Comparison
Ochre vs Bonsai
A fact table, not a pitch: pricing model, accounts, offline use, and where each app runs. Sourced and dated — see the citations at the bottom of the page.
Last checked: 2026-10-15. Facts drawn from each vendor's own pricing page and App Store listing — see sources below. Re-verified quarterly; next check due 2026-12-15.
The fact table
| Ochre | Bonsai | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | One Ochre Pro plan (monthly, yearly, or a non-renewing lifetime tier) covers every business and every device, after a 7-day free trial — see pricing for the current offer. | No free tier. Basic, Essentials, Premium, and Elite tiers, priced per user per month (with a lower annual rate on each). |
| Account or sign-up required? | No account or sign-up screen to invoice. | Yes. |
| Works offline? | Yes — local-first by design; iCloud sync is optional, not required. | Not stated. |
| One-time purchase available? | Yes — a lifetime, non-renewing tier is on sale alongside monthly and yearly. | No. |
| Multiple businesses under one price? | Yes — one price, unlimited businesses under one Ochre Pro plan. | Not stated in one sentence — tiers are explicitly priced per user, not per business. |
| Native on Mac, iPhone, and iPad? | Yes — iPhone, iPad, and Mac, one native SwiftUI codebase. | Its App Store listing (“Bonsai by Zoom”) is iPhone-only, but its pricing page also lists a macOS app. |
| On-device AI? | Planned, not yet shipped — on-device via Apple's Foundation Models framework. | Bonsai MCP connects the product to Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini for task automation — a cloud integration, not an on-device feature. |
| Where is data stored? | On-device by default; iCloud sync only where the user turns it on. | Not found — its security page returned a 404 on the day we checked. |
Sources for the Bonsai column: www.hellobonsai.com/pricing · apps.apple.com/us/app/bonsai-track-time-get-paid/id1333596451
Where Bonsai is the better choice
Bonsai is built around contracts, proposals, and per-user team seats, not just invoices — a better fit for an agency managing several freelancers under one account.
Questions
Does Ochre have a one-time purchase option, unlike Bonsai?
Do I need an account to invoice with Bonsai?
Where is Bonsai better than Ochre?
More on how Ochre works: the user guide · pricing · every comparison on this site · one-time-purchase invoicing apps for Mac.
Compare Ochre with other apps: Ochre vs Zoho Invoice · Ochre vs Invoice Ninja · Ochre vs FreshBooks · Ochre vs Wave · Ochre vs QuickBooks Online.