Run a studio, not seven Slack channels.
A Monday morning with three projects in revision, a client who wants logos by Friday but has not signed the contract, a retainer that quietly expired in February, a Behance comment from a recruiter, a print vendor whose proof is two days late, and a brief that says "make it pop" with no other context. Calisto Pro replaces Notion + Figma + Dropbox-as-archive + Honeybook + Asana + the email folder system + the spreadsheet of which client owes for what milestone.
One platform for every creative practice
From a solo freelancer charging $4k per project to a 6-person multi-discipline studio billing $80k/month on retainer. Illustrators, fine artists, brand designers, and everyone in between.
Project Pipeline
Track every inquiry from first email to final invoice. Pipeline stages, proposal templates, and follow-up reminders.
Brief Intake
Structured forms with mood-board upload, brand guideline attachments, and auto-pipeline creation from your portfolio site.
Contracts & Invoicing
Work-for-hire templates, licensing agreements, and milestone invoicing. Sign, send, and track payment from one dashboard.
Portfolio & SEO
Sites portfolio with case study pages, package pricing, and Echo SEO tools to rank for "[your city] + graphic designer."
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Products
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Payment Gateways
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Tools Replaced
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Suites Integrated
How Designers Evolve
From 7-tool patchwork to studio-grade infrastructure
The before, during, and after of consolidating your design practice onto one platform built by someone who has actually run one.
Pipeline to Project
The inquiry arrives through a portfolio contact form, a Behance message, or a referral email. The old way: copy the details into Honeybook, send a proposal PDF, follow up manually, hope they sign before the project window closes. The Calisto way: Forms captures a structured brief, Deals tracks the pipeline, Sign sends the contract, and the project exists before the first meeting ends.
Brief to Delivery
The brief is signed. Now the work begins. The old way: mood boards in Pinterest, concepts in Figma, feedback in email, revisions tracked by filename ("logo_v4_FINAL_actually_final.ai"), delivery via Dropbox link that expires in a week. The Calisto way: Tasks tracks the project arc, Studio assembles deliverables with version history, Box archives source files, and the client reviews everything in Navigator.
Delivery to Recurring Revenue
The project ships. The old way: send a final invoice, hope they pay, wait for the next inquiry. The Calisto way: Reputation requests a review, Campaigns adds the client to a case study drip sequence, Pulse converts one-off clients into retainer subscribers, and the next brief intake is already in the pipeline.
The patchwork vs. Calisto Pro
Built for the project arc designers actually follow
Lead Capture & Briefs
Forms captures structured creative briefs with mood-board upload, brand guideline attachments, and project scope fields. Deals tracks the RFP pipeline from first inquiry through proposal, negotiation, and signed contract. Sites hosts portfolio pages, case study galleries, and package landing pages that convert visitors into brief submissions. Reputation aggregates Behance, Dribbble, and Google reviews into one profile that feeds back to your portfolio.
Project & Delivery
Tasks manages the project arc: brief review, mood board assembly, concept rounds, client feedback, revision cycles, and final delivery. Calendar tracks review milestones, print deadlines, and team capacity across concurrent projects. Studio handles deliverable assembly, version management, gallery delivery, branded slide presentations, and social asset packs. Box stores source files, font licenses, brand assets, and signed contracts with version history and team access.
Client Experience
Navigator provides a client portal where active projects show the brief, current deliverables, version history, and a comment thread. Inbox consolidates client email, Slack messages, and vendor coordination into one thread per project with full context. Sign handles work-for-hire agreements, licensing terms, IP transfer documents, NDAs, and retainer contracts with e-signature and audit trails. Apps delivers a branded studio portal for retainer clients with project status and asset access.
Retainers & Subscriptions
Pulse manages subscription design retainers: tiered pricing for "Design-as-a-Service" models, usage tracking against monthly hour caps, scope-creep alerts when a retainer client exceeds their allocation, and automated billing cycles. Deals tracks retainer renewals with expiration alerts so the retainer that quietly expired in February never happens again. Calendar maps retainer cycle dates and capacity planning across the studio.
Print & Sales
POS handles print sales, fine art sales, branded merchandise, and in-person session billing at gallery openings or design conferences. Shop lists fine art prints, merchandise, course materials, and font sales with inventory tracking. Tickets manages in-person workshops, gallery openings, and design conference registrations. Inventory tracks print runs, merchandise stock, and material costs.
Reviews & Growth
Reputation pulls Behance portfolio views, Dribbble shot stats, Google reviews, and client testimonials into one dashboard. Echo handles design studio SEO: keyword research for service pages, portfolio optimization, and local search visibility. Campaigns sends newsletters to past clients, case study drip sequences for inbound leads, and retainer renewal reminders. Sites publishes blog posts that position the studio as a subject-matter authority.
50 Products. One Unified Platform.
Every project, every retainer, one dashboard
Pipeline board, revision status, retainer utilization, vendor deadlines, and revenue tracking in a single view. The surfaces that used to live in seven separate apps.
Studio Command Center
Every project, every retainer, every deadline in one dashboard. Pipeline board, revision status, retainer utilization, and revenue tracking at a glance. The view that used to require toggling between Honeybook, Notion, Asana, and a billing spreadsheet.
Revenue & Utilization
Project fees, retainer billing, print sales, and workshop income in one financial view. Utilization tracking against the 80% target with real-time alerts.
Brief Pipeline
Incoming briefs flow from Forms into your Deals pipeline. Project scope, mood boards, brand guidelines, and budget attached from the first touchpoint.
Deliverable Gallery
Studio galleries with version management, approval workflows, and branded presentations. Clients review, comment, and approve without email attachments.
Contracts & IP
Work-for-hire agreements, licensing terms, IP transfer documents, and NDAs with e-signature. Signed before a single pixel ships.
Client & Vendor Inbox
Client messages, print vendor threads, and photographer coordination in one inbox. Every thread linked to its project with full context and deadline visibility.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Calisto imports client records, project history, and contract templates from Honeybook, Dubsado, Bonsai, and Tave. Existing clients receive instructions to access the new portal. Most migrations complete within 48 hours.
Forms lets you build structured brief templates with fields for project scope, mood-board upload (drag-and-drop image uploads), brand guideline attachments, timeline preferences, and budget ranges. Completed briefs create a deal in your pipeline automatically. No more parsing email threads for project requirements.
Sign includes templates for work-for-hire agreements, licensing terms, IP transfer documents, and NDAs. Each template specifies ownership of source files vs. deliverables vs. licensed artwork. Clients sign before work begins, and the signed contract lives in Box alongside the project files it governs.
Pulse tracks retainer usage against monthly hour caps or deliverable limits. When a client approaches their allocation limit, the system flags it before they exceed it. You can configure automatic notifications at 75%, 90%, and 100% of the retainer scope. The retainer that quietly expired in February sends renewal alerts 30, 14, and 7 days before expiration.
Navigator provides a client portal where each active project shows the brief, current deliverables, version history, and a comment thread. Clients review concepts, leave feedback, and approve finals without email attachments or Dropbox links. You control what they see at each stage.
Inbox consolidates vendor threads (printers, photographers, copywriters) alongside client communication. Tasks tracks vendor deadlines with alerts. The print proof that is two days late has a deadline, a vendor thread, and an escalation path.
Yes. POS handles print sales and fine art sales at gallery openings or design conferences. Shop lists prints, merchandise, course materials, and font sales online with inventory tracking. Both channels feed into your unified revenue view.
Sites builds your portfolio with case study pages, package landing pages, and a blog. Brief intake forms embed directly on portfolio pages so visitors convert into project inquiries. Reputation pulls Behance portfolio views, Dribbble stats, and Google reviews into the same site.
Calisto scales from solo freelancer to multi-designer studio. Role-based access lets you assign project leads, junior designers, and administrators with granular permissions. Calendar handles capacity planning across team members. Tasks distributes work with deadline tracking. Designer #2 gets access to the brand asset library in Box on day one.
University hosts design workshops, courses, masterclasses, and paid critique sessions. Tickets handles in-person workshop registrations and gallery opening RSVPs. Campaigns sends promotional emails to past clients and newsletter subscribers.
Per-booking pricing: Starter at 3% per transaction (zero monthly), Growth at 2% + small per-product fee, or Pro at 1% + per-product fee. Month-to-month. No onboarding fees. All 50 products included from day one. You only pay when you earn.
With BYOB (Bring Your Own Backend), your client records, project files, contracts, and revenue data live in your own database if you choose. Export everything, anytime, in standard formats. No platform holds your practice hostage.
Creative Professional Pro Plan
Portfolio, proposals, and client work in one workspace
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