A Houzz Pro
alternative.

One sells reach. One organises sourcing.

Houzz Pro is a business suite bolted to a consumer platform. The profile, the reviews, the directory listing and the leads come from the marketplace side. The estimates, invoicing, project management and product tools come from the software side. Both halves are sold together, and for a lot of practices the first half is the reason the second gets paid for.

VADE has no consumer side at all. No marketplace, no directory, no reviews, no advertising spend. It saves any vendor or product URL in one right-click, extracts a colour palette from every save so the library is searchable by colour or hex, groups everything by supplier, and turns the result into a client-ready board on a link.

It is also not a procurement suite. No purchase orders, no invoicing, no payments, no scheduling. That is a decision rather than a gap, and it is why the price is what it is.

What designers report.

Three complaints come up repeatedly in designer communities. We are repeating them as reported rather than characterising anyone’s business, and your experience may differ.

Cancelling is not self-service

Designers report difficulty cancelling from the dashboard. VADE cancels from billing settings in one click. No email, no phone call, no retention conversation, and no notice period to discover afterwards. We treat that as a feature rather than an oversight, because a subscription you can leave easily is one you can try honestly.

The monthly fee moves

Designers report unexpected additions to the monthly fee. VADE has three prices: free, £12 a month for Solo, £29 a month for Studio covering up to five seats. They are published on the pricing page, there is nothing to quote, and there is no advertising product sitting next to the subscription.

Value against the bill

Designers report general dissatisfaction with value. That is the vaguest of the three and the hardest to argue with, because it usually means the suite is broad and the parts being used are narrow. If the parts you use are sourcing and presenting, buying only those two costs a fraction of a suite.

Side by side.

When Houzz Pro is the better choice.

You are buying leads

This is the whole argument and it is a good one. Houzz is where a large number of homeowners start a project. A profile, a portfolio and a review history on that platform put you in front of people who are already looking. If a meaningful share of your enquiries arrive that way, the subscription is a marketing cost with an attributable return, and no sourcing tool competes with that. VADE does not generate a single enquiry.

You want the marketplace

Buying through one account, with trade pricing and order tracking in the same place you specified from, removes real friction. VADE deliberately sits outside that: you buy direct from the supplier on your own terms, which suits studios with established trade accounts and suits nobody who wants one basket.

You need estimates and invoices in the same tool

Estimates, invoicing, payments and project management are a substantial part of what Houzz Pro sells and none of them exist in VADE. If you are choosing one tool to run the business end of a practice, VADE is not a candidate. The Programa comparison covers that trade-off in more detail.

When VADE is the better choice.

If your work arrives by referral and the suite is being paid for out of habit, you are buying software rather than reach, and software should be judged on the two or three screens you open daily. For most designers those screens are sourcing and presenting.

VADE saves anything with a URL in one right-click, including the small mills, independent lighting studios and to-the-trade sites that never appear in a marketplace catalogue. Every save is palette-extracted so you can search by colour or hex, closest match first, and everything from a brand collects on that brand’s vendor card with your trade terms alongside.

When it is time to present, boards compose from what you have already saved and share as a link with no client account and trade prices hidden per share. If it does not suit you, cancel from billing settings in one click. See the full set of comparisons before you decide.

Questions, answered.

Does VADE generate leads like Houzz Pro?

No, and it never will. Houzz Pro sits on top of a consumer marketplace and a directory that homeowners actively browse. VADE has no marketplace, no directory and no lead pipeline. If leads are the thing you are buying, that is a genuine reason to stay where you are.

How do I cancel VADE?

From billing settings, in one click, without emailing anyone, without a phone call and without a retention conversation. The subscription stops at the end of the period you have paid for and your saves stay readable on the free tier.

Is there a marketplace I can buy through?

No. VADE saves the vendor page you found and keeps the link, so you buy from the supplier directly on whatever trade terms you have with them. Nothing sits between you and the brand, and nothing takes a margin.

What does VADE do that Houzz Pro does not?

Colour search is the main one. Every product you save is palette-extracted, so you can search the library by colour or hex with results sorted closest-match first, and paint saves render as flat colour tiles with the hex printed on the swatch. Saving works on any URL rather than a catalogue, so small and to-the-trade suppliers are first-class.

Can I use both?

Yes. Keep Houzz Pro for the profile, the reviews and the leads, and use VADE for sourcing and client boards. There is no migration to complete first, and the free tier means you can test that split without a second bill.

Does VADE do estimates, invoicing or project management?

No. There are no purchase orders, no invoicing, no payments and no scheduling in VADE, which is a large part of what Houzz Pro sells. VADE is a sourcing library and a presentation layer, and it is priced accordingly.

What does VADE cost?

Free forever to save, organise and search by colour. Solo is 12 pounds a month, Studio is 29 pounds a month for up to five seats. Those are the only prices, there is no quote, and there is no separate advertising spend.

Do clients need an account to view a board?

No. A shared board is a link that works in any browser, with trade prices hidden if you chose to hide them for that share. Nothing to sign up for and nothing to install.