Bonsai Pricing 2026: Features, Costs & Hidden Fees Exposed

Bonsai offers four plans on a per-user basis. It is the point where users often complain about cost increase when it comes to scaling, especially in comparison to competitors that offer more budget-friendly pricing.

Now the question arises, is the Bonsai pricing really worth it, considering the features it is offering?

Let’s have a thorough breakdown of Hello Bonsai pricing and features to come to a conclusion if it’s a good deal to invest in, or if there are better alternatives: 

What Is Bonsai? – Quick Overview

Hello Bonsai, mostly known as Bonsai, is an all-in-one business management solution that offers you a unified platform for business services. It features CRM, a client portal, pipeline management, scheduling, a form builder, time tracking, and other project management tools. This way, you can streamline your services and run agencies smoothly. 

Bonsai Pricing Overview: All Plans at a Glance

Bonsai pricing offers four plans with varying feature add-ons. The price increases as you upgrade from low to high tiers. The four Bonsai plans are as follows: 

  1. Basic
  2. Essentials 
  3. Premium
  4. Elite 
Bonsai pricing

Is there a Free Bonsai plan?

No, Bonsai pricing doesn’t offer any free plan that you can use forever with no cost. However, it offers a free trial for every plan.

The free trial is available only for 7 days. During this period, you have full, unlimited access to all features of the subscription plan you choose to trial. 

Note: You need to provide credit card information before trying out a free Bonsai plan.

Monthly Vs. Annual Bonsai Pricing

For each Bonsai plan, you will get two pricing options: on a monthly basis and on an annual basis. 

However, don’t get overwhelmed with the ‘4 months free’ tag with the yearly plans- it states the reduced cost compared to the monthly plans, not an actual free four months of use.  

Monthly Vs. Annual Bonsai Pricing

Monthly Bonsai pricing lets you pay plan fees every month and gives you more flexibility, but the drawback here is that you need to go through a higher per-month cost.

However, if you switch to annual Bonsai pricing, it requires you to pay for the full year’s cost at once, but at a much lower per month costing. This reduced pricing effectively gives you “free” months in the pricing math when you compare it to the monthly basis pricing. 

Bonsai Plans: Pricing Comparison Table 

Sl.Bonsai PlanStoragePrice 
Monthly PackYearly Pack 
1Basic10 GB$15/user/month$9/user/month
2Essentials100 GB$25/user/month$19/user/month
3Premium500 GB$39/user/month$29/user/month
4Elite500 GB$59/user/month$49/user/month

Bonsai Pricing Plans: In-Depth Breakdown & Value Analysis

1. Basic at $15/user/month

Basic is the lowest tier of Bonsai pricing. It includes some primary features essential for a CRM solution. You won’t get the advanced features in the Basic plan; for that, upgrading to a higher tier is required. 

Bonsai Basic at $15/user/month

Price Breakdown

Bonsai Basic Pricing
Monthly PackYearly Pack 
$15/user/month$9/user/month

Who This Plan Is Best For?

Solo freelancers or solopreneurs who mainly need basic tasks, time tracking, simple project organization, and managing clients without billing or contracts.

Key Features Included 

  • 10 GB storage 
  • Unlimited projects
  • Kanban View
  • CRM
  • Service library
  • iOS & Android app
  • Unlimited clients
  • Data Exports
  • Unlimited Time tracking
  • Unlimited Task management

Limitation 

❌No invoicing, payments, proposals, or contracts

No client portal or scheduling features 

❌Limited reporting and automation capabilities.

❌Not ideal for agencies needing collaboration & client billing tools.

Better Money Value: Bonsai Basic Vs. Taksip Professional 

Criteria Bonsai BasicTaskip Professional
Price (Monthly)$15/user/month$12/month
User Pay per user (e.g., 3 uses cost = $15×3= $450)Up to 3
Storage10 GB100 GB
Client portal
Service Catalog
Invoice & Proposal
Multi-currency Billing
Kanban View
Gantt View
Time Tracking
Scheduling
Deals Pipeline
Form 
Online Payment

As you can see, the Taskip Professional plans bring you more features, user access, and storage at a low cost. And if you switch to the yearly plan, the cost is reduced to 50%!

Winner: Taskip Spending less in the Taskip lowest plan, you are getting mid-tier features of Bonsai- this is definitely a winning deal! 

2. Essentials at $25/user/month

Essential is the second-lowest plan of Bonsai that includes all the Basic features with some additional features. This plan is designed to offer an end-to-end client and project management. 

Bonsai Essentials at $25/user/month

Price Breakdown

Bonsai Essentials Pricing
Monthly PackYearly Pack 
$25/user/month$19/user/month

Who This Plan Is Best For?

Freelancers, creatives, and consultants who want a complete business workflow from proposal to payment. It is also suitable for small teams that need basic internal collaboration and client management tools.

Key Features Included 

  • Everything in Basic plus
  • Invoices & Payments
  • Proposals & Contracts
  • All templates
  • Forms & Questionnaires
  • Scheduling
  • Client portal
  • Expense tracking
  • Income tracking
  • Capacity Tracking
  • Billable / Non-billable Time Split
  • Gantt View
  • Custom Task Statuses and Forms 
  • Online Payments

Limitation 

❌ Limited advanced project views

❌ No white‑label/brand removal

Better Money Value: Bonsai Essential Vs. Taksip Professional 

Criteria Bonsai Essential Taskip Professional
Price (Monthly)$25/user/month$12/month
User Pay per user (e.g., 3 uses cost = $15×3= $45)Up to 3
Storage100 GB100 GB
Client portal
Custom Domain
Deals Pipeline
VAT & Tax Management❌ (needs Bonsai Tax add‑on)
Custom Fields
Time Tracking
Automations
(Workflow, Invoicing & Reminders)
Zapier Integration
White-Label Branding

3. Premium at $39/user/month

The premium Bonsai plan falls on high-tier category. It is designed with reporting features, which are ideal for advanced client and project management. 

Bonsai Premium at $39/user/month

Price Breakdown

Bonsai Premium Pricing
Monthly PackYearly Pack 
$39/user/month$29/user/month

Who This Plan Is Best For?

The Premium Hello Bonsai pricing is a great deal for freelancers and small teams who want better project and client management and need advanced reporting, automation, and collaboration tools.

Key Features Included 

  • Everything in Essentials plus
  • 500 GB
  • Project insights
  • Workload view and management
  • Gantt view
  • Deals pipeline
  • Custom fields & properties
  • Client tasks & messaging
  • Profit & productivity reports
  • Remove Bonsai branding
  • Resourcing – Staffing
  • Integrations (QuickBooks, Zapier, Calendly, Google)

Limitation 

❌ More expensive per user as teams grow

❌ Deep automation features are still limited

❌ Integrations fewer compared to specialized tools

Better Money Value: Bonsai Premium Vs. Taksip Growing Team

Criteria Bonsai PremiumTaskip Growing Team
Price (Monthly)$29/user/month$29/month
User Pay per user (e.g., 20 uses cost = $29×20= $580)Up to 20
Storage500 GB1TB
Workspace1Up to 3
AI Email Assistant
AI Task Recommendations
AI Document Summarization
Support Ticket
LanguagesOnly English 10+ Languages
Built-in Inbox
Discussion

4. Elite at $59/user/month

Elite is the highest tier of Bonsai pricing. It is designed for powerful team management and reporting features, with onboarding.

Bonsai Elite at $59/user/month

Price Breakdown

Bonsai Elite Pricing
Monthly PackYearly Pack 
$59/user/month$49/user/month

Note: This plan should have a minimum of 3 users. 

Who This Plan Is Best For? 

Bonsai Elite is best for agencies and growing teams that need advanced project controls, team permissions, and full business workflows from proposals to billing.

Key Features Included 

  • Everything in Premium plus
  • Custom permissions
  • Timesheet locking
  • Add markup to expenses
  • Xero integration
  • Custom data import
  • Resourcing – staffing
  • Custom Roles

Limitation 

❌ AI features are not included natively

❌  Workflow automation is basic compared with dedicated tools

❌  Tax reporting tools (advanced tax management) require separate add-ons

Better Money Value: Bonsai Elite Vs. Taksip Agency Unlimited 

Criteria Bonsai EliteTaskip Agency Unlimited
Price (Monthly)$59/user/month$59/month
User Pay per user (e.g., 10 uses cost = $59×10= $590)Unlimited 
Storage500 GB5 TB
Workspace1Up to 5
AI Features 
Support Ticket
Workflow automationLimitedMore built-in
Invoicing & Payments
Client Self-ServiceBasicEnhanced
Expense Tracking
Time Tracking
Mobile App

Bonsai Pricing: Hidden Costs & Limitations to Know

  • No Free Plan: Be Careful with the Free Trial Option

Firstly, Bonsai doesn’t offer any free plan. And secondly, though it has a free trial period, it comes only for seven days. 

The fact to be concerned about is that you need to enter your credit or debit card information to try the free plan. And after seven days, if you don’t want to continue and forget to cancel within 7 days, the system will automatically cut charges from your credit card. 

  • Add-Ons that Increase Cost

Some advanced tools (like Bonsai Tax) are separate paid add‑ons, not included in core plans. So, you need to pay extra to have these features. Moreover, extra costs can come from third‑party integrations or premium support options. These “soft costs” mean your total spend can be higher than the price you first expect.

  • Scaling Issues with Per-User Pricing

Bonsai uses a per‑user pricing system, so adding more team members directly increases your monthly bill. This makes scaling expensive.

  • Online Payment Fees

Bonsai’s listed subscription prices do not include online payment processing fees. When clients pay invoices using credit cards, ACH, PayPal, Stripe, or other gateways, standard transaction fees are applied. 

This means your actual cost is higher than the subscription alone, making it a hidden expense for businesses that frequently accept online payments.

  • Integration & Automation Limits

Advanced automation and some third-party integrations may require higher-tier plans or extra tools, adding more hidden expenses if your workflow depends on them.

Taskip Pricing vs Bonsai Pricing: Which Offers Better Value?

To examine the money value, we must compare the feature bothe the platform are brining us ic compare to the pricing. 

1. Taskip Free Plan Advantage at Zero Cost

Firstly, Taskip has a free plan that offers you up to 5GB of storage, 5 clients, an invoice, quotation, form builder, sales pipeline, and multi-currency support at $0 all life. Moreover, it offers you a basic client portal, which you do not get at Bonsai with its Basic plan, which comes at $15/user/month. Therefore, for beginners who don’t want to invest in tools, can easily use the Taskip free plan for basic client management features. 

2. Bonsai Per User-Based Price Vs. Taskip Price System 

Bonsai has a per-user pricing system, which makes it expensive when working in a team. How? Let’s compare the lowest tier of Taskip, Professional, to the lowest tier of Bonsai; the price stands at $12/month vs. $15/user/month. 

Taskip Professional allows up to 3 team members with will be covered for $12/month. In contrast, each user has to pay $15/month to get the same deal in Bonsai. 

That is, for three users in the lowest tier, the costing will be: 

Taskip = 3 users at $12/month 

Bonsai = One user = $15/month

               Three users = $15 x 3 = $45/month 

Thus, Taskip’s pricing system is much cheaper compared to Bonsai. 

3. CRM & Lead Management Comparison 

Taskip includes a built-in CRM that lets you track leads, clients, and ongoing deals in one place.

  • Capture leads using built-in forms
  • Track lead status from inquiry to conversion
  • Maintain client communication without switching tools

With Bonsai, CRM functionality is very basic and mainly focused on existing clients. Moreover, lead tracking and automation are limited and often require manual updates. In this case, Taskip saves time by centralizing leads and clients inside one workflow.

4. Automated Client Onboarding

Bonsai does not offer a fully automated onboarding flow. For this, you need to manually create clients, send proposals separately, and manage follow-ups yourself. 

In contrast, with Taskip, you get an automated client onboarding by combining the intake forms, service selection,  task creation, and client communication. Thus, it reduces repetitive admin work for freelancers and agencies.

5. Forms, Documentation & Collaboration

One major area where Taskip outperforms Bonsai is internal operations. For example, Taskip includes:

  • Built-in form builder
  • Documentation feature for SOPs & processes
  • Centralized collaboration

On the contrary, Bonsai lacks documentation tools and offers limited form customization. So, if you want a complete workspace for your agency, Taskip is the best option to choose. 

6. Overall Feature Review Vs Price 

Taskip offers you robust built-in features compared to Bonsai, which is also at a very affordable price. For instance, all paid Taksip plans have a service catalog; in contrast, Bonsai doesn’t have this feature. 

Again, Taskip has built-in AI features, ticket support, border white-labeling, and more robust automation than Bonsai. That is, Taskip is offering you better features, and the price point is also lower than Bonsai. 

Criteria BonsaiTaskip
Free Plan ✅(Forever free, $0 all life) 
Lowest Tier Cost$15/user/month$12/month 
Highest Tier Cost$59/user/month$59/month
Workspace 1 for all plans Free plan = 1 Professional = 1Growing Team = 3Agency Unlimited = 5 
Service Catalog✅(Available in all paid plans) 
CRMBasic CRMBuilt-in CRM with lead tracking
Client Portal Essentials + Premium+ Elite (Not available in the Basic plan)✅(Available in all paid plans) 
Multi-currency BillingEssentials + Premium+ Elite (Not available in the Basic plan)✅(Available in all paid plans) 
Buli-in Documentation 
AI Features 
Support Ticket
Workflow automationLimitedMore built-in

Final Verdict: Is Bonsai Pricing Worth It?

Analysing Bonsai pricing, we find that its alternative Taskip not only offers a lower price but also better features. You are getting scalability, multiple team members, and a workspace with Tasip. Besides, it has a free plan, and the lowest tier of Taskip is cheaper than the lowest tier of Bonsai CRM pricing. 

Therefore, if you are thinking of team collaboration, better built-in features, and scalability, Taskip is obviously offering you better money value than Bonsai pricing. 

FAQs On Bonsai Pricing 

Does Bonsai offer a free plan?

No, Bonsai doesn’t have a free plan. However, it offers you a free trial for all its paid plans that lasts only for 7 days. 

Is Bonsai an affordable option for agencies?

Bonsai is a good business management solution for agencies, but when it comes to affordability, it’s per user based pricing system is a crucial factor to consider. In agencies, teamwork is required, and in Bonsai, each team member needs a paid seat to access key features. This makes it expensive.

Is Bonsai pricing per user?

Yes, Bonsai pricing is per user. That is, if you are a team of three using the Basic plan at $15/user/month, each of the member should pay $15/month; total cost = $45/month.

What’s the best Bonsai alternative?

Taskip is the best alternative to Bonsai. It has a free plan that offers features like a client portal (basic), which is even included in the paid plan (Basic), the Bonsai plan. Taskip also has features like service catalog, built-in documentation, AI features, and more that Bonsai lacks. Moreover, it has a cheaper pricing system compared to Bonsai. All these make Taskip the best Bonsai alternative. 

Is Taskip cheaper than Bonsai?

Yes, Taskip is cheaper than Bonsai. It has a free starter plan that Bonsai doesn’t have. Again, the lowest tier of Bonsai comes at $15/user/month compared to the $12/month Taskip lowest tier. And the heist tier of both the plan is the same $59. But the game-changing fact is, Bonsai has a per-user-based system, which makes it more expensive to scale in comparison to Taskip. 

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Nabila Islam Shairy

I’m a Technical Content Writer at Taskip, an all-in-one agency management and client portal platform. I specialize in turning complex software features into clear, helpful, and easy-to-understand content. My skills include SaaS blogging, product documentation, user guides, feature explainers, and structured technical writing. I enjoy making technical information simple, accurate, and user-friendly for both teams and customers.

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