Top 7 Copilot Alternatives for Creative Agencies in 2025

"Copilot… would cost me nearly $2,500/month more… in user fees and payment processing—and we'd still need additional tools for our creative workflows." 

These are the exact words of a marketing agency owner looking for affordable Copilot alternatives with features for a creative agency’s workflows. 

Your agency deserves a tool that manages client relationships, has invoicing and billing features, and organizes tasks through a modern user interface. This helps you invite your clients into a dedicated workspace and work with your team without friction. 

In this article, I'll show you the must-have features you should look for in a Copilot alternative and will also compare 7 alternatives so you can make your top pick. 

Must-Have Features to Look for in Copilot Alternatives

To meet the needs of agency owners, here are some of the pain points the ideal solution must address: 

1. Client Portal and Communication: It should have features like an embedded invoicing system, a message center, and support ticket systems. Your clients must be able to see their contracts and upload and access project files and other kinds of documents in a single location. 

You should also consider a portal that lets you run a productized service so clients can “subscribe” to a service category from your catalog, and they can make task requests based on those services. Here’s an example: 

2. Payment Processing and Financial Management: The software must integrate with payment processors like Stripe for credit card and ACH transactions without additional merchant fees. 

3. Scalable Pricing Structure: Look for a tool that lets you scale up and down based on your volume of users, clients, and transactions. 

You can also check if it lets you link subscription plans together so your clients can upgrade to a different tier. If they bought service A, this flexibility lets them upgrade to service D (because they want the deliverables in service D and can afford it). 

4. Document Management and Integration: If you need extra space, consider tools that integrate with Google Drive and Dropbox. If you don’t, consider Copilot alternatives with basic integrations you might need for your day-to-day agency operations. 

5. Project Management Essentials: To avoid another subscription to project management software, look for software with: 

• Basic task tracking and management
• Time tracking 
• Digital contract signing functionality
• Storage space for files 
• Customized view for contractor and client collaboration on task boxes 
• Design annotation feature (also known as markup or proofing tools) 

6. White-Label Capabilities: Consider tools with white-labeling features to customize the colors, logos, and other branding elements to match your brand’s design.

7 Copilot Alternatives for Your Creative Agency in 2025

Here are my top 7 picks to consider for your agency. You can start with their free trials to see if they're the perfect fit before you commit to them. 

1. ManyRequests 

ManyRequests is a client portal that allows you to “sell” productized services, manage all service requests, assign tasks, and communicate with clients and teams directly. Unlike general project management tools, it has built-in markup features and automatically creates invoices to avoid administrative stress and reduce the risk of errors. Here are some of its standout features as a Copilot alternative:

I. Client Portal & White-labeling

ManyRequests lets you completely redesign your client portal the way Prontto has done: 

This brings your clients to a space that feels custom-built to handle all their requests and manage communications, invoices, and billing. You can use your custom domain name and rebrand the URL with your agency name. This is Teamtown using the client portal to manage their agency and billing needs: 

The client portal allows customizable service request forms so you can collect task details every time your clients make a request. You can convert these task details into a brief so your assignee can know how best to meet client expectations. 

You can also brand these service forms with your logo, share them via email or branded links, or embed them on your website as Teamtown does. ManyRequests also helps automate client onboarding and relationships. 

📌 Tip: Use our client onboarding template to onboard your client without the administrative worry. 

Lastly, ManyRequests’ markup feature helps your clients give precise feedback on specific areas that need iterations to avoid cluttered, confusing screenshots. They can leave numbered comments on images, files, and other visual files for organized feedback and even record video explanations for complex revisions. See example here: 

II. Payment Processing & Pricing Structure

ManyRequests has transparent pricing designed for growing agencies. It starts at $99/month for 2 users and goes up to $149/month for 5 users and $399/month for 10 users. You can add extra users to all plans for $40/user. 

It integrates with Stripe, so you can receive payment directly and set automated invoice reminders without subscribing to another invoicing and billing software. Depending on how you structure your services, you can customize payment schedules with your clients (100% upfront, 50% upfront, or post-project). 

Lastly, you can upsell your clients with add-on services (with separate billing) without affecting your retainer services to the specific client. This helps you introduce other services they may need that weren’t included in the service category they paid for. 

III. Creative Workflow Management

ManyRequests has project management features that automatically turn client requests into tasks, which you can assign directly to a team member. The task box has multiple status options: "To Do, In Progress, Pending Feedback, Revisions Needed, Completed." You can use the same task box to set deadlines, assign tasks to a team member, and indicate the priority level: “low, medium, high.” 

You can also set permissions to limit what clients can see on these task boxes so they don’t know the messages you’re exchanging with your team member or who the task is assigned to.

ManyRequests also has time-tracking features for hourly projects and an embedded CRM tool to manage client lifecycles. However, it doesn’t offer a Gantt charts view because a simple all Requests dashboard keeps everything organized and detailed: 

2. Softr

Softr is unique because it’s a no-code Copilot alternative. You can use its templates to build web apps, client portals, project management systems, and any workflow you need for your operations. Here are some of its features: 

I. Client Portal & White-labeling

You can enjoy some of the following because of its customization:

• Full white-label portal with a custom domain 
• Flexible portal layout and design options
• Custom branding across all client touchpoints
• Membership portal functionality
• Client-specific dashboards and data views

However, this requires significant setup time. There are no pre-built agency workflows, and you’ll have to manually integrate essential tools. You’ll also need some technical help in maintaining the portal. 

II. Payment Processing & Pricing Structure

Its pricing starts at $49/month for the Basic plan, $139/month for the Professional plan, and $269/month for the Business plan. You can only remove Softr’s branding with the Professional plan. 

It has no forced payment processing fee like Copilot, and you can directly integrate with Stripe for payments. While the base pricing appears reasonable, costs can increase with:

• Additional subscriptions for your integrations
• Premium features
• The development time for custom solutions
• Third-party tools for missing functionality

All of these make it complex in the long term. Yet, it’s a valid option to consider if you’re an automation power user who loves building apps. 

III. Creative Workflow Management

Softr doesn’t have native project management, file sharing, collaboration, or design markup and feedback features. You must build and integrate everything from scratch, including time tracking, task management, client feedback loops…, everything you need. 

Softr is best for agencies that prioritize portal customization over out-of-the-box workflow features. 

3. HelloBonsai

HelloBonsai was a freelancer management platform but has expanded to serve small creative agencies. It focuses heavily on automated contracts and invoicing workflows, which makes it a good Copilot alternative in terms of contract-specific features. Other features are: 

I. Client Portal & White-labeling

You can rebrand HelloBonsai’s client portal with your logos and brand colors. It also has a standard invoice and proposal branding feature, alongside some customizations for client-facing task boxes and documents. 

You can invite your clients to the portal through a custom link. The portal lets them view all projects, write comments on tasks, upload tasks, and access invoices. However, it seems you cannot remove the Bonsai branding at the top of your portal like Prontto did with ManyRequests.

II. Payment Processing & Pricing Structure

HelloBonsai's pricing mirrors the issues with Copilot. Pricing starts at $15/month per user, but the plans with better features are the Premium and Elite, which cost $39/user/month and $59/user/month, respectively. The Contractor Management feature attracts an extra $99/month. Bonsai has card payment processing fees of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction and ACH transfers of at least 1%. 

If you process $50,000 monthly, you'll pay HelloBonsai about $1,450 in fees because of their required 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. This can become expensive for larger teams, as it will increase operational costs. 

III. Creative Workflow Management

Bonsai provides basic project management tools like time tracking, client feedback, file sharing, and task assignment features. However, it doesn’t have markup features that could help with design edits and feedback. Also, it’s more suited to freelancers as it doesn’t have a productized service catalog where you can list your services and manage client preferences from a single platform. 

4. SuiteDash

SuiteDash markets itself as a complete business suite for agencies. It combines CRM, project management, and client portal features into one integrated solution to replace multiple tools. Here's how:

I. Client Portal & White-labeling

It has white-labeling features that let you customize your portal with custom domains and remove SuiteDash branding. You can modify the design with custom CSS and create client-specific dashboards. It also has automated client onboarding processes to help with new client setups.

Each client gets a unique login area to access invoices, contracts, and files. They can also track project progress in real-time, submit support tickets, and use the self-service booking system. You can also use the integrated messaging system and file-sharing feature to communicate with clients regularly.

II. Payment Processing & Pricing Structure

SuiteDash doesn't charge per user. Its monthly fee starts at $19 and goes up to $49 and $99.

It also integrates with ACH, Stripe, and other payment methods without forcing transaction fees like Copilot and other tools.

III. Creative Workflow Management

SuiteDash has project management features with basic task assignments, time tracking, project automation, and Kanban views for all active tasks. It markets itself as all-in-one business software, but many reviewers complain that the feature-rich platform is hard to learn and understand.

The UI also gets cluttered and can be intimidating to set up because of its multiple use cases. 

5. Teamwork

Teamwork started as a project management tool and is now a solution for creative agencies. The Copilot alternative provides detailed project tracking and resource management features through: 

I. Client Portal & White-labeling

Teamwork allows white-labeling through custom domains, and you can give clients project-specific access to the portal. While it has limited customizations as a client portal (no onboarding system), you can use its client communication features to exchange conversations with your clients. It also has different permission levels to limit client access. 

II. Payment Processing & Pricing Structure

Teamwork's pricing structure is more flexible than Copilot’s. It starts at $13.99/user/month (minimum of 3 users) and goes up to the Scale Plan at $69.99/user/month (minimum of 5 users). It has no built-in payment processing feature, so you may need to integrate with an invoicing tool to process payments. 

This means you’ll commit to other subscriptions for integrations to manage agency operations. 

III. Creative Workflow Management

Teamwork organizes tasks through projects, task lists, boards, and Gantt views. It also has a Workload Planner to manage team capacity and identify overbooked members. It also has time-tracking and milestone-tracking features to clock time and milestone-based tasks. 

However, it doesn’t have a design annotation feature, which might be helpful if you need your clients to provide precise feedback on design projects using the feature. 

6. ClickUp

ClickUp is another Copilot alternative that positions itself as an all-in-one productivity platform for small creative teams and large agencies. It has different customization options but doesn’t have the client management system some of its competitors have. Some of its features are: 

I. Client Portal & White-labeling

ClickUp's client portal is limited because clients are solely invited to your workspaces as guests. ClickUp has no white-labeling features, but you can create a specific page where your clients can view and comment on tasks, invoices (through QuickBooks integration), and contracts. It doesn’t have an automated client onboarding flow, so you must manually set up access for each new client, which takes a lot of time. 

🔥 Tip: I covered more about ClickUp in a ClickUp vs. Notion review. 

II. Payment Processing & Pricing Structure

ClickUp’s pricing starts at $10/m/user for the Unlimited plan and is $19/m/user for the Business Plan. 

However, it doesn’t have a native payment processor, so clients can’t pay directly from your portal. So, while it’s a great Copilot alternative for its productivity and project management features, you need additional subscriptions for invoice and billing management. 

III. Creative Workflow Management

ClickUp shines here. It has 

• Custom statuses for design approval stages
• Proofing tools for images and documents
• Multiple task views 
• Time tracking features 
• Custom fields for creative briefs, etc. 

It also has customization options, but it takes time to set up. Don’t use ClickUp if you’re not an automation power user or looking for a simple tool with a less cluttered UI. 

7. HoneyBook

HoneyBook targets service-based businesses and provides client management and booking workflows alongside its project management features. It's a Copilot alternative that can replace your current tech stack if you’re looking for a tool with features like: 

I. Client Portal & White-labeling

HoneyBook has a client portal with project pipelines and digital proposal features. It can send automated client questionnaires and track client communications. It also has file-sharing and client-interaction features. 

II. Payment Processing & Pricing Structure

HoneyBook's plans start at $19/month for Starter (with limited features), $39/month for Essentials, and $79/month for Premium. 

It charges fixed payment processing fees of 3% for credit cards and 1.5% for ACH, with no option to use external payment processors. If you process $50,000 monthly, you could pay over $1,500 in credit card fees and up to $750 in ACH fees.

III. Creative Workflow Management

HoneyBook's project management system lets you manage basic tasks and has built-in time-tracking features. You can also use the project pipeline stages to see project statuses in one view. 

However, it cannot effectively handle design feedback. Your clients can't mark up designs directly in the platform, which may make it hard for you as a design agency to get precise feedback. 

HoneyBook is best for simple workflows and lower transaction volumes. However, it gets expensive if you want to scale your agency from a few clients to 50+ clients (which means you'll handle a lot of money, and the transaction fees can become overwhelming). 

Conclusion

After reviewing these alternatives, here are three solutions that meet most agency needs:

Use ManyRequests if you’re a growing agency that prioritizes professional client experience and creative workflows. Its white labeling, client portal, project management features, and modern UI make it perfect for agencies looking to scale without increasing operational costs. 

Sign up within 30 seconds and work with your clients and teams for 14 days. Free of charge. No credit card is required. 

But if you want to consider other options:

Softr is good if you have technical expertise and want complete control over your portal. 

Use ClickUp if you love extensive customization options and don't mind integrating third-party tools for payments and client management.

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