PandaDoc wins for almost every business type — it has a free plan, better proposal quality, deeper CRM integration, and scales from solopreneur to enterprise. 17hats wins only in one narrow niche: photographers and event-based solopreneurs who specifically need its questionnaire system, booking workflows, and simple bookkeeping. If you're not a photographer or event planner who lives inside 17hats' specific workflow, PandaDoc is the better choice at every price point.
Tool Overview
A B2B-first document automation platform covering proposals, contracts, and e-signatures with deep HubSpot and Salesforce CRM integration. Used by 50,000+ companies including enterprise clients. Rated #1 for agencies, sales teams, and professional services firms.
- Free plan (5 docs/month)
- 750+ templates
- HubSpot & Salesforce integration
- HIPAA + SOC 2 compliance
- Approval workflows
- Interactive pricing tables
An all-in-one platform for solopreneurs — primarily photographers and event-based businesses. Bundles proposals, contracts, invoices, questionnaires, scheduling, and basic bookkeeping. Strong in its niche, but dated UI and high price ($45–$60/mo) make it hard to recommend over HoneyBook or Dubsado.
- Photographer-specific questionnaires
- Built-in booking & scheduling
- Basic bookkeeping & P&L reports
- Proposal + contract + invoice bundled
- Lead capture forms
- Email templates for client follow-up
Feature Comparison
| Feature | PandaDoc | 17hats |
|---|---|---|
| Proposals & Documents | ||
| Proposal builder | ✔ Advanced | ✔ Basic |
| Template library | 750+ templates | ~50 templates |
| Interactive pricing tables | ✔ | ✗ |
| E-signature | ✔ ESIGN/UETA | ✔ |
| Contract templates | ✔ | ✔ |
| Section-level analytics | ✔ | ✗ |
| Client Management | ||
| Questionnaires / intake forms | ✗ | ✔ (photo-specific) |
| Scheduling / booking | ✗ | ✔ |
| Lead capture forms | ✗ | ✔ |
| Client portal | ✗ | ◑ Basic |
| Finance & Billing | ||
| Invoicing | ✗ (via payment block) | ✔ |
| Payment collection | ✔ Stripe (on sign) | ✔ Stripe / Square |
| Recurring billing | ✗ | ✔ |
| Bookkeeping / P&L reports | ✗ | ✔ Basic |
| Integrations & Compliance | ||
| HubSpot integration | ✔ Native | ✗ |
| Salesforce integration | ✔ Native | ✗ |
| Zapier | ✔ | ✔ |
| QuickBooks | ✔ | ✔ |
| HIPAA compliance | ✔ (Business plan) | ✗ |
| SOC 2 certified | ✔ | ✗ |
| Free plan | ✔ (5 docs/mo) | Trial only |
| Starting price (annual) | $19/user/mo | $45/mo flat |
| Team / multi-user | ✔ Per-user scaling | ✗ Solo only |
Pricing Comparison
Annual billing. 14-day trial on paid plans.
Annual billing. Trial-only, no free plan. Solo use only.
Who Wins in Each Scenario?
Final Verdict
🏆 PandaDoc wins for the vast majority of users
PandaDoc is the better choice for nearly all users: it has a free plan, stronger proposal quality, CRM integration, compliance certifications, and scales from solo to enterprise. The only scenario where 17hats holds an edge is for photographers and event solopreneurs who rely on 17hats' specific questionnaire and booking workflow — and even there, HoneyBook ($19/mo) is a more modern, better-value alternative.
- You have a team of 2+ users
- You use HubSpot or Salesforce
- You send B2B proposals
- You need HIPAA/SOC 2 compliance
- You want a free plan to start
- You want proposal analytics
- You're a solo photographer
- You need photo-specific questionnaires
- You want basic bookkeeping bundled
- Budget is $45–$60/mo for all-in-one
- You're already deeply embedded in 17hats
FAQ
17hats is marketed to all solopreneurs but is most popular with photographers and event-based businesses. Its questionnaire templates are specifically designed for photography (shot lists, venue details, album preferences). While technically usable by other service providers, its feature set and UI feel most natural for photographers, wedding planners, and similar event-based solopreneurs. For most other business types, HoneyBook, Bonsai, or PandaDoc are better alternatives.
No. PandaDoc does not include questionnaire functionality. It's focused on proposals, contracts, and document signing. If questionnaires are important to your workflow, 17hats or HoneyBook (which has excellent questionnaire features) are better choices. HoneyBook's questionnaires are considered more modern and better designed than 17hats' equivalents.
Yes, but you'll lose 17hats-specific features in the process. The transition involves: (1) Exporting client contacts from 17hats (CSV export available). (2) Rebuilding your proposal and contract templates in PandaDoc (750+ starting templates help). (3) Setting up a separate scheduling tool if you used 17hats' booking. (4) Finding a replacement for 17hats' bookkeeping — QuickBooks Self-Employed or Wave are popular free options. Most users who switch to PandaDoc report that the proposal quality improvement and cost savings (PandaDoc often costs less) justify the transition effort.
PandaDoc is significantly cheaper for most users. PandaDoc's free plan costs $0; its paid Starter plan is $19/user/month. 17hats starts at $45/month with no free plan (trial only). For a solo user, PandaDoc is 57% cheaper than 17hats' entry plan. The only scenario where 17hats might be "cheaper" in total cost is if it replaces multiple separate tools (questionnaires + invoicing + bookkeeping) that you'd otherwise pay for separately — but HoneyBook ($19/mo flat) bundles those features more affordably.