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Dubsado Reviews

Dubsado Reviews

By Inês S.Inês S. — Verified by Saskia H.Saskia H. — Last updated: July 12, 2024 — User Reviews (0)
Overall
4/5
(3.5)
Features
(4)
Price
(4.5)
Customer Service
Dubsado logo
Pros
  • Various customization options
  • Diverse document-building features
  • Free version
  • Excellent customer service
  • Easy-to-use interface
Cons
  • Lacks comprehensive client records and analytics
  • No lead management
  • Limited integrations

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The Best Reviews team researches and tests all products first-hand. We've been reviewing products and services since 2012 and are proud to only publish human-created content.

Every freelancer or small business owner knows how crucial it is to maintain healthy, long-lasting customer relationships. Their work requires a steady pace, dynamic workflows, and handy tools for project management, just as much as any large enterprise. For that reason, they need the support of effective CRM systems like Dubsado.

Dubsado is a family-run enterprise tailored for creative or service-oriented companies and entrepreneurs. Its overarching goal is to enhance project management and automate routine business tasks, all while maintaining personability. This is achieved by a versatile array of features, which include project management, contract and proposal creation, invoice generation, and lead capture.

For those who prefer to test the waters before diving in, Dubsado offers a free version that supports up to three clients and unlimited projects. This plan has no time limits, doesn’t require credit card details, and enables users to acquaint themselves with the platform’s nuances before committing to a paid plan, which starts at $16.66 per month.

15% off Dubsado
Maximize your savings by subscribing to Dubsado's longer billing cycle. Opt for the Starter plan at $200 per year and save over 15%.

Features

Features
360º customer view
# users
30
Task management
Workflow automation
Platform customization
Document signing
Contact forms
Templates
Meeting scheduler

Dubsado focuses on providing clients with a full view of their projects. Upon signing in, a welcoming dashboard presents snapshots of annual earnings, revenue goals, upcoming tasks, and an attractive calendar.

The layout of the projects tab provides an organized view of active jobs and clients, along with their respective invoices, contracts, and sources. Users can conveniently assign workflows and write notes on customer interactions within this centralized hub.

When starting a project, it’s possible to link it to a new client or browse the address book to select an existing contact. Syncing Dubsado’s built-in calendar with Google Calendar helps resolve scheduling conflicts and automates meeting time proposals and reminders for customers.

While creating new logins incurs extra fees, users can easily manage their team and assign members to specific projects. Plus, Dubsado’s time tracker offers a detailed breakdown of time spent on tasks, with the option to apply billable hours to invoices.

Sales

Sales
Sales pipeline
Proposals
Contracts
Online payments
Invoices
Reports
Sales forecasting

The area where Dubsado truly shines is with its document-building features. The forms section has dozens of customizable samples for proposals, invoices, contracts, schedulers, and lead captures. These minimalist, user-friendly templates resemble the WordPress site builder and allow for stylizing text, customizing code, and embedding videos.

Unfortunately, Dubsado doesn’t have a dedicated page for managing leads. Instead, contacts are grouped into a project pipeline, which hampers the ability to monitor each lead’s source, activity, and engagement levels. However, even though these project statuses replace the conventional deal stages, any action that the lead takes involving Dubsado’s forms automatically updates the project.

Dubsado’s invoice management and accounting tools leave much room for improvement. The platform doesn’t account for any external income, meaning that users may need to resort to apps like QuickBooks to be able to track gains from sources like Etsy or Shopify.

Revenue forecasting is basically nonexistent, although you can get insights on pending payments right on your homepage. However, Dubsado’s payment processing stands out with features like payment packages, overdue reminders automation, and convenient integrations with Stripe, Square, and PayPal.

Customer support

Customer support
Customer journey
Ticket system
Customer satisfaction
Surveys

Dubsado isn’t a marketing-oriented CRM platform. It offers no built-in social media management, WhatsApp integration, or live chat but still provides enough tools to sustain strong client relationships.

Users first need to connect to an email account (Gmail, Outlook, or through SMTP), as without this integration, the platform limits the sending of emails to only three per day.

Like other CRM systems, Dubsado offers ‘canned emails’ templates, which are pre-designed messages for common scenarios. On top of that, Dubsado’s smart fields feature will auto-populate these templates with client details, like first names.

The envelope icon leads to Dubsado’s inbox — a short-term email storage with no sorting capabilities. To view a client’s entire communication history, it’s possible to scroll through the conversation thread on the project page.

Although there isn’t a ticket system for issue tracking, Dubsado includes a client portal where customers can find their emails, contracts, invoices, and billing dates. These portals are fully customizable, meaning you can tailor welcome messages, add logos, and personalize banners or colors.

For gauging customer satisfaction, Dubsado has editable questionnaire templates that can be used as feedback forms.

Automation

Marketing automation
Lead tracking
Email management
Social media management
Visual identity

Dubsado’s automation features go beyond just sending canned emails to customers. The long list of automated workflows ranges from delivering invoices and contracts to handling tasks, bookings, and meeting proposals.

In the workflows tab of the templates section, users can find step-by-step sample workflows to trigger unique actions and standardize tasks for their projects. To sweeten the deal, Dubsado allows you to automate recurring payments and over-due reminders for clients.

Ensuring consistent visual branding throughout client interactions is easy with Dubsado’s array of customization options, like adding a brand’s color and logos to forms, email templates, and proposals.

Companies need to embed Dubsado’s lead capture forms on their websites or share direct links with potential clients, as these types of workflows help capture leads more efficiently, saving time and money in the long run.

Reports

Even though Dubsado lacks in-depth client records and analytics, its reporting section is packed with a wealth of critical project metrics organized in an intuitive layout. Much like the main dashboard, Dubsado’s ‘Reports’ tab includes data on revenue and costs, categorized by date, which facilitates ROI calculation and bookkeeping.

Additionally, a ‘Chart of Accounts’ view cleanly presents the allocation of income and expenses in distinct categories so you can organize your finances.

Under ‘Invoices’ and ‘Transactions’, businesses will find master lists of all their financial activities. These lists are downloadable as CSV files, providing the option to generate personalized reports outside of Dubsado.

Furthermore, premium users can access the ‘Project Sources’ and ‘Project Breakdown’ pages, which offer dynamic visual representations through graphs and charts and delve into inquiries, sources, booking averages, and net income.

Device support

Platform support
Web app
Mobile optimized
macOS
Linux
Android
Windows
iOS

Dubsado’s scope of device support is more limited than its competitors. Although the web platform is mobile-optimized, this CRM system doesn’t offer native apps for iOS or Android devices. It does offer a desktop app, but only through a third party as it can’t be downloaded directly from the company’s website.

For an optimal user experience, it’s worth getting the Chrome browser integration. In fact, Dubsado provides a Chrome extension through Zapier that is a real asset for exchanging data and triggering actions between the two platforms, such as project status updates.

Even though Dubsado enables users to receive emails directly from their Gmail accounts, it’s important to note that the integration between these services is not fully developed, so it’s not yet possible to manage projects directly within the Gmail app.

Ease of use

Dubsado is one of the most intuitive and easy-to-navigate CRM systems. For starters, the dashboard is incredibly clear, well-organized, and practical. As a nice touch, users can pick from six color palettes to personalize their experience. Nothing feels cluttered or overwhelming, and should any questions arise, the on-screen tutorial pop-up is there for guidance.

Professionals focusing on project management will undoubtedly enjoy that section’s simple and effortless structure, with its neatly organized categories and customization options.

The help center is available directly on the platform and website for those who prefer self-guided support. It features several articles written in user-friendly, comprehensible language. Video tutorials and walkthroughs also enrich this resource trove for a more immersive learning experience.

Integrations

Integrations
# integrations
12
Microsoft 365
Google Workspace
Accounting software
Invoice software
Virtual phone systems
Web conferencing software
Lead generation tools
Project managers
Document management platforms
E-signature software
Zapier

Dubsado has a small but growing ecosystem of integrations. From the outset, users benefit from connecting their email providers and calendar apps to automate workflows and receive business-related reminders.

Moreover, this CRM system compensates for its bookkeeping constraints through its integration with Quickbooks and Xero, two of the most esteemed accounting platforms. Other third-party tools include CloudSpot, Zoom, iCloud, Office 365, and Microsoft Teams.

Moreover, by connecting their Zapier accounts, Dubsado’s clients unlock access to over 15,000 software integrations.

Pricing

Dubsado caters to a variety of companies, from life coaches to designer collectives, and this flexibility is mirrored in its thoughtfully designed pricing structure.

To try Dubsado without committing, there’s a forever-free plan that supports three clients and unlimited projects. Should users have more brands needing a CRM system, they can add each for $10 per month.

Free
$0
Free forever
Up to 3 clients
1 user
–
–
–
–
–
Starter
$16.66/mo
Billed annually
Unlimited clients
Multi-user
Invoicing
1 lead form
–
–
–
Premium
$33.33/mo
Billed annually
Unlimited clients
Multi-user
Invoicing
Unlimited lead forms
Workflow automation
Zapier Integration
Scheduler templates & workflows

Dubsado’s Starter plan is $20 when billed monthly, but this can be knocked down to $16.66 per month with annual billing ($200 for the year). This plan allows for multiple users and the ability to bulk-import external client lists. Other perks include invoicing, structured payment plans, and email and form templates. While this plan includes three users, adding more users for an extra monthly fee, starting with 4-10 users for $25, is possible.

With Dubsado’s Premium plan, the platform can be experienced in all its glory. From $33.33 per month with annual billing, this subscription includes automated workflows, scheduling tools, multiple lead captures, and integration with Zapier.

Although Dubsado doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee, the platform accepts refund requests if they occur within the first 14 days for annual subscriptions and 30 days for monthly commitments. Dubsado accepts all the main credit and debit cards and Google Pay.

Payment options
Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Discover
PayPal
Wire transfer
Check
Cryptocurrency

Customer service

Customer support
24/7
Live chat
Email
Phone
Community
FAQs
Video tutorials
Remote desktop
Blog
Facebook
Instagram
X
YouTube

Dubsado has a close-knit, family-based team behind it. It was founded by a married couple in 2016 and is now a team of over 50. This makes how fast and effective its customer service is all the more impressive. After asking our query in the platform’s chat, we got a reply from an agent within a few hours.

Dubsado has various options of onboarding avenues tailored to individual preferences, such as live weekly webinars, one-on-one calls with agents, and the help of certified specialists.

Along with an already robust help center that features 101s and advanced walkthroughs, Dubsado hosts a frequently updated blog with many articles and how-tos.

Finally, Dubsado’s Facebook Community has garnered acclaim among its user base. This virtual hub is an interactive arena for debating and exchanging templates, strategies, and ideas on all things Dubsado.

Bottom line

Ultimately, Dubsado is a young and versatile CRM system designed for independent professionals and small businesses. As a project-focused solution, it offers a comprehensive projects section that presents a holistic view of ongoing tasks, clients, and the associated gamut of invoices, contracts, and workflows.

Dubsado’s true forte lies in its document-building features. Characterized by a blend of minimalism and versatility, its template repertoire includes contracts, agreements, questionnaires, proposals, and lead captures. Better yet, everything is customizable to meet a variety of needs.

Despite not providing the 360-view of clients that a lot of CRM customers seek, Dubsado is excellent for automating monotonous tasks, canned emails, lead captures, and payment reminders. Dubsado is an optimal choice for those seeking to streamline project management and save precious time.

The high point of the service is, by far, the availability and responsiveness of its customer service, but Dubsado’s incredible usability and forever-free plan also take the cake.

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