The Bonsai alternative for the day you hire someone.
Bonsai is great when you're solo. Hey Otto is great when you have a pipeline of deals to track, a teammate to invite, and would rather tell an AI agent to "send the deposit invoice" than draft it yourself. Real CRM. Real agent. Studio plan covers up to 5 users at $69 — half of Bonsai Business at $79.
CSV import from Bonsai · 1-minute setup · multi-currency from day one
When freelancers outgrow Bonsai.
Four moments where Hey Otto starts being the better fit.
You start tracking deals, not just clients.
Bonsai gives you a contact list — fine for a freelancer. Hey Otto gives you a kanban pipeline with customizable stages, deal steps, payment plans, lead source attribution, and contact-to-company linking. The day you start qualifying leads or running parallel deals, Bonsai's surface gets cramped.
You hire someone (or two, or five).
Bonsai's team plan is $79 for a single user with paid extras for more. Hey Otto Studio is $69 for up to 5 users out of the box, with role-based permissions (14 flags, 3 roles). For any team of 2+, the math flips immediately.
You want an AI that does the work.
Bonsai's AI drafts proposals and contracts for you to send. Otto is a 35-action tool-calling agent: tell him "add a deal for Anna at Acme for €18,000 and start a timer" and he drafts the actions, lets you edit them, then executes — by voice or chat.
You want one app, end to end.
Bonsai bundles solidly for solo work. As you scale, you usually add a real CRM (HubSpot Free / Pipedrive), a project tool (Notion / ClickUp), and ChatGPT for AI on top. Hey Otto bundles the whole back office — pipeline, invoicing, time, books, calendar, AI agent — in one place at one price.
Head to head, no gymnastics.
Where Bonsai is the stronger fit, we say so. Where we are, we show you why.
Bringing your work across.
Most freelancers run both for one cycle, then drop Bonsai once the new pipeline is set up.
Export from Bonsai
Clients, projects, invoices — CSV-exportable from your Bonsai account.
Drag into Hey Otto
Otto maps the columns, flags duplicates, and previews everything before he commits a single record.
Bring your books across
Drop a bank-statement PDF or CSV. Otto parses, deduplicates against existing entries, and writes the ledger.
Keep Bonsai for tax season (optional)
If you depend on Bonsai's 1099 / Schedule C automation, keep it running for tax workflows. Move everything else now.
Switching from Bonsai?
How does Hey Otto compare to Bonsai on price?
Bonsai is $25/$39/$79 (Starter/Professional/Business). Hey Otto is $29/$69/$149 (Solo/Studio/Agency). Roughly comparable at the entry tier; Hey Otto's Studio plan covers up to 5 users where Bonsai's Professional is a single user — so for any team of 2+, Hey Otto is dramatically cheaper.
Does Hey Otto have a real CRM?
Yes — kanban deal pipeline with customizable stages, deal steps, payment plans, lead source attribution, contact + company database with sectioned lists, tags, and bulk import. Bonsai's contact management is more of a client list than a sales pipeline; if you need to track deals through stages, Hey Otto is built for that and Bonsai is not.
How is Hey Otto's AI different from Bonsai's?
Bonsai's AI is largely text drafting — proposals, emails, scope docs. Otto is a tool-calling agent: 35 actions across pipeline, invoicing, time, books, and calendar that he executes for you, with editable confirmation cards before every write and 30-day undo. You can drive him by voice or chat. The difference is between an autocomplete and a colleague.
What about Bonsai's US tax features (1099, Schedule C)?
Bonsai has solid US-specific tax workflows — quarterly estimated tax tracking, expense categorization mapped to Schedule C, 1099 prep. Hey Otto does not ship US-specific tax automation today. We have a books ledger with categories and bank statement import; pair it with your accountant for tax prep. If US tax automation is your single biggest reason for using Bonsai, weigh that honestly.
Can Hey Otto handle teams or is it freelancer-only?
Built for teams up to 10. Studio plan ($69) covers up to 5 users; Agency ($149) up to 10+. Email invites, role-based permissions (14 flags, 3 roles), per-user overrides. Bonsai's team features are limited — it's optimized for solo freelancers.
Does Hey Otto support multi-currency?
Native multi-currency from day one: USD, EUR, GBP, ILS, AUD, CAD, plus per-deal currency override and live FX rates. Bonsai supports multi-currency invoicing but with less depth.
What about contracts and proposals?
Bonsai has well-developed contract and proposal templates — that is one of their core strengths. Hey Otto ships PDF invoicing today; proposals and contracts are on the roadmap. If contracts/proposals are your most-used Bonsai feature, factor that in.
Can I import my Bonsai data?
Yes. CSV import for clients and projects from Bonsai → contacts, companies, and deals in Hey Otto. Bank statement import (PDF or CSV) for any historical revenue and expense data into the books ledger.