Switching
HoneyBook or Tellisto, for a photography studio.
HoneyBook launched in Australia in May 2026, with photo galleries built in. It’s a mature product and a real option. This page compares the two straight, including the parts where HoneyBook is the better tool.
Nothing here asks you to cancel anything. Bring one shoot and see.
Why people look
Two all-in-one tools, built for different studios.
HoneyBook is general client management for service businesses, with galleries added for photographers. Tellisto is built only for photographers in Australia and New Zealand. Both put enquiries, contracts, invoices and galleries in one place. The differences are in the plans, how you get paid, and who each one was built for.
The facts box
Checked against HoneyBook’s own pages on 30 September 2026. HoneyBook launched in Australia in May 2026 and prices in Australian dollars. Its plans are listed at $40, $69 and $149 a month billed annually, or $50, $80 and $180 billed monthly, and every plan starts with a free trial. There’s no free plan. Photo and video galleries are included, with 200 GB on Starter and unlimited storage from Essentials. Starter galleries show “Powered by HoneyBook”. Card fees start at 1.7% + $0.25, and bank payments carry a 1% + $0.30 processing fee.
Tellisto has a free plan with no time limit: 20 GB and two live galleries. Pro is $79 a month (NZ$79 in New Zealand) with 1 TB and unlimited live galleries. Galleries are white-label on every plan. PayID and bank transfer carry no fee, and Tellisto takes zero commission on anything. Their numbers can change any time, so check their pricing page for the current ones.
What maps to what
How your HoneyBook setup maps to Tellisto.
- Projects become leads and bookings. An enquiry comes in, becomes a quote, then a confirmed shoot with a deposit against it. Each booking creates its gallery with the client and details already filled in, so nothing gets retyped between admin and delivery.
- Lead forms become a branded enquiry form. It goes on the website you already have, and every enquiry gets an instant reply in your words. Tellisto doesn’t build websites.
- The scheduler becomes sessions. Set up a session for anything you take bookings for, and it gets its own shareable page with deposits, intake forms and a waitlist. On Tellisto that comes with the free plan.
- Contracts and invoices carry across. Contracts are signed online under your studio’s brand, never a Tellisto address. In Australia, invoices round GST the way the ATO specifies and check your ABN against the register. In New Zealand they charge 15% and show your IRD number.
- Getting paid changes shape. PayID and bank transfer are listed first on your invoices, and the money lands in your account with no fee. Card payments go through your own Stripe account. You mark bank payments as paid yourself when they arrive, because Tellisto can’t see your bank account.
- Galleries stay yours on every plan. No badge on the free plan and none on Pro. When a client chooses to keep a gallery through the Client Vault, they pay for that storage, and on Pro you earn a share of every renewal.
Where they do better
Where HoneyBook is the better tool.
Here is where HoneyBook does more than Tellisto, and where that might matter to you.
- Storage and video. Essentials gives unlimited gallery storage and up to eight hours of video for $69 a month billed annually, or $80 month to month. Tellisto Pro gives 1 TB for $79 a month, and video delivery isn’t live yet. If you shoot big weddings or deliver films, that matters. Their terms do let them set storage limits, as most services that advertise unlimited storage do.
- Card fees. Their card rate starts at 1.7% + $0.25, a touch below Stripe’s standard Australian rate, which is what you pay on cards through Tellisto.
- A mobile app. HoneyBook has one and Tellisto doesn’t. Tellisto works in a phone browser, which is not the same thing.
- More than one of you. Essentials includes two team members and Premium is unlimited. A Tellisto account today is one studio and one person.
- Integrations and maturity. HoneyBook connects to QuickBooks Online, Zapier and others, and has been running since 2013. Tellisto exports a tax summary Xero accepts, but doesn’t connect to accounting software directly yet.
- Beyond Australia. HoneyBook works in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. Tellisto is built for Australia and New Zealand only.
Here is what Tellisto doesn’t do at all yet: no print store, no website builder, no video hosting, no slideshows. Camera raw upload is on the roadmap for Pro and not shipped, so uploads take JPEG, PNG and WebP today.
The move itself
How the move goes.
- First, get your data out while you still have an account. Contacts as a spreadsheet, reports by the month, and PDFs of the contracts and invoices for active jobs. Email templates have no export, so copy out the handful you actually send. Don’t cancel yet.
- Day one: deliver something new. Brand your studio, which takes about ten minutes, and put your next shoot through Tellisto end to end. Nothing about your HoneyBook account changes.
- Week one: bring your current clients. Import your contacts spreadsheet at Clients, then Import. Nobody gets emailed. Set up the jobs you have on now as bookings. If anything doesn’t line up, send it over and we’ll do it together. While Tellisto is small, the person doing that is me.
- At your pace: finish what’s open. Let projects with money still owing finish in HoneyBook, so no client gets a second invoice for the same shoot.
- Last: cancel. Once your exports open and your open projects are paid, cancel HoneyBook.
Decided?
The step-by-step guide to moving from HoneyBook.
This page helps you choose. The guide covers the move itself. It lists which exports to pull out of HoneyBook, in what order, and what has no export button at all. It also shows how to set up your live work in Tellisto before you cancel anything.
How to move from HoneyBook to Tellisto How every move works
Comparing more than one tool? See every platform we compare.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about switching from HoneyBook
HoneyBook launched in Australia. Why look at anything else?
You might not need to. HoneyBook is a mature product with galleries, video, a mobile app and room for a team. Tellisto suits a different studio: one that wants a free plan it can run real jobs on, white-label galleries on every plan, fee-free PayID, or New Zealand. If none of those matter to you, HoneyBook is a strong choice.
Can I try Tellisto without cancelling HoneyBook?
Yes. The free plan has no time limit, so you can put your next shoot through Tellisto while HoneyBook stays exactly as it is. Finish your current projects where they started, and decide with both in front of you.
What does it cost to get paid?
On Tellisto, clients can pay by PayID or bank transfer straight into your account, with no fee from anyone. Card payments go through your own Stripe account at Stripe's rates, and Tellisto adds nothing on top. HoneyBook's Australian pricing page lists card fees from 1.7% + $0.25 and a 1% + $0.30 processing fee on bank payments.
Are the galleries white-label?
On Tellisto, yes, on every plan including free. Your clients see your studio's name and colours, and no Tellisto badge. HoneyBook's help centre says galleries on a trial or the Starter plan show "Powered by HoneyBook", which is removed from Essentials up.
Can I get my data out of HoneyBook?
Your contacts download as one spreadsheet, and your financial reports download in whole months. Signed contracts and invoices have no bulk export, so each one saves as a PDF from its project. The moving from HoneyBook guide does it in the safe order.
I'm in New Zealand. Does that change anything?
It might. Tellisto works in New Zealand, with 15% GST and your IRD number on every invoice. HoneyBook's May 2026 launch announcement names Australia and the UK, alongside the US and Canada, and doesn't mention New Zealand.
Bring one shoot and see.
Start free in about ten minutes, run a whole job through it, and decide with the real thing in your hands. You don't need a card, there's no trial clock, and there's zero commission.