Cenvi vs HoneyBook, for event vendors
Pricing and fees re-checked against each provider’s public pricing page.
A storefront that takes the booking, a date that cannot be sold twice, and a phone that answers.
Cenvi is the system underneath the date. Clients book from your own store at your prices, the date locks the moment it is committed, and deposits and balances sit on the booking. HoneyBook is a proposal-first CRM, and it is cheaper.
This page is about the vendor-side product. The marketplace lead-source story lives on a separate page.
Your HoneyBook bill vs Cenvi.
Same vendor, same clients, two different jobs. Below: what each one costs, what each one actually runs, and the honest line where HoneyBook is the better buy.
- Clients inquire, then you rebuild the booking by hand
- You have dates to fill, not just proposals to send
- A Saturday has been double-booked, or very nearly was
The bill side by side
Published monthly rates for the entry tier of each.
The subscription, side by side
HoneyBook is the cheaper subscription and publishes the lower card rate. What follows is what the extra twenty dollars a month is actually for.
HoneyBook Starter
Client CRM: inquiry, proposal, e-signature, card payment through the portal
Starter
Booking system: storefront, held dates, deposits and balances, your own Stripe account
Subscription tier, compared
Both companies sell subscriptions, so there is no free-versus-paid trick here. The comparison is what each tier does. Cenvi rows highlighted.
| Tier | Monthly | Card processing | What it runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| HoneyBook Starter | $36/mo | From 2.7% + 10 cents | Proposals, contracts, invoices and a client portal, with a capped project count |
| Cenvi StarterStart here | $49/mo | Stripe's rate, your own account | Vendor store, booking calendar, held dates, deposits and balance payments |
| HoneyBook Essentials | $59/mo | From 2.7% + 10 cents | Adds a scheduler, automations and expense tracking |
| Cenvi ProMost operators | $99/mo | Stripe's rate, your own account | Everything in Starter, plus unlimited calendars, invoices and smart contracts, dine-in reservations, client email and analytics |
| HoneyBook Premium | $129/mo | From 2.7% + 10 cents | Adds priority support, multi-company and QuickBooks sync |
| Cenvi ConciergeMulti-location | $249/mo | Stripe's rate, your own account | Everything in Pro, plus the 24/7 Front Desk phone and text line and a fleet dashboard across locations |
HoneyBook figures are their published monthly rates as of September 2026. Annual billing brings Starter to $29, Essentials to $49 and Premium to $109. HoneyBook publishes card processing starting at 2.7% + 10 cents and states there is no additional surcharge. An earlier version of this page claimed a 1.5% HoneyBook surcharge, which was wrong: 1.5% is their ACH rate. Cenvi runs on your own Stripe account at Stripe's published rate, which Cenvi does not mark up. Both companies change pricing; check both pages before you decide.
What is actually different, feature by feature
Grouped by what each difference touches. The honest read at the end says where HoneyBook is the better buy.
| What changes | HoneyBook | Cenvi |
|---|---|---|
| Getting booked | ||
| A storefront clients can book fromThe difference between someone asking about you and someone booking you. | Inquiry form and proposal, no store | Your own vendor store, priced the way you already price |
| Dates held against a double-bookingOne double-booked Saturday costs more than a year of either subscription. | Project tracking and a calendar, no booking lock | A held date is blocked the moment it is committed |
| A phone and text line that quotes and books, 24/7The inquiry that calls at 9pm on a Saturday while you are working an event. | Not in product | Front Desk on Concierge, reading your live availability |
| Proposal builder and branded client portalHoneyBook's strongest surface, and worth naming. | Mature and polished | A vendor store and a booking page |
| Money | ||
| Monthly subscriptionHoneyBook is cheaper. Worth saying plainly. | $36 on Starter, $29 billed annually | $49 on Starter |
| Card processingTheir headline rate is lower. Ours sits on an account you own and can take with you. | From 2.7% + 10 cents, on HoneyBook's rail | Stripe's published rate, on a Stripe account you own |
| Deposit, midway and final payments on one bookingCenvi ties the schedule to the date, HoneyBook to the project file. | Payment schedules set per project | Scheduled across the booking lifecycle |
| When you grow past one person | ||
| More than one location under one loginHall groups and catering companies running two kitchens. | Built around a single operator | Fleet dashboard on Concierge, with per-location rollup |
| Dine-in reservations and a floor planFor an operation with a dining room as well as an events side. | Not in product | On Pro: tables, turn times, pacing, walk-ins and a waitlist |
| Ticketing for events you host yourselfThe platform fee is carried by the ticket buyer, not taken out of your payout. | Not in product | Built in, and you keep 100% of the price you set |
| Unlimited invoices and smart contractsHoneyBook gives you these at the entry tier. On Cenvi they arrive at Pro. | Included on every plan | On Pro |
What each platform is actually for
Honest read. Both exist for a reason, because they were built for different jobs.
Solo creatives whose dates fill from referrals and whose real work is the proposal. Cheaper, lower published card rate, a better proposal builder, contracts and invoices at the entry tier.
Venues, caterers, studios and event teams whose problem is what happens after the inquiry. A store clients book from, a date that locks, and deposits on the booking. Your own Stripe, 0% on your own clients.
Set up your vendor store in minutes.
Create your account and start taking bookings, deposits and balances in one place. No card required to look around. If you would rather talk it through first, book fifteen minutes with us.
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Cenvi vs HoneyBook for a caterer
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