Incusia vs Bonsai
Bonsai bundles contracts, proposals, task management, and invoicing. A lot of people bought it for one of those and pay for all four. The invoicing is not on the cheapest seat. It starts on Essentials.
Stay if you use the contracts
Stay if you send proposals, get contracts signed, and run the work from the tasks and the client portal. That bundle is what Essentials and the plans above it are for.
Switch if you only invoice
Switch if you signed up to send invoices and the proposals, contracts, and task lists are still empty. You are paying a per-user suite price for a payment button.
Basic does not include invoices
Checked 23 October 2026 on Bonsai's pricing page. Basic is $15 per user each month, or $9 billed annually, and it does not list invoices. Essentials, the first plan with invoices and payments, is $25 or $19 billed annually.
Bonsai is a studio in a browser. Basic, the seat without invoices, includes time tracking, tasks, unlimited projects, a CRM, a service library, unlimited clients, and iOS and Android apps. Essentials adds invoices and payments, proposals and contracts, forms, scheduling, a client portal, and expenses. Premium adds workload, a Gantt view, a deals pipeline, reports, and integrations the pricing page lists as QuickBooks, Xero, Zapier, Calendly, and Google.
The proposal can become the contract, the contract sits next to the tasks, and the invoice comes off the same client. Elite adds permissions, timesheet locking, and expense markup, with a three user minimum. A small agency that assigns work will feel the difference. Incusia does not try to be that desk.
The trial is generous in a specific way. The pricing page says a new account gets full access for 7 days, then you pick a plan. You can change or cancel the plan from subscription settings. There is no published price lock. Card and ACH processing fees are mentioned and then pointed at a help article. The pricing page itself does not print the percentage, so those cells stay blank.
Prices checked 23 October 2026 on hellobonsai.com/pricing. Every figure is per user. Annual billing is shown on the page as a lower monthly equivalent, not as a separate product. Elite requires at least three users, so a monthly Elite team is three times $59, which is $177, and the annual equivalent is three times $49, which is $147 a month.
Someone who only wants invoices cannot buy Basic. Essentials is the entry invoice plan: $25 per user each month, or $19 per user if you pay annually. One user on annual Essentials is $228 a year. Incusia Starter is $9 a month, $108 a year, and it is not priced per user. Pro is $29 a month. Lifetime is $99 once. The processing fee Bonsai charges on a paid invoice is not on the pricing page.
The suite is worth the seat when you use the parts around the invoice. It is an expensive invoice when the contract folder is empty. Count the modules you opened in the last month before you compare the two prices. A number without that count flatters whoever is selling.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Invoices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $15/user | $9/user | Not included |
| Essentials | $25/user | $19/user | Invoices and payments |
| Premium | $39/user | $29/user | Invoices and payments |
| Elite (3 user minimum) | $59/user | $49/user | Invoices and payments |
| Card or ACH processing fee | Not printed |
The annoying objects are the ones that are not invoices. A signed contract in Bonsai is a PDF you should download before you cancel. A proposal that is still in draft does not become an Incusia estimate by itself. Tasks, forms, and the client portal link stay behind. If a client checks that portal for the latest file, tell them the new invoice will arrive by email instead.
Open invoices should be finished in Bonsai or reissued with a line that names the old number. Payments already in flight belong to the processor Bonsai uses. The pricing page says that partner is Stripe, with funds held at named banks. Moving software does not move a payment that has not settled.
Seats bill per user. If a collaborator still has a login, you can be charged for a person who is not sending invoices. Cancel from subscription settings after the export, not before. The 7 day trial is not a migration tool. It is a look at the product. Give the export a separate afternoon, longer if the contract archive is the thing you are afraid of losing.
Freelancers often adopt Bonsai at the moment a client asks for a contract. The contract template is the reason. A year later the work is a repeating invoice, the proposal folder has two files, and the task list is a habit they already keep in a notebook. Essentials still prices the whole bundle, per user, every month.
If the contracts and proposals are how you sell, stay. The portal, the forms, and the pipeline on Premium are built for that practice, and an invoicing tool will feel thin. If the invoice is the only screen you trust, Starter at $9 is the smaller product on purpose. It will not store a contract or run a Gantt chart. That absence is the point of the switch, not a missing feature to apologize for.
Key differences
Shared capabilities are left out. This is where the two platforms diverge.
Swipe the table to compare
| Capability | Incusia | Bonsai |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & cost model | ||
| Free plan | 7 day trial, then Starter at $9 | 7 day trial, then paid |
| Pricing model | Simple flat pricing | Per user, monthly or annual |
| Price locked at signup | Yes | No lock published |
| Starting price for unlimited invoices | $9/month | $25/user/month, or $19 billed annually, on Essentials |
| No invoice caps on paid plans | Yes | Invoices start on Essentials. Basic has no invoices |
| One-time lifetime option | $99 | Not offered |
| Invoice creation | ||
| Unlimited invoices on paid plans | Unlimited on every plan, including Free | Essentials and above |
| Client limit | 5 on Free, unlimited on paid plans | Unlimited clients listed from Basic |
| Recurring invoices | Pro and Lifetime | Subscription invoices listed, plan not marked on the page we checked |
| Multiple currencies | All plans, 30+ | Multi-currency listed, plan not marked |
| Custom logo | Starter and above | Remove branding on Premium |
| Payment collection | ||
| Payment button on invoices | Starter and above | Essentials and above |
| Stripe integration | Yes | Stripe, named on the pricing page |
| PayPal integration | No | Not published |
| Apple Pay / Google Pay | Via Stripe | Not published |
| Get paid directly to your bank | Stripe Connect | Processing fee not printed on the pricing page |
| Business platform | ||
| Time Tracking | Pro and Lifetime | Basic and above |
| Expense Tracking | Pro and Lifetime | Essentials and above |
| Estimates/Proposals | Starter, Pro, and Lifetime | Proposals and contracts on Essentials |
| Client CRM | Pro and Lifetime | CRM on Basic |
| Analytics | Pro and Lifetime | Profit and productivity reports on Premium |
| Client Portal | Pro and Lifetime | Client portal on Essentials |
| Automation | ||
| Auto-reminders for late payments | Starter, Pro, and Lifetime | Not published |
| Automatic late fee calculation | Pro and Lifetime | Not published |
| Recurring billing | Pro and Lifetime | Subscription invoices listed, plan not marked |
| Email delivery tracking | Yes | Not published |
| Support & experience | ||
| Real human support | Yes | Help center. Response time not published |
| Response time | 24 hours, 12 on Pro | Not published |
| Cancel with one click | Yes | Cancel in subscription settings |
| No account traps | Yes | Not published |
| Deployment | ||
| Where your data lives | Hosted cloud | Vendor cloud, plus iOS and Android |
| Export your data anytime | PDF on every plan, CSV on Lifetime | Data exports listed, plan not marked |
| No lock-in | Yes | Download contracts before you cancel |
Pricing checked 23 October 2026 against the company's own pricing page.
Bonsai is strong when the work has a proposal, a contract, and tasks, and the invoice is the last step. The mobile apps, the portal, and per-user seats are built for that. A freelancer who uses those pieces should stay.
Incusia is the invoice, the estimate, and the reminder. It is not a contract desk or a task manager. Starter is $9 a month for one price, not per user, locked at signup. If you still need the contracts, Bonsai remains the better home for them.
Not ready to pick a plan? You can try our free invoice generator first. See pricing, read about one-click cancellation, or learn about Incusia. Related guides: how to ask for payment politely and how to write an invoice.
FAQ
A suite is worth it when you use the suite. It is a lot of product when you came for the invoice.
$9/month
Send invoices and estimates, get paid
Price locked forever
$29/month
Run the whole business from one place
Everything in Starter, plus
Price locked forever
$99once
Pro, forever. One payment, nothing after that.
I looked at Bonsai because freelancers get sold a stack of tools and then live in one of them. I know which screens I actually open in a week. I recheck their prices when the plan on their site moves.
More about IncusiaAll trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Incusia is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any company named on this page. Pricing checked 23 October 2026 against the company's own pricing page. Contact me@abassinvoice.com if you spot an error.