The indie Bonsai alternative.
$8/mo flat. Forever.
Bonsai got acquired by Zoom and bills $15–59 per seat. Flowly does the same daily job (track time, send the invoice, get paid) for one flat $8/mo, built and owned by one founder who isn’t selling.
No credit card. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Why freelancers are leaving Bonsai
Bonsai is still a capable tool. But three things push freelancers to look for an indie alternative before their next renewal.
Now a Zoom subsidiary
Zoom announced the Bonsai acquisition in November 2025 (deal closed December). The roadmap is now set by an enterprise video company, not a freelancer-tools team.
Priced per seat: $15–59 / user
Bonsai bills per user, per month. Add a VA or a subcontractor and the bill climbs with every seat. Flowly is one flat $8/mo at any team size.
Recurring payout-hold complaints
G2 and Trustpilot reviews repeatedly cite 7–10 day holds on freelancer payouts. Flowly puts your own Stripe, PayPal, Wise, or Revolut link on the invoice, so clients pay you directly, with no platform sitting on the money.
Flowly vs Bonsai (and the other rolled-up tools)
Same daily job. The difference is the price model and who owns the roadmap.
| What you get | Flowly | Bonsai | Harvest | HoneyBook |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $8 flat | $15–59 | $9–14 | $36–129 |
| Billing model | Flat, any size | Per seat | Per seat | Per plan |
| Owner | Indie founder | Zoom | Bending Spoons | VC-backed |
| Acquired / rolled up? | No, still indie | Yes · 2025 | Yes · 2025 | VC-funded |
| Time tracking + invoicing in one tool | ||||
| Task board (Kanban) included | ||||
| Lifetime price lock | $8/mo · first 100 | – | – | – |
| Migration credit to switch | $50 | – | – | – |
Flowly
- Monthly price
- $8 flat
- Billing model
- Flat, any size
- Owner
- Indie founder
- Acquired / rolled up?
- No, still indie
- Time tracking + invoicing in one tool
- Task board (Kanban) included
- Lifetime price lock
- $8/mo · first 100
- Migration credit to switch
- $50
Bonsai
- Monthly price
- $15–59
- Billing model
- Per seat
- Owner
- Zoom
- Acquired / rolled up?
- Yes · 2025
- Time tracking + invoicing in one tool
- Task board (Kanban) included
- Lifetime price lock
- –
- Migration credit to switch
- –
Harvest
- Monthly price
- $9–14
- Billing model
- Per seat
- Owner
- Bending Spoons
- Acquired / rolled up?
- Yes · 2025
- Time tracking + invoicing in one tool
- Task board (Kanban) included
- Lifetime price lock
- –
- Migration credit to switch
- –
HoneyBook
- Monthly price
- $36–129
- Billing model
- Per plan
- Owner
- VC-backed
- Acquired / rolled up?
- VC-funded
- Time tracking + invoicing in one tool
- Task board (Kanban) included
- Lifetime price lock
- –
- Migration credit to switch
- –
I am Max. I built Flowly because I was tired of watching every freelancer tool I loved get bought by VCs and have prices triple. I am not going to sell.
$8/mo is the forever price. No card needed to try. Your invoices will still work in 2030 because I am the one accountable for them, not a private-equity rollup.
The first 100 customers lock in $8/mo for life. If prices ever rise for new customers, founder customers are protected. Public proof of intent.
One tier. $8 a month. Forever.
Flat for any team size, no per-seat math. Two months free on annual. First 100 customers locked at $8/mo for life.
or $96 / year (2 months free)
- Unlimited tasks, clients, and invoices
- Time tracking with Pomodoro and break reminders
- Branded invoices with any payment platform (Stripe, PayPal, Wise, Revolut)
- Contracts with e-sign via Verdocs
- Google + Outlook calendar sync (bidirectional)
- AI task reprioritization
- Open-source Chrome extension with NLP quick-add
- 14-day free trial, no credit card needed
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- First 100 customers: $8/mo locked for life
Coming from Bonsai? I will help you migrate.
Forward your Bonsai renewal email below. You get back a migration guide tailored to your data shape plus a $50 account credit applied when you upgrade. All async. No live calls.
Bonsai migrant FAQ
The questions I get most from people switching off Bonsai.
Will my Bonsai data import into Flowly?
Yes. Flowly supports CSV import for clients, time entries, and invoices. Export from Bonsai (Settings > Export Data), upload the CSV in Flowly, and the import wizard maps the columns. The free Migration Checklist walks through the full export-and-import flow in under an hour.
Is Flowly actually cheaper than Bonsai?
For almost everyone, yes. Bonsai is priced per seat: Basic $15, Essentials $25, Premium $39, Elite $59 per user, per month. Flowly is a single flat $8/mo no matter how many clients or teammates you have. A solo freelancer on Bonsai Essentials ($25) saves $17/mo; a two-person shop on Premium ($78) saves $70/mo. The first 100 Flowly customers lock that $8/mo for life.
What does Bonsai have that Flowly does not?
Flowly now covers the same core modules: tasks, time tracking, invoicing, payments, contracts, proposals, expense tracking, and client statuses. The honest difference is depth: Bonsai's CRM is a full deals pipeline and its accounting is a richer module, whereas Flowly keeps each surface intentionally simple (client Lead/Active/Inactive statuses with follow-up dates; expense logging with a tax-category CSV export). If you run a heavy sales pipeline or full bookkeeping inside one tool, Bonsai goes deeper. If you want the daily freelancer loop (track time, send a proposal, turn it into an invoice, log expenses for tax time), Flowly does that at a flat $8/mo.
Do you have proposals, expenses, and client tracking?
Yes. Proposals: send a branded proposal as a link; when the client accepts, Flowly auto-creates the draft invoice. Expenses: log deductible costs by category and export a Schedule C-mapped CSV at tax time. Included, not a paid add-on. Client tracking: tag clients Lead / Active / Inactive / Lost with follow-up dates. These are intentionally lighter than Bonsai's enterprise versions, which is what keeps Flowly fast and $8/mo.
Are you going to get acquired?
No. Flowly is owned by one person. There are no VCs, no board, no exit pressure. The first 100 customers lock in $8/mo for life as a public commitment: if I ever raise prices for new customers, founder customers keep their rate.
Why only $8/mo? Is the business sustainable?
$8/mo is the floor that keeps the door open for freelancers who do not want per-seat pricing that scales with every contractor they add. It is not a loss leader. Operating costs for a single-person SaaS are low enough that $8/mo at modest scale is comfortably profitable. The first-100 lifetime lock is a price commitment, not a discount.
How does the migration credit work?
Forward your most recent Bonsai renewal email using the form on this page. You get back a migration guide tailored to your data shape plus a $50 account credit applied when you upgrade. All async. No live calls.
What if I need contracts and e-sign?
Built in. Flowly includes contracts with e-sign via the Verdocs free tier (25 envelopes per month at no extra cost). For most freelancers this exceeds typical contract volume.
Try it. No card. 14 days. Walk away if it does not fit.
The first 100 customers lock in $8/mo for life. Some of those slots are still open.
Start your free trialNo credit card · 30-day money-back guarantee