17Hats and Dubsado target freelancers wanting proposals, invoicing, and contracts in one place. They make different choices about priorities. Understanding those differences helps you pick the right tool.
Dubsado focuses on design professionals and service providers. It prioritizes beautiful templates and visual customization. Dubsado took a narrower approach than 17Hats, doing fewer things but doing them well.
Proposal Design and Customization
Dubsado proposals are drag-and-drop customizable. 17Hats proposals are template-based with limited design customization. For consultants, 17Hats works. For designers, Dubsado’s visual flexibility wins.
Invoicing Capabilities
Both handle invoicing similarly. Dubsado templates are more polished and design-focused. 17Hats is functional but less refined. For design agencies including invoices in portfolios, Dubsado’s polish matters.
Both include contract templates. Dubsado integrates them with proposals, sending both together. 17Hats keeps them separate. For formal presales workflows, Dubsado’s integration saves steps.
17Hats includes CRM with client history, email automation, and segmentation. Dubsado doesn’t. This is a fundamental difference: 17Hats is all-in-one, Dubsado is specialized.
17Hats includes email marketing and automation workflows. Dubsado lacks both. The tradeoff is simplicity: fewer features mean less to learn.
Pricing Comparison
Dubsado ranges $25-65 monthly, including proposals, invoices, and contracts. 17Hats Core is $35, plus $18 for Proposals = $53 minimum. Full 17Hats costs $89. For proposal-focused work, Dubsado is cheaper.
17Hats integrates with roughly 100 apps, Dubsado with roughly 50. Both connect to Stripe and PayPal for payments.
Dubsado prioritizes simplicity with straightforward setup in 30 minutes. 17Hats takes longer due to more features and automation options. Choose Dubsado for less complexity.
Both have mobile apps. 17Hats offers more functionality including CRM access. Dubsado covers essential tasks.
Choose Dubsado for design-focused proposals and simple invoicing. Choose 17Hats if you need CRM, email automation, and a complete business platform.
Dubsado suits design freelancers, photographers, and creative professionals who care about proposal appearance. If you send 5-10 proposals monthly and want beautiful templates with minimal setup, Dubsado works.
17Hats suits service providers wanting CRM, invoicing, proposals, and automation in one place. If you manage 20-50 active clients and need client history and automation, 17Hats provides that.
Define your priorities. Do you care more about proposal design or client management? About simplicity or features?
Designers lean toward Dubsado. Service providers managing multiple clients lean toward 17Hats. For most freelancers, both work. Choose based on whether CRM and automation or proposal design matters more.
Some use Dubsado for proposals and 17Hats for CRM and invoicing. This lets each tool excel in its specialty. Manual data entry between them is the tradeoff.
Both offer free trials. Spend 30 minutes in each to feel the interface. Send a test proposal in Dubsado and test workflows in 17Hats. Hands-on experience reveals which feels more natural.
Related: 17Hats Review 2026: Is It Still a Good Freelance Tool?
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