Honeybook vs SugarCRM: Which CRM Tool Wins in 2025?

by | Apr 5, 2025

Winner
Honeybook
4.5
  • Automated Workflows
  • Online Invoices
  • Great Scheduling Feature
  • Cool Templates
  • Digital Contracts
  • Free trial available
  • Paid Plan Starts at $29
Runner Up
SugarCRM
3.5
  • Sales Automation
  • Integration
  • Marketing Automation
  • Landing Pages
  • Security Overview
  • Book Demo Now
  • Paid Plans from $19/month
Honeybook vs Sugarcrm

Are you juggling clients and feeling overwhelmed?

Maybe you’re using tools that don’t quite fit.

Endless spreadsheets, missed deadlines, and clients slipped through the cracks.

So, let’s talk about CRMs. Specifically, Honeybook vs SugarCRM.

But which one is the right fit for you in 2025?

We’ll break down Honeybook vs SugarCRM, simple and straight, so you can pick the winner.

Overview

To provide a clear, unbiased comparison, we’ve gone hands-on. Our team dedicated significant time to testing both Honeybook and SugarCRM.

We explored their features, ran real-world scenarios, and analyzed user feedback.

This thorough evaluation ensures that we deliver practical insights, not just theoretical points.

Honeybook CTA
4.5out of 5

Are you looking for a simple way to manage projects and get paid? Explore all its features.

Pricing: It has a free trial. The premium plan starts at $29/month.

Key Features:

  • Client Communication Tools
  • Online Invoicing and Payments
  • Contract Management
SugarCRM CTA
3.5out of 5

SugarCRM’s tools like Sugar Sell, Sugar Serve, and Sugar Market can help! Automate marketing today!

Pricing: Book your demo plan. The premium plan starts at $19/month.

Key Features:

  • Sales Force Automation
  • Customer Support
  • Reporting and Analytics

What is Honeybook?

It’s for creative businesses. Think freelancers, designers, and event planners.

It helps manage clients, projects, and payments. It keeps everything organized.

Also, explore our favorite HoneyBook alternatives

Honeybook Homepage

Our Take

Honeybook CTA

Streamline your business and get back to doing what you love. HoneyBook’s intuitive platform automates tasks, manages clients, and gets you paid faster.

Key Benefits

  • Stay easily organized: Manage all your projects, clients, and communication in one central hub.
  • Get paid faster: Send invoices and receive payments online with ease.
  • Boost your bookings: Create and send professional proposals in minutes.
  • Automate your workflow: Streamline tasks like sending contracts and follow-up emails.

Pricing

HoneyBook offers a free trial to get a feel for the platform. They have a simple pricing structure with two main options:

  • Starter: $29/month.
  • Essentials: $49/month.
  • Premium: $109/month.
Honeybook Pricing

Pros

  • It has a beautiful and intuitive interface.
  • Easy to use and navigate.
  • Great for client communication.
  • Affordable pricing options.

Cons

  • Limited customization options.
  • Fewer integrations than GoHighLevel.
  • More robust for marketing.

What is SugarCRM?

It’s for sales-focused teams. It offers deep customization.

It manages leads and opportunities. It scales with your business.

Also, explore our favorite SugarCRM alternatives

sugarcrm homepage

Our Take

SugarCRM CTA

Want to boost sales by 20% in 2025? SugarCRM’s tools like Sugar Sell, Sugar Serve, and Sugar Market can help! Automate marketing, manage customers and close more deals.

Key Benefits

  • Open-source platform: Gives you greater flexibility and control.
  • Robust sales automation: Streamline your sales processes and boost productivity.
  • Excellent reporting tools: Gain valuable insights into your sales performance.
  • The mobile app includes access to your CRM data on the go.
  • Large community: Tap into a wealth of resources and support.

Pricing

SugarCRM offers a free trial to test things out. Their paid plans start at $49 per user per month. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Essentials: $19/user/month, three users minimum.
  • Standard: $59/user/month, ten users minimum.
  • Advanced: $85/user/month, ten users minimum.
  • Premier: $135/user/month, ten users minimum.
SugarCRM Pricing

Pros

  • Very customizable platform.
  • Powerful reporting features.
  • Offers a free trial and plan.
  • Mobile app is included.
  • Large and active community.

Cons

  • Can be complex to set up.
  • The interface feels outdated.
  • Marketing automation is costly.
  • Not as intuitive as GoHighLevel.
  • Some features feel clunky.

Feature Comparison

This analysis evaluates HoneyBook, a specialized client management platform for the service lifecycle.

SugarCRM, an established leading crm platform known for its enterprise customization and robust, modular components like sugar sell and sugar market.

This analysis will clarify which crm platform is the better fit for your service teams and overall client management needs.

1. Core Focus and System Type

  • HoneyBook: Functions as a Clientflow Management tool, specializing in invoices, proposals, contracts, and online payments for service-based businesses. It’s an affordable crm solution for freelancers and small teams.
  • SugarCRM: A modular crm platform designed for mid-to-large enterprises, offering separate products like sugar market (marketing automation), sugar sell (sales), and sugar serve (service). It’s a true leading crm.

2. Pricing and Scalability

  • HoneyBook: Offers fixed pricing regardless of the unlimited users you manage (though it is project-focused). The honeybook cost is simple, encouraging users to start free trial with a promo code.
  • SugarCRM: Pricing is complex and tiered, often starting with a ten user minimum and scaling per user across products like sugar enterprise. Sugarcrm cost requires careful consideration of its crm alternatives.

3. Document and Payment Automation

  • HoneyBook: Excels at automating the client document lifecycle, including contracts and invoices, with built-in online payments. It ensures the site properly experience is professional.
  • SugarCRM: Requires custom setup or integrations for document generation. It focuses heavily on service automation and sales drag and drop workflows within the platform, not client-side documents.

4. Sales and Service Features

  • HoneyBook: Sales features are tailored for the service sales cycle. It lacks dedicated sales performance and in-depth service features found in enterprise tools.
  • SugarCRM: Provides robust tools across its clouds: sugar sell for high-end sales performance tracking and sugar serve for comprehensive service teams management.

5. Customization and Workflows

  • HoneyBook: Allows some branding and field customization but is limited by its specialized project flow. Users rely on simple, automated email templates for communication.
  • SugarCRM: Highly configurable, allowing users to customize sugarcrm extensively, including complex business logic and advanced drag and drop workflows suitable for software development needs.

6. Reliability and Support

  • HoneyBook: Users check the ray id upon loading the site properly and rely on verification successful waiting time for support. Users often love honeybook for its ease of use.
  • SugarCRM: Offers enhanced support and online support for its sugar professional and enterprise plans. It requires strong configuration to ensure long-term stability.

7. Core Platform Ecosystem

  • HoneyBook: A self-contained platform focusing on client transactions and project management. It includes same emails centralization for client history.
  • SugarCRM: Offers modular products that cover the entire customer lifecycle, including sugar market (marketing automation), allowing service teams to collaborate seamlessly across modules.

8. Lead Management and Integration

  • HoneyBook: Lead capture is centered around contact forms and project requests. It uses simple calendar integration for booking.
  • SugarCRM: Handles complex, large-scale lead management with deep marketing automation and territory management. It offers robust calendar integration and is considered a top leading crm platform.

9. Value Proposition and Risk

  • HoneyBook: Provides an affordable crm solution with low sugarcrm cost and crm prices for freelancers. It mitigates risk with a long free trials period.
  • SugarCRM: Represents a major investment, often requiring a ten user minimum license. It is positioned as a market leader with enhanced support for those seeking scalable crm alternatives to Zoho CRM.

What to Look For in a CRM Software?

  • Scalability: Can the CRM grow with your business? Does it handle increasing data and users?
  • Industry-Specific Needs: Does the CRM cater to your industry’s unique workflows? Are there specialized features relevant to your business?
  • Third-Party Integrations: Does it integrate with your existing tools? How seamless is the data transfer between platforms?
  • Mobile Accessibility: Is the CRM mobile-friendly? Can you access critical information on the go?
  • Training and Support: Does the provider offer adequate training resources? How responsive is the customer support team?
  • Data Security: What security measures are in place to protect your data and client portal? Does the CRM comply with relevant data privacy regulations?

Final Verdict

After testing and comparing, we picked Honeybook for many small businesses.

It’s super user-friendly. It helps automate client work.

User reviews show that it simplifies tasks. 

If you need strong campaign management and deep customization options, SugarCRM is better.

However, for most, Honeybook’s automated workflows and knowledge base win.

It saves time. We’ve seen it work. You’ll like it too. 

Choose what fits your needs best.

More of Honeybook

Here’s a brief comparison of Honeybook with these software solutions:

  • Honeybook vs Pipedrive: Honeybook focuses on client and project management for freelancers and small businesses, while Pipedrive specializes in visual sales pipeline management for sales teams.
  • HoneyBook vs GoHighLevel: HoneyBook is great for creative businesses and freelancers. It helps with client booking, contracts, and payments in one place. GoHighLevel is an all-in-one platform for marketing agency needs.
  • Honeybook vs Keap: Honeybook streamlines client and project workflows with integrated payments, while Keap provides comprehensive sales and marketing automation for business growth.
  • Honeybook vs ActiveCampaign: Honeybook is an all-in-one platform for client management and project workflows, while ActiveCampaign excels in advanced email marketing automation and customer relationship management.
  • Honeybook vs Hubspot: Honeybook provides a streamlined solution for small businesses managing client projects, whereas HubSpot offers a wide range of marketing, sales, and service tools for scaling companies.
  • Honeybook vs Clickfunnels: Honeybook is a client management and payment processing platform; ClickFunnels is primarily a sales funnel builder designed for lead generation and online sales.
  • Honeybook vs Folk: Honeybook is an all-in-one platform for client management, proposals, and payments, while Folk focuses on collaborative contact organization and team-based CRM.
  • Honeybook vs Instantly: Honeybook provides an integrated solution for client and project management, while Instantly is a specialized tool for high-volume cold email outreach and deliverability.
  • Honeybook vs Clickup: Honeybook is designed for client and project workflow management with integrated invoicing, while ClickUp is a versatile platform for project management, task tracking, and team collaboration.
  • Honeybook vs Monday: Honeybook streamlines client processes and payments for service businesses, while Monday CRM offers customizable visual workflows for diverse project and sales management.
  • Honeybook vs Capsule: Honeybook focuses on project-based client management and integrated payments, whereas Capsule CRM is a straightforward CRM for general contact organization and sales pipeline tracking.
  • Honeybook vs Insightly: Honeybook offers an all-in-one solution for creative professionals to manage client projects, while Insightly provides a more robust CRM with advanced sales, marketing, and project management capabilities.
  • Honeybook vs Freshsales: Honeybook is designed for client-focused project management and invoicing, while Freshsales CRM is a comprehensive sales automation platform with robust lead management and reporting.
  • Honeybook vs Salesforce: Honeybook provides a user-friendly platform for small business client management, while Salesforce is an expansive, highly customizable enterprise-level CRM with extensive sales, service, and marketing functionalities.

More of SugarCRM

Here’s a brief comparison of Monday CRM with these software solutions:

  • Monday CRM vs Pipedrive: Monday CRM is a versatile work operating system with robust project and team management. Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM known for its visual pipeline management and deal-closing features.
  • Monday vs GoHighLevel: Monday is really good for managing projects and team tasks. It helps you keep track of work visually. GoHighLevel is more of an all-in-one tool for marketing and sales.
  • Monday CRM vs Keap: Monday CRM provides highly customizable visual workflows for team collaboration and customer management, while Keap offers powerful sales and marketing automation designed for small businesses.
  • Monday CRM vs ActiveCampaign: Monday CRM focuses on visual collaboration and customizable dashboards for project and customer relationship tracking, whereas ActiveCampaign excels in advanced email marketing automation, segmentation, and detailed analytics.
  • Monday CRM vs Hubspot: Monday CRM offers a flexible, visual platform for managing projects and customer data, while HubSpot provides a comprehensive suite of marketing, sales, and customer service tools.
  • Monday CRM vs Clickfunnels: Monday CRM is a flexible work OS with strong CRM capabilities; ClickFunnels is primarily a sales funnel builder for creating landing pages and automating sales conversion processes.
  • Monday CRM vs Folk: Monday CRM provides highly customizable visual workflows and collaboration for diverse teams; Folk focuses on intuitive, collaborative contact management and enrichment with a simple interface.
  • Monday CRM vs Instantly: Monday CRM is a flexible work OS with CRM functionalities for visual pipeline management; Instantly specializes in automated cold email outreach and high-volume lead generation.
  • Monday CRM vs ClickUp: Monday CRM prioritizes visual and user-friendly project and work management; ClickUp is an all-in-one productivity platform offering extensive features for task management, CRM, and more.
  • Monday CRM vs Capsule CRM: Monday CRM provides extensive customization for workflows and projects, integrating CRM functionalities; Capsule CRM is a simpler, more affordable contact manager primarily focused on sales tracking.
  • Monday CRM vs Insightly: Monday CRM offers a highly customizable platform for managing projects and customer relationships, whereas Insightly provides a more traditional CRM with integrated project management.
  • Monday CRM vs Freshsales CRM: Monday CRM is a versatile work OS with CRM features for customizable tracking. At the same time, Freshsales CRM is a dedicated sales CRM with AI-powered lead management and automation.
  • Monday CRM vs Salesforce: Monday CRM offers a flexible, visual, and highly customizable platform for various business needs; Salesforce is an enterprise-level CRM with extensive, deep features for complex sales and marketing operations.
  • Monday CRM vs Zendesk: Monday CRM excels in visual project management and team collaboration for sales and other functions. At the same time, Zendesk is a specialized customer service platform focused on ticketing and support.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main price comparison?

Honeybook offers tiered plans starting at $29/month. SugarCRM uses per-user pricing, starting at $19/user/month. Honeybook is often cheaper for solo users, while Sugar CRM scales better for large teams.

Is Honeybook or Sugar CRM better for freelancers?

Honeybook is generally better for freelancers. It’s an all-in-one platform for managing projects, payments, and clients. Sugar CRM is more sales-focused, which may not suit freelancers’ needs.

What does Honeybook offer that SugarCRM doesn’t?

Honeybook offers integrated project tools. It simplifies client communication and payments and is built for creative work. SugarCRM focuses more on sales and advanced CRM features.

How do I choose the right CRM software: Honeybook vs SugarCRM?

Consider your business size and needs. Honeybook is good for small businesses needing project management. SugarCRM is for sales teams needing robust CRM tools. Review the comparison to find the best fit.

Which CRM Tool helps best to manage projects?

Honeybook excels at project management. Its tools help organize tasks, track progress, and communicate with clients. Sugar CRM is better for managing sales pipelines and customer data.

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