Is Stelaah a good Bonsai alternative?

Yes, for studios and agencies that need real project management and margin. Bonsai is a strong pick if you are a freelancer who also wants built in accounting.

Does Stelaah do accounting like Bonsai?

Stelaah tracks expenses, budgets, margin, and tax ready exports, and connects to accounting tools. Bonsai includes its own bookkeeping, which solo owners may prefer.

Which scales better to a team?

Stelaah, with seats, roles, vendor access, and project depth built for more than one person.

Honest comparison

Stelaah vs Bonsai

Bonsai is an all in one built for freelancers, with light bookkeeping included. Stelaah is built for studios and agencies running client work with a team. Both cover proposals to payment; here is where each fits.

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Choose Bonsai if

you are a freelancer or tiny studio who wants client flow plus simple accounting in one place.

Choose Stelaah if

you run a team and need real project management, vendors, and margin, with an AI across the work.

Side by side

What each one does for client work.

Capability	Stelaah	Bonsai
Client CRM	One record per client	Built in
Proposals and contracts	Send, sign, store	Built in
Invoicing	From tracked time	Built in
Connect your own payments	Yes	Yes
Time tracking	To the invoice	Built in
Accounting and taxes	Expenses and reports	Built in bookkeeping
Project management	Dependencies and timelines	Light tasks
Workload planning	Planner	Not included
Vendor portal	Scoped access	Not included
Inventory	Track stock	Not included
Reports and margin	Margin and utilization	Basic
AI assistant	Aria acts across the work	Some AI helpers

Checks mark a built in strength. We tried to be fair to both. Bonsai earns its checks where it leads.

Credit where due

Where Bonsai is genuinely strong.

Bookkeeping built inClient flow and simple accounting in one tool.

All in one for freelancersProposals to payment, neatly bundled.

Friendly and quickClean interface that is easy to start.

Tax help includedA real plus at year end for solo owners.

For client work

Where Stelaah fits better.

Real project managementBuilt for delivering work, not just billing it.

Team and vendorsSeats, roles, and scoped vendor access.

More than client flowInventory, portals, and reporting in one place.

Aria across everythingDrafts, answers, and acts on the work.

Pricing

What you will pay.

Stelaah

Free to start, with paid plans charged per seat. Aria is included. See the pricing page for the current plans.

See plans

Bonsai

from around $25 a month (Starter) up to about $79 a month (Business), billed annually, more month to month. A free trial. Check hellobonsai.com.

Pricing changes often, so confirm the current numbers at hellobonsai.com

Common questions

Stelaah vs Bonsai, answered.

Is Stelaah a good Bonsai alternative?: Yes, for studios and agencies that need real project management and margin. Bonsai is a strong pick if you are a freelancer who also wants built in accounting.
Does Stelaah do accounting like Bonsai?: Stelaah tracks expenses, budgets, margin, and tax ready exports, and connects to accounting tools. Bonsai includes its own bookkeeping, which solo owners may prefer.
Which scales better to a team?: Stelaah, with seats, roles, vendor access, and project depth built for more than one person.

The honest take

Outgrowing the freelancer toolkit?

Stelaah keeps the client flow and adds the project, team, and margin tools a growing studio needs.

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