6 Best Hello Bonsai Alternatives To Consider For Your Business

One perk of being a freelancer is working on what you love every day. Well, at least most of the time. Sometimes you have to deal with admin tasks to keep your business running, like sending invoices and tracking your project.

That’s why freelancers use project management tools. And HelloBonsai is one option for small businesses and freelancers.  But no platform is the perfect fit for everyone.

If you’re looking for some alternatives, I’ve got you covered. 

Get to Know HelloBonsai 

Before checking out HelloBonsai substitutes, let’s first understand the tool a little better. 

HelloBonsai is an online platform for managing multiple projects at once. It helps to automate repetitive workflows.  For instance, you can create invoices and contracts. Their notification feature helps to keep an eye on deadlines. It can also store all your project details and documents. HelloBonsai helps freelancers handle all the admin work.

HelloBonsai has three pricing plans:
Starter plan for $24 per month, the professional plan for $39 per month, and the business plan for $79 per month. This is a pack for small businesses and agencies.

What Does HelloBonsai Offer?

HelloBonsai has some features for freelancers and small agencies, like: 

Creating proposals 

It has a simple form for creating proposals. You can send clients custom proposals via adjustable fields.  For instance, you can choose different proposal types based on your client’s industry.  You can also use premade templates to create proposals with a click. There is also an option to download proposals as a PDF or email them to your clients. 

Creating invoices 

HelloBonsai can automate the invoice generation process. There is an invoice dashboard to create invoices. It can also organize your invoices. All the paid invoices go under a separate section. And outstanding and overdue invoices under other sections. You can also integrate it with your PayPal and Stripe accounts. 

Time tracker 

Time tracking is always an issue for freelancers. For this reason, HelloBonsai has a time-tracking feature. Here you can select a project and add hours worked on it. You can also select workers who worked those hours. If you have different people working on a project, this feature can help.

Other Features 

HelloBonsai has many other features such as:

• A central dashboard to receive a general overview of all project-related activities. 
• The Expense tab can connect your bank account. It will help you track your expenses. 
• The Client tab can help you manage different clients. You can add or delete clients to the portal. 
• There is also an Accounting tab. You can manage your taxes and finances here. 

Why Should You Look for Hello Bonsai Alternatives?

Hello Bonsai seems like a great project management software. It has time tracking and features to automate your workflow. But still, many users may look for other tools to replace HelloBonsai. The reason? There are a couple of reasons that make Hello Bonsai not the right tool for everyone. For instance: 

Limited contract creation features 

Contract creation is one of the important parts of running a freelance business. It takes up most freelancers’ time to create custom contracts. But, this tool has limited contract creation tools. You might have to get other tools to create contracts with.

Not available in many languages 

HelloBonsai only supports the English language. So, you can not create proposals and contracts in your native language. If you work for international clients, this app may not be for you. It will make it a bit tricky to work with clients or teams who aren’t fluent in English.

No free version 

HelloBonsai has no free version. You have to make an investment in testing this software. Unlike other freelance software, this software is not economical. The pricing plan of HelloBonsai is also expensive. Its basic plan starts from $24 per month. For new freelancers, this may be a bit of an expensive tool.

5 Best Hello Bonsai Alternatives 

1. Bloom

Bloom is a cloud-based solution for freelancers. It is a perfect tool for small businesses that want one tool to manage all their operations.

The software has a client portal that allows you to store client data and information. Bloom allows you to generate invoices and resolve customer queries. There are also features to receive payment reminders and do email marketing. 

As we all know, document sharing is important for running a business. So, Bloom has essential features for managing documents. 

Besides this, Bloom has many more great features, such as: 

• Auto countersign 
• Email automation 
• Contact management 
• Schedule meetings and sessions 
• Receive online payments
• Lead management, etc. 

2. Dubsado

Dubsado is a client management software for small businesses. It is the perfect tool for photographers who work in different industries. This tool is a project management that can manage workflow and schedules. Photographers can book appointments with clients and build relationships with them.

This Hello Bonsai alternative is well-received in the market. It has some excellent features, like:

• Easy form and questionnaire builder. 
• Invoice creation tools. 
• Automatic payment processor. 
• Awesome project management. 
• Financial management system.

Dubsado pricing starts from $150/year. If you are looking for cheaper options, we’ve created an article listing some of the best Dubsado alternatives.

3. Honeybook

Honeybook is a cloud-based software for freelancers. The main function of this software is to manage workflow and increase sales.  Compare Honeybook vs Bonsai as software for freelancers.

It is a complete business management software to create proposals and contracts. It has an inbuilt invoice creation toolkit. There’s also an option to integrate with third-party tools. You can integrate it with tools like QuickBooks or Zapier.  There is also a client booking and contract option. This helps you onboard new clients faster.  This software is available for $39 per month.

4. PandaDoc

PandaDoc is an elegant document management software. It comes with the ability to e-sign documents. 

You can process unlimited documents with PandaDoc. Moreover, you can integrate it with CRM software like HubSpot. This CRM has a comprehensive content library and branding. This software is best if you have to manage large amounts of digital documents.  It has a wide range of many other features to support freelancers, including client portals, forms, contracts, proposals, and more. It is a simple yet powerful tool for freelancers. Moreover, you will get more than 400 templates to create proposals. Also, it has a free basic version. It has 24*7 live chat support and performance reporting features.

5. Freshbooks

Freshbooks has made it easy for freelancers to manage their accounts. It comes with sales tax, late fees, and discount calculations like features.

It is not project management software. But, it has great accounting features to replace HelloBonsai (see Bonsai vs Freshbooks).  It has features like contract creation, proposals, invoices, and more.  The software also makes it easy to track expenses and time. It can record your bank account transactions and contracts.  Freelancers can see their financial and expense reports. And send invoice reminders to clients for payments. You can also track your billable hours to create invoices. This software is available for $15 per month/per user.

Conclusion: Best Hello Bonsai Alternatives 

And these are the best HelloBonsai alternatives. 

HelloBonsai is a nice tool for freelancers to manage operations. But, it has some shortcomings. So, if Hello Bonsai is not helping you, get any of the other mentioned tools. The best alternative for HelloBonsai, in my opinion, is Kosmo. It is less expensive than HelloBonsai with great features

Post written by:

kosmo on July 30, 2022