Bonsai Pricing in 2026

Bonsai has four plans, and every one is priced per user. The numbers you see most often online are monthly-billing prices. Pay annually and each plan drops by $6 to $10 per user, which is where the “from $9” headline comes from.

One thing that trips people up: Bonsai renamed its tiers in 2026. Older reviews still quote Starter, Professional and Business pricing, so if you see those names, the numbers are out of date.

My take: Essentials is the plan most freelancers should buy. Billing annually saves $72 a year on it (24%). That is real money, but not the $300 you might expect if you assume annual billing is “two months free” on every tier.

What each plan includes

Bonsai adjusts plan limits from time to time, so confirm the current split on its pricing page before you buy.

Bonsai’s pricing page: four per-user plans, with a toggle between monthly and annual billing.

The real cost: fees and add-ons

The subscription is only part of the bill. These are the extras worth pricing in:

• Card payments: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. On a $1,000 invoice that is $29.30.
• ACH transfers: Bonsai says as low as 1%, which makes bank transfers the cheaper way to get paid on large invoices.
• Who pays the fee: Bonsai says you can choose whether you or your client covers it when you set up the invoice.
• Bonsai Tax: expense tracking, quarterly tax estimates and write-off suggestions are sold as a separate add-on.
• Elite minimum: three users, so the floor is $147 a month billed annually or $177 billed monthly.
• Team math: five people on Premium, billed annually, is $145 a month.

If you are also deciding where those payouts should land, our Mercury review covers one business banking option freelancers often consider.

What Is Bonsai?

Bonsai (also called Hello Bonsai) is a client and business management platform for freelancers, consultants and small agencies. It bundles a CRM, proposals, contracts, time tracking, invoicing, projects and basic bookkeeping in one login.

It has been around for roughly a decade and went through Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 batch. Its Y Combinator profile says it serves more than 500,000 small businesses and self-employed people.

The idea is simple. You win a client, send a proposal, turn it into a contract, track the hours, invoice, and get paid without leaving the app.

Bonsai’s homepage pitches one platform for the whole client workflow.

Bonsai is now a Zoom company

Zoom announced its plan to acquire Bonsai in November 2025, and the product now carries “a Zoom company” branding. Bonsai’s own announcement says it will stay a standalone platform under its brand, while its capabilities are gradually built into Zoom.

That is not a reason to avoid it today. It is a reason to keep your own copies of signed contracts and invoices, and to think twice before prepaying for years. If you want to see how Zoom stacks up as a tool on its own, we compared it in our guide to mobile video conferencing software.

Key Features

Proposals and contracts

This is the part that makes Bonsai feel like a business tool instead of a time tracker. You build a proposal from a template, send a link, and convert it into a contract once the client says yes.

Treat the templates as a starting point. Bonsai states plainly that it is not a law firm and does not give legal advice, so have a lawyer look over anything high-stakes. If you still need a PDF editor for the odd signed document, see our roundup of cheap Adobe Acrobat Pro alternatives.

Bonsai only starts working once a lead says yes, though. Finding that lead is on you. Many freelancers pair it with an email outreach tool or build visibility through channels like Quora answers.

Time tracking, invoicing and payments

Hours you log against a project feed into invoices, so you are not rebuilding numbers from memory at month end. Reminders go out automatically, which is the feature that saves the most awkward emails.

Remember the cost of getting paid, though. Card fees are real, and the Basic plan can’t invoice at all.

Bonsai MCP: connect your AI assistant

Bonsai now lists an MCP connection that lets assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini work inside your account. The pitch is that you can ask for a client update, a new project or a drafted invoice in plain language.

It is new, so treat it as promising rather than proven. If you are still choosing an assistant, our ChatGPT vs Gemini comparison for marketers is a useful starting point.

How I Review Tools Like Bonsai

I review this kind of software from a non-developer’s point of view. I walk the path a freelancer actually takes: add a client, send a proposal, sign a contract, log time, invoice, collect payment.

Then I check what each plan unlocks against Bonsai’s published pricing and help center, and what the fees do to the final number.

Where Bonsai creates friction

• The cheap headline is misleading. The $9 and $15 numbers belong to Basic, which has no invoicing, proposals or contracts.
• Plan gating is easy to misjudge. Gantt views, white-label branding and automations all sit on Premium, so a freelancer who wants a branded portal pays $39 instead of $25.
• Elite forces a three-seat purchase. A two-person studio cannot buy it for two.
• Tax tooling costs extra. Quarterly estimates live in the Bonsai Tax add-on, not the base plans.
• Seven days is short. A single invoice cycle may not finish inside the trial, so test the proposal and contract flow first.

Bonsai Pros and Cons

Bonsai vs Alternatives

Bonsai is not the only all-in-one option. These are the three I see compared with it most often, using published 2026 starting prices. They change often, so check each vendor before you decide.

If your invoicing needs outgrow all of these, our guide to enterprise billing software for small businesses shows the next tier up. And if you are scaling into a real team with hiring and HR needs, see our list of talent management platforms.

Who Should Use Bonsai?

FAQ

How much does Bonsai cost?

Bonsai costs $15 (Basic), $25 (Essentials), $39 (Premium) or $59 (Elite) per user per month on monthly billing. Annual billing brings those to $9, $19, $29 and $49.

Does Bonsai have a free plan?

No. There is a 7-day free trial, but no permanent free tier. Bonsai’s website does offer free templates and calculators you can use without an account.

Which Bonsai plan includes invoicing and contracts?

Essentials and above. The Basic plan covers CRM, tasks and time tracking but not invoices, proposals or contracts.

Does Bonsai charge payment processing fees?

Yes. Card payments cost 2.9% + $0.30, and Bonsai lists ACH as low as 1%. These fees are separate from your subscription.

Who owns Bonsai?

Zoom. The acquisition was announced in November 2025, and Bonsai now operates as a Zoom company while keeping its own brand.

Can Bonsai replace accounting software?

Partly. It tracks income and expenses, syncs bank data on Essentials and up, and connects to QuickBooks (Premium) and Xero (Elite). It is not a payroll or full accounting replacement.

Do I need a credit card for the trial?

Sources disagree, so check the signup screen. Bonsai describes the trial as full access, but at least one third-party review reports a card is requested.

Conclusion

Bonsai earns its place for freelancers and small service businesses that want proposals, contracts, time tracking and invoices in one place. Essentials at $19 to $25 per user is the right starting point for most people.

The honest caveats: Basic is too thin to bill from, fees and add-ons raise the real cost, and per-user pricing punishes growing teams. The Zoom deal adds some long-term uncertainty, though nothing so far suggests the product is going away.

If you send more than a couple of invoices a month, use the trial to push one real client through the whole flow. That will tell you more than any review can.