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10 best Indy alternatives to run your service business
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Indy is a solid all-in-one business management tool that was built to support those who run service-based businesses — be it as a freelancer or an agency. Its primary focus is providing a suite of helpful tools that provide value across the project lifecycle, from sending out initial proposals all the way to invoicing for completed projects.
However, while Indy is a popular tool, some of its features can be limiting if you’re trying to grow your business beyond just yourself. So, let's explore some Indy alternatives to see what they offer and how they could help your service business reach a new level.
What to look for in an Indy alternative
Any Indy alternative worth their salt should be able to match the tool's best features. Here are some features you should look out for:
- All-in-one workflows: Achieving an efficient workflow for freelancers and agencies that run service-based businesses requires many different tools. Indy centralizes this software by offering a helpful blend of functions. Any Indy alternatives you consider should do this, too.
- Smooth client journeys: Business management software is not just about helping you and your team. It’s also about providing a quality client journey, from your proposals to contracts to onboarding and invoices. Smoother client processes translate into quicker payments.
- Automation capabilities: Indy has helpful automation features that can take on time-consuming, mundane, and repetitive tasks, meaning you and your team can cut down on admin and focus on delivering the best service possible for your clients.
- Secure file storage: Collaborating with clients and colleagues often requires sharing sensitive personal or business data. Making sure this information is accessible but secure is easily solved with a client portal.
- Affordability: Indy’s biggest strength is its affordability. It packs in a lot of cool features despite its low price. While tools that offer more functionality and deeper features than Indy typically come at a higher price, value should be at the top of your list when evaluating Indy alternatives.
Alright, now that we know what features to consider, let’s take a look at our top favorite alternatives to Indy.
Top 10 Indy alternatives for service businesses
Okay, so now that you know about Indy’s strengths, it’s time to look at the best Indy alternatives on the market in 2024.
Here are our top picks for the best Indy alternatives:
Okay, let’s go through each platform in more detail.
1. Copilot
- Best for: Small teams that need custom white-label client portals
- Pricing: Starts at $29 per month per internal user
Copilot is a modern client portal platform built to simplify operating a freelance or service-based agency. Its wealth of features helps with the entire client journey, including tools for sending proposals and contracts, onboarding, project management, and billing.
Too many freelancers and agencies struggle under the weight of admin. If you’re using lots of different tools, it can make your service disorganized and inconsistent. And that’s before even thinking about the cost implications of various solutions. Copilot solves these issues by centralizing everything into a customizable client portal, which allows teams to offer a very professional and unified front.
While Indy is a good choice for freelancers, Copilot offers far more robust project management and client collaboration features. Copilot also has a more attractive and intuitive user interface and better integration options. In other words, it provides the value for money that freelancers and agencies need when looking for a business management solution.
Notable features
- Super client-facing portals that boost collaboration, feedback, project management, and file-sharing
- Excellent client onboarding features that help you delight and retain clients
- Automate proposals, contracts, and invoicing features that reduce the administrative burden
Copilot reviews
Here’s how actual Copilot clients rate the product on third-party websites:
2. Plutio
- Best for: Freelancers and solopreneurs
- Pricing: Starts at $19 per month per user
Plutio is a solid tool that aims to reduce the administrative burden on freelancers with service-based businesses. While some rival tools are bloated and feature-packed, Plutio takes a different approach and offers a lean, intuitive interface with just the right amount of tools.
While Plutio and Indy have many similarities, it’s fair to say that Plutio is far more focused on project management. It offers a customizable client portal, proposal and contract generation, and solid invoice and payment integrations. Different payment tiers unlock extra complexity, but the basic version will suit smaller teams or solopreneurs.
Notable features
- Clean and uncluttered centralized workspace
- Excellent project management features with great visuals, Gannt charts, and Kanban work boards
Plutio reviews
Here’s how actual Plutio clients rate the product on third-party websites.
3. Moxo
- Best for: Businesses with external teams
- Pricing: Prices start at $90 per month
Moxo is an all-in-one platform with a focus on streamlining customer interactions. However, while it started out as a tool to centralize workflows and communication across scattered platforms, it has swiftly evolved into a powerful tool used by freelancers working in highly regulated spaces like the legal, financial, and healthcare sectors.
Some of Moxo’s best features are its highly customizable and secure client portal, secure in-platform messaging and file-sharing capabilities, and customizable workflows for onboarding, approvals, and data collection. It’s a more client-focused and accomplished tool than Indy. However, those extras carry an additional cost.
Notable features
- More client-focused on streamlining client interaction and engagement than Indy
- Moxo flows help you build efficient client communications
- Excellent branded portals to share document and project updates
Moxo reviews
Here’s how actual Moxo clients rate the product on third-party websites.
4. FuseBase
- Best for: Client-facing businesses
- Pricing: Starts at $9 per month
FuseBase (formerly Nimbus) is a quality workspace and client collaboration platform. It’s built to streamline communications and manage documents, projects, and company knowledge, all from one easily accessible place.
Before being rebranded as FuseBase, the tool focused on note-taking and knowledge management. However, it has expanded to provide customizable client portals that integrate well with popular third-party applications.
FuseBase and Indy have some similarities. However, it is worth noting that FuseBase offers more features, customization, and the ability to build white-label client communications tools. FuseBase is also great value for money and scales well for bigger service-based teams.
Notable features
- Excellent customizable and white-label boards that centralize client communication
- Great set of templates for building knowledge bases
- Good project management features
FuseBase reviews
Here’s how actual FuseBase clients rate the product on third-party websites.
Related reads: Top 10 best FuseBase alternatives to try
5. Agiled
- Best for: Freelance business management
- Pricing: Starts from $25 per month
Agiled is a relative newcomer to the business management space. It was formed in 2020 and has a big focus on helping freelancers and service businesses centralize and streamline workflows and communication.
The big appeal of Agiled is that it provides value at every stage of the client journey. You can use it to capture leads, generate contracts and proposals, and even onboard your clients. From there, you can manage projects and appointments easily.
Agiled also integrates well with calendar and payment processing apps, meaning you can offer a consistent and smooth client experience. Agiled’s appointment features, robust CRM, and better integration give it a slight edge over Indy.
Notable features
- Strong CRM tool to help you track and nurture leads
- Solid project management features for time tracking, delegation, and collaboration
- Proposal, contract, and invoice generation tools
Agiled reviews
Here’s how actual Agiled clients rate the product on third-party websites.
6. SuiteDash
- Best for: Small businesses
- Pricing: Starts at around $19 per month, but you’ll need higher tiers to unlock more complex features
Since it was formed in 2014, SuiteDash has been on a mission to help its customers streamline business management. Over the years, different functions have been added to help with CRM, project management, and client relationships. Now, it’s a powerful all-in-one tool for freelancers and service-based businesses.
Compared to Indy, SuiteDash is capable of handling more complex projects. What’s more, it offers advanced automation options to cut down on manual and repetitive tasks. Finally, it has really strong customization features. However, it does come with a slightly steeper-than-normal learning curve.
Notable features
- Excellent all-in-one tool that gives you everything you need to manage your clients and business
- Sold time-saving workflow automation tools
- Highly customizable tools that you can adapt and adjust around your business
SuiteDash reviews
Here’s how actual SuiteDash clients rate the product on third-party websites.
7. Client Portal
- Best for: Those looking for a WordPress client portal plugin
- Pricing: Start at $199 for a single website license
Client Portal is a WordPress plugin that helps you build client portals on your website. It offers a user-friendly, no-code solution for teams that want to expand their website to include a professional and lightweight client portal.
The idea here is that you can centralize your communications with clients and reduce the time-consuming back-and-forth requests for documents that are lost in someone’s inbox. The client portal is good, with ample options for your own branding. You can also add and share files securely, which is a great choice for ongoing projects.
While Client Portal is a cost-effective solution, it lacks the features and functionality of Indy and the other Indy alternatives on our list. What’s more, it’s only available for WordPress users. As such, it’s a somewhat limited and niche tool, but a very good one at that.
Notable features
- Customizable, no-code portal builder
- Seamless integration with WordPress sites
- Secure file-sharing features
Client Portal reviews
Here’s how actual Client Portal clients rate the product on third-party websites.
- G2: 3.7/5 ⭐
8. Bonsai
- Best for: Freelancers just starting out
- Pricing: Starts at $21 per month per user
Bonsai is a well-established and comprehensive business management tool. It can help freelancers and service businesses reduce their administrative burden and say goodbye to disorganization. It’s actually the first tool I started with when I started my freelance business. Then, as things scaled I moved over to Copilot.
One of the big reasons behind Bonsai’s popularity is the tool's ability to simplify the entire customer journey. You can charm prospective clients with highly professional proposals, solid contracts, and streamlined onboarding experiences.
Bonsai also makes project management easy thanks to time tracking and task management features. Then, once your project milestones are reached, you can use Bonsai’s automated invoicing to get paid, thanks to solid billing features. If you want to streamline your workflow at an affordable price, you can’t go too wrong with Bonsai.
Notable features
- Slick contracts and proposal generation
- Solid time management and expense tracking tools
- Automated invoice features that make getting paid far easier
Bonsai reviews
Here’s how actual Bonsai clients rate the product on third-party websites.
9. FreshBooks
- Best for: Accounting and bookkeeping features
- Pricing: Starts at $17 per month per user
While many people think of FreshBooks as bookkeeping software, it’s actually a solid cloud-based tool for freelancers and service professionals. It offers users a great way to track projects and expenses, streamline invoicing, and gain visibility over company finances.
While FreshBooks does offer client portals and project tracking, these features are raw when measured against the other Indy alternatives on the list. However, the financial and accounting elements of this tool are first-rate. If you’re a freelancer or service-based professional who needs robust expense tracking, time management, and flexible invoicing options, this could be the tool for you.
Notable features
- Robust billing and invoice options
- Client management database with solid client portals
- Excellent mobile app
FreshBooks reviews
Here’s how actual FreshBooks clients rate the product on third-party websites.
Related reads: The best FreshBooks alternatives to try
10. HoneyBook
- Best for: Freelancers looking to scale
- Pricing: Starts at $16 per month
HoneyBook is a much-loved business management and CRM tool. It has gained a solid reputation among service businesses and freelancers thanks to its solid workflow automation capabilities and straightforward client communication and payment processing features.
HoneyBook solves problems that freelance agencies will know all too well, namely, disorganized client communications, time-consuming admin, and an excess of manual tasks. It’s built to make the entire client journey easier, starting from proposals, contracts, and onboarding all the way to project management collaboration and billing.
While it’s more expensive than Indy, it has a broader feature set that is suitable for more established agencies. Its automation features alone give HoneyBook a big edge over Indy. So, if you find yourself swimming in admin, HoneyBook is worth a look.
Notable features
- Superb lead capture, proposal, and contract capabilities
- Excellent client portals that help collaboration, communication, and payments
- Solid workflow automation tools to drive efficiency with your operations
HoneyBook reviews
Here’s how actual FreshBooks clients rate the product on third-party websites.
Conclusion
Indy is part of a generation of business management tools that are focused on helping freelancers and agencies reduce the administrative burden and exceed client expectations. However, it’s a competitive frontier, and many of the Indy alternatives on our list go above and beyond what you can achieve with Indy alone.
Copilot is one of the best tools in the space thanks to its ability to streamline the user journey and thrill your clients at every turn. Sign up for a free trial today so you can see why Copilot is so highly rated by customers on third-party websites.
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