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Keeping track of clients: the CRM apps freelancers use
One-person businesses need to remember every client, chase every quote and spend less time in the inbox. Customer relationship apps do all three, in very different ways.
A freelancer's client records often live in three places at once: the inbox, a spreadsheet and memory. A customer relationship app, or CRM, puts them in one. For a business of one, the useful ones go further than a contact list: they send the proposal, take the signature, raise the invoice and remind you when a lead has gone quiet.
The nine apps below range from all-in-one client tools built for creative work to sales CRMs and a flexible workspace that a freelancer shapes into their own system. Prices are in US dollars, and the limits on clients and records sit in different places on each.
Client management in one app
Four of these apps try to cover a freelancer's whole client process, from first inquiry to final payment. Bonsai combines a CRM with client management, projects, time tracking, invoicing and payments. Its Basic plan, from $9 per user a month billed annually, includes the CRM, time tracking, task management, unlimited projects and clients, and the mobile apps, and it is meant for freelancers with occasional projects. Invoices and payments, proposals and contracts, forms, scheduling and a client portal start with Essentials at $19 a month. A deals pipeline and integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, Zapier, Calendly and Google come with Premium at $29. The free trial gives full access for seven days and then asks for a plan and a credit card.
HoneyBook is client relationship software for creatives, consultants, marketers and event professionals. Users send interactive files, track leads, clients and projects in one place and take payments online, and every plan has unlimited clients and projects. The Starter plan, at $29 a month billed yearly, includes invoices, payments, proposals, contracts, a calendar and a client portal, but only two live lead forms. Its AI drafts emails and suggests follow-ups, and users can send email from inside HoneyBook. The scheduler and automations start with Essentials at $49 a month. Card payments carry fees from 2.7% plus 10 cents, and bank transfers 1.5%. There is a 30-day trial.
Dubsado is a business management platform for creative businesses, including copywriters, coaches and virtual assistants. It manages an unlimited number of clients and projects, handles invoices and payment schedules, brings email into one place and gives each client a portal for their project. The Starter plan costs $35 but allows one active lead capture form and has no bookkeeping integration. Scheduling, automated workflows, public proposals, Zapier and unlimited lead forms come with Premier at $55.
Plutio puts contacts, proposals, contracts, invoices, projects, scheduling, forms and an inbox in one app. Clients sign proposals electronically, pay branded invoices through Stripe, PayPal or Square, book time on the calendar and log in to their own portal to see projects, invoices, files and messages. The Core plan, from $19 a month, is designed for solo freelancers such as designers, writers, developers, consultants and coaches who work independently. It covers nine active clients and no extra contributors; inviting others needs Pro or Max. Plutio has apps for iPhone and iPad, Android, Mac and Windows.
A CRM with projects and invoicing
Flowlu and Agiled pair a CRM with tools for running the work itself. Flowlu combines a CRM with project management, invoicing and estimating. Its CRM manages opportunities and sales funnels, tracks customer interactions and stores email. The free plan, aimed at freelancers and small teams, gives a two-user workspace with 100 contacts, one pipeline, lead capture forms, invoices and estimates. Essential, at $9 per user a month billed yearly, adds email sync, email templates, more than one sales pipeline and CRM reports. Sales automations, email tracking and a client portal need Advanced at $17. There are iOS and Android apps.
Agiled helps service businesses run sales, projects, documents and payments from one shared workspace, with every inquiry, follow-up and meeting on one timeline. Its CRM has a visual pipeline, automated follow-ups and task assignments, and users can build proposals and contracts from templates, add signature fields and see when they are viewed and signed. Google Calendar sync handles booking links and confirmations. The Starter plan, for solo client work, costs $24 a month billed annually and comes with set limits: 500 contacts, 250 accounts, one deal pipeline, 10 projects, 100 invoices and 25 documents. The $59 Pro plan lifts those limits and adds workflows, API access, email, tickets and reports. There is a 14-day trial.
Sales pipelines first
For freelancers whose main problem is finding and closing work rather than managing it, two apps put the sales pipeline first. Close is a sales CRM for calling, email, texting, automation and lead and pipeline management. Its Solo plan, from $9 per user a month, is for founders and solo reps: it includes calling, email and SMS built in and 500 AI credits a month, but it is limited to one user and 10,000 leads, and workflows are not included. Essentials adds unlimited contacts and leads, built-in forms and a central inbox and task list. There is a 14-day trial.
folk describes itself as a CRM for sales with AI assistants. The Standard plan, at $24 per member a month or $288 billed yearly, includes pipeline management, email campaigns, contact enrichment, AI assistants, a LinkedIn extension and syncing with email, calendar and WhatsApp. It finds up to 500 email addresses a month, and it imports and exports CSV files, merges duplicate contacts and sets reminders. Custom objects, deals and email sequences need Premium at $48 per member a month. The trial lasts two weeks, after which the account is blocked unless it is upgraded, although users can ask for one more week.
Building your own system
Notion, an AI workspace, is the odd one out here: it is not built as a CRM, so a freelancer shapes it into one. Its databases support subtasks, dependencies and custom properties, it has basic forms, pages can be published to the web, and Notion Calendar can connect several calendars. The free plan gives one person as many pages and blocks as they need, but uploaded files are limited to 5 MB each and page history to seven days. Custom forms come with Plus, at $10 per member a month, which is meant for small teams and professionals.
The trade-off is setup. Notion offers the building blocks, while the apps above come with proposals, contracts, invoices and payments already in place.
What to weigh up
Limits on clients and records matter more to a freelancer than the number of features. Plutio's Core plan stops at nine active clients, Flowlu's free plan at 100 contacts and Agiled's Starter at 500 contacts, while Bonsai, HoneyBook and Dubsado offer unlimited clients. Lead forms are another quiet limit: one on Dubsado Starter and two on HoneyBook Starter.
The second thing to check is where invoices and payments start. On Bonsai they begin at Essentials, not Basic, and HoneyBook charges a fee on each card or bank payment. Finally, the trials differ: seven days on Bonsai, two weeks on folk, 14 days on Close and Agiled, and 30 days on HoneyBook.
