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startbuddi vs 17hats: an honest comparison

17hats is client management software for small service businesses, with contacts and projects, quotes, contracts, invoices, questionnaires, lead capture forms, online scheduling and workflows, sold as one plan paid monthly, yearly or every two years; startbuddi covers the same client work alongside a shared inbox, marketing and Paystack payments, so pick 17hats for its long-running workflow tools and mobile app, and startbuddi if you want client work and customer conversations together with a free plan to start.

We make startbuddi, so we're biased. We've tried to be fair: we list where 17hats is stronger, every fact about 17hats links to its source, and anything we couldn't confirm on their own site is marked "not published". Checked in September 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.
startbuddi

startbuddi is best for

Service businesses that want bookings, invoices, client portals and an inbox together

17hats logo17hats

17hats is best for

Solo service businesses that want quotes, contracts and invoices to run on workflows

At a glance

Best for
startbuddiService businesses that want bookings, invoices, client portals and an inbox together
17hatsSolo service businesses that want quotes, contracts and invoices to run on workflows
Free plan
startbuddiYes, the Free plan
17hatsNone on the published plans
First paid plan
startbuddiStarter, $29 a month
17hatsMonthly, $60 USD per month
Checked
startbuddiPrice book, October 2026
17hatsSeptember 2026

Where each one is stronger

The short version. 17hats first, because it does some things better than we do.

17hats logo17hats is stronger at

Workflows built around documents17hats sends quotes, contracts, invoices and questionnaires on to-do and advanced workflows, with automatic reminders for documents that are past due.
Card on file and tippingclients can save a card for later payments, and quotes, invoices and online payments can take a tip through Stripe or Square.
Bookkeeping add-ons17hats lists a QuickBooks Online integration and a bank connection that pulls in expenses, each $5 a month.
Zoom and calendar cross-checkonline scheduling can create a Zoom link for each booking and checks connected calendars to avoid double bookings.
Mobile app17hats has a free mobile app; startbuddi is web only.

startbuddi is stronger at

Free planyou can start on startbuddi's Free plan with bookings, a form, invoicing and contacts; 17hats offers a 7-day trial before its paid plan.
Customer conversations in one inboxWhatsApp, email, SMS, website chat, Instagram and Facebook messages sit on the same client record as invoices and deals.
Paystack for African paymentsclients pay invoices and booking deposits by card, bank transfer or USSD through Paystack, or by card through Stripe.
Projects and time trackingWork projects have board, list and calendar views and billable time, next to the client and the invoice.
Marketing on the same contact listemail, WhatsApp and SMS campaigns on paid plans use the contacts your forms and bookings collect.

Feature by feature

Each 17hats value links to where we found it. Anything their site doesn't state is marked "not published".

startbuddi and 17hats, feature by feature
Featurestartbuddi17hats
Free planFree: 1 seat, 250 contacts, 5 invoices a month Yes 7-day free trialSource (opens in a new tab)
Contacts and projects Yes UnlimitedSource (opens in a new tab)
Quotes and proposalsOne built-in proposal template Yes YesSource (opens in a new tab)
Contracts with e-signatureSigned on startbuddi's own signing page Yes YesSource (opens in a new tab)
Invoices and online payments Paystack, Stripe Stripe, SquareSource (opens in a new tab)
Lead capture forms Yes YesSource (opens in a new tab)
Online schedulingBooking pages with deposits on every plan Yes YesSource (opens in a new tab)
Client portalFree lets you build and preview a portal, not invite clients Paid plans YesSource (opens in a new tab)
Workflows and automations Starter plan and up YesSource (opens in a new tab)
QuickBooks Online17hats lists it at $5 a month No Add-onSource (opens in a new tab)
Mobile app Web only YesSource (opens in a new tab)

What each one looks like

Real screens, captured by us or taken from the official press kit, each dated.

startbuddi: Deals on the sales pipeline
startbuddi · Deals on the sales pipeline. Captured from our own account, personal details blurred.
startbuddi: Contacts with their full history
startbuddi · Contacts with their full history. Captured from our own account, personal details blurred.
startbuddi: One inbox for email, WhatsApp and chat
startbuddi · One inbox for email, WhatsApp and chat. Captured from our own account, personal details blurred.

17hats's own screens are on 17hats's website. We don't show another company's product without a dated capture from a trial or its press kit.

Pricing side by side

List prices as each company publishes them. We never convert currencies.

See startbuddi pricing

startbuddi

  • FreeFree
  • Starter$29 a month
  • Growth$79 a month
  • Scale$199 a month

Prices in US dollars, billed monthly. From our pricing page, updated 3 Oct 2026.

17hats logo17hats

Checked in September 2026. Check 17hats's site for current plans.

Switching from 17hats

What moving across involves.

  1. Get your contacts out of 17hatsCheck 17hats' help centre for how to export your contacts to a CSV file, then open it in a spreadsheet to tidy the columns.
  2. Import your clients as contactsIn startbuddi, go to Customers → Contacts → Import, upload the CSV, map the columns and review before importing.
  3. Rebuild quotes, contracts and workflowsRecreate your quotes, contracts and proposals in Money Manager, your lead capture forms in Forms and your workflows in Automations. There's no automatic importer for 17hats templates or workflows.
  4. Set up bookings and portalsCreate your services in Bookings with any deposit you need, then add a client portal in Work for each active client and invite them by email link.

Sources

Checked in September 2026. startbuddi prices come from our own price book. 17hats's website.

Questions people ask

Does 17hats have a free plan?

17hats offers a 7-day free trial with every feature, and its pricing page says you can restart the trial when it ends. After that it is a paid plan, monthly, yearly or every two years.

Can clients accept a proposal or estimate online in startbuddi?

Contracts and proposals are signed online on startbuddi's signing page. Estimates are accepted by replying to the email, and you mark them accepted before converting them to an invoice.

Does startbuddi connect to QuickBooks?

No. Money Manager covers invoices, expenses, cash flow and simple profit and loss, but it has no QuickBooks or Xero sync.

Does startbuddi have a mobile app?

Not a native one. It is a web app that works in a phone's browser, while 17hats has a mobile app.

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Try startbuddi alongside 17hats.

Start on the free plan with a copy of your contacts and see how it fits before you decide.

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Free plan available. Every paid plan starts with a 30-day trial.