A client management platform with deep workflow automation and flat annual pricing. Popular with creatives and small service businesses.
Dubsado is the workflow-heavy alternative for solo creatives. Its workflow engine is best-in-class for that audience, but setup is steep and AI is absent. Helm is built for service businesses as a team-scale platform with integrated apps and autonomous AI agents. Pick Dubsado for deep solo workflow customization. Pick Helm for team scale and AI as a force multiplier.
Last reviewed: April 18, 2026
Pricing, scope, and what you actually get on day one.
| Helm | Dubsado | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per-workspace | Flat annual (+ per-user add-ons for 4+ users) |
| Starting paid price | $49/mo per workspace | $335/year (Starter) ≈ $28/mo |
| Team scale sweet spot | 1-50 services team | Solo / 1-3 creatives |
| Workflow engine | Workflows + agents as actions | Best-in-class rule-based workflow engine |
| AI approach | Autonomous agents that execute | No AI |
| UX | Modern, component-based | Functional, dated |
Capability-by-capability breakdown. We describe what's in the product, not what's on a roadmap slide.
| Feature | Helm | Dubsado |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per workspace | Flat annual + per-user fees for teams |
| Free tier | No | No (21-day free trial of Premier) |
| CRM / accounts | Native | Native |
| Project management | Kanban, list, calendar | Projects tied to client workflows (basic PM) |
| Time tracking | Native, rolls into invoices | Limited |
| Invoicing / payments | Native (Stripe) | Native (Stripe, Square, PayPal) |
| Estimates / proposals | Native | Native |
| Contracts / e-sign | Via Composio on Pro+ | Native (best-in-class) |
| Forms / questionnaires | Native | Native (most flexible in category) |
| Workflow automation | Native + AI agents as steps | Most flexible in the creative category (rule-based) |
| Autonomous AI agents | Pre-built roles | None |
| External integrations | 300+ via Composio | ~10-20 native |
Both tools have real use cases. Here's when each one wins.
What moves cleanly, how to do it, and the places you'll want to plan ahead.
Clients, projects, invoices, proposals, and documents can be exported from Dubsado and imported via CSV or rebuilt from template.
Export from Dubsado (contacts, invoices, projects). Import contacts and projects into Helm. Rebuild forms as Helm Forms. Rebuild workflows as Helm Workflows (optionally handing steps to AI agents).
Dubsado's workflow engine is more intricate than most. Rebuilding 1:1 is possible but many teams take the migration as a chance to simplify. Plan a day of template/workflow rebuild work.
The questions we hear most from teams evaluating both platforms.
Helm Workflows cover the trigger-based automation ground. The key difference: Helm workflows can hand steps to AI agents (a workflow can "send the invoice to Payment Recovery agent for personalized dunning" rather than just email a template).
Helm Forms is native. Contracts use Composio (DocuSign, HelloSign) rather than being natively packaged. If custom-form flexibility is your #1 need, Dubsado is still stronger. It's their strongest feature.
Helm Starter is $49/mo = $588/year. Dubsado Premier is $525/year. Close, with Helm slightly more. Helm includes AI agents and the full 12-app platform; Dubsado is focused on the client-workflow flow.
Helm is in early access. Join the waitlist to get a workspace. We can set up a test workspace alongside your active Dubsado instance for a parallel test before committing.
Per-workspace pricing. All 12 apps. AI agents that execute the work.