Two years ago, I ran my freelance business with a spreadsheet and a prayer.
Clients in a Google Sheet. Invoices in FreshBooks. Contracts in DocuSign. Scheduling in Calendly. Proposals in Google Docs. Time tracking in Toggl.
Six tools. Six subscriptions. Six places to check every morning.
It worked. Barely. But I was spending more time managing my tools than managing my business.
So I went looking for something better. One app that could handle everything. I tested seven of them. Here's what I found — with no affiliate links and no sponsorship deals.
What I was looking for
Before I get into the tools, here's what matters to me as a solo freelancer. Your priorities might be different, but I think most freelancers want the same core things.
I wanted invoicing that takes less than 2 minutes. I wanted contracts I could send without switching apps. Proposals that look professional. A CRM that shows me who owes me money. Time tracking that doesn't make me want to quit. And a price that doesn't make me feel like I'm subsidising a sales team of 50.
That's it. Not complicated. But surprisingly hard to find in one place.
HoneyBook — beautiful but expensive
HoneyBook is the tool your friend who does wedding photography swears by. And I get why. The client experience is gorgeous. Their "Smart Files" combine proposals, contracts, and payment into one seamless flow.
But at $39 a month, it's the most expensive option here. That's nearly $470 a year. For a solo freelancer doing a few projects a month, that's a big number.
No time tracking. No AI features. The editor looks slick but it's surprisingly rigid once you try to customise things. And the 7-day trial isn't enough time to properly evaluate anything.
HoneyBook is built for creative professionals running premium businesses. If you're booking $5K+ packages regularly, it makes sense. If you're a developer quoting £500 fixes, it's overkill.
Dubsado — powerful if you survive the setup
Dubsado is the opposite of HoneyBook. Less polish, more power. You can automate almost anything — conditional logic in forms, multi-step workflows, custom fields everywhere.
The catch? The setup will eat your first week alive. I'm not exaggerating. The interface feels dated. Finding simple settings requires three clicks too many. And the learning curve is real.
At $20 a month, the price is fair for what you get. But the time investment isn't. If you love building systems and you'll use the same tool for years, Dubsado rewards that patience. If you just want to send invoices and not think about it, look elsewhere.
Bonsai — the solid all-rounder
Bonsai at $21 a month gives you invoicing, contracts, proposals, time tracking, basic accounting, and tax prep. It's the most complete package at a reasonable price.
I used Bonsai for three months. It's good. The tax tracking is genuinely useful if you're in the US. The contracts are clean. The invoicing works.
But the proposal builder is frustrating. Templates feel locked down. There's no AI assistance for drafting. And the customisation options are limited enough that your proposals end up looking like everyone else's.
Bonsai is the safe choice. If you want one tool that does everything acceptably, it's your best bet among the established players. Just don't expect to be wowed.
Moxie (formerly Hectic) — great dashboard, incomplete tool
Moxie rebranded from Hectic and they clearly put effort into the design. The dashboard is the best I've seen — clean visual overview of income, pipeline, and upcoming deadlines.
The free plan is generous. You get basic invoicing and project tracking without paying anything. That's rare.
But the moment you need proposals or contracts, you're on the paid plan at $25 a month. And the proposal system is basic. No AI. Limited templates. The client portal is decent but nothing special.
Moxie feels like it's 80% there. Good for freelancers who want a free starting point and might upgrade later. Not the best if you need the full stack right now.
Plutio — ambitious but rough
Plutio tries to be everything. Project management. CRM. Invoicing. Proposals. Contracts. Wiki. Chat. It even has a white-label client portal.
At $19 a month, the feature list is impressive on paper. In practice, it's stretched too thin. The proposal builder is clunky. The interface is busy. I spent more time figuring out where things were than actually using them.
If you're a small agency with 2-3 people, Plutio's breadth might work for you. For solo freelancers, it feels like carrying a Swiss Army knife when you just needed scissors.
Hectic — now Moxie
If you're searching for Hectic, it's Moxie now. Same team, new name, better design. See above.
SoloPad — the one I built
Full disclosure: I built SoloPad. So take everything I say with that context.
I built it because none of the tools above did what I wanted. Specifically: AI-powered proposal and contract drafting that actually saves time. A simple CRM that shows me my pipeline without a tutorial. Invoicing that takes 60 seconds. And a price that doesn't assume I'm running a 10-person agency.
SoloPad starts at £5 a month. It includes proposals, contracts, invoicing, CRM, scheduling, time tracking, and AI drafting. You type a brief. It generates a professional proposal or contract. You review it, tweak it, send it.
Is it perfect? No. It's newer than the others. The template library is smaller. There are features the established tools have that we're still building.
But if you're a solo freelancer who wants to stop paying £30+ a month for tools that don't quite fit — that's who I built this for.
The comparison nobody wants to make
Here's the truth that none of these tools will tell you: most freelancers don't need most of the features they're paying for.
You need to send proposals. Sign contracts. Invoice clients. Track who owes you money. That's 90% of the job.
The other 10% — automations, conditional logic, white-label portals, custom fields — matters for some people. But most freelancers are paying for the 10% and only using the 90%.
Pick the tool that does the 90% best. Not the one with the longest feature list.
My honest recommendation
If money is no object and you want the prettiest client experience: HoneyBook.
If you love building systems and want maximum control: Dubsado. Block out a week.
If you want a solid, established all-in-one with tax features: Bonsai.
If you want a free starting point with a nice dashboard: Moxie.
If you want AI drafting, simplicity, and the lowest price: SoloPad. Obviously I'm biased. But I built it because I needed it, and I think you might too.
The best advice I can give: take the free trial on whichever one interests you. Send a real proposal. Invoice a real client. That 30 minutes will tell you more than any blog post — including this one.
SoloPad: proposals, contracts, invoices, CRM, and AI drafting — starting at £5/mo. Try it free for 30 days. No card needed.