Bonsai is built for freelancers. Forge is built for agencies.
Bonsai is a solid all-in-one for solo freelancers - contracts, invoices, time tracking, light client portal, the lot. It strains the moment you're an agency with a team, multiple service lines and a client roster that's actually yours. Forge starts from the agency: separately-branded tools per client, a team operations hub, and infrastructure run for you.
no code · we run the infrastructure · flat monthly pricingForge isn’t an app builder. It’s the managed internal-tools team for your agency.
Bonsai serves the solo - Forge serves the shop.
Bonsai is a fine all-in-one for solo freelancers and very small studios. Contracts, invoicing, light project management and a basic client portal, all in one app. If you're one person with a few clients, it works.
But once you're an agency, the model breaks. Branding is Bonsai's, not yours. The workflow is one-size-fits-all. There's no real team operations layer, no separately-isolated tool per client, and no path to the bespoke workflows agencies grow into. Forge takes the opposite approach: a tool per client, shaped to your agency, with the team hub behind it - and we run all the infrastructure.
Built for agency owners, not builders.
Opinionated presets, not a blank canvas
You don't want to describe an app from scratch - you want the right one. Forge gives you a catalog of agency tools (client portals, status pages, time tracking), set up by answering a few plain questions.
Fully managed - zero tech tax
Hosting, database, domains, secrets, updates - all on infrastructure we own and run, that your clients never see. You never connect a service, watch a meter, or redeploy anything.
Built for your whole client roster
Forge is designed around the agency-to-client relationship: a separate, branded, separately-tracked tool for each client - not one app at a time.
It gets better after launch
Every tool ships with usage analytics you can share with clients to prove value, and a feedback channel that quietly improves it - without you lifting a finger.
Flat, predictable pricing
One monthly subscription covers the AI and the hosting. No credits to burn, no usage meter to watch, simple to expense.
Improves for everyone, automatically
Because tools are built from structured presets, feedback from one agency improves the preset for all of them. The whole catalog gets better over time.
Forge vs Bonsai
| Forge | Bonsai | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Agencies with a team and a client roster | Solo freelancers and very small studios |
| Per-client tools | A separate, fully-branded portal per client | One workspace - same workflow for every client |
| Branding | Your logo, colors, custom domain - full white-label | Bonsai brand on portal and emails (white-label is paid add-on) |
| Team operations | Built-in team hub with SOPs and shared ops | Light multi-user; no real operations layer |
| Workflow shape | Built around your agency's actual work | Their templates - you bend your work around them |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly per agency, unlimited tools and clients | Per-user, with add-ons stacking up as you scale |
Glossary & calculators
Free agency concepts and tools from Forge - plain-English definitions and instant calculators.
Compare other tools, see Forge in action.
The Bonsai alternative your agency can actually hand off.
Pick a tool, answer a few plain-language questions, and we build, host and run it for you. No code, no infrastructure, nothing to maintain.