vs Bonsai
Looking for a Bonsai alternative?
Bonsai bundles proposals, contracts, a CRM, time tracking, invoicing, and payments into one per-user subscription. Hoursmith deliberately does less: client projects and tasks, billable time and expenses, and invoices your clients pay into your own Stripe account, for one workspace price. If you use Bonsai mostly for the billing loop, the comparison below shows what you would give up and what you would gain.
Free for solo freelancers · No credit card required
Bonsai is good for
- · Freelancers who want proposals, contracts with e-signatures, and a CRM in the same tool as invoicing.
- · Businesses that want Bonsai's bundled payments and banking features rather than connecting their own Stripe account.
- · Teams that value a single vendor for the whole client lifecycle over a focused billing tool.
No free plan; a 7-day trial. Per user per month: Basic $15 (or $9 billed annually), Essentials $25 ($19 annually), Premium $39 ($29 annually), Elite $59 ($49 annually, 3-user minimum). Time tracking is on every plan; invoices and payments start at Essentials.
Hoursmith is good for
- · You mostly use the time-to-invoice loop and would rather not pay per user for the rest.
- · You want a free plan with real invoicing, and flat workspace pricing when the team grows.
- · You want client payments to land in your own Stripe account with no platform in the middle.
- · You bill a mix of hourly, fixed-fee, and expense work and want it on one invoice.
Fixed pricing. Free for solo, Studio $4.08/mo annual up to 10, Agency from $8.33/mo annual per 25-seat quantity.
Monthly list price by team size
USD public monthly billing, before tax or promotions. Bonsai is shown on Essentials, the lowest plan that includes invoices and payments, × users.
| Members | Bonsai | Hoursmith |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25.00 Essentials | $0 Free (5 invoices/month) |
| 3 | $75.00 Essentials | $0 Free (5 invoices/month) |
| 10 | $250.00 Essentials | $5.00 Studio |
| 25 | $625.00 Essentials | $9.99 Agency |
Core tasks and advanced planning are different questions
Core task management in Hoursmith
Global and per-project Kanban boards, list view, multiple assignees (up to 20 per task), dates, priorities, estimates, tags, checklists, rich descriptions, comments, @mentions, attachments, project-scoped access, and a timer started from the task.
Advanced planning Hoursmith does not provide
No custom status columns, recurring tasks, Gantt charts, task dependencies, resource planning, or formal time approvals. Those omissions can make the competitor the better fit.
At a glance
Compared on 10/13/2026. Both tools change fast — if you spot something out of date, email hi@hoursmith.app and we'll fix it within 48 hours.
| Feature | Bonsai | Hoursmith |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per user on every plan; no free plan, 7-day trial | Free forever for up to 3 members; fixed price per workspace within a member cap on Studio and Agency |
| Proposals, contracts, e-signatures, CRM | Included on eligible plans | Not included — Hoursmith has no proposals, contracts, or CRM |
| Time tracking | Timer and manual time on every plan; hours roll into timesheets | Timer and manual entries on every plan; timesheets per person; Chrome extension |
| Invoicing from tracked time | From Essentials; one-click invoices for billable time | All plans, including Free — time, fixed-fee allocations, expenses, and custom lines |
| Online payments destination | Bonsai Payments, operated through Bonsai's partnership with Stripe Payments Company | Stripe Connect direct charges into your own Stripe account; Hoursmith never holds funds and adds no application fee |
| Send invoices from your own domain | Not stated on the pages we checked; verify current docs | Studio+: SMTP, Amazon SES, or Resend with credentials encrypted at rest |
| Client portal | Client portal listed as a feature | Studio+: passwordless magic-link portal; shareable invoice links with view tracking on every plan |
| Task management | Tasks sync to time tracking as billing buckets | Global and project Kanban boards, list view, assignees, dates, checklists, comments, files, and task timers |
| Expenses on invoices | Available on eligible plans; verify current docs | Every plan: receipts attached, billable expenses pulled onto invoices, never double-billed |
Choose Bonsai if…
- · You rely on proposals, contracts, and e-signatures in the same tool — Hoursmith has none of them.
- · You want bundled banking and payment products from one vendor instead of your own Stripe account.
- · You prefer an all-in-one suite and are comfortable paying per user for it.
Choose Hoursmith if…
- · You mostly use the time-to-invoice loop and would rather not pay per user for the rest.
- · You want a free plan with real invoicing, and flat workspace pricing when the team grows.
- · You want client payments to land in your own Stripe account with no platform in the middle.
- · You bill a mix of hourly, fixed-fee, and expense work and want it on one invoice.
Switching questions
Does Hoursmith do proposals or contracts?
No. Hoursmith is deliberately scoped to projects, tasks, time, expenses, invoices, and payments. Keep your proposal and contract tool and use Hoursmith for the billing loop.
Can I move from Bonsai to Hoursmith?
Export clients, projects, and time from Bonsai to CSV and use the Hoursmith CSV/Excel importer. Historical invoices can be kept in Bonsai or recorded as custom lines; there is no Bonsai-specific importer.
How do payments differ?
In Hoursmith, clients pay through Stripe Connect direct charges on your own Stripe account; Stripe's processing fee applies and Hoursmith adds nothing on top. Bonsai routes payments through its own payments product.
Sources and corrections
Material third-party claims were checked against the official sources below on 10/13/2026. Read the comparison methodology for normalization assumptions and the corrections policy.
Related
Start free. Switch in an afternoon.
Free forever for up to 3 members — no card. Paymo has a dedicated importer; supported exports from other tools can be mapped through CSV or Excel. Paid plans add a 14-day trial.
Free for solo freelancers · No credit card · Cancel any time