Hello Bonsai Pricing: Is $15/Month per User Really Worth It? [2025]

For freelancers doing basic projects, Hello Bonsai pricing for Basic plan $15. For sending proposals, contracts, schedule links, invoices, Bonsai got a $25/month Essential plan.

For small businesses needing more advanced client management tools, Bonsai brings a $39 Premium plan.

If you need custom management and web apps integrations, Bonsai has the $59 Elite plan.

Bonsai’s financial reports, insights, and forecasts are extremely beneficial for agencies and businesses. But, the price gap is quite big compared to other tools. Also, Bonsai is quite expensive considering per user cost for agencies.

We will break down each of their plans and suggest better alternatives for specific needs.

Bonsai Pricing Plans: A Comprehensive Breakdown

Bonsai Basic plan is for basic projects, time tracking, and CRM. Bonsai has its Basic plan. The Essentials plan handles proposals, contracts, schedule links, and invoices well. 

The Premium plan comes with white-label branding and more advanced client management tools. The Elite plan is for custom management and web apps integrations.

This section will be a short Hello Bonsai review of all plans to help you decide if it’s worth considering or not.

Bonsai Basic: $15/user/month

If all you need is a tool to create projects and tasks, track your time, and basic CRM stuff for client onboarding, this $15/user/month plan would be a better choice. 

Otherwise, there are free project management tools offering pretty much the same features, except that you can’t track time and add unlimited clients.

Here’s how this plan is going to work for you.

Adding Unlimited Clients

You got a client through LinkedIn, Reddit, or cold email. You can add as many clients with small details with this plan. 

Service Library

Let’s say you provide a content writing service. You can add this service to the library and set prices for different plans, with details of what you provide for each plan. You can send this link to your client to showcase your services.

CRM

As a basic CRM, you can add clients as contacts, add projects under their names, and store all necessary files up to 10 GB.

Create Unlimited Projects

When you have the client and talk over other communication platforms about the project, you can add projects with all the details you need to start working on it. 

Hello Bonsai software features a kanban board view in task management. You can easily drag and drop tasks as per their status – pending, in-progress, done, etc. 

Limitations

• Can’t manage leads
• Invoice your clients
• Send proposals and contracts
• Automate client onboarding
• Send messages to clients
• Get feedback and approval from clients

Better Alternative for Freelancers: Agency Handy Freelancer Plan

Just spending $4 more, Agency Handy Freelancer plan allows you to:

• Automate the client onboarding process
• Send proposals
• Send contracts
• Send custom forms
• Send invoices 
• Track time
• Get a white-label branded client portal

Bonsai Essentials: $25/user/month

As a mainstream freelancer or an agency owner, you would want to send your clients proposals, contracts, forms, schedule meetings, and give them a client portal. The Bonsai Essential package is packed with these essential features.

Here’s what you can expect from this package –

Forms and Questionnaires

First and foremost, once any potential client lands on your page, you greet him with a message and a form, be it for a query or interest in trying your service. You send him a form to get the necessary info.

Proposals and Contracts

Then, you send him a proposal by Hello Bonsai with your service details and pricing. Once accepted, then comes contracts. Bonsai includes contract templates that are reviewed by professional attorneys. This would give you peace of mind. You can customize the contract as you need.

Scheduling

When contracts are signed, you can send clients another form to schedule a meeting.

Client Portal

Once you convince the client to hand you over his projects, you give him access to the Hello Bonsai client portal. This is where he can track his project’s details, contracts, invoices and share necessary files with you.

Task Templates

With the previous basic plan, you could only list services. But their essential plan allows you to use readymade task templates, and customize as per your needs.

Expense and Income Tracking

Also, with this plan, you can track expenses and income for projects. You get clear information about what your team members cost per project, how much you’re left with after paying them.

Limitations

• Can’t message to clients
• No white-label for your agency
• Per user cost is high
• Can’t manage subscription
• Client portal doesn’t allow clients to add tasks 
• No file feedback option

Better Alternative for Solo Entrepreneurs: Agency Handy Freelancer Plan

Agency Handy Freelancer plan offers more features at just $19/month. Here’s why it’s better than Bonsai’s Essentials –

• White-label branding
• Lead management and pipeline
• Multi-package service listing
• Add-ons on order form
• File feedback with annotations
• Priority support
• Subscription management
• Add coupon

Bonsai Premium: $39/user/month

Your agency also needs to create financial reports, important insights to track income and expenses. That’s where the Bonsai Premium plan shines.

But there is a catch. The cost would multiply by the number of team members you want to add. Let’s say your agency has 5 members. Adding all 5 users would cost $195/month if billed monthly. For a year, it would be $145/month.

So, from an agency point of view, if financial reports are your major concern, and you don’t mind paying extras compared to what other tools cost, this plan would be a good option to go for.

Here’s what you will get from this pla,n along with all features from the Basic and Essentials plans –

Deals Pipeline

This is basically a lead management tool of some sort. You can create a deal with the client’s name and other details. Depending on the status of the deal, you can drag and drop to the Kanban board’s new, qualified, scoping, proposal sent, and negotiating boxes.

You get a clear view of all deals, and decide which one to push further, and which one isn’t worth considering.

But there are tools (e.g. Agency Handy) that auto-generate these deals or leads to be more specific, once anyone fills up the intake form.

Team Workload Management

As this plan is agency-focused, you get features like workload management to utilize your team the most. Depending on your team’s capacity, you can distribute the unplanned tasks to team members. 

Client Task & Messaging

Your clients can create tasks, add details, and send you messages regarding the project if you upgrade to this plan.

Remove Bonsai Branding

From proposals, contracts, and invoices to the client portal, your client will have a branded professional environment. 

Integration

If you previously used any web application that you have to integrate with Bonsai, Zapier integration can do it for you. Also, QuickBooks will help you with accounting aspects.

Limitations

• Deals pipeline requires manually creating entries
• Expense white-label branding
• Per-user cost is high

Better Alternative for Agencies: Agency Handy Team Starter Plan

Even though Agency Handy Team Starter plan costs $99/month, considering per per-user cost, it’s only $9.9 for each team member. Whereas Bonsai costs $29/user. Plus, you have a complete white-label experience from the admin and clients’ end. You will get the following features as well –

• Custom email and custom domain
• Multi-package service listing
• Leads to invoice automation
• Feedback annotations on files
• 2 TB storage
• Slack integration
• API access

Bonsai Elite Plan: $59/user/month

This top-tier plan from Bonsai is for agencies and businesses that need more customization for team management, integration, and overall usability. Below are the most highlighted features you will get from this plan –

Custom Permissions

When you add your partner, project manager, collaborator, or even accountant, you can set user roles to restrict their control over the software.

For example, your freelance accountant doesn’t have anything to do with your team management and time-tracking. In this case, you only allow the accountant to have access to specific financial areas. 

Request Change on Projects

When you deliver an entire project, your client will go through it and let you know what changes should be made. This change request from your client goes through a systematic step-by-step process.

But for most cases, informing you through messages should be enough. Still, if complicated projects require something well-structured, the Bonsai Elite plan would handle it.

Timesheet Locking

Hello Bonsai comes with advanced time tracking. When team time tracking is really important for you, and you want to make sure no one edits logged time, this feature will come in handy for such cases.

Add Markup to Expenses

Ever experienced this situation when you have to purchase or outsource something related to your client’s project? Bonsai helps you to mark this purchase and add a percentage on the purchase to make it billable for an invoice.

Integration

If you previously used Hubspot, the Bonsai Elite plan allows you to integrate your work and data to be able to use on Hello Bonsai and vice versa. Automation will make sure data remains consistent across two platforms.

Also, if you manage accounting and financial stuff on Xero, you can sync key financial data and utilize it on Bonsai to create financial reports.

Limitations

• Custom permission is a standard feature for a premium price
• Features don’t justify the high cost per user
• Per-user cost goes very high for large agencies

Better Alternative for Large Agencies: Agency Handy Business Pro Plan 

Even if we consider Bonsai Elite for a mid-sized agency, adding 10 users would cost $490/month billed yearly. Whereas, Agency Handy Business Pro costs just $199/month for up to 30 users and 5 separate workspaces. 

Here’s why Agency Handy is better than Bonsai for large agencies –

• Low per user cost
• 5 different workspaces can be managed 
• 10 TB storage
• Comes with permissions and customizations without charging extras

Agency Handy vs Bonsai: Detailed Comparison Breakdown

Considering price, features, cost per user, and advanced agency management, Agency Handy is the best Hello Bonsai alternative. The following breakdown will give you a comprehensive idea and help you decide which one to go for.

Per User Cost

Bonsai pricings are quite expensive for agencies when it comes to price per user. 

On average, it’s $41/user considering prices of all plans.

With Agency Handy, it’s only $9/user on average.

If you own a large agency, the cost would skyrocket with Bonsai. 

For freelancers, Bonsai costs $15/month. But you are limited to very basic features. Can’t do anything more than managing tasks and projects and track time.

Just spending $4 more, Agency Handy provides lead management, service catalog, Kanban board task management, file feedback, invoicing, and more.

Lead Management

Agency Handy takes care of your leads as soon as anyone fills up your intake form on your website landing page. It automatically creates leads on the lead management board. 

The board organizes all your leads as per their status – new, contacted, qualified, working, sent proposals to, potential, etc. You can drag and drop leads as per their current stage.

But, with Bonsai, you have to create the lead name manually every time. However, you can change the lead’s status on the Kanban board with drag and drop.

Agency Handy saves you more time without doing repeated tasks.

Automate Client Onboarding

Once a lead is qualified, you can then send a proposal attached to an order form. The order form will include your services with multiple packages and pricings. 

If the lead purchases any of your service, he will automatically proceed to self-checkout. He will get an invoice without doing anything from your team’s side.

Whereas, Bonsai doesn’t have a smooth and automated process to onboard clients, let them self checkout, and generate invoices.

Agency Handy frees your team from admin work.

Multi-package Services

Agency Handy allows you to showcase all your services to clients, making it more accessible to them. You can list services and add multiple packages with pricing options under each service. This gives the client a clear idea of what service you provide and what packages he will get.

Also, with the order form, you can add add-ons that are most relevant to the main service. Most of the time, clients end up purchasing add-ons. You generate more money with the simple add-on feature.

Bonsai allows you to create services and add packages under them with pricings. But, clients can’t see your list of services in a catalog view. Either you have to send them a link to a specific service, or they have to see a list-view service listing.

File Feedback and Annotations

If you provide services that need precise feedback, Agency Handy’s annotation tools would be extremely beneficial. Your client can leave remarks, add annotations, comment, and do much more right on files. It pinpoints the changes clients’ expect from the team. 

So, there is less back and forth with final deliverables. This is useful for creative designing agencies.

Bonsai doesn’t have such a feature for file feedback. Your clients are only limited to giving you feedback through comments. 

However, Bonsai comes with a comprehensive Request Management feature that is step-by-step instructions of the changes given from client’s end. But you have to pay for their top-tier plan to avail this feature.

Subscription and Management

Bonsai doesn’t have a subscription management tool. With Agency Handy, you can resume, stop, or cancel subscriptions as per it’s needed. 

If your agency business offers subscription-based services with one-time and recurring payments, Agency Handy would be the ideal option for this.

Workspace Configuration

For large agencies and businesses with multiple wings and brands, Agency Handy offers up to 5 workspaces. You will have a completely custom work environment on each workspace tailored for operational needs.

This helps you to stay organized with all your businesses with a single tool.

Bonsai only allows 1 workspace to work with.

So, Agency Handy or Bonsai: Which One is Better?

Considering both freelancers and agencies, Agency Handy is better than Bonsai for –

• Better lead management
• Automating client onboarding
• Multi-package service listing
• Per user cost
• File feedback and annotations
• White-label remove “Powered by”
• Subscription management
• Working on different workspaces up to 5

But, Bonsai excels Agency Handy for the following reasons –

• Financial reports and forecasts
• Zapier integration
• Custom data import from other platforms

Conclusion

Hello Bonsai pricings are good if your agency needs financial reporting, insightful features, and accurate forecasting. 

But considering it as a CRM and Client Portal for small agencies, it’s quite expensive. Agency Handy can be an affordable alternative, providing a comprehensive solution that packs everything needed for flawless agency operations and management.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hello Bonsai a CRM?

Hello Bonsai is a CRM software that comes with lead pipeline management, workflow automation, forecasting, and more.

Is Hello Bonsai good for agencies?

Hello Bonsai comes with features that agencies need. But adding users can be costly as their per user cost policy is higher than competitors.

Does Hello Bonsai offer a free trial?

Hello Bonsai offers a 7-day free trial. You can sign up and check out how Bonsai can fit in your workflow. Also, find out where Agency Handy can excel totally against Bonsai.

Are there any hidden fees or additional costs?

Bonsai fees are based on per use cost. For each additional user, you have to pay more. For example, their base plan cost $15/month per user. If you own an agency of 3 team members, the cost would be 3X, $45/month.