Bonsai alternative
Looking for a Bonsai alternative? The honest version.
Bonsai is a well-known all-in-one for freelancers. This page is about where its pricing and add-ons wear thin for a solo business or a tiny team, and where a focused quote-to-paid workspace with a real free plan fits instead.
Credit where it is due
What Bonsai does well.
Bonsai packs a lot into one subscription: proposals, contract templates with e-signature, invoicing, time tracking, task management, a client CRM, and add-ons for taxes and banking. For a freelancer who wants a single back office and does not mind the price, it is a genuinely broad, polished product.
Where it wears thin
Two recurring points.
Cost for a solo business, and per-seat for a small team
Bonsai's entry price sits around $25/month billed monthly, and teams pay per additional user. For one person, or an owner plus one helper, the all-in-one can cost more than the slice of it you use. StitchInvoice is $0 to start, $19 flat for Professional, and a small team works from the owner's plan without a per-seat charge.
The extras are broad, not deep
The accounting, banking and CRM pieces are convenient to have in one place, but reviewers often treat them as lighter than a dedicated tool. StitchInvoice does not try to be your accounting system. It does the quote-to-paid workflow, and it remembers each client's billing requirements so that part actually gets easier over time.
Side by side
What each one actually covers.
| Capability | Bonsai | StitchInvoice |
|---|---|---|
| Proposals, contracts and invoicing | ||
| Client e-signature on a quote or estimate | ||
| Tasks, a CRM and 1099 / accounting add-ons | ||
| A real $0 plan, no card | ||
| Adding a teammate without a per-seat charge | ||
| Payments through your own Stripe, straight to you | Partial | |
| Per-client billing memory (PO numbers, CC rules, currency, terms) | ||
| Explainable payment signals, not a black-box score | Partial |
Which one fits
A decision, not a pitch.
Bonsai still fits if you
- Run your week from a task board and a lead pipeline
- Want tax / 1099 and banking bundled in
- Are fine with the price for the breadth
StitchInvoice fits if you
- Want a real free plan and a flat price with no per-seat
- Want payments in your own Stripe with no hold
- Mostly need: quote, sign-off, time, invoice, follow-up, paid
Questions
Common questions about switching.
Is StitchInvoice a full Bonsai replacement?
For quoting, sign-off, invoicing, time tracking and follow-up, yes. Bonsai also bundles a task manager, a light CRM, and 1099 / accounting add-ons; StitchInvoice does not, on purpose. If your day runs through Bonsai's task board, that gap is real.
What is the pricing difference?
StitchInvoice has a genuine $0 Starter plan and a flat $19/month Professional. Bonsai starts around $25/month billed monthly and charges per additional user for teams. If cost or per-seat creep is the friction, this is the difference.
How are payments handled?
You connect your own Stripe. Card and bank payments settle from Stripe straight to your bank on Stripe's schedule; StitchInvoice takes no cut on top of processing and cannot hold a payout. Bonsai routes payments through its own flow with its own fee.
Can I move my Bonsai clients over?
Yes. Export your client list from Bonsai as a CSV and upload it to the importer; columns are read for you with a preview before anything is created. Tasks and pipeline stages do not come across.
Does StitchInvoice track time?
Yes. A per-client timer that survives switching tasks in one click without losing the gap between them, and the hours drop straight onto an invoice line.
Why pick a narrower tool?
Bonsai tries to be the whole back office for a freelancer. If what you actually need is to get a scope signed and an invoice paid, a tool scoped to that, which also remembers how each client wants to be billed, is less to pay for and less to manage.
Also comparing
Keep the workflow, drop the parts you don't use.
A real free plan, a flat price, your own Stripe, and per-client billing memory. Bring your client list over in one upload.