Bonsai Got Acquired. Time for Plan B.

Why freelancers are switching

• Acquisition uncertainty

  Zoom bought Bonsai in Dec 2025. Enterprise acquisitions of small dev tools rarely end well for the original user base — pricing changes, feature cuts, or sunset are all on the table.

• 10+ day payment holds

  Bonsai holds funds from payment processing for over 10 business days before releasing them to you. That's two full work weeks your money is in limbo.

• Feature bloat at $21–42/mo

  Bonsai's Starter plan is $21/mo; Professional is $32/mo; Business hits $42/mo. You're paying for a full suite whether you use it or not.

• Slow shipping

  Freelancers have noted that Bonsai shipped only 2 meaningful new features in the past 5 years. That's before the acquisition — expect the pace to slow further now.

What you actually need

• Create a professional invoice in under 2 minutes
• Send it directly to your client via email
• Get reminded automatically if it goes unpaid
• Know the moment your client views the invoice
• Get notified when payment is marked as received

What you DON'T need to pay $42/mo for

Bonsai bundles invoicing with a full suite of features aimed at agencies and studios. If you're solo, most of this is noise:

• CRM— Managing a pipeline of leads is agency work. Solo freelancers get clients through referrals.
• Time tracking— Useful if you bill hourly at scale. Most freelancers track time in a spreadsheet or not at all.
• Tax filing— Your accountant handles this. A $42/mo tool shouldn't need to too.
• Project management— You already have Notion, Linear, or just a to-do list. You don't need another one baked into your invoicing app.