--- title: "Bonsai Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about Bonsai Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Time Tracking products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/238825/Bonsai/" page_type: "product" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-21" --- # Bonsai Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on October 21, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Integrations](#integrations)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Bonsai ## What is Bonsai? Bonsai is a one-stop platform for agencies, consultancies and professional service providers. It is designed to provide businesses with a complete and real-time overview of their business. Bonsai helps you deliver projects on time and budget, collaborate efficiently with your team and clients, and monitor your business's utilization to get clarity on your team's efficiency & profitability. ## What is Bonsai used for? [Billing and Invoicing](https://www.capterra.com/billing-and-invoicing-software/)[Contract Management](https://www.capterra.com/contract-management-software/)[Time Tracking](https://www.capterra.com/time-tracking-software/) Recognitions Shortlist Best ease of use Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 95 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 93% Neutral 2% Negative 5% Starting price $9 Per User, Per Month Free trial available Free version not included Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... - Billing and Invoicing / 2026 - Business Management / 2026 - Advertising Agency / 2025 - Contract Management / 2025 - Forms Automation / 2025 - Gantt Chart / 2025 Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... - Advertising Agency / 2025 - Billing and Invoicing / 2025 - Business Management / 2025 - Coaching / 2025 - Contract Management / 2025 - CRM / 2025 - Forms Automation / 2025 - Gantt Chart / 2025 - Law Practice Management / 2025 - Legal Billing / 2025 - Professional Services Automation / 2025 - Project Management / 2025 - Project Tracking / 2025 - Proposal Management / 2025 - Scheduling / 2025 - Small Business CRM / 2025 - Task Management / 2025 - Time and Expense / 2025 - Time Clock / 2025 - Time Tracking / 2025 - Workflow Management / 2025 Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for Bonsai?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/bonsai/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### Bonsai 4.6 (95) VS. [4.6 (1,490)](https://www.capterra.com/p/127994/Jobber/reviews/) Starting Price $9 Per User, Per Month Starting Price $39 Flat Rate, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.6 (95) Ease Of Use 4.6 (7,789) Value For Money 4.3 (86) Value For Money 4.4 (6,697) Customer Service 4.3 (81) Customer Service 4.6 (6,400) ## Bonsai alternatives [4.4 (3,341)](https://www.capterra.com/p/120109/Xero/reviews/) Starting price $25.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 88% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.2 (2,086)](https://www.capterra.com/p/135757/NetSuite/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 85% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars Highest Rated [4.7 (1,752)](https://www.capterra.com/p/105428/Clio/reviews/) Starting price $49.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 94% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.2 (1,341)](https://www.capterra.com/p/135618/Odoo/reviews/) Starting price $31.10 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 83% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/238825/Bonsai/alternatives/) ## FAQs about Bonsai Overview ### What problems does Bonsai solve? Bonsai solves scattered client administration by bringing proposals, customizable contracts, e-signatures, invoices, payments, time tracking, and project tasks into one workspace. Freelancers, consultants, and small service agencies use it to shorten onboarding, track billable work, automate payment reminders, manage recurring billing, and keep client files, approvals, and communications organized. Answer based on 72 reviews Overview ### Which roles and teams benefit most from Bonsai? Bonsai is most used by small-business owners, founders, CEOs, and creative professionals such as graphic designers, visual designers, photographers, and producers. They manage client projects, proposals, contracts, invoices, payments, and time tracking in one workspace. Operations, office, and marketing managers also use it to organize administrative tasks and maintain visibility into client work. Answer based on 95 reviews Overview ### What company size and industries is Bonsai built for? Bonsai is for SMBs, agencies, consultancies, and mid-size businesses, with 100% of reviewers from small businesses and Marketing and Advertising leading at 29%. It also serves Design organizations, which represent 20% of reviewers, and Information Technology and Services firms at 7%. Answer based on 95 reviews Features and Usability ### What are the key features of Bonsai? Bonsai includes core billing and client-work features such as customizable invoice creation, payment processing, and online time tracking that can feed hours into invoices. It also supports electronic signatures for proposals and contracts, plus task management for organizing project work, tracking time, and connecting tasks with budgets and billing. Answer based on 29 reviews Pricing ### How much does it cost and what fees or limitations are included? Bonsai offers Basic at $9 per user/month, with a free trial available. Essentials costs 19, Premium 29, and Elite 49 per user/month. Reviewers value its all-in-one accounting and client tools, though some describe rising prices, unused features, an extra annual Tax add-on, and an unannounced currency conversion fee. Answer based on 16 reviews Integrations ### Which third-party tools and platforms does Bonsai integrate with? Bonsai integrates with Calendly, ClickUp, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Sheets, HubSpot CRM, QuickBooks Online, Slack, Trello, Xero, and Zapier. These integrations cover scheduling, communication, file storage, project management, CRM, and accounting tools commonly used alongside client work. Answer based on 11 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What training and onboarding options does Bonsai offer? Bonsai provides live online sessions, webinars, documentation, and videos to help teams get started. Live online sessions and webinars support guided instruction, while documentation offers written reference material and videos provide self-paced learning content for reviewing features and setup steps. Answer based on 3 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does Bonsai offer, and how do users rate the experience? Bonsai offers email/help desk, an FAQ/forum, a knowledge base, 24/7 live representative support, and chat. Users often describe support as helpful, knowledgeable, and quick, with some receiving solutions within minutes or by the next day. Others report delayed replies, unresolved account or payment concerns, and difficulty obtaining timely help. Answer based on 31 reviews Project management ### How well does Bonsai handle project management? Bonsai gives freelancers and small agencies a simple workspace for project boards, tasks, time tracking, and client administration. Users value seeing projects in one place and connecting work to proposals and invoices, but teams with complex workflows may need a dedicated project tool for deeper customization, permissions, reporting, and mobile access. Answer based on 20 reviews ## Features AI summary Based on 25,810 Time Tracking reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of time tracking software rank the following features as their top priorities: - **Clock In/Out** (**60%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Online Time Tracking** (**52%**) - **Project Time Tracking** (**55%**) Bonsai supports all three of the features reviewers value most: **Clock In/Out**, **Online Time Tracking**, and **Project Time Tracking**. Together, these capabilities help businesses record work hours accurately, monitor time as it happens, and track effort across projects, allowing teams to manage productivity, billing, and project oversight more effectively. Online Time Tracking 4.8 (19) 89.47% of 19 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Track employee and task times using internet connection Project Time Tracking 5.0 (9) 77.78% of 9 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Measure time to completion or hours worked for projects Invoice Creation 4.7 (48) 75.00% of 48 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Create invoices from scratch or have recurring invoices Payment Processing 4.3 (42) 61.90% of 42 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Accept, record, and reconcile financial transactions Online Invoicing 4.7 (39) 61.54% of 39 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Create, send, and view electronic invoices Electronic Signature 4.7 (38) 57.89% of 38 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Digitally sign online documents Bonsai 208 features ### All Features - @mentions: An @mention is a way to tag or notify a specific person about a message/post - Access Controls/Permissions: Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems - Accounting: Built-in accounting to manage ledger, accounts payable/receivable, financial reports, etc. - Accounting Integration: Integrate with a third-party accounting system - Activity Dashboard: Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities - Activity Tracking: Track and document all activities across devices, networks, and other systems - Agile Methodologies: Iterative project Management approach that involves technologies such as Kanban, Scrum, XP, APF, XPM and more - Alerts/Notifications: Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges - Appointment Management: Manage various aspects of appointments including booking, rescheduling, canceling - Appointment Scheduling: Schedule appointments via a calendar - Approval Process Control: Manage the process of evaluating documents or requests submitted for approval - Assignment Management: Assign issues and tasks based on availability or required skills - Automated Scheduling: Automatically create schedules based on business needs or employee availability and qualifications - Automatic Billing: Setup and send recurring or automated bills - Automatic Formatting: Automatically formats data in a predetermined way - Availability Management: Monitor and analyze the availability of resources to help plan and streamline the service delivery to clients - Bar Chart: A way to visually represent data via blocks the length of which correlates with the values they represent - Billable & Non-Billable Hours: Track billable hours and/or non-billable expenses for work performed - Billable Items Tracking: Track the list of items required to be billed/invoiced to clients - Billing & Invoicing: Create, manage, and send invoices or bills to customers - Billing Portal: Gateway through which end users can view past bills and pay current invoices - Billing Rate Management: Setting up the amount/charge for per hour of work by a company or professional - Booking Management: Create, update, and manage bookings, itineraries, and reservations - Budget Management: Forecast, allocate funds, organize financial resources and report & analyze project's income and expenditure - Budgeting/Forecasting: Create budgets based on historical data and future projections - Business Process Automation: Helps automate and manage information, tasks, and procedures by establishing routines and patterns associated with processes - Calendar Management: Track and manage schedules and meetings via an integrated calendar - Calendar Sync: Synchronize with other calendars to view mutual availability and schedules - Calendar/Reminder System: Notifications/alerts for upcoming events or tasks - Capacity Management: Monitor service demand and performance to plan for adequate resources that meet business needs - Categorization/Grouping: Organize and group data or items based on various criteria - Client Management: Manage contact details and communication with clients - Client Portal: Private online space that lets businesses securely share documents and provide information access to clients - Clock In/Out: Track employees' arrival and departure timings for payroll purposes - Collaboration Tools: Provides a channel for team members to share AI models, media files, communicate, and work together - Color Codes/Icons: A way to visually represent data where different categories of items are marked with different colors - Commenting/Notes: Leave comments and notes on documents for others to view - Communication Management: Manage and track all internal and external communication conducted via calls, email, text, or chat - Completion Tracking: Track the current status and completion of activities, tasks, goals or deliverables via progress indicators - Configurable Workflow: Configure existing workflows to meet your organization's needs - Confirmations/Reminders: Automated reminders and confirmations for booked appointments and events via text or email - Contact Database: Centralized database of stakeholders and their contact information such as names, address, phone number etc. - Contact Management: Manage, organize, and store contact information - Content Library: Centralized repository to store content and assets - Contract Drafting: Create, edit, and revise contracts/written agreements - Cost-to-Completion Tracking: Forecast of the expenses necessary for project completion - Credit Card Processing: Accept and process credit card transactions - CRM: Built-in customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities or integration with a third-party CRM system - Customer Database: A collection of customer information such as contact details, demographics, previous interactions, etc. - Customizable Branding: Add customized logos and colors to align with company branding - Customizable Fields: Customize data fields to support various needs and use cases - Customizable Forms: Customize contracts and forms to collect specific information - Customizable Invoices: Invoices that can be tailored according to company's branding, payment terms and personalized information - Customizable Reports: Alter the layout and content of reports - Customizable Templates: Pre-designed layouts that can be customized to match preferences and requirements - Data Import/Export: Import and export data to and from software applications - Deadline Management: Specify or track the date/time a project, task, etc., is due for completion - Dependency Tracking: Track and manage task relationships and dependencies - Digital Signature: Electronic signing method that validates the authenticity and integrity of a digital document - Document Automation: Automated or logic-based workflows that assist in the creation of electronic documents - Document Generation: Custom forms to streamline repetitious aspects of a document - Document Management: Store, manage, and track all electronic documents in a centralized location - Document Review: Review and analyze existing information across documents - Document Storage: Store and organize documents in a centralized system - Document Templates: Customizable sample documents that contain placeholder text or a standard layout that can be repeated for each new file - Drag & Drop: Assemble applications and processes by dragging over and arranging pre-built components - Due Date Tracking: Ability to identify, sort on and alert participating parties about the approaching date by which action has to be taken - Electronic Payments: Electronically collect payments for goods or services - Electronic Signature: Digitally sign online documents - Email Reminders: Reminders sent via email - Employee Database: Electronic storage of staff/employee contact information and job status in a centralized repository - Employee Management: Track employee schedules, availability, and performance across projects and tasks - Employee Time Tracking: Track and measure time worked for employees - Estimating: Estimate expected cost based on various factors before a project begins - Event Calendar: A list of events with their respective dates - Event Scheduling: Plan an event's time and location - Expense Management: Plan, pay and track business related expenses. - Expense Tracking: Monitor and record expenses such as purchases or charges incurred - Feedback Management: Collecting, analyzing, and utilizing feedback from users or customers to improve a product or service - File Management: Create, save, and store files - File Sharing: Public or private sharing of digital files such as documents, audio/video, images, and more - Financial Analysis: Evaluate units, projects, budgets, and other finance-related data to gauge their performance and potential risk - Financial Management: Plan, manage, and track the financial activities of an individual or organization - For AEC Industry: Primarily serving architecture, engineering, and construction industry professionals - For Lawyers: Software is specifically designed to address the needs of professionals in the law industry - For Small Businesses: Designed for small businesses - Forecasting: Form predictions based on past and present data/trends - Forms Creation & Design: Create and design new forms from scratch using templates and design tools, or scan and convert existing forms into the system - Forms Management: Store, manage and track all forms in a centralized location - Gantt/Timeline View: Visual representation of project's schedule, sequence and duration of tasks, benchmarks and dependencies - Group Scheduling: Automatically find mutually available meeting time slots across multiple calendars - Hourly Billing: Business model that charges based on the amount of time spent on an hourly basis - Interaction Tracking: Track interaction history by documenting conversations for contacts - Invoice Creation: Create invoices from scratch or have recurring invoices - Invoice History: Store and view prior invoices for each account/client - Invoice Management: Captures invoice data and maintains comprehensive records for auditing and reporting purposes - Invoice Processing: Creation, processing, verification, and execution of invoices till the payment is made - Issue Tracking: Record and follow the progress of every issue - Kanban Board: Visualization tool to organize and optimize tasks and track their status at every stage of workflow - Key Performance Indicators: Quantifiable metrics to track objectives, gauge milestones, and evaluate the success of a particular activity - KPI Monitoring: Tracking the status of previously identified performance measurements - Labor Forecasting: Predict labor requirements based on past and present data/trends - Lead Generation: Manage the process of attracting and converting business prospects into leads - Lead Management: Store information about leads or contacts and track, manage and nurture them throughout the sales process - Leave Tracking: Manage and track employee attendance - Marketing Automation: Automate workflows and trigger campaigns based on customer actions - Milestone Tracking: Monitor task progress and planned accomplishments to better manage project status - Mobile App: Access the system via a mobile application - Mobile Payments: Clients can submit payments via mobile devices - Monitoring: Observe and track the demand, usage, progress or quality of a system, product, or user - Multi-board: Supports simultaneous creation and work on multiple Kanban boards - Multi-Currency: Manage and handle various international currencies - Multiple Billing Rates: Different tiers of pricing and billing for different employees and situations - Multiple Projects: Ability to handle several projects simultaneously - No-Code: Drag and drop/visual interfaces that allow non-tech users to build without writing code - Online Booking: Book meetings and appointments through a website or digital platform - Online Invoicing: Create, send, and view electronic invoices - Online Payments: Accept and process online payment transactions - Online Time Tracking: Track employee and task times using internet connection - Overtime Calculation: Manage and record overtime hours for hourly employees - Payment Processing: Accept, record, and reconcile financial transactions - Percent-Complete Tracking: Level of completion within a task - Performance Metrics: A set of indicators that tracks the performance of networks, applications, systems, teams, etc. - Pre-built Templates: Pre-defined templates within a library for common cases such as contracts, websites, emails, and more - Predictive Analytics: Predict future data based on historical data sets - Prioritization: Arrange tasks based on the level of priority or urgency - Productivity Analysis: Statistical data that helps identify improvement areas, delays or interruptions, and output of an employee - Progress Reports: Document and report the progress of ongoing projects - Progress Tracking: Reporting on how each user, task or process has advanced since its initiation - Project Billing: Business model that bills clients an amount based on the project/task/job performed - Project Management: Plan and coordinate all the resources, costs and time needed to execute assignments - Project Planning: Organize and schedule projects - Project Planning/Scheduling: Defining the project's scope, deliverables, schedules, resources, budget, critical path, dependencies and constraints - Project Scheduling: Identifying critical tasks that make up a project and assigning start and end dates for each - Project Templates: Pre-designed project plans that can be customized - Project Time Tracking: Measure time to completion or hours worked for projects - Project Tracking: Monitor the progress of projects from start to finish - Project Workflow: Create, manage, or update project workflows. - Projections: Estimate or forecast of a future scenario based on the study of present trends - Proposal Generation: Create proposals based on costs of labor and materials - QuickBooks Integration: Integrates with QuickBooks - Quotes/Estimates: Generate quotes or estimates for customers - Real-Time Data: Receive data and information in real time - Real-Time Monitoring: Active monitoring of systems, applications, or networks - Real-Time Notifications: Notifications that are delivered to users as soon as an event occurs - Real-Time Reporting: Active reporting of data and metrics - Real-time Scheduling: Based on availability, instantly confirm or deny a request when a new booking is made - Real-Time Updates: Receive system updates as soon as any changes are made - Receipt Management: Upload, track, and submit receipts in a central database - Recurring Appointments: Schedule repeating appointments based on a duration of time - Recurring Tasks: Set the frequency of a task's occurrence - Recurring/Subscription Billing: Automated process of charging customers at regular intervals for repeated access or use of a product or service - Reminders: Timed notification for any upcoming task, deadline, appointment, or activity - Reporting & Statistics: Collection, analysis, and representation of numerical data and generation of reports to understand various patterns - Reporting/Analytics: View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data - Reporting/Project Tracking: Track task progress, milestones, delays, or other key information and generate reports on them for evaluation - Resource Allocation & Planning: Assign available resources (human and/or non-human) to various projects and tasks - Resource Management: Process of planning, scheduling and executing the optimal and effective use of human capital across projects - Resource Scheduling: Allocate and manage resources, such as employees, equipment, facilities, and other assets - Roadmapping: Identifying desired outcomes and important milestones and creating a plan on how to achieve them - Role-Based Permissions: Set & manage permission levels based on user roles and restrict access to only authorized individuals - Rules-Based Workflow: Automates and streamlines business processes by creating a sequence of predefined rules and actions that govern the flow of work - Sales Pipeline Management: Pipeline view and tracking lead status - Scheduling: Plan availability and assign specific time slots for tasks and resources - Search/Filter: Search and filter data across systems to locate required information by entering keywords or certain criteria - Segmentation: Group leads or contacts based on their specific characteristics - Self Service Portal: Online portal through which end users can access the system, manage tasks, or obtain information - Session Notes: Private client session notes for coaching, therapy, etc. - Spreadsheet View: UI looks like a spreadsheet - SSL Security: Security protocol that ensures secure, encrypted communication over the internet, safeguarding sensitive data from unauthorized access - Status Tracking: Track the status over time for a request, process, asset, or transaction - Sub-Task Management: Split and manage tasks into individual components - Supports Scrum: Ability to accommodate the methodology that incorporates frequent work reassessment and continuous short periods of focused work. - Surveys & Feedback: Gauge satisfaction and receive information for improvement and success - Tagging: Attach digital tags to documents and assets for identification, search, or monitoring purposes - Task Board View: UI looks like task board - Task Editing: Edit task information and all related elements - Task Import: Import tasks from external sources - Task Management: Create, manage and track all task activities and progression - Task Progress Tracking: Track the status and progress of tasks - Task Scheduling: Track and manage the scheduling of tasks - Task Tagging: Add labels or tags to tasks - Tax Calculation: Calculate tax and make deductions on gross income from sources like wages, investments or self-employment - Tax Management: Implementation of various strategies to manage tax obligations via planning and maintaining compliance - Tax Planning: Financial planning for tax purposes - Team Collaboration: Allow multiple team members to edit and work on the same document - Team Management: Organizing a group of people to accomplish a task - Template Management: Create, save, and re-purpose templates for emails, forms, etc. - Templates: Sample files or documents that could be customized as needed or used as is - Third-Party Integrations: Set up connections to third-party platforms to improve business processes - Time & Expense Tracking: Log and record hours worked and costs spent to assist in billing and invoicing - Time Tracking: Measure and track time including hours worked and paid time off (PTO) - Time Tracking by Client: Track time worked per client - Time Tracking by Project: Track time worked per project - Timeline Management: Manage a detailed schedule of a product plan - Timesheet Management: Track the amount of time spent on a job or task - To-Do List: A digital list of items that need to be completed - Traditional Methodologies: Sequential approach (i.e. Waterfall) in which users break down and plan an entire project before the launch - User Management: Manage user accounts, profiles, roles, permissions, and other details across applications, devices or networks - Utilization Reporting: Track the frequency of asset usage - Vacation/Leave Tracking: Request, track, and manage time off requests and vacation time - Visual Analytics: Interact with data visualization elements, such as charts and graphs, to drill down into data - Visual Workflow Management: Create, design, and visually represent processes within the software - Visualization: Graphical representation of data or processes - Web Forms: Web form that allows users to enter data that is sent and processed for different reasons - Workflow Automation: Streamlining repetitive tasks and activities through automated and predefined workflows - Workflow Configuration: Alter the default workflow to meet your organization's needs - Workflow Management: Create, design and manage workflows for repetitive tasks --- Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 4.3 (95) 4.3 Based on 95 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.3 (86) Free Trial [View pricing plan details](https://www.capterra.com/p/238825/Bonsai/pricing/) Basic $9.00 Per User,Per Month It includes: - Unlimited projects - Tasks & Time Tracking - CRM - Service library - iOS & Android app - Unlimited clients Essentials $19.00 Per User,Per Month It includes: - Everything in Basic plus: - Invoicing & Payments - Proposal & Contracts - Forms & Questionnaires - Scheduling - All Templates - Income tracking - Expense Tracking Premium $29.00 Per User,Per Month It includes: - Everything in Essentials plus: - Project insights - Workload management - Gantt view - Custom fields & properties - Client portal - Profit & Productivity reports - Remove Bonsai branding - Integrations (QuickBooks, Zapier, Calendly, Google) Elite $49.00 Per User,Per Month It includes: - Everything in Premium plus: - Custom permissions - Request management - Staffing management - Timesheet locking - Add markup to expenses - Hubspot integration - Custom data import - Dedicated onboarding Value for money 4.3 (86) 4.3 Based on 86 reviews ## Integrations [ Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/)[ Trello](https://www.capterra.com/p/211559/Trello/)[ QuickBooks Online](https://www.capterra.com/p/190778/QuickBooks-Online/)[ ClickUp](https://www.capterra.com/p/158833/ClickUp/)[ HubSpot CRM](https://www.capterra.com/p/152373/HubSpot-CRM/)[ Google Calendar](https://www.capterra.com/p/213340/Google-Calendar/)[ Calendly](https://www.capterra.com/p/148036/Calendly/)[ Xero](https://www.capterra.com/p/120109/Xero/) Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.3 (81) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.3 (81) 4.3 Based on 81 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.6 Based on 95 reviews Filter by rating Counts reflect reviews available in this feed. 5(73) 4(15) 3(2) 2(2) 1(3) Mentioned topic Recent reviews first, then most helpful OW Owner Owner Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Why I use Bonsai" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 May 12, 2023 Its been a game changer and it helped me scale my bsuiness. Pros Bonsai is easy to get started, and I was up and running in no time. I like how easily I am able to create and send invoices to my clients. Cons I wish there were a chat widget feature that I could install on my website similar to Sharpspring or HubSpot. Perhaps some collaboration with Webflow. FO Founder Founder Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "So far so good! " 5.0 July 15, 2024 So far so good. Love the UX, willing to giving it more time to try but maybe will have to switch to "rounded". Pros one tool for all needs: CRM, Invoicing, scheduling. One stop shop. Cons I can't believe they charge extra for the tax solution when the whole differentiator is beingthis one-stop shop. Also, couldn't connect my bank account and credit card for expenses tracking. OW Owner Owner Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Nothing Good to Say About Bonsai" 1.0 Overall Rating 1.0 1.0 Ease of Use 1.0 1.0 Features 1.0 1.0 Customer Service 1.0 1.0 Likelihood to Recommend 0/10 April 2, 2024 Pros Nothing likable about this brand or product. Cons Bonsai / Hello Bonsai is absolutely terrible. They charge ridiculous transaction fees and then hold your money up for weeks after the payment has been made. Absolutely infuriating, they have massively screwed up my business. I wish I had known this before signing up with them. I pay nearly $500 a year for their basic business services, and they charged me an additional $300 in transaction fees for my first two transactions and would not let me access the fund for over two weeks. I canceled my account with them as soon as I learned about their predatory practices. Literally, any other service would be better than Bonsai. In addition, Bonsai support is practically non-existent. I have never paid so much for a service and not been able to get an actual person on the phone to try to resolve even the most basic issues. MA Managing Managing Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Excellent customer/client management for solo starting out, hope Bonsai grows with small biz" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 December 12, 2023 I'm glad to have found this platform, have appreciated the ways it streamlined some of my business and remain excited about its potential. I've looked at many industry specific platforms for my service industry and they all were clunky or extremely expensive. I don't need industry-specific software though, I just need a clean, easy to use project / client management platform where I can send invoices/contracts and schedule client appointments. Bonsai has some stand-out features, among the best are its scheduling and client portal (to allow clients to view an invoice or uploaded files). Bonsai works great with apple/mac/iphone OS calendar and is very useful for client onboarding / invoicing. I would love to see Bonsai develop additional features for growing businesses, even if that involved a modest add-on fee (so long as the add-on fee didn't get carried away,) Pros There is a lot to appreciate with Bonsai starting with a very nice graphical interface. Most features are super easy to roll out (with the notable exception that incoming payments are frozen for the first 2 weeks plus). The online scheduler works excellently and plays very nicely with macs. The client portal is very attractive and an easy way to share invoices / files. There are lots of great starts to automate common tasks (e.g., when a client signs a contract, send the invoice) I felt like Bonsai is a 10/10 (or close) for a very small solo just getting started. If you have a handful of clients / projects a month and work alone, this will justifiably wow and make things beautifully smooth. Cons Solo / freelancers are Bonsai's target. Many features just don't seem to work for or consider a small business with any employees. It also doesn't seem to have features suitable to handle businesses with high volume of anything (no way to track/run reports) Although there are options to add "team" members for a monthly fee, Bonsai doesn't really recognize that a business owner might need to set user permissions or have employees involved in some but not every aspect of a business. For example, users can only be designated "partners" with access to every financial detail or "collaborators" who can do next to nothing in the platform besides view an already created project. I need an assistant to create projects, send out contracts and invoices but not be given a key to the company's entire financials. Currently there is no way to do this. Contracts cannot be sent without a company signature and the signature cannot be pre-populated. We're still trying to work around these limitations. Bookkeping automatically logs processing fees as expenses and can track other manually inputted expenses but cannot track multiple bank accounts / check writing, payroll, etc. GD Graphic Designer Graphic Designer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Bonsai keeps me a loyal customer!" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 May 16, 2023 Bonsai has been very essential to my freelance career when I was part time to now being a full time freelancer. When starting out, I just needed the essential tools - invoicing, accounting, time tracking, contracts and proposals - which Bonsai offered immediately. Down the line, they added new features that boosted what I can also add to my workflow management such as forms, scheduling and now a cool project board view besides the generic list view! It allowed me to have a business debit account while major banks require small businesses to be active for a certain amount of time before qualifying for a business account. Overall - NO FRILLS, but still A GEM. Pros Very straightforward, simple and user-friendly. Everything a freelancer or contractor needs to keep their small business financially organized is in Bonsai. Cons I hope the mobile and desktop app would be expanded. The browser app is cool, but I would love to just click onto an app icon to access my dashboard without having to get on Chrome. Might also be great to have a client be able to access and view their mini portal on Bonsai without creating an account - this way they can view the active project I'm working on with them and access invoices. OW Owner Owner Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Bonsai improved my business 100%" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 March 20, 2023 Before Bonsai I was using many programs for proposals, CRM, invoicing, and contracts. Since switching to Bonsai I honestly have to say that I have saved several thousand dollars per year and my life has been much easier and more organized. Bonsai has systems that have automation so if a customer does one particular item the Bonsai system will automatically send an email with a form that I would like my customer to submit. Bonsai is definitely a game changer and I would highly recommend any business owner to look at their system and hopefully see the benefits that they can receive by using Bonsai. Pros Bonsai makes everything extremely streamlined and very easy and user-friendly. From the time I input a lead to creating the proposal to invoicing the customer and finalizing the project, Bonsai makes everything hassle-free and extremely easy. Cons The only suggestion I would have or like to see for Bonsai would be for them to allow me as the business owner to arrange the look and feel of how my customer dashboard is arranged. OW Owner Owner Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Love Bonsai and would recommend" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 March 15, 2023 Pros What's NOT the most impactful LOL! I use Bonsai for EVERY PART OF MY PROJECT ( well that, and the Google Drive). From storing client information, to creating projects, invoices, time tracking, invoices, contracts et all... Bonsai has really streamlined the administration side of my small business. They are also SUPER quick to respond with support when needed. Huge Fan of Bonsai and happy I chose them over everyone else <3 Cons I would love to be able to add my accountant to the accounting area without having to add her as a partner... and I love the idea of the cash feature and envelopes just wish you could make this work with an external bank as I prefer to run my business account separate to the Bonsai system AD Artistic Director Artistic Director Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "An ever improving platform that makes freelancing a breeze" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 April 10, 2023 Overall, I love this platform. It's straightforward and pleasant to look at. Once the mobile application can action creating proposals and contracts, making projects, adding clients and not just acting as a "review what's up in your business" companion application... Pros The ease of creating projects, setting up and sending proposals, and tracking billing. Cons Sometimes projects move quickly, and certain actions have to become manual. Expense tracking can be tricky as well — I've had issues (likely bugs) where my expenses double or even triple which throws off P&L reports. The mobile application is VERY limited, often defaulting to the desktop version for common actions. OW Owner Owner Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Well worth the money" 5.0 May 24, 2023 I am only one month into my new business and I'm glad I've starting using Bonsai from the beginning. My clients signed my contracts immediately when I sent them using the electronic signature as opposed to waiting for them to sign my initial paper contract. I have yet to sent my first invoice, but it looks to be very simple. I've connected my bank so I can see all my expenses in a single app. Pros The interface is very clean and intuitive and is a breeze to use. The feature that puts it above all the rest of similar products is the accounting features. For a small, simple business, I don't need to invest in another accounting product like QuickBooks. It saves on costs and keeps everything in one plane of glass. Cons The only item that I find lacking in Bonsai is there is no Kanban board or other visual way to track tasks and projects. GD Graphic Designer Graphic Designer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Great way to centralize your business" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 May 26, 2023 Overall good! Happy to have my business admin simplified. Pros Being able to have my contracts, invoicing and scheduling all in one place has really helped to streamline the backend parts of my business. Cons The initial payout for the invoicing was over two weeks. I understand that it is in place to ensure security, however that amount of time can feel like forever to a small business. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/238825/Bonsai/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Popular comparisons [QuickBooks Online vs Bonsai](https://www.capterra.com/compare/190778-238825/QuickBooks-Online-vs-Bonsai)[Odoo vs Bonsai](https://www.capterra.com/compare/135618-238825/Odoo-vs-Bonsai) [HoneyBook vs Bonsai](https://www.capterra.com/compare/162588-238825/HoneyBook-vs-Bonsai)