Is Bonsai or HoneyBook cheaper?

It depends on team size. On November 5, 2026, Bonsai charged per user and HoneyBook per account. Billed monthly, Bonsai Essentials (the first Bonsai plan with invoices, proposals and contracts) cost $25 per user, so $75 for three people, while HoneyBook was $36 for Starter, $59 for Essentials (up to 2 team members) and $129 for Premium (unlimited team members) in the US. Both cost less billed yearly, and the plans include different features.

Can I use Bonsai or HoneyBook outside the US?

HoneyBook is available only to businesses in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, with a waitlist for other countries. Bonsai's own payment service covers the same four countries; elsewhere, Bonsai takes online payments through Stripe (in Stripe's countries, except India) or PayPal.

What do Bonsai and HoneyBook charge to take card payments?

Bonsai Payments lists 2.9% + $0.30 for most cards and 1% for ACH ($1 minimum), plus 1% when you use Stripe or PayPal where Bonsai Payments is available and 2.5% on invoices paid from abroad. HoneyBook's own pages give card fees from 2.7% + 10¢ or from 2.9% + 25¢ depending on the page, and 1.5% for bank transfers, with no international fees. Check both providers' current fees before you decide.

Do Bonsai and HoneyBook work with QuickBooks or Xero?

Bonsai connects to QuickBooks Online and Xero on its Premium and Elite plans. HoneyBook syncs payments with QuickBooks Online on Essentials and Premium and lists Wave and FreshBooks integrations; Xero was not among the integrations on its site on November 5, 2026.

Can I connect Claude or ChatGPT to Bonsai or HoneyBook?

Yes, both. Bonsai MCP works with assistants that support MCP, including Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini. HoneyBook has an MCP connector verified in Claude's directory and open to other MCP clients, plus a plugin for ChatGPT that asks for your approval before anything is sent or changed.

Do Bonsai or HoneyBook have a free plan?

Neither described a free plan on November 5, 2026. Bonsai offers a 7-day trial with full access; HoneyBook offers a 30-day trial without a card and a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Compare tools

Bonsai vs HoneyBook for freelancers and small teams

Bonsai and HoneyBook both help freelancers and small service businesses send proposals, sign contracts, invoice clients and get paid. This guide compares them from their own websites, read on November 5, 2026: pricing, trials, payments and fees, countries, accounting and AI, with a source for every statement.

Last checked: November 5, 2026. Prices are the list prices shown that day; vendors often run temporary discounts.

Choose Bonsai if

You bill by the hour: time tracking is on every plan, with timesheets and workload views from Premium.^[1]
Your books are in Xero: the Premium and Elite plans connect to both Xero and QuickBooks.^[1]
You are based outside the US, Canada, the UK and Australia: Bonsai takes online payments through Stripe in the countries Stripe supports (except India) or through PayPal.^[2]
You work alone: invoices, payments, proposals, contracts and a client portal cost $25 a month for one user on Essentials, billed monthly.^[1]

Choose HoneyBook if

You want clients to choose services, book a session, sign and pay in a single file.^[3]
You run a photography, events or venue business: HoneyBook offers branded client galleries for photographers and floor plans for venues.^[4]
You want one price for the team: up to 2 team members on Essentials ($59 a month billed monthly) and unlimited team members on Premium ($129).^[3]
You want a long trial: 30 days without a card, then a 60-day money-back guarantee.^[3]

Bonsai vs HoneyBook: side by side

	Bonsai	HoneyBook
Price model	Per user: $15 to $59 a month billed monthly, $9 to $49 billed yearly^[1]	Per account (US): $36, $59 or $129 a month billed monthly, less billed yearly^[3]
Free trial	7 days with full access, then a paid plan^[1]	30 days without a card; 60-day money-back guarantee^[3]
Proposals	One or several packages, one-click approval and an optional deposit^[5]	Clients choose services, sign and pay from one file^[3]
Contracts and e-signature	E-signatures, client reminders and alerts when a contract is viewed or signed^[6]	E-signatures on contracts and forms^[3]
Client portal	From Essentials^[1]	On every plan^[3]
Scheduling	One event type on Essentials; included on Premium and Elite^[1]	One session type on Starter, unlimited on Essentials and Premium^[3]
Time tracking	On every plan; timesheets from Premium^[1]	A billable-time stopwatch in the mobile app^[7]
Automations	On Premium and Elite^[1]	On Essentials and Premium^[3]
Countries	Own payments in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia; Stripe elsewhere, except India^[2]	Only businesses in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia^[3]
Online payments	Bonsai Payments (cards and ACH), Stripe or PayPal^[8]	Processed by HoneyBook: cards, bank transfers, Apple Pay and Google Pay^[7]
Accounting integrations	QuickBooks and Xero on Premium and Elite^[1]	QuickBooks Online on Essentials and Premium^[3]
AI assistants (MCP)	Bonsai MCP for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other MCP clients^[9]	HoneyBook MCP, verified in Claude's directory and open to other MCP clients^[10]

Pricing in detail

Bonsai charges per user each month: Basic $15, Essentials $25, Premium $39 and Elite $59 billed monthly, or $9, $19, $29 and $49 billed yearly. Elite needs at least 3 users.^[1]

Bonsai's Basic plan covers time tracking, tasks, projects and the CRM; invoices, payments, proposals, contracts, scheduling and the client portal start at Essentials. At list prices billed monthly, one person on Essentials pays $25 a month and three people pay $75.^[1]

HoneyBook charges per account. In the US, Starter is $36, Essentials $59 and Premium $129 a month billed monthly, and yearly billing costs less; the UK, Canada and Australia have prices in GBP, CAD and AUD.^[3]

HoneyBook's Starter plan already includes invoices and payments, proposals and contracts, the client portal and HoneyBook AI. Team members start at Essentials (up to 2) and are unlimited on Premium.^[3]

Payments and fees

Bonsai Payments takes cards at 2.9% + $0.30 (American Express 3.25% + $0.30) and ACH bank transfers at 1%, with a $1 minimum.^[8]

Where Bonsai Payments is available, using Stripe or PayPal instead adds a 1% platform fee, and invoices paid from abroad through Bonsai Payments or Stripe carry a 2.5% foreign exchange fee.^[8]

HoneyBook is its own payment processor: clients pay by card, bank transfer, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and PayPal, Venmo or Stripe cannot be connected.^[7]

HoneyBook's pricing page gives card fees from 2.7% + 10¢ and bank transfers at 1.5%, with no international fees; the plan table on the same page shows card fees from 2.9% + 25¢.^[3]

HoneyBook's product information page lists 2.9% + $0.25 for Visa and Mastercard, 3.4% + $0.09 for American Express, Discover and saved cards, and 1% + $0.30 for pre-authorized debit in Canada.^[4]

Countries and currencies

HoneyBook is available only to businesses in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia; people elsewhere can leave their email to hear about new countries.^[3]

In the UK and Australia, the HoneyBook subscription is priced in GBP or AUD.^[11]

Clients abroad can pay a HoneyBook invoice by major credit card; HoneyBook adds no fee, and the client's bank handles the currency conversion.^[4]

Bonsai Payments works in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. Elsewhere, Bonsai connects Stripe Payments in the countries Stripe supports, except India, or PayPal.^[2]

Bonsai includes multi-currency billing from Essentials; its plan prices are shown in dollars.^[1]

AI and MCP connectors

Bonsai MCP connects Bonsai to any assistant that supports MCP, naming Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Codex, Gemini, ZoomMate and Microsoft Copilot.^[9]

Through Bonsai MCP, an assistant can look up and create contacts, deals, projects, time entries, tasks and invoices within your Bonsai permissions; Bonsai says the result waits in Bonsai for your review.^[9]

HoneyBook AI is listed on every plan, with features such as AI chat, email drafts, a meeting notetaker and an AI automations builder.^[3]

The HoneyBook MCP, announced on August 19, 2026, is a verified connector in Claude's directory, and any MCP-compatible client can connect; access is granted resource by resource.^[10]

A HoneyBook plugin for ChatGPT looks up clients, projects and invoices and prepares proposals, invoices, contracts and payment requests; nothing is sent or changed until you approve it.^[12]

Accounting and bookkeeping

Bonsai connects to your bank to categorize expenses, reports profit and loss, and can send invoice data to QuickBooks Online.^[13]

Bonsai's bank sync for expenses is included from Essentials; its QuickBooks and Xero integrations are on Premium and Elite.^[1]

A Bonsai Tax add-on tracks business expenses, estimates quarterly taxes and identifies write-offs.^[14]

HoneyBook syncs its payments with QuickBooks Online on the Essentials and Premium plans. Its US pricing page also lists HoneyBook Finance (a business checking account, expense tracking, a tax hub and financial reports) and limited access for a bookkeeper.^[3]

HoneyBook's integrations page also lists Wave and FreshBooks; Xero is not among the integrations shown there.^[15]

Also consider

Clodou

Clodou is a chat-first AI back office for freelancers and small teams who would rather type what happened than fill in forms. Its agent adds the client, writes the quote or invoice, and logs time or an expense, then waits for an owner's or admin's approval before it emails a client or records a payment. Its changes come with an Undo button for 10 minutes.

Quotes and invoices use your country's tax words and can carry several taxes, in ten currencies; a quote becomes an invoice in one step, payment reminders wait for your approval, and retainers produce invoice drafts. An MCP server lets Claude and other MCP clients use the same tools, with the same approvals.

Pricing is per workspace, in USD: Free (20 AI requests and 3 quotes or invoices a month), Solo $29 a month, or Team $79 a month with 5 seats. Every new workspace starts with a 14-day Team trial, no card needed.

No e-signature
No client portal
No scheduling
No card processing
No bookkeeping or bank feeds
No payroll

Start free See pricing

Questions

Is Bonsai or HoneyBook cheaper?: It depends on team size. On November 5, 2026, Bonsai charged per user and HoneyBook per account. Billed monthly, Bonsai Essentials (the first Bonsai plan with invoices, proposals and contracts) cost $25 per user, so $75 for three people, while HoneyBook was $36 for Starter, $59 for Essentials (up to 2 team members) and $129 for Premium (unlimited team members) in the US. Both cost less billed yearly, and the plans include different features.
Can I use Bonsai or HoneyBook outside the US?: HoneyBook is available only to businesses in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, with a waitlist for other countries. Bonsai's own payment service covers the same four countries; elsewhere, Bonsai takes online payments through Stripe (in Stripe's countries, except India) or PayPal.
What do Bonsai and HoneyBook charge to take card payments?: Bonsai Payments lists 2.9% + $0.30 for most cards and 1% for ACH ($1 minimum), plus 1% when you use Stripe or PayPal where Bonsai Payments is available and 2.5% on invoices paid from abroad. HoneyBook's own pages give card fees from 2.7% + 10¢ or from 2.9% + 25¢ depending on the page, and 1.5% for bank transfers, with no international fees. Check both providers' current fees before you decide.
Do Bonsai and HoneyBook work with QuickBooks or Xero?: Bonsai connects to QuickBooks Online and Xero on its Premium and Elite plans. HoneyBook syncs payments with QuickBooks Online on Essentials and Premium and lists Wave and FreshBooks integrations; Xero was not among the integrations on its site on November 5, 2026.
Can I connect Claude or ChatGPT to Bonsai or HoneyBook?: Yes, both. Bonsai MCP works with assistants that support MCP, including Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini. HoneyBook has an MCP connector verified in Claude's directory and open to other MCP clients, plus a plugin for ChatGPT that asks for your approval before anything is sent or changed.
Do Bonsai or HoneyBook have a free plan?: Neither described a free plan on November 5, 2026. Bonsai offers a 7-day trial with full access; HoneyBook offers a 30-day trial without a card and a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Sources (accessed November 5, 2026)

Product names are trademarks of their owners. Clodou is not affiliated with them.