes to team collaboration. For example, the built-in messaging app lets you communicate with staff members quickly and easily by sending either public or private messages.

You can create threaded discussions to get input from other team members and upload files in messages. For faster communication, you can reply to messages via email.

Some things that are available by default on 17hats, however, are only available as optional plugins on ProWorkflow. For example, invoices can be created with the Invoice Manager plugin.

You will still have to use a third-party accounting software, like QuickBooks, to collect payments from clients. However, you can send an invoice from ProWorkflow to your accounting software to make that easier.

The Quotes plugin lets you send customizable quotes to clients directly.

ProWorkflow integrates with many external apps and tools. For example, it integrates with Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Box for file sharing and management, and Microsoft Teams for collaboration.

7. Bitrix24

If you need a more comprehensive CRM system than 17hats, Bitrix24 is a good alternative. It allows you to manage clients, send invoices, and a lot more.

From online conferences to HR to customer support, Bitrix24 provides an all-in-one client and employee management system, with a lot more features than 17hats, as it’s a full-fledged CRM.

While 17hats provides a lead capture form, Bitrix24 takes lead generation to a whole new level. You can collect leads from a variety of sources, including social media and phone calls, and enjoy an advanced lead scoring system to rank leads and determine which are more likely to convert.

Then, set up marketing and sales automation rules to make converting easier.

Managing your task workload with Bitrix24 is easier, as well. Using a Kanban board, you can organize your tasks into different columns.

Or, you can use Gantt charts or other visual representations to get a better understanding of your tasks on hand. Either way, you can set up recurring tasks and receive work reports from employees.

Employees can use the built-in time tracker to track their time. A robust messaging system allows you to send private or public messages to employees, and you can set up online conferences with up to two dozen participants.

Create personal or group calendars, so everyone stays up to date on what others are doing. Send out employee polls to receive valuable feedback, or create a Facebook-like feed for employee news and updates.

Bitrix24 integrates with various file-sharing systems, allowing you to store and share documents with others.

Sending quotes and invoices online to clients is possible as well. There are plenty of customizable templates for invoices and quotes, so you can add your branding and logo.

In the payment settings, you can configure payment details, so clients can pay you either via bank transfer or PayPal.

With work groups, employee profiles, work reports, and different schedule types, Bitrix24 is also an advanced HR system that is better for larger businesses than 17hats.

Bitrix24 even has a free website builder. As I said, it really is an all-in-one tool – you can create a personal website using its visual website editor.

Sure, Bitrix24 has many features, and it may seem overwhelming at first. The good part is that it offers free training courses to new users – check out courses here.

Furthermore, Bitrix24 has something that 17hats does not – a forever free plan, with unlimited users. While features are somewhat limited, it does allow you to create a website, collaborate with team members, and more.

Of course, always check updated pricing on the pricing page.

Wrapping It Up: What Is The Best 17hats Alternative?

I recommend using Bonsai. It offers a beautiful interface, with clean templates, and it’s simple to use.

Despite that, it’s affordable, and it offers all the features you’ll need to manage clients, send proposals, draft contracts, accept payments, and keep track of your income and expenses for tax season.