Hello Bonsai Alternatives 2026: 5 Bonsai Competitors Compared

The best Hello Bonsai alternative depends on why you are leaving. Our pick is Workspace369, which we make, for a growing team that wants tracked hours, client texts and invoices on one client record. Moxie is the closest swap for solo hourly work, Plutio offers one flat price with time tracking on every plan, Dubsado suits automation-first businesses and HoneyBook suits owners who want guided setup.

Prices checked October 7, 2026 on each vendor’s own pricing page, in US dollars. This is an assessment of published plans, not a hands-on test of every product. For a closer look at Bonsai itself, read our Bonsai review.

Jump to what changed with Zoom, the price table, the ranked alternatives or the switching checklist.

Bonsai Zoom acquisition: what changed

On November 5, 2025, Zoom announced it had signed an agreement to acquire Bonsai, and its announcement now notes that the transaction closed in December 2025. Zoom said Bonsai would remain a standalone platform under the Bonsai brand, and that it plans to bring Bonsai’s capabilities into Zoom over time. Zoom announcement

For a current customer, the visible change is small. Bonsai’s plans and per-user prices are still published, and its site footer now reads “Bonsai, a Zoom company.” Zoom describes the integration as happening “over time”, so buyers who want certainty should re-check plans and terms at each renewal. The ownership change alone is not a reason to switch; how you work and how fast your team grows are better reasons.

Who should stay on Bonsai?

Bonsai prices every plan per user: Basic $15, Essentials $25, Premium $39 and Elite $59 a month billed monthly, or $9, $19, $29 and $49 billed annually. Elite needs at least 3 users, so it starts at $177 a month on monthly billing. Bonsai pricing

Stay if one of these describes you:

• You work solo and bill by the hour. Basic tracks time, and Essentials adds invoices and payments, proposals and contracts, forms, scheduling, a client portal and expense tracking.
• Your accountant works in QuickBooks or Xero. Both integrations, with Zapier, Calendly and Google, come on Premium, along with workload and Gantt views and profitability reports.

Look elsewhere if one of these does:

• The team keeps growing. Every person is a paid seat: five people on Essentials cost $125 a month.
• Clients text and call you. Check that the tool you pick keeps phone conversations on the client record beside email.
• You want accounting sync without $39 a seat. Moxie Pro includes QuickBooks at $25 a month, and Dubsado Premier includes QuickBooks Online at $55.

Bonsai alternatives compared: prices and free trials

Sources, prices checked October 7, 2026: Workspace369 pricing, Moxie pricing, Plutio pricing, Dubsado pricing, HoneyBook pricing and Bonsai pricing.

Trial lengths vary too. HoneyBook gives 30 days and Dubsado 21 (on Premier), Moxie and Workspace369 give 14, and Bonsai and Plutio give 7. With a seven-day trial, plan the test before you sign up.

What does a team of five pay?

Per-user pricing matters most as a team grows. Here is the monthly cost for five people, billed monthly:

So Workspace369 is not the cheapest option for five: Moxie and Plutio cost less. Its case is that hours, texts and invoices share one client record. On yearly billing, five Bonsai Essentials seats come to $95 a month (5 users at $19), so compare the same billing period on every quote. Our software stack calculator runs this math for your own headcount.

1. Workspace369: our pick for growing teams

Fits: teams of 2 to 10 that bill time and talk to clients by email and text. Evaluate: Voyager, $74 a month billed monthly for 2 seats ($59.25 a month billed yearly). Tradeoff: time tracking starts on Voyager, so a solo hourly worker pays $74 where Bonsai Essentials costs $25.

Our #1 pick is Workspace369, and we make it. On Voyager, time tracking with timers and timesheets turns billable hours into invoice line items, and a shared inbox puts two-way texts beside email, with missed-call text back. Requests, a public intake form, turns a submission into a client. Specialist, $149 a month for 10 seats, adds voice calls and voicemail, client self-booking pages, a deposit collected when a proposal is accepted, payment plans and basic accounting. Extra seats are $10 a month from Voyager. Workspace369 pricing

Every plan, including Cadet at $29 for 1 seat, has proposals that clients accept and sign through a link, invoices with online card payments through Stripe, a client portal, two-way Google Calendar sync and CSV import of clients, products and invoices. Every plan has a 14-day free trial. See Workspace369 as a Bonsai alternative or the side-by-side comparison.

2. Bonsai vs Moxie: the closest solo swap

Fits: solo freelancers who bill by the hour. Evaluate: Starter at $12, or Pro at $25 for automations. Tradeoff: Teams covers up to five team members, so check the limit before a sixth hire.

Moxie Starter already includes time tracking, invoicing and payments, proposals, quotes and contracts, a sales pipeline, basic accounting, a form builder and meeting schedulers. Pro adds workflow automations, a white-labeled client portal, a Communicator phone line (US, Canada and UK) and QuickBooks. Teams, $40 a month, adds up to five team members and one more phone line. Moxie pricing

3. Bonsai vs Plutio: one flat price

Fits: solo workers with fewer than 10 active clients, or teams with many collaborators. Evaluate: Core at $19, or Pro at $49. Tradeoff: Core allows 9 active clients and no additional contributors, so a tenth client means Pro.

Plutio says every plan has the same core features, including time tracking, projects, invoices, proposals, contracts, scheduling, forms and a client portal. Pro removes the client cap and includes 30 contributors, with 5,500 workflow actions a month against Core’s 900. Max, $199, has no contributor cap. Plutio pricing Our Bonsai vs Moxie vs 17hats vs Plutio comparison goes deeper on these three.

4. Bonsai vs Dubsado: automation first

Fits: booking-style businesses that care more about automated workflows than an hourly timer. Evaluate: Premier, $55 a month or $525 a year. Tradeoff: past 3 additional users, Dubsado charges by user tier, from $25 a month for 4 to 10 users.

Premier adds automated workflows, scheduling, public proposals, unlimited lead capture forms, Zapier and QuickBooks Online. Both plans include invoicing with payment plans and client portals, and each extra brand is $10 a month. Dubsado says these rates apply to new subscribers from December 1, 2025. Dubsado pricing Our Dubsado alternatives guide covers the same field from Dubsado’s side.

5. Bonsai vs HoneyBook: guided setup

Fits: creative businesses that want templates and a guided start. Evaluate: Essentials, $59 a month ($49 billed yearly). Tradeoff: time tracking is not on HoneyBook’s plan list, so hourly billers should look at Moxie, Plutio or Workspace369 first.

Starter, $36, includes unlimited clients and projects, invoices and payments, proposals and contracts, a client portal and up to 2 live lead forms. Essentials adds the scheduler, automations, QuickBooks Online, SMS reminders and up to 2 team members. Premium, $129, removes the team-member limit. HoneyBook pricing Our HoneyBook alternatives guide compares the field from HoneyBook’s side.

How to switch from Bonsai without losing billable time

1. Get your client list into a CSV file, and list every open invoice with its amount and due date.
2. Record your unbilled time entries, then bill them in Bonsai before you move. Hours that never reach an invoice are the costliest thing to lose in a switch.
3. Save signed contracts and accepted proposals as files. A client CSV does not carry documents.
4. List any scheduled retainer or subscription invoices in Bonsai with their next dates, and decide how each client will be billed after the move.
5. Import the client CSV into your trial and check that names, emails, phones and companies mapped correctly. Workspace369 imports clients, products and invoices from CSV on every plan.
6. Run one real client end to end: inquiry, proposal, signed agreement, tracked time, invoice and payment. Check the client’s view on a phone.
7. Cut over on a set date. Start new work in the new tool, let open invoices get paid in Bonsai and cancel after one full billing cycle.

Our trial checklist keeps the test the same across finalists.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best Hello Bonsai alternatives?

Our pick is Workspace369, which we make, for growing teams that want hours, texts and invoices on one client record, from $74 a month for 2 seats. Moxie ($12 to $40) is the closest solo swap, Plutio ($19 to $49) offers flat pricing with time tracking on every plan, Dubsado ($55 for automation) suits automation-first businesses and HoneyBook ($59) suits guided setup. Prices checked October 7, 2026.

Is Bonsai owned by Zoom?

Yes. Zoom announced on November 5, 2025 that it had signed an agreement to acquire Bonsai, the transaction closed in December 2025, and Bonsai’s site footer now reads “Bonsai, a Zoom company.” Zoom said Bonsai would remain a standalone platform under its own brand, with its capabilities brought into Zoom over time. Zoom announcement

How much does Hello Bonsai cost?

Billed monthly, Bonsai is $15 per user for Basic, $25 for Essentials, $39 for Premium and $59 for Elite, which needs at least 3 users. Billed annually, the same plans are $9, $19, $29 and $49 per user a month. Invoices start on Essentials, so $25 per user is the real entry price for client billing. Bonsai pricing

Bonsai vs HoneyBook: which is better?

Bonsai suits hourly work: time tracking comes with every plan and invoices start on Essentials at $25 per user. HoneyBook suits creative businesses that want guided setup and flat pricing, with automations from Essentials at $59. For five people, Bonsai Essentials costs $125 a month against $129 for HoneyBook Premium, which removes the team-member limit.

What is the best time tracking and invoicing software for freelancers?

For the lowest price, Moxie Starter at $12 includes both time tracking and invoicing. Bonsai Basic ($15 per user) tracks time but has no invoices, so Essentials at $25 is Bonsai’s hourly-billing plan. Plutio Core ($19) has both on its solo plan, and Workspace369 turns tracked hours into invoice line items from Voyager, $74 for 2 seats. Our freelancer CRM guide covers solo budgets.