Shortlist FreshBooks when you want invoicing close to your accounting workflow. Shortlist Bonsai when proposals, contracts and project administration are part of the same buying decision. If your immediate need is simply to invoice clients and collect payment, compare a narrower billing tool as well.
The price to compare is the plan that performs your work. A low entry price without invoicing, or a client limit your agency already exceeds, is not a usable offer. The worksheet below separates billable clients, team seats and billing commitment before comparing dollars.
Start with the usable plan
On Bonsai's current pricing page, Basic includes time/project tools, while Invoices & Payments and Proposals & Contracts appear in Essentials. Essentials is listed at $25 per user/month monthly, or $19 per user/month billed annually. Do not use Basic's advertised price as the cost of an invoicing workflow.
The FreshBooks US pricing page lists regular monthly prices of $23 Lite for up to 5 billable clients and $43 Plus for up to 50. It lists additional team members at $11/month per user. Plus includes proposals, client retainers and accounting reports. Temporary offers appear separately; the calculations use the regular monthly prices.
| Requirement | What to compare | Why it can change the shortlist |
|---|---|---|
| Send and collect invoices | An invoice-capable tier | Entry project tools may not include billing |
| Bill eight clients | The account's billable-client definition and limit | More invoices to the same client is not the same as more clients |
| Let three people work | Included owner plus required extra seats | Per-user and per-account prices scale differently |
| Use proposals and contracts | Required documents and actual approval/signing workflow | An estimate is not automatically the contract your business needs |
| Keep financial records | Reports and the accountant's required handoff | An invoice dashboard is not proof of complete accounting coverage |
Bonsai's annual option is a commitment for the billing period, not the same cash arrangement as paying monthly. Compare permissions as well as seat count; a person who only needs reports may not require the same access as someone editing invoices.
Original worksheet: one solo operator and one small agency
These are hypothetical US-dollar software budgets for one full year at today's stated regular rates. Assume one owner is included in FreshBooks, and every additional working person needs a paid team seat. Assume every Bonsai working person needs an Essentials seat. Exclude promotions, taxes, payment processing, payroll and other add-ons.
| Scenario | FreshBooks regular monthly basis | Bonsai Essentials, annual commitment | Bonsai Essentials, monthly basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo operator, 4 billable clients | Lite: $23 × 12 = $276/year | 1 × $19 × 12 = $228/year | 1 × $25 × 12 = $300/year |
| Agency, 8 billable clients, 3 working people | Plus + 2 seats: ($43 + 2 × $11) × 12 = $780/year | 3 × $19 × 12 = $684/year | 3 × $25 × 12 = $900/year |
The second row needs FreshBooks Plus because eight exceeds Lite's five-client allowance. Its modeled monthly software bill is $65. Bonsai is $57/month equivalent on annual billing or $75 on monthly billing. Comparing $23 with $19 would conceal both the client threshold and the three-seat requirement.
For that same three-person agency, changing only the client count from eight to four would make Lite's client allowance large enough. The narrower price calculation becomes ($23 + $22) × 12 = $540/year. But that is an eligible choice only if Lite also covers the agency's actual features. If proposals, retainers or the required reports still demand Plus, reducing clients has not solved the tier requirement.
Use the worksheet with your own values: 12 × (eligible base plan + required extra seats) versus 12 × eligible per-user rate × users. Record the required features beside the formula. This avoids choosing the cheapest mathematically possible plan that cannot do the work.
What the software budget leaves out
For a real purchase, get the relevant payment-method schedule and check how refunds, cross-border payments and currency conversion affect your invoices. Those costs are not in the table. A business mostly paid by bank transfer and one collecting every invoice by card can have different total expenses at the same software price.
Then map your client journey: accepted scope, project work, invoice, payment and bookkeeping handoff. Ask which tool owns each step. If you need the proposal/contract workspace, do not replace it solely because a standalone invoice tool costs less. If your accountant relies on a particular financial report, confirm the replacement before cancelling access.
When a narrower PayRequest billing workflow fits
Consider PayRequest invoicing when you want to send client invoices and collect payment while project work or bookkeeping stays in suitable existing tools. It is not a claim that PayRequest replaces every FreshBooks accounting feature or every Bonsai contract and resource-management feature.
PayRequest pricing lists basic invoicing on Free (€0/month with a 2% standard platform fee). Premium is €5/month; Business is €20/month and includes subscriptions and recurring billing. An active paid plan removes the standard platform fee, while provider fees and commission-payment exceptions remain separate. Do not compare these euro subscriptions with the dollar worksheet without choosing an exchange-rate basis.
Current PayRequest provider documentation says invoices and subscription billing use Mollie; PayPal support is for payment links. Check your eligibility and needed billing workflow before switching. Business ordering begins at Business registration, followed by setup and paid checkout; signup alone does not activate paid access.
If a focused invoice workflow is enough, use the article CTA to create an account and prepare one named-client invoice. For a switch, retain historical invoices and refund access, then agree which system will issue the next invoice so neither sends it twice.
Editorial method: prepared with AI assistance; official plans reviewed on 7 November 2026. Budgets are hypothetical, regular-price comparisons, not measured customer savings or a software migration test. The cover is illustrative.
