Honest comparison

Stelaah vs Dubsado

Dubsado and Stelaah both run client work, but at different scales. Dubsado is a deeply customizable clientflow tool for solo owners and tiny teams. Stelaah is a full workspace for studios and agencies that have grown a team. Here is a fair look.

Choose Dubsado if

you are a solo owner who wants to shape every form, workflow, and template down to the smallest detail.

Choose Stelaah if

you have a team and need real projects, time, and margin alongside the client flow, in one workspace.

Side by side

What each one does for client work.

CapabilityStelaahDubsado
Client CRM
One record per client
Solid client management
Proposals and contracts
Send, sign, store
Mature and flexible
Workflow customization
Structured and quick
Deep and granular
Invoicing
From tracked time
Built in
Connect your own payments
Yes
Yes
Project management
Tasks, dependencies, timelines
Light
Time tracking to invoice
Hours flow to billing
Not really
Workload planning
Planner across the team
Not included
Team seats
On every plan
Per user add on
Vendor portal
Scoped access
Not included
Reports and margin
Margin and utilization
Basic
AI assistant
Aria acts across the work
Not a focus

Checks mark a built in strength. We tried to be fair to both. Dubsado earns its checks where it leads.

Credit where due

Where Dubsado is genuinely strong.

Deep customizationBend every form and workflow to your exact process.
Mature contracts and formsYears of refinement for solo client flow.
Use your own processorNo forced payment platform or extra fee.
Strong for one personA complete toolkit for a solo studio.

For client work

Where Stelaah fits better.

Real project managementTimelines, dependencies, and approvals, not just lists.
Time, budgets, and marginKnow which work pays while it is open.
Built for a teamSeats, roles, and vendors as you grow.
Aria across everythingDrafts, answers, and takes action.

Pricing

What you will pay.

Stelaah

Free to start, with paid plans charged per seat. Aria is included. See the pricing page for the current plans.

See plans
Dubsado

around $20 a month for the entry plan and about $40 a month for Premier, billed annually, with an add on for extra users. A trial that runs until you have a few clients. Check dubsado.com.

Pricing changes often, so confirm the current numbers at dubsado.com

Common questions

Stelaah vs Dubsado, answered.

Is Stelaah a good Dubsado alternative?
Yes, especially once you have a team and want real project management and margin alongside the client flow. For a solo owner who lives in custom workflows, Dubsado is excellent.
Does Stelaah customize workflows like Dubsado?
Stelaah is more structured and quicker to set up, where Dubsado is more granular. You trade some configuration depth for breadth and speed.
Which is better for a small team?
Stelaah includes seats, roles, and vendor access without per user add ons, and adds project, time, and margin tools a growing team needs.

The honest take

Customization is great. So is one workspace.

If you have grown past a solo setup, Stelaah keeps the client flow and adds the projects, time, and margin a team needs.