Looking for the best 17hats alternatives for your coaching business? You’ve come to the right place! 

As a coach, you know how important it is to have a reliable business management platform to streamline your operations and keep everything organized. 

But is 17hats the best option for you? Or is there a better option for your needs?

Keep reading to discover:

• Paperbell: The best 17hats alternative
• 5 more 17hats alternatives for coaches

What Is 17hats?

17hats is an all-in-one small business management software designed specifically for solo business owners.

Unlike some of its fancier competitors like Dubsado and Honeybook, it’s simple to use and set up. It’s a no-frills tool that lets you handle tasks such as:

• Invoicing
• Capturing leads with forms
• Automate lead response
• Schedule appointments online
• Provide quotes to potential clients
• Templatize emails
• And so much more!

As its name suggests, it lets solopreneurs wear “multiple hats” without getting overwhelmed by dozens of software solutions.

Users love how easy it is to integrate with other tools, such as Gmail and Paypal. They also love its ease of use and how simple it can be to set up automated workflows without input.

However, the platform is far from perfect – especially for coaches. For instance, the calendar booking feature is extremely limited. You can’t block your schedule, which is cumbersome for coaches who may want to set time aside for specific session types.

I’ve also seen people complain about the UX. While the platform is relatively simple to use, the user experience and interface feel clunky for many users.

Their 3-in-1 document system also isn’t ideal for coaches. While other solo business owners may rely on quotes, contracts, and invoices, it doesn’t make sense for coaches who offer coaching programs and sessions. Why spend time creating quotes when you already know what your coaching package will cost?

Paperbell: The Best 17hats Alternative

If you’re looking for a user-friendly and comprehensive alternative to 17hats, Paperbell is a fantastic option. This all-in-one platform is specifically designed for coaches and offers features to simplify your coaching business.

Simple to use (even if you hate tech)

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to feel at ease using the platform! Paperbell’s user interface is clean, simple, and intuitive.

You’ll find everything a coach needs – and nothing you don’t. 

Sell coaching packages, not sessions

Paperbell also allows you to create personalized packages and pricing options. Instead of creating a custom project or proposal for every client, you only need to send them a link to your coaching package!

This also allows you to sell a result, not just a coaching session – since you’ll have more time to spend with each client who books that package.

Every coaching package automatically gets a landing page. And there’s no need to waste tons of time in a page builder, either – all you need to do is add your logo, brand color, and a short description of your coaching package.

You can even add testimonials in just a few clicks!

Intake forms for every coaching package

Paperbell offers customizable intake forms that allow you to gather essential information from clients upfront. 

This feature not only saves you time but also ensures that you have all the necessary details to provide personalized coaching sessions. 

But instead of creating a new intake form from scratch for every client, you can create those forms directly in your coaching package.

And there’s no need to remember to send your forms, either! You can set up surveys and forms to automatically send whenever it makes sense to do so, such as:

• Immediately after a purchase
• A specific amount of time after a coaching session
• After the last coaching session of a package
• After a group session

You set it up once, then you can sell that package over and over again without needing to set up those intake forms ever again.

Simplify scheduling

17hats comes with online scheduling that allows clients to book themselves into your calendar without you. However, Paperbell is the only platform with an online scheduler that’s built specifically for coaches!

For example, Paperbell keeps track of how many sessions each client has left. This means they won’t be able to book new sessions without purchasing a new package if they run out of sessions.

You can also customize your availability for each package! This is ideal if you want to save specific days or parts of your day for specific types of coaching sessions.

Automate your emails

While 17hats and similar platforms offer email automation, a lot of them make the entire process super complicated.

But that’s not the case with Paperbell.

Paperbell presumes you’re a coach who sells coaching offers. And whether those offers are 1:1 coaching, group coaching, digital products, or something else entirely, the automations are set up to make your life easier, not harder.

So here’s how it works:

For every coaching package, you can set up as many automated emails as you’d like – no complex funnels involved. All you need to do is click the “Add automated email” when you’re in the Emails section of a coaching package:

Then you’ll have super-simple options to choose from. You have a drop-down menu to choose when your email triggers, and a drop-down menu for the timing.

That’s all there is to it.

Once you’ve chosen those settings, all you need to do is write your email, just like you would in your regular email platform.

You can also set up a Reminder To Book email, which doesn’t even need a timing setting:

Once again, these automated emails are set-it-and-forget-it for each coaching package. This means you can change the wording around depending on which package they’re for.

And it also means you’ll spend way less time in your inbox, reminding your clients to show up to their appointments!

Make it easy to get paid

Platforms such as 17hats, Dubsado, and Honeybook work with an invoicing system. That’s because they’re designed for service providers and not for coaches.

But as a coach, you don’t need invoices – if you have coaching packages already set up, all you need is a payment link that you can send to any client who’s interested!

Paperbell integrates with Stripe and PayPal to make checkouts simple. When you create your coaching packages and get the landing page that’s automatically generated, you’ll also have your payment link that comes with it.

The landing page link is available in any coaching package in Paperbell:

And when you send it to a potential client, they’ll see all the available payment options you want to provide. All they need to do is click “Book Now” to check out!

You can fully customize how your clients pay and book your coaching sessions. For instance, you can decide if they can book their first session before or after paying.

Plus, you can choose between:

• Recurring payment subscriptions (ideal for coaching memberships)
• One-time payments
• Payment plans
• Several payment options (like the screenshot above)

No more chasing clients for payments or dealing with complicated payment gateways!

Seamless client experience with the client portal

Finally, Paperbell creates an amazing experience not just for coaches but for their clients, too. 

Each client gets their own portal to allow them to:

• Book their next session
• Cancel or schedule sessions
• View payment history
• Access their digital downloads or notes you’ve shared with them
• Purchase more packages
• View or sign a contract

As such, your clients don’t need to rely on you as much. This means you get your time back, but it also means your clients can remain more accountable and become empowered in their own transformation journey!

5 More 17hats Alternatives For Coaches

When it comes to finding the right software for your coaching business, it’s important to consider all your options. While Paperbell is an excellent alternative to 17hats, there are a few more on the market you need to know about.

1. Dubsado

Known for its versatility and customization options, Dubsado offers a wide range of features tailored specifically for creative teams. With Dubsado, you can create custom forms and contracts, automate your workflows, and even integrate with other tools like QuickBooks and Google Calendar. 

Dubsado also provides a client portal where your clients can access important documents, communicate with you, and even make payments.

With that being said, Dubsado is much more powerful than 17hats – but also very complex. That’s because it’s designed for creative teams – not for coaches and service providers! For example, you can set up super-complex workflow automations – but you can’t tie specific coaching sessions and downloadables to a project.

2. HoneyBook

HoneyBook is a 17hats alternative that’s specifically designed for service providers. This platform offers a range of tools designed to streamline your business, from managing leads and inquiries to creating contracts and invoices. 

With HoneyBook, you can easily track your projects, communicate with clients, and even automate your payment reminders.

Unlike Dubsado and 17hats, Honeybook’s interface is clean, beautiful, and user-friendly for both the business owner and their clients. However, it does have several drawbacks:

• You have to create a new project for every coaching client
• Scheduler is basic and very limiting for coaches
• Like the other alternatives, you can’t tie coaching sessions to a project
• Can’t offer coupons or discount codes to your clients
• Can’t offer group coaching

Finally, Honeybook offers a 7-day free trial, whereas Paperbell lets you play with it for free, forever – until you book your first client!

3. CoachAccountable

As the name suggests, CoachAccountable is a platform specifically designed for coaches. It offers features like goal tracking, progress reports, and a customizable client portal. With CoachAccountable, you can easily track your clients’ progress, set milestones, and provide them with valuable feedback.

But that’s not all! CoachAccountable also allows you to create personalized coaching programs and automate your client onboarding process. You can set up automated reminders, send out assignments, and even track your clients’ engagement with your coaching materials. 

However, the look and feel of this platform is highly outdated. It also feels overwhelming for not just the coach but coaching clients, too!

CoachAccountable also gets more expensive as you scale your coaching business. For instance, it starts at $20 per month for 0-2 clients but will cost upwards of $250 per month with 36-50 clients. This makes it less than ideal for coaches who run group programs.

4. Bonsai

Bonsai is yet another 17hats alternative to help business owners manage their operations. Unlike the other alternatives, this platform is designed for several industries, including:

• Consulting
• Recruiting
• Marketing
• Photography
• Software development
• Architecture
• Event planning
• Legal
• Coaching
• And many more!

While the platform can perform several things for several industries, it’s also bloated with several features that coaches don’t need. This can make it overwhelming for coaches who have some difficulty with learning new software.

For instance, you can use Bonsai for:

• Proposals
• Time tracking
• Task management
• Invoices
• Collaboration with other contractors

While these features are helpful, they add complexity to the platform and make it more difficult for coaches just starting.

5. monday.com 

monday.com is a bit different from all of the other 17hats alternatives on this list. That’s because it’s not just a business management platform – it’s an entire ecosystem.

Here’s what I mean – first of all, they offer more than one ‘product.’ These include work management, sales CRM, and dev.

But other developers can also create apps to add to monday.com. This means that monday users have access to a huge marketplace of additional tools to add new features to the platform.

So while monday doesn’t come fully loaded with an appointment scheduler, you can likely find one here.

In short, the way monday markets itself is as a “work OS” – where you can accomplish any type of work you set your mind to. For large coaching companies that manage dozens of coaches, contractors, employees, and more, monday is ideal because you can customize your perfect work environment!

But for a coach who works independently – or even with a small team – it takes a ton of time and money to set up a coaching business on this platform. Even though it’s relatively intuitive, remember that entire consulting teams exist only to help people create their monday.com environment!

Choose The 17Hats Alternative That’s Designed For Coaches In Mind

So there you have it – a comprehensive guide to the best 17hats alternatives for coaches!

Whether you choose Paperbell or explore other options, remember that finding the right business management platform will ultimately save you time, streamline your operations, and allow you to focus on what matters most: coaching your clients to success!

Oh, and if you’d like to try Paperbell – you can do so for free. Your account stays free forever – or until you get your first client. Grab your free account here to see why Paperbell is the best 17hats alternative!