Bonsai vs Found
We give Bonsai a 2.4 GPA and Found a 2.8, out of 4.0. Bonsai grades higher on platforms. Found grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Bonsai
Client, project and billing software for agencies and freelancers
Found
Business bank account with bookkeeping and tax tools built in
How we grade them
| 2.4GPABonsaiFair | 2.8GPAFoundGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CBasic is $9 a user a month billed yearly, but it can't send an invoice. Billing starts on Essentials at $19 a user yearly or $25 monthly, near this category's middle, and every extra person pays the same again. | CFound Plus is $35 a month, above the dearer quarter of accounting tools at $31.10, or $315 a year, about $26 a month. It buys imports from other accounts, rules, tags and in-app tax payments, plus 1.50% interest on up to $20,000. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 7-day free trial with full access, and the card only comes in when it ends. A week is short for judging something you'd run your business on, and there's no free plan. | BThe free plan is business checking with a debit card, 20 sub-accounts, sorted spending, receipts, a P&L, tax estimates, unlimited invoices and free 1099 e-filing. One person could live on it, as long as all the business money goes through Found. |
| Features | CProposals, contracts, forms, scheduling, a CRM, projects, time tracking, invoices and expense tracking. But the listing says itself that it's not a full accounting ledger, and the QuickBooks and Xero links that fill the gap need Premium. | CIt sorts card spending into write-offs, keeps receipts and a P&L and balance sheet, sets tax aside, makes Schedule C forms, sends invoices and pays contractors. The gap is in the listing: it's a bank account, so the books only see other accounts on paid plans. |
| Ease of use | C4.3 from 311 App Store ratings, just enough ratings to count. There's plenty to set up, too: clients, projects, proposal templates and a bank connection before it all hangs together. | A4.79 from 34,650 App Store ratings, the top band. Spend on the card and the sorting happens as you go, so there's no separate bookkeeping app to feed. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zapier, Calendly, Gmail and Slack, plus an MCP connection for AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with money in from Venmo and PayPal and a Mastercard debit card. There's no desktop app, and syncing other bank accounts needs a paid plan. |
| Best for | freelancers who want proposal to invoice in one app | self-employed people who want banking and books together |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Bonsai and Found. How we grade
Price against what you get
Bonsai starts at $9 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Found starts at $35 a month and scores 3.0.
Found scores higher, and starts $26 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Bonsai for less, and 3 score higher than Found for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Bonsai starts at $9 per user / month, billed annually. Found starts at $35 per month, billed monthly.
- Found has a free plan. Bonsai does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Bonsai lists a macOS app.
- Only Bonsai lists a browser extension.
- Bonsai also covers time tracking and forms.
At a glance
| Bonsai | Found | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $9 per user / month, billed annually | $35 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | Found: business checking with a Mastercard debit card, team cards, 20 sub-accounts, expense categorizing, receipt scanning, P&L, tax estimates, unlimited invoices and 1099 e-filing. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial with full access, then a card is needed to continue | 30-day free trial of Found Plus or Found Pro, then charged to your Found balance |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Bonsai Technologies Inc. | Found |
| Price read from | hellobonsai.com | found.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Bonsai
- Freelancers and small agencies that bill clients by the hour or by retainer
- Studios that want proposals, contracts, projects and invoices in one app
- Teams that keep their ledger in QuickBooks Online or Xero
Found
- US sole proprietors who want banking and books in one app
- Freelancers who want taxes set aside automatically as they are paid
- Small businesses that pay contractors and file 1099s
Worth knowing
Bonsai
- Basic has no invoices, payments or expense tracking; billing starts on Essentials at $19 per user a month, billed annually.
- It is not a full accounting ledger; the QuickBooks Online and Xero integrations that fill that gap need Premium.
- Every plan is priced per user, and Elite needs at least 3 users.
- Online payments carry processing fees that vary by method; the pricing page points to a help article for the figures.
Found
- Found is a bank account, not standalone software: the bookkeeping works on money that runs through it, and other accounts can be imported only on paid plans.
- Only US-based businesses can open an account, and the owner needs a Social Security number.
- Some banking costs extra: domestic wires are $15 each ($10 on Pro) and paper checks $1 each (free on Pro).
- Found Assistant is in beta, and Found says it gives no legal or tax advice.
Key features
Bonsai
- Proposals, contracts and forms
- Send proposals and contracts from templates, collect answers with forms and questionnaires, and book calls with scheduling links.
- Invoices and payments
- Unlimited, retainer and subscription invoices with time and expenses attached, online card and ACH payments, and billing in several currencies.
- Time tracking and timesheets
- Track billable and non-billable time on every plan, with timesheet reminders, and lock timesheets on Elite.
- Projects and resourcing
- Unlimited projects and tasks with kanban views, hourly or fixed-fee budgets, task estimates and workload planning on higher plans.
- Bookkeeping
- Connect a bank account to categorize expenses by client project, see revenue dashboards, and send invoice data to QuickBooks Online.
- Bonsai MCP
- Connect an AI assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini to update clients, create projects or draft invoices in Bonsai.
Found
- Business checking and cards
- A checking account held at Lead Bank, Member FDIC, with physical and virtual Mastercard debit cards and team cards with spending limits.
- Automatic bookkeeping
- Card spending is categorized and flagged as write-offs, receipts attach by photo, and P&L, balance sheet and expense reports are kept current.
- Taxes set aside
- Found estimates taxes in real time and moves money into a Taxes Pocket as you are paid. It generates Schedule C and 1120 or 1120-S forms.
- Invoices
- Unlimited invoices, scheduled and recurring invoices, estimates and payment requests on every plan.
- Contractor payments
- Pay contractors by ACH, text or email with no per-contractor fee, collect W-9s and generate and e-file 1099-NECs for free.
- Found Assistant
- An AI assistant, in beta, that answers questions about your income and taxes and can draft invoices.
Plans
Bonsai
Basic$9
per user / month, billed annually
$15 billed monthly. Time tracking, tasks, unlimited projects and clients, a CRM and the mobile apps. No invoicing or payments.
Essentials$19
per user / month, billed annually
$25 billed monthly. Adds invoices and online payments, proposals, contracts, forms, scheduling, a client portal, and income and expense tracking.
Premium$29
per user / month, billed annually
$39 billed monthly. Adds project insights, workload, a deals pipeline, profit reports, no Bonsai branding, and QuickBooks, Xero and Zapier.
Elite$49
per user / month, billed annually
$59 billed monthly. Minimum of 3 users. Adds custom permissions, timesheet locking, markups on expenses and custom data import.
Found
Found$0
Banking, automatic expense categorizing, receipts, P&L and balance sheet, tax estimates, unlimited invoices and contractor payments.
Found Plus$35
per month, billed monthly
Or $315 a year. Adds imports from up to 10 other accounts, categorizing rules, custom tags, in-app tax payments, 1.50% APY up to $20,000 and priority phone help.
Found Pro$80
per month, billed monthly
Or $720 a year. Adds 2.50% APY on all balances, 1% cash back on card purchases, free checks, cheaper wires and an account manager.
Ways to pay less
Bonsai
- Annual discount
Up to 4 months free with yearly billing
Yearly billing brings Basic from $15 to $9 per user a month, Essentials from $25 to $19, Premium from $39 to $29 and Elite from $59 to $49.
- Other savings
Reduced rate for teams of 30 or more users
The pricing page says a reduced rate is available for teams of 30 or more users, without giving the figure.
Found
- Annual discount
Save 25% with yearly billing
Found Plus costs $315 a year instead of $35 a month, and Found Pro $720 a year instead of $80 a month.
