Dubsado gives you two price points; 17hats sells one all-inclusive plan with no cheaper entry tier. Here is how they compare on pricing, automation and lead capture, verified against both vendors.
Last verified: August 22, 2026 (17hats free tier and promo pricing added August 23, 2026)
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If you're a solo photographer choosing between Dubsado and 17hats, the short version: Dubsado gives you two price points (Starter and Premier) so a lean solo operation can pay less for a lighter feature set. 17hats dropped its old tiered pricing in 2025 and now sells one all-inclusive plan, so you get every feature at every price point, but there's no cheaper entry tier anymore, and the entry price is higher than Dubsado's Starter plan.
| Attribute | Dubsado | 17hats |
|---|---|---|
| Plan structure | Two plans: Starter, Premier | Free plan, or one all-inclusive paid plan (no paid tiers) |
| Starting price | $335/year (Starter) | $600/year list, $60/month, or $800/2 years, currently discounted 50% to $300/yr or $400/2yr for a new signup's first term |
| Top-tier price | $525/year (Premier) | Same $600/year list: one paid plan, everything included |
| Free plan | None (21-day free trial of Premier only) | Yes: unlimited contacts/projects, capped at 4 invoices/quarter Free tier |
| Free trial | 21 days, full Premier-tier access | 7-day free trial of the paid plan, restartable, full feature access |
| Client portal | Included on both plans | Included |
| Online scheduling | Advanced scheduling & booking on Premier plan only (not on Starter) | Included, with Zoom integration |
| Contracts / e-signature | Included on both plans, unlimited | Included, unlimited (no document cap on the current plan) |
| Payment plans / invoicing | Invoicing and payment plans included on both plans | Included: payment schedules, tipping, recurring invoices |
| Lead capture forms | 1 form on Starter, unlimited on Premier | 20 lead capture forms included |
| Workflow automation | Automated workflows on Premier plan only (not on Starter) | Included: advanced workflows and automation |
| Multi-user pricing | Flat per-plan pricing; extra users $25 to 60/mo in bands | First 3 users included; $5/mo per additional user beyond that |
Pricing and feature details verified directly against each vendor's public pricing page on 2026-08-22, with 17hats' current single-plan structure cross-checked against independent third-party coverage dated 2026 after an initial fetch returned outdated tiered pricing. Both vendors change plans and pricing periodically. Always confirm current pricing on the vendor's site before buying.
What "starting price" buys you. Dubsado's Starter plan is cheaper than 17hats' one and only plan, but Starter locks scheduling, workflow automation, and unlimited lead forms behind the Premier upgrade, so the realistic comparison for a photographer who wants automation is Dubsado Premier ($525/year) against 17hats' single plan ($600/year), not Dubsado's advertised starting price against 17hats'.
17hats now has a genuine free tier, and a live promo. As of this site's most recent recheck, 17hats offers a free CRM plan (unlimited contacts and projects, capped at 4 invoices/quarter) alongside its paid plan, enough to trial the client portal and contracts before paying anything. 17hats was also running a 50%-off first-term promotion on its paid plan ($300/yr or $400/2yr instead of the $600/$800 list price). Dubsado has no free tier, only a 21-day trial of Premier. Promo pricing is time-limited by definition. Confirm it's still live before quoting it.
No more document caps on 17hats. Older reviews (including some still ranking in search results) describe 17hats document limits by tier: that structure no longer exists. The current single plan has no document cap. If you've read a comparison elsewhere that emphasizes 17hats' "20 to 35 documents/month" limit, that's describing the pre-2025 pricing.
Setup time vs. simplicity. 17hats is generally positioned as the faster-to-learn tool; Dubsado's workflow builder is more powerful but has a real learning curve. One photography-adjacent creative who compared the two directly wrote that Dubsado "didn't feel intuitive" for visualizing where a client sat in their pipeline, even though they found it more approachable overall than 17hats, and ultimately chose a third tool (HoneyBook) because it "just clicked" for their workflow. That's a useful reminder that document-cap and price comparisons only tell part of the story; how a tool's interface matches your own mental model of your booking pipeline is something you can really only judge with your own trial account (source).
Part of the best CRM, invoicing & scheduling tools for solo service providers hub. See also HoneyBook alternatives for wedding officiants, Dubsado and 17hats compared again, alongside HoneyBook, for a different solo service business. And Bonsai vs Dubsado for solo consultants, Dubsado compared against a lighter, time-tracking-first alternative for hourly-billing consultants. And Dubsado vs 17hats for wedding videographers, the same two tools compared again, this time for wedding video bookings, where native integration with The Knot and WeddingWire becomes the deciding factor. And Dubsado vs HoneyBook for elopement photographers, a different tool pair, for a specific corner of the same solo-photographer audience this page addresses more broadly. And Dubsado vs 17hats for family and newborn photographers, the same two tools again, this time for studios juggling several session types, where 17hats' third-party workflow-template marketplace becomes the deciding factor.