Switching from HoneyBook to CoreHue
Use this guide to map your HoneyBook workflow to CoreHue's contacts, proposals, contracts, invoices and booking services. CoreHue also includes client galleries for photo delivery and video on Plus and Pro.
The biggest adjustment is structure. HoneyBook organizes everything around a project. CoreHue organizes it around the person, your contact, with each booking, document and gallery linked to them.
What it's called in CoreHue
| In HoneyBook | In CoreHue | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Project | Booking, on the contact's page | There's no project record. A job is a booking, and everything for that person sits in tabs on their contact page. |
| Lead form | Contact form or inquiry service | Each submission creates a contact and starts a conversation. |
| Inquiry and pipeline stages | Inquiries | An inquiry is Open, Booked or Closed. There are no custom pipeline stages. |
| Smart File | Proposal | Pricing, options, contract and payment schedule on one link. The client accepts, signs and pays there. |
| Packages inside a Smart File | Proposal options and items | Included items, add-ons and choices where the client picks one. |
| Contract | Contract | Variables fill in client and booking details, and blanks let your client add their own. |
| Invoice and payment schedule | Invoice with a payment schedule | Up to 12 payments on one invoice. |
| Questionnaire | Questionnaire | Sent on its own or automatically around a booking. |
| Scheduler | Services and your booking page | Inquiry, direct booking or mini session. |
| Automations | Reminders and automatic questionnaires | A set of built-in automatic steps, not a builder. |
| Client portal | Links and the client's booking page | No login for clients. Each document has its own link, and a booking page gathers the details once booked. |
| Templates | Templates | Items, plus contract, questionnaire and email templates. |
| Bookkeeping and expenses | Finance report | Income that moves through CoreHue. No expense tracking. |
| Galleries | Galleries | Built in, with video on Plus and Pro. |
What moves over, and how
There's no importer. You'll rebuild a few things by hand, and most photographers tidy them up while they're at it.
Contract wording. Copy the text from your HoneyBook templates into a contract template, then swap the blanks for variables. CoreHue also starts you with templates picked for your kind of photography, so check those first.
Forms. Rebuild a lead form as a contact form, and anything you send booked clients as a questionnaire. Both can show questions based on earlier answers.
Packages. Save your prices as items, then build your packages as options on a proposal.
Clients. Add the ones you're working with now in Contacts. New people arrive on their own.
Signed contracts and paid invoices. Download the PDFs before you close your account. They don't move, and neither does payment history.
What CoreHue does differently
Delivery is built in. After the shoot, create a gallery for the same contact and deliver photos and videos without another subscription or another login for your client.
Booking that completes itself. A direct booking service can collect the contract signature, questionnaire answers and deposit before the booking confirms. See Setting up direct booking.
Made for photography. Starter templates, gallery proofing, download controls and mini sessions are there from day one.
What you'd give up
A workflow builder. You can't chain your own triggers and actions. What runs on its own: reminders for bookings, invoices and documents, questionnaires scheduled around a booking, contracts and deposits collected during booking, and proposals that create the contract, invoice and booking once accepted.
Team members. One login per account.
A client portal login. Clients use links instead, so there's nothing for them to sign in to.
See What CoreHue doesn't do (yet) for the full list.
Your first week
Day 1. Create your account, add your business details, logo and saved signature, and set your default currency.
Day 2. Adapt one starter contract template into the agreement you use, with variables where the blanks were.
Day 3. Create an inquiry service and turn on your booking page.
Day 4. Save your items, then send yourself a proposal with a contract and payment schedule. Accept it, sign it and pay it, so you've walked the client's path. See Creating a proposal.
Day 5. Build a gallery from a recent shoot so delivery is ready before you need it.
Then. Take your next inquiry through CoreHue from the first reply, and finish current projects in HoneyBook.
Frequently asked questions
Is CoreHue a good HoneyBook alternative for photographers?
Yes, if you want your client management and your galleries in one place, with wording made for photographers. If you rely on a custom workflow builder or team logins, check the "give up" list above first.
Where do my projects go?
CoreHue has no project record. Each job is a booking, and the contact page shows everything for that person: proposals, bookings, invoices, contracts, questionnaires, messages and galleries.
Can I import my HoneyBook contacts?
No, CoreHue has no contact import. Add the clients you're actively working with by hand. Everyone else arrives as they inquire, book or fill in a contact form.
Do proposals work like Smart Files?
CoreHue proposals cover the same ground as Smart Files: pricing, options, contract and payment on one link, which the client accepts, signs and pays in one sitting. Sending proposals needs Plus or Pro.