The short answer
Dubsado covers the business side of a booking well: contracts with e-signature, a client portal, payment plans and card payments through Stripe, Square or PayPal. It has no menu and no per-guest pricing, so you work out each catering price yourself.
CaterWay starts from your menu. Customers build an order in a calculator on your website and see a price before they ask for a quote. It has e-signature on every plan, and invoices and deposit requests on Pro, but no online card payments.
If online payments and payment plans matter most, Dubsado does more. If pricing catering orders is the slow part of your week, CaterWay is the closer fit.
Feature by feature
Menu and per-guest pricing
- CaterWay
- Yes. Your products in categories, priced for the guest count.
- Dubsado
- No menu or per-guest pricing.
Price calculator on your website
- CaterWay
- Yes. Customers see a price before they send a request.
- Dubsado
- No price calculator. You build your own enquiry forms.
E-signature
CaterWay has no separate contract builder.
- CaterWay
- Every plan. The customer types their name to accept; CaterWay stores the timestamp, IP address and a snapshot of the quote, and produces a signed PDF.
- Dubsado
- Yes, with contracts.
Invoices and deposits
- CaterWay
- Pro. Invoices and deposit requests with PDF and overdue reminders. You mark them paid by hand.
- Dubsado
- Yes, with payment plans.
Online card payments
- CaterWay
- No.
- Dubsado
- Yes, through Stripe, Square or PayPal.
Client portal
- CaterWay
- The customer opens their quote from a link to read and accept it.
- Dubsado
- Yes.
Setup help
- CaterWay
- You add your products and embed the calculator yourself.
- Dubsado
- Dubsado lists certified setup specialists. Prices vary by specialist.
Company and data
- CaterWay
- Gentlio Oy, Helsinki. Caterer data stored in the EU (Paris).
- Dubsado
- US company, Burbank, California.
Free option
- CaterWay
- Free plan with no time limit: one calculator, 3 categories × 5 products, unlimited quote requests.
- Dubsado
- 21-day free trial with full features. No free plan.
Paid price
Older Dubsado subscribers may keep legacy prices.
- CaterWay
- €49/month, or €39/month billed yearly. Excludes VAT.
- Dubsado
- Starter $35/month or $335/year. Premier $55/month or $525/year.
Dubsado details come from its own public pages, checked 7 October 2026. Prices change; check the vendor's site before you decide.
Where Dubsado is the better choice
Dubsado handles more of the money and paperwork around a booking than CaterWay does.
- Card payments and payment plans. Clients pay online through Stripe, Square or PayPal, and you can split a booking into a payment plan. In CaterWay you send the invoice and mark it paid yourself.
- Contracts. Dubsado has contracts with e-signature. CaterWay has typed-name acceptance of the quote itself, with no separate contract document.
- Client portal. Dubsado gives each client a portal. CaterWay sends the customer a link to their quote.
- Flexibility. Dubsado is a general tool, so you can shape it around work that is not catering. That also means you build the catering parts yourself, or pay one of its listed setup specialists.
Where CaterWay is the better choice
A catering quote depends on the menu and the guest count. Dubsado can collect both in a form, but it cannot price them.
- Prices on your website. Customers pick dishes, enter a guest count and see a price. The request reaches you with the order already priced.
- Quotes built from your menu. You set prices once on your products. Each quote reuses them.
- Built for catering. Menus, guest counts and calculators are already there. You add your products instead of designing forms and workflows.
- A free plan. You can run one calculator on the free plan with no time limit. Dubsado offers a 21-day trial.
What CaterWay looks like
Which one fits you
Choose CaterWay if
- Pricing by menu and guest count is the core of your quotes
- You want customers to see a price on your website before they ask
- You would rather add products than design forms and workflows
- You want to start on a free plan
Choose Dubsado if
- You want clients to pay by card online
- You need payment plans for large bookings
- You need a separate contract and a client portal
- Catering is one service among several
Our take
Dubsado is a flexible tool for the paperwork and payments around a booking. It has no idea what a menu or a guest count is, so every catering price is still your own arithmetic.
CaterWay covers that part: pricing a catering order from your menu, on your own website. If online card payments or payment plans are a must, Dubsado does that and CaterWay does not today.
CaterWay wrote this comparison, so read it as one side of the story and try both products if you can.
Frequently asked questions
Can a caterer use Dubsado?
Yes. Dubsado handles contracts with e-signature, invoices, payment plans and card payments. It has no menu or per-guest pricing, so you build your own forms and work out each price yourself.
Does Dubsado have a free plan?
No. Dubsado offers a 21-day free trial with full features. After that, Starter costs $35/month or $335/year and Premier costs $55/month or $525/year. Older subscribers may keep legacy prices.
Can I get help setting up Dubsado?
Dubsado lists certified setup specialists on its own site. Each specialist sets their own price.
Does CaterWay have e-signatures and invoices?
E-signature is on every plan: the customer types their name to accept the quote, and CaterWay stores the timestamp, IP address and a snapshot, and produces a signed PDF. Invoices and deposit requests are on Pro. CaterWay does not take online card payments, and it has no separate contract builder.
How do the prices compare?
CaterWay has a free plan with no time limit, and Pro costs €49/month or €39/month billed yearly, excluding VAT. Dubsado has a 21-day trial, then $35 or $55 per month, or $335 or $525 per year.
