Dubsado vs Nexa The Real Comparison for Makeup Artists
Dubsado
$35/mo ($420/yr)
VS
Nexa
$279 once — own forever
or 3 payments of $99
Break even: 8.0 months at Dubsado's current price.
Does Dubsado Fit Makeup Artists? Our Read
What makeup artists need from their software, from sources outside Dubsado and outside Nexa:
Makeup artists need to track client travel, because mileage is a deductible cost. The IRS standard business mileage rate changed mid-year in 2026: 72.5 cents per mile for Jan 1–Jun 30 and 76 cents per mile for Jul 1–Dec 31. A mileage log has to apply different rates by date, and each trip should be logged by client and event. The IRS also says travel expenses need a log, diary, notebook or other written record. (irs.gov)
Software should handle deposits, separately priced trials, and a contract signed before work starts. Practitioners disagree on whether a trial fee is refundable if the artist cancels the wedding. Commenters on one forum thread said the signed contract decides it, and that unless it says otherwise the artist 'technically doesn't have to refund you'. Others said the trial is paid work for time and product already used. Invoicing therefore needs the trial and the deposit as separate line items, and the contract needs a stated refund rule. (weddingwire.com)
Income comes from very different kinds of work, so records need to separate them. BLS (May 2023) reports 4,130 theatrical and performance makeup artists. Personal care services employ 1,910 of them, and motion picture and video employ 1,330. The mean annual wage is $119,940 in film and video and $41,460 in amusement parks and arcades. Mixing salon, bridal, film and event jobs on one set of books makes income and rates hard to compare. (bls.gov)
Licensing rules differ by state and by type of work, so records should note where and for whom each job was done. A Texas bill from 2015 proposed amending Occupations Code Section 1602.003(b), the cosmetologist-licensing exemptions. It used the wording 'is in the business of or receives compensation for makeup applications only'. I did not confirm whether the bill was enacted, so check the current Texas rule before relying on it. This shows that whether a license is needed can turn on the kind of work, and software could tag each job as retail, salon, bridal, film or event. (capitol.texas.gov)
Dubsado covers the contract-before-work side of this trade well. Proposals, e-signature contracts and invoices can go out together, and payment plans, reminders and payment tracking are included. That lets a makeup artist take a deposit and a separately priced trial as their own line items. Premier adds automated workflows and a bookkeeping integration. Its listed features do not include a mileage log with the 2026 mid-year rate change (72.5 cents to 76 cents per mile), per-job tagging by type of work (bridal, film, salon, event) or state, or a refund rule for trials. Those stay manual either way.
Nexa covers invoices, estimates and quotes that convert to invoices, payment plans, and a client pay portal where clients pay by card through your own Stripe account and sign estimates. It also has a CRM with tags and a public lead form, jobs with costing and profit per job, before and after photos kept on the job, and today's job stops sent to Google Maps in time order. Bookkeeping includes expenses, profit and loss, and receipt scanning. Its email sequences, workflows and reminders send only while Nexa is open on one of your devices, so they are not always-on. Nexa has no Google Calendar sync (calendar export is an .ics file), no text messages, no QuickBooks or Xero sync, and no hosted support desk. It runs on one device unless you add Cloud Sync.
Over three years Dubsado at $35 a month costs $1,260 ($420 a year). Nexa costs $279 once, or 3 payments of $99, and $458.64 with Cloud Sync at $4.99 a month. Nexa is clearly cheaper. Stay with Dubsado if you rely on its contracts, always-on reminders, calendar connection and support. Nexa is a cheaper fit only for solo, single-device artists who can keep it open, who are comfortable without a vendor support desk, and who want per-job profit and bookkeeping in one place.
Our read for makeup artists: Stay with Dubsado if its signed contracts, always-on reminders and calendar connection carry your bookings; Nexa is the cheaper option only for solo artists who work from one device and can keep it open.
Read on each linked page in October 2026. Check them again before you decide; vendors change plans often.
Bottom Line
Dubsado costs makeup artists $420/year at today's list price. Nexa is $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking and accounting in one suite — so after 8.0 months it has cost less than Dubsado, and you own it after that. What it is not: hosted-for-you software with a support desk and a roadmap you can lobby. That is the trade, and the rest of this page is the detail behind it.
Can it pay for itself?
Nexa is $279 once, about $23 a month over its first year. Its Drain Guard reads your expenses (from a linked bank, an imported statement, or ones you type in), finds the charges that repeat, and adds them up by the month. Keep or Cut then walks you through them one at a time. Cancel $23 a month of charges you'd forgotten about and Nexa has paid for itself inside the first year, before you count the Dubsado bill you'd stop paying.
It depends on what you find and what you cancel, so we don't promise a number. In our demo data, Drain Guard finds 5 subscriptions adding up to $110.13 a month. That is sample data, not a customer's.
The verdict for makeup artists: Stay with Dubsado if the needs in our read above apply to you. If they don't, Nexa covers the core invoicing, scheduling and books for $279 once against $1,260 for Dubsado over three years.
Choose Nexa if:
You're done paying monthly forever
You're a solo operator or small team (1-5)
You need scheduler, connect crm and invoicing in one tool
You're tired of price increases
You want to own your tools like you own your equipment
Choose Dubsado if:
You have a large team (10+) needing enterprise features
You're deeply invested in Dubsado's specific workflow
You need a feature Nexa doesn't have yet
Sound Familiar?
Wedding season is most of my year. A bridal booking starts months ahead with a trial: we talk about the look, the dress, the photos and the weather, and I test products on her skin, noting every shade and product so the day itself is a repeat. On the wedding day I arrive early with a full kit, lighting and a chair, and work through the bridal party on a schedule tight enough that one late bridesmaid can push the photographer back. Makeup has to survive heat, tears and ten hours, so prep, primer and setting are as important as colour. Hygiene is strict: disposable applicators, sanitised brushes between clients, no double-dipping. Photoshoots and events fill the rest of my calendar, and each has its own look, lighting and timing. Weddings are booked with a contract and a non-refundable deposit, with travel fees for venues out of town. My kit is a serious expense, and I'm constantly replacing products and chasing new shades for a wider range of skin tones. My portfolio and reviews bring in most of my bookings.
Managing bridal party bookings with multiple people on one contract
Travel fees and kit fees complicating pricing
HoneyBook taking a cut of payments on top of monthly fee
Seasonal boom around prom and wedding season, dead in winter
Scheduling, client records and invoicing are the pieces of that day. Some tools rent you each piece separately. A few — Nexa among them — bundle the lot and carry their own booking link, with no per-appointment cut. The sections below price both routes honestly.
None of that is a software problem you can buy your way out of in one click — it is why the tool you pick matters more than what it costs. Dubsado solves some of it. So does Nexa. The difference is what you are left holding in three years.
What Dubsado Actually Costs Makeup Artists
Today's list price is $35/month — $420 a year, from Dubsado's own pricing page. Every figure below is that price, multiplied. Nothing is projected.
Three years at today's price
Year 1$420
Year 2$420
Year 3$420
Three years of Dubsado$1,260
Nexa: $279 once (or 3 × $99). Over the same three years, that is $981 less.
If Dubsado raises its price, the three-year cost goes up; if it cuts it, the cost comes down. We don't guess which. Add-ons, extra seats and card-processing fees are not included, on either side.
Feature-by-Feature
Feature
Dubsado
Nexa
Invoicing
✓
✓
Scheduling
✓
✓
CRM
✓
✓
Time Tracking
—
✓
Full Accounting
—
✓ (SIMPL)
Task Management
—
✓
Works offline
—
✓
Price
$35/mo
$279 once or 3 × $99
3-Year Total
$1,260
$279
You own it?
No — stop paying, lose access
Yes — forever
✓ and ✗ for Dubsado come from its own published feature list. — means the feature isn't in that list, which is not the same as Dubsado lacking it: check with them. Three years is at today's price.
What "$279 Once" Does And Doesn't Buy
It buys the software, not a service contract. You install Nexa and it runs on your machine. There is no seat count, and nothing stops working if you stop paying, because there is nothing to stop paying.
Dubsado's monthly fee is not only rent. It pays for their hosting, their support desk, and their engineers shipping changes every week. If those matter to how you work, that is a real thing you would be giving up.
Cross-device sync is the one optional extra — $4.99/month if you want your data mirrored between machines. Skip it and Nexa still works; you just sync manually.
The honest risk of buying once: you are betting on us still being here to improve it. The honest risk of renting: the price is theirs to raise, and the graveyard section below is a record of tools that did exactly that.
What Dubsado Does Better
Straight from Dubsado's own feature set. If one of these is the reason you pay them, that reason does not disappear because Nexa is cheaper.
All-in-one CRM for creatives
Contract and proposal templates
Workflow automation
Client portal
Scheduler integration
A smaller bill up front: plans start at $35/month, against $279 paid once for Nexa.
Dubsado is the better call if you need all-in-one crm for creatives specifically, or if your team is large enough that per-seat pricing still beats buying software outright.
What Dubsado Is Built For
Dubsado says it is for creative, licensed, and event-based businesses. Its homepage names photographers, designers, copywriters, coaches, virtual assistants, accountants, legal professionals, event planners and wedding planners. (dubsado.com)
Proposals, contracts with e-signature, and invoices can be sent together. Payment plans, automated payment reminders and payment tracking are included. (dubsado.com)
Both plans include unlimited projects and clients, client portals, invoicing and payment plans, form and email templates, a calendar connection, an email integration, and mobile app access. (dubsado.com)
Annual pricing is $335 a year for Starter and $525 a year for Premier. Premier adds automated workflows, advanced scheduling, public proposals, a bookkeeping integration and Zapier integration. It also allows unlimited active lead capture forms, where Starter allows 1. (dubsado.com)
Three additional users are free. Beyond that, 4–10 users cost $25 a month, 11–20 cost $45 a month, and 21–30 cost $60 a month. Extra brands cost $10 a month each. (dubsado.com)
The free trial lasts 21 days with full Premier access and needs no credit card. Support by email and live chat is included on both plans. (dubsado.com)
The homepage lists lead capture with branded intake forms, scheduling for discovery calls, questionnaires, time tracking and reports, and a mobile app with Tap to Pay. It also points to a help center, live webinars, and Certified Specialists you can hire. (dubsado.com)
What people outside Dubsado and outside Nexa say:
Praise from a blogger: "The customer service is also top-notch," custom workflows have "saved me countless hours," and client portals make the author look organized. I found no disclosed affiliate link on the page, but the page links to Dubsado repeatedly and has a call to action. (jilliandolberry.com)
Criticism from the same blogger: "The learning curve can be a bit steep at first," and the author says you will likely need the more expensive premium plan. (jilliandolberry.com)
Read on each linked page in October 2026. Check them again before you decide; vendors change plans often.
Where business tools fit — for a makeup artist
Software doesn't do your clients — it automates the business around it. And that part is the same for every makeup artist: find the work, manage it, bill for it, get paid. Each step has a tool — and the right single tool runs the whole loop, so the handoffs are automatic and you get back to your clients. Tap a step to see what gets automated.
1
Find the work
Get booked
↓
A new client finds you and books a time — no phone tag, no double-booking.
CRM / contacts
Estimates & proposals
Booking / scheduling
then ↓
2
Manage the work
Deliver the service
↓
The session itself — with the client history, notes, packages, and add-ons right there instead of in three different places.
Job / project tracking
Time tracking
Expenses, materials & add-ons
then ↓
3
Bill for it
Send the bill
↓
The work becomes the invoice — the hours, the add-ons, the materials, the deposit credited — totaled and sent, instead of re-typed at 9pm.
Invoicing
Deposits & credits
then ↓
4
Get paid
Collect payment
↓
Paid by card or link, the deposit credited, and what's overdue chased — without you doing it by hand.
Card / online payments
Automatic reminders
You can stitch four separate subscriptions across these four steps, or run one tool that does the whole flow so a booking becomes a job becomes an invoice becomes a payment without re-typing. Either way the goal is the same: less time on the business of the business, more on your clients. (Nexa is built to be the one — but the honest options for each step are above and below.)
Watch a job become an invoice
This is the connection that makes the rest worth it. A makeup artist's job already holds the services, the hours, the add-ons, and the materials — so the invoice builds itself from the work instead of you re-typing it at 9pm. Toggle an add-on or nudge the hours and watch it recompute.
The job Bridal party, 5 people
ServiceBridal makeup (incl. trial)1 × $350$350
ServiceBridesmaid makeup4 × $95$380
→
The invoice builds itself
Subtotal$790
Deposit credited−$250
Invoice total$540
You didn't write this invoice — the job did.
Calculate Your Full Stack
Dubsado plus whatever else you're paying for:
Email yourself this comparison?
Switching from Dubsado
1
Export your data — Go to Settings → export your client list, project data, and invoice history.
2
Set up Nexa — 15-minute setup. Import your client list. Recreate key workflow templates.
3
Parallel run — Run both for 2 weeks. Complete active projects in Dubsado, start new ones in Nexa.
4
Cancel Dubsado — Cancel subscription. Download contract templates and client data as backup.
✓ 30-day money-back guarantee. Zero risk.
What This Means for Makeup Artists
The median makeup artist earns $35,000/year. At $420/year, Dubsado is a recurring slice of that — paid again every year, whether the year was good or not. Owning the same jobs outright is $279 once, and the slice stops.
Nexa is $279 once. Invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, accounting — all connected, built for makeup artists. You own it like you own your Professional brush set (MAC, Sigma, Morphe).
Is Nexa actually right for a makeup artist?
An honest fit check — because the wrong tool is worse than no tool.
Right for you if
You run solo or a small team — like the 50,000 makeup artists in the US who do, and you wear every hat.
You're tired of paying every month for honeybook and a pile of apps that don't talk to each other.
You want invoicing, scheduling, and client tracking in one place — not scattered across five apps.
You'd rather own your software once, the way you own your Professional brush set (MAC, Sigma, Morphe).
Look elsewhere if
You have a large team that needs enterprise seats, granular roles, and dedicated admin staff — Nexa is built for solo and small operators (1–5), and a bigger platform will serve you better.
You need full payroll for a large team or deep, SKU-level inventory — that's not what Nexa is for.
You're genuinely happy paying monthly and don't mind stitching tools together. No tool fixes a workflow you already like.
The honest fit: if you're a solo or small makeup artists business that owns its tools and is sick of renting software, Nexa replaces your whole stack for $279 once. If you're scaling into a large team with dedicated admin staff, a bigger platform may fit better — and we'd rather tell you that now than sell you the wrong thing.
Makeup Artists by the numbers — by place
What makeup artists charge, city by city
$205 /sessionavg local price
+71%vs national
moderatesaturation
~5,161operators
8%growth
$219 /sessionavg local price
+83%vs national
highsaturation
~5,182operators
6%growth
$156 /sessionavg local price
+30%vs national
moderatesaturation
~2,872operators
4%growth
$143 /sessionavg local price
+19%vs national
highsaturation
~2,543operators
10%growth
$149 /sessionavg local price
+24%vs national
highsaturation
~2,237operators
8%growth
Local rates and saturation vary widely — price for the city you serve, not a national average.
Scheduling, client records and invoicing are the pieces of that day. Some tools rent you each piece separately. A few — Nexa among them — bundle the lot and carry their own booking link, with no per-appointment cut. The sections below price both routes honestly.
What makeup artists actually deal with
Managing bridal party bookings with multiple people on one contract
Travel fees and kit fees complicating pricing
HoneyBook taking a cut of payments on top of monthly fee
Seasonal boom around prom and wedding season, dead in winter
A day in the life of a makeup artist
Wedding season is most of my year. A bridal booking starts months ahead with a trial: we talk about the look, the dress, the photos and the weather, and I test products on her skin, noting every shade and product so the day itself is a repeat. On the wedding day I arrive early with a full kit, lighting and a chair, and work through the bridal party on a schedule tight enough that one late bridesmaid can push the photographer back. Makeup has to survive heat, tears and ten hours, so prep, primer and setting are as important as colour. Hygiene is strict: disposable applicators, sanitised brushes between clients, no double-dipping. Photoshoots and events fill the rest of my calendar, and each has its own look, lighting and timing. Weddings are booked with a contract and a non-refundable deposit, with travel fees for venues out of town. My kit is a serious expense, and I'm constantly replacing products and chasing new shades for a wider range of skin tones. My portfolio and reviews bring in most of my bookings.
The tools a working makeup artist actually owns
Professional brush set (MAC, Sigma, Morphe)
Airbrush kit and compressor
Full product kit (foundations, palettes, false lashes)
Portable lighting (ring light, LED panels)
Why makeup artists leave the big platforms
honeybook: $39/month plus payment processing cuts. On a $1,000 bridal package, the fees add up fast.
dubsado: Powerful but took weeks to set up. The learning curve is brutal for someone who just wants to book faces.
acuity: Scheduling only — can't handle bridal party contracts, multi-person bookings, or travel fee calculations.
Where makeup artists actually talk shop
r/MakeupAddiction (Reddit)
r/MakeupArtistLounge (Reddit)
r/freelance (Reddit)
Robert Welsh (YouTube)
Alexandra Anele (YouTube)
Hindash (YouTube)
Local makeup artists on Nexa
Real makeup artists near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee.
Are you a makeup artist? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time.
Or browse every makeup artist on Nexa →
The kit a working makeup artist owns
The tools of the trade — each a one-time buy that earns its keep for years.
Professional brush set (MAC, Sigma, Morphe)
Airbrush kit and compressor
Full product kit (foundations, palettes, false lashes)
Portable lighting (ring light, LED panels)
You paid for these once because good tools last. That's the bar your software should clear too — priced like a tool you own, $279 once, not a subscription that costs more than your kit every year.
How To Read This Page
We make Nexa. It is one of the two options compared here, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to make Dubsado's case the way we would want ours made — their strengths above are their own published feature list, not our summary of it.
The prices are Dubsado's published list prices, checked on the date shown in the sources below. Plans change; check theirs before you decide.
No customer quotes appear on this page because we do not have any from makeup artists we can verify. For user testimony, read the independent reviews — Dubsado on G2 and on Capterra — where the reviewers are not selling you anything.
Check the price yourself:Dubsado's own pricing page is the source for every figure above, read on the date shown in the sources section below.
We are not neutral about subscriptions, and that is the argument, not a hidden assumption: software you pay for once is cheaper over three years than software you rent, unless you need something only the rented one does.
How we put this guide together
We build a makeup artist's guide the same way every time, and we'd rather you trust it than take it on faith. Nexa is our product, so the test we hold ourselves to is simple: a tool only "wins" a job here when it genuinely does that job better for a makeup artist — and where something free, open-source, or buy-once does it better, we say so and link you to it. Where Nexa falls short (payroll is the honest example), we name the alternative outright.
Where the numbers come from
Vendor pricingHoneyBook $432/yr, Dubsado $420/yr, Square, Acuity Scheduling $408/yr — taken from each company's published plans, last verified September 2026. Pricing moves; each name above links straight to that vendor’s own pricing page so you can confirm it before you decide.
Income contextThe $35,000 median we cite for the typical makeup artist is occupational median annual pay from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics), compiled April 2026. We use it only to show software spend as a share of real income — your own numbers will differ.
Three-year mathMulti-year totals are today's list price multiplied by the number of years. No price rise is projected, so the figure can be checked against the vendor's own pricing page; if they raise it, the real cost is higher.
Found something out of date? Prices change and we don't catch every move the day it happens. This guide is published and maintained by the Nexa team; if a figure here is wrong, tell us and we'll fix it — getting it right matters more to us than the sale.
FAQ
Is Nexa really a Dubsado replacement?
For solo makeup artists and small teams, yes. invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting — all for $279 once. Dubsado may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
What does Dubsado do that Nexa doesn't?
Dubsado has features like All-in-one CRM for creatives and Contract and proposal templates that some businesses rely on. For most solo makeup artists, these aren't dealbreakers.
How fast does Nexa pay for itself?
At $35/month, Nexa pays for itself in 8.0 months. After that: $420 saved every year.
Can I pay in installments?
Yes. Nexa is $279 as a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $99 ($297 total). Either way it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees ever.