Choose Bonsai if…
- You bill hours and need real time tracking tied to invoices
- You're growing into a small team and want per-user project management, tasks, and a shared CRM
- You want one broad suite with long feature lists and years of maturity
Choose North if…
- You price by value, not hours — and want the pricing reasoned and defended, not just formatted
- The proposal itself is a work sample in your field (visual work) and needs to look like it
- You want a flat $0 or $20/month, not per-user tiers where the real features start at the second tier
- You want an AI partner in the work, not a bigger toolbox
Bonsai pricing, verified
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $9/user/mo | annual ($15 monthly) — proposals/contracts/invoicing NOT included |
| Essentials | $19/user/mo | annual ($25 monthly) — where proposals/contracts/invoicing start |
| Premium | $29/user/mo | annual ($39 monthly) |
| Elite | $49/user/mo | annual ($59 monthly) |
Bonsai figures from its official pricing as of mid-2026. North: Free ($0 — clients, projects, contracts with e-signing, invoices, full export, and 3 AI proposals a month, uncapped during the open beta) and Pro ($20/month for unlimited AI proposals; subscribe during the beta and $20 stays your price). When a client pays an invoice by card, the money moves through the freelancer's own Stripe account — North takes no cut.
Breadth versus depth, honestly
Bonsai's pitch is coverage: CRM, projects, tasks, time, proposals, contracts, invoicing, from freelancer to agency. Its proposals are competent documents you assemble. North's pitch is depth on the few moments that decide whether freelancing pays: the scoping, the price you can defend out loud, the proposal that looks like your work, the contract that arrives with the yes, the invoice that follows delivery. North has no time tracking, no task boards, no team seats — that's the trade, stated plainly.
The pricing-model tell
Bonsai is priced per user with capability tiers — the shape of software that wants to grow into your team. North is $0 or $20 flat — the shape of a tool betting everything on the solo professional. Neither is wrong, but they predict where each product's roadmap attention goes. Also worth knowing: on Bonsai, proposals, contracts, and invoicing start at the $19/user/month Essentials tier, so compare against that number, not the $9 headline.
Hourly versus value — a philosophical difference with a dollar sign
Bonsai's time-tracking DNA fits hourly billing beautifully. North is built around the opposite conviction: creative work priced by the hour caps your income at the speed of your own competence. North drafts value-anchored options with the reasoning visible — 82% of surveyed web designers already price by package or project rather than hourly (State of Web Designer Pricing, 2025), and North exists to make that the easy path for everyone else.
Common questions
- Is North cheaper than Bonsai?
- For the comparable capability set: Bonsai's proposals/contracts/invoicing start at $19/user/month billed annually (Essentials, as of mid-2026). North is free for 3 AI proposals a month (uncapped during the beta) or $20/month flat for unlimited — and neither tool should be chosen on price alone; the feature shapes differ.
- Does North have time tracking like Bonsai?
- No, and by conviction rather than omission — North is built around value-based pricing, where the deliverable's worth to the client sets the price rather than hours × rate. If hourly billing with tracked time is core to your model, Bonsai fits that shape better today.
- Can I use North with a team?
- North is built for solo independents right now — no seats, no roles, no shared pipelines. Bonsai's per-user model and project tooling handle team workflows that North deliberately doesn't.