Small Agency Owners, Freelancers, and Consultants
Duely vs Chaser: Best Tool for Small Agencies
Compare Duely and Chaser on pricing, features, audience, and reminder style so small agencies can choose the right collections workflow in 2026.
Quick Answer
If you run a small marketing, design, web, or content agency and you're personally chasing invoices, Duely is built for you. If you have a finance team managing hundreds of accounts across multiple entities and need enterprise-grade AR automation with credit scoring and outsourced collections, Chaser is the better fit.
Tip: If you are struggling with this, you might also want to read about Should I Keep Working for an Unpaid Client? and Handle a Client Who Paid Partially Then Went Silent.
👉 Free tool: Check out our Collections Maturity Assessment to optimize your workflow.
What This Guide Covers
- How Duely and Chaser differ in pricing and target audience
- Feature-by-feature comparison
- The key difference in how reminders are sent
- When each product makes sense
- Definitions of key terms
- Common questions about switching from Chaser to Duely
What is Duely?
Duely is a lightweight collections management tool built specifically for owner-led marketing, design, web, and content agencies. After sending an invoice, Duely helps you track outstanding balances, log partial payments, record client payment promises with due dates, draft follow-up messages in the right tone, keep internal notes per client, and send automated payment reminders from your own Gmail account with a payment link included.
What is Chaser?
Chaser is an accounts receivable automation platform built for finance teams at mid-size and enterprise businesses. It offers credit monitoring, SMS reminders, auto-call functionality, paper letters, in-app phone calls, revenue forecasting, receivables forecasting, cash flow forecasting, and an optional outsourced AR specialist service. It integrates with a wide range of accounting systems including Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, SAP, and Microsoft Dynamics.
Pricing
This is the biggest difference between the two products.
| Duely | Chaser | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29/month | $259/month (US) |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card required | 14 days |
| Entry plan revenue cap | None | Under $5M annual revenue |
| Next tier | None | $779/month (up to $13M annual revenue) |
Chaser's pricing is tiered by your company's annual revenue. If your agency crosses the $5M threshold, your price jumps from $259/month to $779/month automatically, with no change in how you use the product. That is a significant and unpredictable cost increase for a growing agency.
Duely is $29/month with no revenue caps, no user limits tied to plan tiers, and no hidden pricing jumps.
Who each product is built for
Chaser targets mid-size businesses and enterprise finance teams. Over the last two years, Chaser has raised prices significantly and moved upmarket, gating core features behind higher tiers. The entry plan is $259/month and is capped at $5M in annual revenue. Their feature set reflects this shift: credit monitoring, late payment predictors, SMS reminders, auto-call functionality, and an optional outsourced AR specialist service are tools built for finance teams managing large volumes of accounts across multiple business entities.
Duely targets owner-led agencies with 1-20 employees billing 10-100 clients on project or retainer terms. The owner is the one chasing invoices, not a finance department. Duely is built around that reality: reminders go out from your own Gmail account so they never feel like automated collections software, follow-ups are drafted in the tone you want, and every client has a full timeline of promises, payments, and notes so you always know where things stand before reaching out.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Duely | Chaser |
|---|---|---|
| Automated payment reminders | Yes, sent via Gmail | Yes, sent via Chaser system |
| Reminders sent from your own email address | Yes | No |
| Follow-up tone drafting (friendly, firm, final notice) | Yes | No |
| Payment promise tracking | Yes | No |
| Partial payment logging | Yes | Yes |
| Client timeline view | Yes | No |
| Internal notes per client | Yes | No |
| QuickBooks integration | Yes | Yes |
| Xero integration | Yes | Yes |
| Stripe integration | Yes (beta) | Yes |
| Client can mark invoice as paid | Yes | No |
| CSV export | Yes | Yes |
| SMS reminders | No | Yes |
| Auto-call | No | Yes |
| Credit monitoring | No | Yes |
| Late payment predictor | No | Yes |
| Cash flow forecasting | No | Yes |
| Outsourced collections team | No | Yes (add-on) |
The key difference: whose name is on the reminder
Chaser sends reminders from Chaser's system. Your client receives an automated email from a third-party collections platform.
Duely sends reminders from your own Gmail account. Your client receives an email that looks exactly like one you wrote yourself. No Duely branding. No indication it was automated. No Chaser-style sender name in their inbox.
For small agencies where client relationships are everything, this matters. An automated reminder from a third-party collections tool can feel cold and transactional. A reminder that appears to come directly from you preserves the relationship while still doing the work automatically.
When does Chaser make more sense?
- Your business has a finance team, not just a founder
- You are managing hundreds of invoices across multiple business entities
- You need credit scoring on new clients before onboarding them
- You want to outsource the actual collections work to a specialist
- Your annual revenue is above $5M and you can justify enterprise-level AR tooling
When does Duely make more sense?
- You are the owner and you are personally chasing invoices
- You run a marketing, design, web, or content agency with 1-20 people
- You bill 10-100 clients on project or retainer terms
- You want reminders that come from your own Gmail, not a collections platform
- You need to track what clients have promised and what has actually been paid
- You are paying $259/month for Chaser and not using most of the features
Definitions: key terms to understand
What is accounts receivable?
Accounts receivable refers to money owed to your business for work already completed and invoiced. Managing accounts receivable means tracking who owes what, following up on overdue balances, and ensuring clients pay according to agreed terms.
What is a payment promise?
A payment promise is a client commitment to pay by a specific future date. Good collections processes document these promises clearly so missed commitments can be tracked and followed up on.
What is an overdue invoice?
An overdue invoice is any invoice that remains unpaid after the agreed due date listed in the payment terms.
What is days sales outstanding (DSO)?
Days sales outstanding is the average number of days it takes a business to collect payment after completing work. A lower DSO means faster cash collection.
What is a collections cadence?
A collections cadence is the structured schedule of follow-up communications sent after an invoice is issued. A typical cadence includes a heads-up before the due date, a nudge shortly after the due date, a firm follow-up at 7-10 days overdue, and a final notice at 14-21 days overdue.
FAQ
Is Duely a cheaper alternative to Chaser?
Yes. Duely starts at $29/month with no revenue caps. Chaser starts at $259/month in the US and increases automatically if your revenue grows past $5M. For small agency owners who do not need enterprise AR features, Duely covers the core workflow at a fraction of the cost.
Does Duely send reminders from my own email?
Yes. Duely sends automated payment reminders from your connected Gmail account. Your client receives an email that appears to come directly from you, with no Duely branding or third-party sender name.
Does Chaser integrate with QuickBooks and Xero?
Yes. Chaser integrates with both QuickBooks and Xero, as well as a wide range of enterprise accounting systems including Sage, SAP, and Microsoft Dynamics.
Does Duely integrate with QuickBooks and Xero?
Yes. Duely integrates with QuickBooks and Xero, syncing outstanding invoices automatically and stopping reminders when a client pays. Stripe integration is also available in beta.
Can I track payment promises in Chaser?
Chaser does not have a dedicated payment promise tracking feature. Duely allows you to log client payment commitments with a specific date, and reminds you to follow up if the promise date passes without payment.
Who is Chaser best for?
Chaser is best for mid-size businesses and enterprise finance teams managing large invoice volumes across multiple entities, who need features like credit monitoring, SMS reminders, auto-calls, cash flow forecasting, and outsourced collections services.
Who is Duely best for?
Duely is best for owner-led marketing, design, web, and content agencies with 1-20 employees who are personally managing invoice follow-ups and need a lightweight, relationship-preserving collections workflow.
Bottom line
Chaser is a strong product for the enterprise market. But it has moved upmarket, raised prices significantly, and is no longer the right fit for small agency owners who need something simple, affordable, and built around how they actually work.
Duely is $29/month. No revenue caps. No finance team required. Built specifically for the agency owner who is personally responsible for chasing invoices and wants to stop doing it manually.
Try Duely free for 14 days. No credit card required.
Start your free trial at duely.in
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