Bonsai
An all-in-one built around the freelance chain: proposal to contract to project to invoice. Strong when you use most of it - but invoicing and contracts are not on the entry plan.
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| Best for | Freelancers who send proposals and contracts as well as invoices, and would otherwise pay for three separate tools. |
|---|---|
| Not ideal for | Anyone who only needs invoicing - the entry plan does not include it, and dedicated tools do it free. |
| Pricing model | Subscription, from $15/user/month |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android |
Vendor list prices in USD, checked on 25 August 2026. Annual billing is materially cheaper than monthly. Confirm current pricing and plan contents on the vendor site.
On this page
Bonsai is built on an observation that is obviously correct once stated: for a freelancer, the proposal, the contract, the project and the invoice are the same information at four points in time. Most software treats them as four unrelated problems, which is why freelancers retype the same scope and the same rate repeatedly.
Where Bonsai is genuinely strong is that chain. Where it costs people money is the plan structure, so that comes first.
What it costs, and what is on which plan
| Plan | Annual | Monthly | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $9 / user / mo | $15 / user / mo | Time tracking, tasks, unlimited projects and clients, CRM, service library, mobile apps |
| Essentials | $19 / user / mo | $25 / user / mo | Invoices and payments, proposals and contracts, templates, forms, scheduling, client portal, expense and income tracking |
| Premium | $29 / user / mo | $39 / user / mo | Project insights, workload, Gantt view, deals pipeline, custom fields, profitability reports, branding removal, QuickBooks/Zapier/Calendly/Google integrations |
| Elite | $49 / user / mo | $59 / user / mo | Custom permissions, timesheet locking, expense markups, Xero, custom data import. Minimum three users |
The line worth reading twice: invoicing, proposals and contracts are not on the entry plan. Almost everyone arriving at Bonsai is looking for exactly those, which makes $19 per user per month billed annually the realistic starting price, not $9. Budget against Essentials.
What it is actually good at
Contracts and proposals are the part of the freelance stack that most tools skip, and the part freelancers most often handle badly - a template in a documents folder, sent as a PDF, signed by nobody. Getting a proposal accepted and signed electronically, with a record of when, is a real improvement in a real risk.
The chain is the rest of it. An accepted proposal becomes a project without retyping the scope; tracked time on that project becomes an invoice without transcription. Each step saves a few minutes and, more importantly, removes a place where a number can be copied wrong.
When the maths works
Count the modules you would genuinely use in your first month.
Three or more - say proposals, contracts and invoicing - and Essentials at $19 a month replaces a stack that would cost more separately, with less friction between the parts. That is a clear win.
One - almost always invoicing - and it is the wrong purchase. A dedicated invoicing tool will do that job better, and Zoho Invoice and Wave both do it for nothing. Paying $228 a year for the invoicing module of a suite is the most common expensive mistake in this category.
The per-user problem
Bonsai prices per user, which is invisible while you are one person and dominant the moment you are not. Two people on Essentials is $38 a month; three is $57. Competitors that price per account rather than per seat - FreshBooks charges $11 per extra team member on top of a flat plan - scale differently, and the comparison flips depending on headcount.
If you are solo and expect to stay solo, per-user pricing is a non-issue. If you expect to bring in collaborators, model the cost at that size before committing.
Before you commit
- Price Essentials, not Basic, unless you genuinely only want time tracking and tasks.
- Name the three modules you will use in month one. If you cannot, buy a single-purpose tool.
- Choose annual billing if you are confident - the gap to monthly is large.
- If branding removal matters to how you present to clients, that is the Premium tier.
For the wider picture of what a freelancer needs before buying any of this, see what software freelancers actually need.
Strengths and trade-offs
What Bonsai does well
- Proposal, contract, project and invoice are treated as one chain, so information is entered once rather than four times.
- Unlimited clients and projects even on the entry plan.
- Annual billing is substantially cheaper than monthly - up to four months free by the vendor's own description.
- Covers a genuine gap: contracts and proposals are the part of the freelance stack most tools ignore.
Where Bonsai falls short
- Invoicing, proposals and contracts are on Essentials ($19/user/month annually), not the $9 Basic plan.
- Priced per user, so a small studio multiplies the cost in a way solo-focused competitors do not.
- Removing Bonsai branding requires the Premium plan.
- Paying an all-in-one price while using only the invoicing is the common and expensive mistake here.
Alternatives worth a look
FreshBooks
Service freelancers and small agencies who want invoicing and bookkeeping in one place and bill a manageable number of…
Harvest
Freelancers on a small number of long-running projects who want tracked time to become a paid invoice without a second…
Wave
Freelancers who need real invoicing and basic books at no fixed cost, and whose expenses are simple enough to…
Zoho Invoice
Freelancers whose requirement genuinely stops at invoicing, quotes and getting paid.
Questions people ask
How much does Bonsai cost?
Billed annually: Basic $9, Essentials $19, Premium $29 and Elite $49 per user per month, with Elite requiring at least three users. Billed monthly the same plans are $15, $25, $39 and $59. Annual billing is the meaningfully cheaper option.
Does the cheapest Bonsai plan include invoicing?
No. Basic covers time tracking, tasks, unlimited projects, CRM, a service library and unlimited clients. Invoices and payments, proposals and contracts, forms, scheduling, the client portal and expense tracking all begin at Essentials. If invoicing is why you are looking at Bonsai, Essentials is your real entry price.
Is Bonsai worth it compared to separate tools?
It depends entirely on how many of its parts you would use. Replacing a proposal tool, a contract or e-signature service and an invoicing tool with one subscription is a straightforward win. Using it only to invoice is worse and more expensive than a dedicated invoicing product, several of which are free.
Where this information comes from
Product details change often. Each item below links to the primary source we checked, so you can confirm anything that matters to your decision.