A bail bond (or Bond) is an agreement between a defendant and a bail bond company guaranteeing the defendants appearance for all court dates. A bail bond remains executed until the defendant is sentenced or the bail bond is discharged.
A cash bail (or cash bond) is a agreement between a defendant and the county jurisdiction where the cash bail was set by a judicial judge. A cash bail does not require a bail bondsman and effectively excludes the use of a bail bondsman. A cash bail is required to be paid in full to the jail, you do not pay a percentage of 10% of the bail set as you do by utilizing a bail bondsman.
Most individuals would rather pay a bail bonds company 10% of the set bond amount instead of paying a cash bail to the jail. Individuals choose to use bondsman to save money initially by not paying a full face value of a cash bail. Many states, remain a cash bail only state with no commercial bail system.