How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- For beautiful outbound proposals, PandaDoc, Proposify, Qwilr and Better Proposals are the shortlist: templates, e-signatures, engagement analytics and CRM integrations.
- Better Proposals (from $13/user/month, 14-day free trial) is the most transparent buy for freelancers and small agencies.
- If your proposals are RFP responses, you need a different category: Responsive (formerly RFPIO) and Loopio manage answer libraries, SME workflows and questionnaires.
- GetAccept adds digital sales rooms to proposals; Conga covers the enterprise quote-to-contract chain (CPQ, CLM, document automation).
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 PandaDoc | Teams that want proposals, contracts and e-signatures in one document workflow | See website (tiered plans) | Trial available (check the vendor site for current free options) |
 Proposify | Sales teams that want branded proposals with serious close-rate analytics | See website (tiered plans) | Trial available |
 Qwilr | Teams that want proposals as interactive web pages, not PDFs | See website | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
 Better Proposals | Freelancers, consultants and agencies that want great-looking proposals fast | From $13/user/month (per the vendor site) | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
 GetAccept | Sales teams that want proposals living inside a digital sales room | See website | Trial available |
 Responsive | Teams drowning in RFPs, RFIs and security questionnaires | See website (custom quote) | No (demo) |
 Loopio | Proposal and presales teams that need a collaborative RFP response library | See website (Foundations tier with 10 seats; custom quotes above that) | No (demo) |
 Conga | Enterprises that need quoting, contracting and document automation on one platform | See website (custom quote) | No (demo) |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best proposal writing software
A proposal is the document that decides whether you get paid. The tools below do three things a word processor cannot: they make proposals look like they came from a design team, they track what the prospect actually reads, and they collect the signature (and sometimes the payment) in the same flow. Some also answer a different question entirely: how to respond to RFPs without rebuilding every answer from scratch. Both jobs live under "proposal software," and the right pick depends on which one you are hiring for.
#1
PandaDoc
Best for: Teams that want proposals, contracts and e-signatures in one document workflow
Visit pandadoc.com
Starting priceSee website (tiered plans)
Free planTrial available (check the vendor site for current free options)
PandaDoc is the all-in-one document platform: create proposals and quotes with a drag-and-drop editor, route them through approvals, track engagement, collect legally binding e-signatures and take payment, all in one flow. The vendor's headline promise is documents created, approved, tracked and signed 40% faster, with customer stories citing 50-92% reductions in proposal creation time.
For teams whose sales process runs from proposal to signed contract to paid invoice, the unified workflow is the argument: no exporting between a proposal tool, an e-signature tool and a payment link. The compliance stack (E-SIGN, UETA, HIPAA, SOC 2) and SSO/API access cover regulated and enterprise buyers. Check the current tiered pricing on the vendor's plans page; a trial is available.
What we like- The complete document platform: proposals, quotes, contracts, e-signatures and payments
- Strong CRM integrations (the vendor's HubSpot integration is a selling point)
- E-SIGN, UETA, HIPAA compliant and SOC 2 certified
Watch out for- The breadth means proposal-specific polish competes with general document features
- Pricing details sit behind the plans page
#2
Proposify
Best for: Sales teams that want branded proposals with serious close-rate analytics
Visit proposify.com
Starting priceSee website (tiered plans)
Free planTrial available
Proposify is built for one job: winning proposals. Drag-and-drop templates, a centralized content library, CRM data pulled directly into documents (no retyped names and prices), locked sections reps cannot edit, e-signatures, and analytics showing who opened the proposal and how long they spent on each section. The vendor reports customers with close rates 2x the industry average and proposals created in 17 minutes on average.
The engagement analytics are the differentiator: knowing the prospect spent four minutes on pricing and skipped the case studies changes the follow-up call. The template gallery covers dozens of industries, and a professional design service builds custom branded templates. Pricing is tiered; check the vendor's plans page for current numbers.
What we like- Proposal-specific depth: templates, content library, CRM data merge, section-level engagement analytics
- 8,976 companies per the vendor
- The vendor reports 2x close rates and 17-minute average creation times
Watch out for- Pricing not shown without engaging the plans page
- The template design service costs extra
#3
Qwilr
Best for: Teams that want proposals as interactive web pages, not PDFs
Visit qwilr.com
Starting priceSee website
Free plan14-day free trial, no credit card required
Qwilr's bet is that proposals should be web pages, not attachments. The proposal is a live link: update pricing or fix a typo after sending and the prospect always sees the current version, no resends. Embedded video, interactive pricing tables, e-signatures and payments live in the same page, with analytics on which sections each viewer read.
The AI creator turns a company website into a ready-to-use proposal template, which shortens the setup for new teams. Integrations cover the expected CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, Pipedrive) plus accounting and payment tools. A 14-day free trial needs no credit card. For teams whose prospects never open PDFs, the format alone is worth the test.
What we like- Web-native proposals: live links you can update without resending, embedded video, payments and e-signatures
- Page-level view tracking
- AI creator that turns a website into a proposal template
Watch out for- The web-page format is a mindset shift for buyers expecting PDFs
- Pricing details require the plans page
#4
Better Proposals
Best for: Freelancers, consultants and agencies that want great-looking proposals fast
Visit betterproposals.io
Starting priceFrom $13/user/month (per the vendor site)
Free plan14-day free trial, no credit card required
Better Proposals is the independent, bootstrapped option with a clear point of view: proposals should be beautiful, sending them should take minutes, and support should come from humans. The product covers the essentials well: polished templates, e-signatures, proposal analytics, automated follow-ups, and the ability to run contracts and onboarding documents through the same system.
The pricing transparency stands out in this category: the vendor's site shows plans from $13 per user per month, with a 14-day free trial that needs no credit card. The company is 100% bootstrapped and remote, which it wears as a stability signal. For a freelancer or agency owner who just wants to stop sending Word docs, this is the fastest credible upgrade.
What we like- The most transparent pricing on this list
- Genuinely simple: beautiful templates, e-signatures, follow-up reminders
- Human support with no bots (the vendor's stated policy)
- The vendor displays a 4.8 rating from 412 reviews on its site
Watch out for- Less enterprise machinery than PandaDoc or Proposify
- No published enterprise tier for large sales orgs
#5
GetAccept
Best for: Sales teams that want proposals living inside a digital sales room
Visit getaccept.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planTrial available
GetAccept wraps proposals in what it calls an AI digital sales room: instead of sending a document, the rep shares a hub where the buyer finds the proposal, the business case, meeting recaps and next steps, with every stakeholder on the same page. AI agents generate meeting summaries, build business cases from real conversations, and draft buyer-ready content from plain-language prompts.
The vendor cites meaningful customer results (win-rate doubling in case studies, hours saved monthly on proposal creation), and the e-signature layer supports advanced and qualified electronic signatures for European deals. For complex B2B sales with buying committees, the sales-room model keeps the deal organized in a way a standalone proposal cannot. Pricing is not published; a trial is available.
What we like- The digital sales room concept: proposals, content, stakeholders and timelines in one buyer-facing hub
- AI agents for meeting summaries and business cases
- Advanced e-signatures (AdES, QES) with SOC 2 certification
Watch out for- The platform scope is broader than pure proposal writing
- Pricing not published
#6
Responsive
Best for: Teams drowning in RFPs, RFIs and security questionnaires
Visit responsive.io
Starting priceSee website (custom quote)
Free planNo (demo)
Responsive (formerly RFPIO) pioneered what it calls Strategic Response Management: a single source of truth for answering RFPs, RFIs, due diligence questionnaires and security questionnaires. The AI drafts answers from the organization's curated knowledge base, subject-matter experts review through collaborative workflows, and validation scoring checks that every part of each question is answered.
The vendor reports $1 trillion-plus in managed opportunities, 8.7 million-plus Q&A pairs maintained, and customers like Microsoft's proposal organization. If your "proposals" are actually responses to buyer-issued RFPs, this is the category you need, and Responsive is its leader. If you write outbound sales proposals, the design tools above fit better. Pricing is quote-based.
What we like- The RFP category leader: AI-drafted answers grounded in a governed content library
- 2,000+ companies and 25+ of the Fortune 100 per the vendor
- TRACE scoring validates answer completeness
Watch out for- It is RFP response software, not a proposal design tool: different job, different buyer
- Enterprise pricing
#7
Loopio
Best for: Proposal and presales teams that need a collaborative RFP response library
Visit loopio.com
Starting priceSee website (Foundations tier with 10 seats; custom quotes above that)
Free planNo (demo)
Loopio competes directly with Responsive in RFP response automation, with its own strengths: a collaborative content library where subject-matter experts own and refresh answers, smart assignments with automated nudges, and integrations that let experts answer inside Slack or Teams. First drafts come together in minutes from the library, and automated review cycles keep content from going stale.
The vendor is transparent about the entry point: a Foundations tier with 10 seats for smaller sales-led RFP teams, with Enhanced and Enterprise packages above it and custom quotes for larger needs. Onboarding runs 15 to 30 days per the vendor. For teams choosing between the two RFP leaders, run both through a real questionnaire from your backlog; the content-migration and SME-workflow differences will decide it.
What we like- Strong content library with automated review cycles that keep answers current
- SME collaboration (assignments, nudges, in-Slack/Teams answering)
- The vendor cites a 4.6/5 G2 score and 15-30 day onboarding
Watch out for- RFP-focused: outbound proposal design is not the job
- Pricing tiers start at a 10-seat Foundations package
#8
Conga
Best for: Enterprises that need quoting, contracting and document automation on one platform
Visit conga.com
Starting priceSee website (custom quote)
Free planNo (demo)
Conga sits at the enterprise end of the document spectrum: configure-price-quote, contract lifecycle management, pricing optimization and document automation on one platform. The proposal use case here is really quote-to-contract: complex product configuration producing accurate quotes, standardized contracts with compliance guardrails, and AI guidance across pricing and contracting.
For a large organization where proposals involve configured products, approval chains and legal review, Conga replaces a patchwork of CPQ, CLM and document tools. For a team that needs beautiful proposals and e-signatures, the lighter tools above deliver faster. The vendor reports 10,000-plus businesses on the platform; pricing is quote-based.
What we like- The full revenue lifecycle: CPQ, contract lifecycle management, pricing, rebates and document automation
- 10,000+ businesses per the vendor
- Open architecture with CRM/ERP connectors
Watch out for- Enterprise platform with enterprise implementation
- Overkill for teams that just need proposals
Proposals vs. RFP responses: two different jobs
The search term "proposal software" hides a split that determines everything about the purchase. Outbound proposals are documents you create and send: the job is design, persuasion, tracking and signature. PandaDoc, Proposify, Qwilr, Better Proposals and GetAccept do this job. RFP responses are documents the buyer asks you to complete: the job is answering hundreds of questions accurately, consistently and fast, drawing on approved content. Responsive and Loopio do this job.
Buying the wrong one is expensive. A proposal design tool will not manage a 200-question security questionnaire. An RFP platform will not produce a beautiful interactive quote. Conga spans the enterprise quote-to-contract space above both. Before shortlisting, write down which job you are hiring for. If the answer is both, you may need two tools; they are different categories that happen to share a keyword.
How we chose
We started with the categories buyers search: proposal writing software, proposal software and RFP software. For each candidate we opened the vendor's own site, checked product documentation and pricing pages, compared features against public reviews on G2, Capterra and TrustRadius and practitioner discussion on Reddit, and weighed company-size fit from freelancers to enterprise sales organizations. Where a price could not be verified on the vendor's own page we wrote "See website" rather than guessing.
How to buy proposal software
Match the tool to the job using the split above, then evaluate on the workflow that matters. For outbound proposals, the deciding factors are template quality, how fast a rep builds a proposal from CRM data, the engagement analytics, and the e-signature and payment flow. Run a real proposal through the trial: your branding, your pricing table, your actual follow-up process.
For RFP response, the deciding factors are the content library (import your existing answers and see how it handles them), the SME workflow (how easily experts review without logging into another tool), and the AI drafting quality on your hardest questionnaire. Ask for the onboarding timeline and who migrates your content.
On pricing, this category splits three ways. Better Proposals publishes from $13/user/month with a real trial: the transparent buy. PandaDoc, Proposify and Qwilr publish tiered plans with trials: check the current numbers on their plans pages. GetAccept, Responsive, Loopio and Conga price by quote: get the seat count, the implementation scope and the renewal terms in writing. Whatever you choose, confirm the e-signature legality for your jurisdictions; most of these tools cover it, but regulated deals deserve the check.
Frequently asked questions
How much does proposal software cost?
It ranges from $13/user/month (Better Proposals, published) through tiered plans with trials (PandaDoc, Proposify, Qwilr) to quote-based enterprise pricing (GetAccept, Responsive, Loopio, Conga). RFP platforms typically start at team-sized packages: Loopio's Foundations tier includes 10 seats. Always confirm current pricing on the vendor's plans page and get renewal terms in writing.
Can proposal software replace a designer?
For most sales proposals, yes. The template libraries, drag-and-drop editors and brand controls in these tools produce professional documents without design skills, and services like Proposify's template design team cover the custom cases. What software cannot replace is the messaging: the value proposition and pricing strategy still come from you.
Do these tools handle e-signatures legally?
Yes, the serious tools do. PandaDoc cites E-SIGN and UETA compliance, GetAccept supports advanced and qualified electronic signatures for European deals, and the enterprise tools carry SOC 2 certification. For regulated or high-value contracts, confirm the specific signature standard your jurisdiction requires before relying on it.
What is the difference between proposal software and RFP software?
Proposal software creates outbound sales documents: design, send, track, sign. RFP software answers inbound buyer questionnaires: content libraries, AI-drafted answers, SME review workflows and compliance tracking. They are different categories serving different teams, though both appear under "proposal software" in search results.
How do I know if prospects read my proposal?
The proposal tools track engagement: opens, time spent per section, and link clicks, with notifications when prospects view the document. Proposify, Qwilr, PandaDoc and GetAccept all provide this. Use it operationally: a prospect who spent five minutes on pricing gets a different follow-up than one who never opened the email.
Sources we checked (10)
- https://pandadoc.com
- https://www.proposify.com
- https://qwilr.com
- https://betterproposals.io
- https://getaccept.com
- https://responsive.io
- https://www.loopio.com
- https://conga.com
- https://www.g2.com/categories/proposal-management
- https://www.capterra.com/proposal-management-software/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.