Draftedly vs Bonsai: Which Is Better for Freelancers?
Bonsai is built for freelancers, which makes it one of the more natural tools to compare Draftedly against. It bundles proposals and contracts with time tracking, invoicing, expenses, projects, and a client portal, so it works as the back office for a freelance business.
Draftedly takes a narrower approach. It does the proposal, signature, and deposit in one link, and leaves the rest to other tools.
Here is how to decide between them.
Bonsai's pricing and features were checked in October 2026 on its own website. Plans change, so confirm current details on Bonsai's pricing page before you decide.
The short version
Choose Bonsai if you want one product for the whole freelance workflow: proposals, contracts, time tracking, projects, invoices, and expenses.
Choose Draftedly if you already have ways to track time and run your books, and you want a proposal that looks distinctive, gets signed, and collects the deposit without extra steps.
Side by side
| Draftedly | Bonsai | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Freelancers and small studios sending proposals | Freelancers and agencies running the business end to end |
| Pricing model | Per seat, with one paid plan | Per user, with four plans |
| Paid plans | Pro: $19 a month, or $12 a month billed annually | Basic $9, Essentials $19, Premium $29, Elite $49 per user a month billed annually. Monthly billing costs more |
| Free option | Free plan with 10 sent proposals | 7 day trial |
| Proposals and e-signatures | Yes, on every plan | Proposals and contracts start on the Essentials plan |
| Payments | Stripe deposits and milestone schedules into your own Stripe account | Invoices and payments start on the Essentials plan |
| Proposal design | Block editor, eight visual styles, your own branding | Templates. Bonsai branding removal starts on Premium |
| Time tracking | No | Yes, from the Basic plan |
| Projects, tasks, and CRM | No | Yes |
| Expenses and income tracking | No | Yes, from Essentials |
| Integrations | Stripe | QuickBooks, Xero, Zapier, and more on Premium |
Pricing for a solo freelancer
The detail that matters is which Bonsai plan has what you need. The cheapest plan, Basic, covers time tracking, tasks, and a CRM. Proposals, contracts, invoices, and payments begin on Essentials.
Essentials is $19 a month billed annually, or $228 a year. On monthly billing it is $25 a month. That is per user, so it grows if you add collaborators.
Draftedly Pro is $144 a year billed annually, and the free plan includes 10 sent proposals with payments, so you can start without paying.
The two are not the same product, so a lower price does not mean the same value. Bonsai includes time tracking, project management, and expense tracking, which Draftedly does not. If you will use them, Bonsai's price buys you much more.
Getting paid
On Draftedly, your client opens one link, signs the proposal, and pays the deposit on the same page. Deposits and milestone payments go through Stripe Connect into your own Stripe account. Draftedly does not hold your money and adds no per-proposal fee. Stripe's standard processing fees apply.
On Bonsai, you can send invoices and accept payments as part of its wider billing features, alongside time tracking and expense reporting.
If your priority is getting a deposit at the moment of acceptance, Draftedly is built around that. If you want billing tied to tracked hours and projects, Bonsai is.
For a deeper look at collecting deposits well, see how to ask for a deposit as a freelancer.
How the proposal looks
Bonsai provides proposal templates you can customize. Draftedly is more focused on presentation. You build the proposal block by block, choose from eight visual styles, and apply your logo and brand color so it feels like your own work.
Whichever tool you use, the content matters most. Our guide to writing a freelance proposal that actually gets signed covers what to include.
Where Bonsai is the better choice
- You want an all-in-one back office. Time tracking, projects, invoices, and expenses together.
- You bill by the hour. Tracked time can feed straight into invoices.
- You manage clients and projects in the same tool. CRM, tasks, and a client portal.
- You want accounting integrations. QuickBooks and Xero connect on higher plans.
If that is how you work, Bonsai covers far more ground than Draftedly.
Where Draftedly is the better choice
- Proposals are your priority. Design, signing, and the deposit are the whole focus.
- You do not want to pay for tools you will not use. One paid plan, with proposals, payments, and follow-ups included.
- You want to start free. Real proposals with payments included, before you spend anything.
- You already have time tracking and accounting you like. Draftedly works alongside them.
- You want payments straight into your own Stripe account.
The verdict
Bonsai is a freelancer's operating system. Draftedly is a sharp tool for the moment you win the work.
If you want one product for the whole business, Bonsai is a good fit. If you mainly want proposals that look great and get paid, and you would rather keep the rest of your tools, Draftedly is simpler and cheaper to start with.
You do not have to decide in the abstract. Send one real proposal on the free plan and see how it feels. If you are weighing other options, we also compare Draftedly vs HoneyBook and Draftedly vs PandaDoc. And once the proposal is out, here is how to follow up on it.
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