Bonsai
hellobonsai.com
What it is
Bonsai brings client work, project delivery, and billing into one platform for service businesses. Client management includes CRM, deals, estimates, proposals, contracts, retainers, forms, a client portal, and scheduling. Project tools cover tasks, Gantt charts, time tracking, budgets, timesheets, reports, and resource planning. Financial tools include invoicing, payments, rate cards, expenses, forecasting, and accounting integrations. Premium lists QuickBooks, Xero, Zapier, Calendly, and Google integrations. The API covers contacts, companies, deals, projects, tasks, subtasks, comments, time entries, and invoices. Access is available through the website, iPhone and Android apps, Mac OS, an API, and an extension. Monthly per-user plans are Basic at 15.00 USD, Essentials at 25.00 USD, Premium at 39.00 USD, and Elite at 59.00 USD. A pricing note lists $9/user/mo annually. The 7-day trial provides full, unlimited access; continuing requires a plan and payment details. Elite requires at least three users.
Spec sheet
- What it does
- Bonsai is an all-in-one business platform for agencies, consultancies and professional service providers covering projects, clients, teams, billing, resource planning and revenue tracking.Read 14 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
- Product
- Bonsai consolidates projects, clients, and billing in a platform for service businesses.Read 4 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- Trial
- The 7-day free trial provides full, unlimited access; after the trial, a user must choose a plan and enter payment details to continue.Read 4 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- API
- The Bonsai API covers contacts, companies, deals, projects, tasks, subtasks, comments, time entries, and invoices.Read 4 Oct 2026 · help.hellobonsai.com
- Integrations
- Official integration resources cover QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zapier, Calendly, Gmail, Outlook, Zoom, HiBob and a Bonsai MCP server.Read 14 Oct 2026 · help.hellobonsai.com
- Security
- Bonsai says it achieved SOC 2 Type II compliance on July 3, 2025, and describes enforced multifactor authentication and least-privilege access.Read 4 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- Support
- Paid subscribers can contact support in the app or by email, and Bonsai says its Help Center has over 240 articles.Read 4 Oct 2026 · help.hellobonsai.com
- API authentication
- Developers can use account API keys or OAuth 2.1 authorization-code flow with PKCE, with permissions limited by the Bonsai member's access.Read 14 Oct 2026 · docs.hellobonsai.com
- API limits
- API quotas are 600 requests per minute and 10,000 per hour overall, with writes limited to 120 per minute.Read 14 Oct 2026 · docs.hellobonsai.com
- Client workflow
- Client management features include CRM, deals, estimates, proposals, contracts, retainers, forms, client portal, and scheduling.Read 4 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- Company founding and headquarters
- Crunchbase says Bonsai launched in 2015 and is based in San Francisco, California.Read 14 Oct 2026 · crunchbase.com
- Company legal name
- Crunchbase identifies the company as Bonsai Technologies Inc.Read 14 Oct 2026 · crunchbase.com
- Company size and funding
- Crunchbase lists 11–50 employees and a pre-seed round led by Y Combinator.Read 14 Oct 2026 · crunchbase.com
- Contracts and proposals
- Bonsai provides reusable contract and proposal templates, editable document building, signature fields and downloadable PDFs.Read 14 Oct 2026 · help.hellobonsai.com
- CRM
- The product includes CRM records, pipeline management, contacts, companies, email and calendar synchronization, search and custom views.Read 14 Oct 2026 · help.hellobonsai.com
- Data protection
- The trust center lists encrypted data controls, restricted production access, maintained inventories, password policy, MDM and AWS, DigitalOcean, Heroku and Crunchy Data subprocessors.Read 14 Oct 2026 · trust.hellobonsai.com
- Financial management
- Financial tools include invoicing, payments, rate cards, budgets, expenses, forecasting, and accounting integrations.Read 4 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- Hosting model
- TrustRadius lists Bonsai's deployment type as SaaS and its mobile applications as iOS and Android.Read 14 Oct 2026 · trustradius.com
- Invoicing and payments
- Bonsai supports invoice creation, online payments, recurring billing, payment reminders and payment-method processing fees.Read 14 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- Limit: advanced management depth
- GetApp reviewers say advanced project-management and reporting capabilities are less robust than dedicated tools and support feedback is mixed.Read 14 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
- Limit: customization and automation
- GetApp's review summary says some users find customization limited and automation confusing.Read 14 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
- Limit: mobile feature gap
- An Apple reviewer says the mobile app cannot create proposals, contracts, projects or clients and is mainly useful for invoicing and marking invoices paid.Read 14 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
- Limit: payment holds and bugs
- Apple App Store reviewers report glitchy interfaces, login problems and an account freeze that held funds during identity verification.Read 14 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
- Mobile downloads
- Bonsai publishes separate iPhone, macOS menu-bar time-tracker and Android applications.Read 14 Oct 2026 · help.hellobonsai.com
- Plan limitation
- Elite requires a minimum of three users.Read 4 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- Platform apps
- Bonsai lists apps for iPhone, Android, and Mac OS, alongside use through its website.Read 4 Oct 2026 · help.hellobonsai.com
- Praise: ease and consolidation
- Independent reviewers repeatedly praise the intuitive interface and the ability to combine invoicing, contracts, proposals, payments and time tracking in one system.Read 14 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
- Praise: support
- Trustpilot reviewers frequently describe Bonsai support representatives as fast, professional and helpful.Read 14 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
- Project management
- Project workspaces combine dashboards, budgets, forecasts, tasks, dependencies, client collaboration, time and expense tracking, reporting, resource allocation and automated workflows.Read 14 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- Public API
- The REST API uses JSON, bearer authentication and OpenAPI 3.1.1 documentation for clients, contacts, deals, projects, tasks, time entries and invoices.Read 14 Oct 2026 · docs.hellobonsai.com
- Rating on Apple App Store
- 4.3 out of 5 from 310 ratingsRead 14 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
- Rating on Capterra
- 4.6 out of 5 from 95 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
- Rating on G2
- 4.3 out of 5 from 101 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
- Rating on GetApp
- 4.6 out of 5 from 95 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
- Rating on Google Play
- 4.2 out of 5 from 105 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · play.google.com
- Rating on Trustpilot
- 4.3 out of 5 from 639 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
- Rating on TrustRadius
- 9.1 out of 10 from 5 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · trustradius.com
- Reporting
- The plans include time, project, task, profitability and utilization reports, with advanced reports on higher tiers.Read 14 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- SDK availability
- The public developer reference documents REST and OAuth flows but does not list official language SDK packages.Read 14 Oct 2026 · docs.hellobonsai.com
- Security compliance
- Bonsai's trust center states SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and CCPA compliance, with the SOC 2 audit covering security, availability and confidentiality controls.Read 14 Oct 2026 · trust.hellobonsai.com
- Support and documentation
- Bonsai's help center contains sections for CRM, productivity, finance, reports, automations, integrations and tax, and support is offered by email and in-app chat.Read 14 Oct 2026 · help.hellobonsai.com
- System requirements
- The iPhone app requires iOS 15.1 or later and is also listed for Apple Vision with visionOS 1.0 or later.Read 14 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
- Time and expense tracking
- Users can track billable and non-billable time, record expenses, attach entries to invoices and monitor income and expenses.Read 14 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com
- Who it serves
- The site says Bonsai is used by firms and freelancers and presents features for leadership, operations, project managers, and team members.Read 4 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- Zapier extensibility
- Bonsai's Zapier integration supports triggers including proposal viewed or accepted, contract viewed or signed, and invoice viewed or paid, connecting to more than 1,000 tools through Zapier.Read 14 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
- Zoom acquisition news
- Bonsai announced on January 8, 2026 that Zoom had agreed to acquire it and that Bonsai would remain a standalone branded platform.Read 14 Oct 2026 · hellobonsai.com
Plans and prices
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- CRM, proposals, contracts, and client portal
- Gantt charts and resource planning
- Recurring invoices and online payments
- iPhone, Android, and Mac apps
- 7-day full-access trial
Limits
- No free plan
- Plans are billed per user monthly
- Elite requires three users minimum
- Trial continuation requires payment details
Who it suits
It suits freelancers and firms managing clients, projects, time, expenses, and billing together. Features are also presented for leadership, operations, project managers, and team members.
Verdict
Bonsai covers a broad service-business workflow from lead management through project tracking and invoicing. Its tiered per-user plans and full trial make feature matching important before choosing a level.
Where Specifiction places it
- Client Management software#1 of 279.2
- Freelance Management System#1 of 259.3
- Time Billing Software#2 of 319.2
- Freelance Invoicing Software#3 of 309.2
- Business Management#3 of 279.1
- Professional Services CRM Software#4 of 359.3
- Pipeline Management#4 of 289.2