10 Proposal Software for Small Businesses: Features and Pricing

Searching for the best proposal software for small businesses? For small businesses, a well-crafted proposal is one of the most powerful sales tools. It sets the tone for the client relationship, communicates professionalism, and directly influences whether a prospect says yes or keeps looking. 

That’s why we have curated a list of 10 such proposal software tools: DocHipo, Qwilr, PandaDoc, Better Proposals, Proposify, Prospero, HoneyBook, Proposable, Docspo, and Bonsai.

In this guide, we have reviewed the ten best proposal software options for small businesses, covering everything from key features and template quality to pricing and who each tool is best suited for. 

Whether you are a freelancer sending your first proposal, a growing agency managing a high-volume sales pipeline, or a small team looking for the best free proposal software to get started, there is something on this list for you.

Why Small Businesses Need Proposal Software

For small businesses, proposal software helps to ease the hassle of creating, sharing, and managing proposals. But that’s not all. Here are some strong reasons why your business needs small business proposal software: 

• Saves time and speeds up sales cycles with ready-made templates and auto-fill fields, leading to faster responses and shorter turnaround times.
• Standardize and professionalize your business proposals with consistent and on-brand layouts that signal credibility.
• Improves collaboration and reduces errors with streamlined workflows and real-time team collaboration.
• Tracks client engagement and provides insights about how your clients engage with your proposal, helping small businesses follow up at exactly the right moment rather than guessing.
• Reduces administrative overhead with a centralized platform that brings templates, client data, revision history, and approvals together in one place, cutting down on back-and-forth.
• Faster approvals with e-signatures significantly reduce the document turnaround time by 28% to 80%.
• Helps to gain a competitive edge with professional layouts and faster responses.

What Small Businesses Should Look for in Proposal Software

After understanding why proposal software for small businesses is necessary. Let’s take a look at some of the features that you should consider.

Must-Have Features for Small Business Proposals Software

• Ready-to-use proposal templates
• Quick customization (drag-and-drop editor)
• Brand kit (logo, colors, fonts)
• Pricing tables, packages, and quotes
• E-signatures for faster approvals
• Proposal tracking (views, time spent, reopen alerts)

Nice-to-Have Features for Small Business Proposals Software (If You’re Scaling)

• Automated follow-ups and reminders
• Team collaboration + approval workflow
• CRM integrations 
• Payment collection 
• Client portal / interactive proposals

Proposal Software for Small Businesses: Comparison Table 

Tools	Free Trial and Pricing	Templates	Core strengths	E-signature  & Tracking	Best For
DocHipo	Free plans available; paid plans from $12/month	Modern, webpage-style, interactive industry-specific layouts	Consistent layouts; structured tables for the scope of work, timelines, case study, portfolio, and pricing for utmost clarity	E-signature + analytics	Small businesses and agencies are looking for beautiful, interactive proposals.
Qwilr	Free trial (14 days); paid plans from $35/month	Modern, interactive web-style layouts	Modern, interactive web proposals, embedding media	Yes + analytics	Agencies & consultants wanting interactive proposals
PandaDoc	Free trial (14 days); paid plans from $19/month	PDF format, document style	Complete document workflow, CRM integrations	Yes + strong tracking	Sales teams & medium/enterprise
Better Proposals	Free trial (14 days); paid plans from $13/month	Webpage style, modern layouts	Easy & fast proposals, built-in analytics	Yes	Small firms, service businesses
Proposify	Free trial (14 days); paid plans from $19/month	PDF style, industry-specific layouts	Sales-centric workflows, real-time insights	Yes + detailed tracking	Growing sales teams & agencies
Prospero	Free trial (14 days); paid plans from $12/month	Simple, document-style layouts	Simple setup, ready-made content, tracking	Yes	Freelancers & small teams needing basics
HoneyBook	Free trial (14 days); paid plans from $29/month	Structural, professional, and connected	All-in-one client business suite (bookings, invoices)	Yes	Creatives & service-based SMBs
Proposable	Free trial (14 days); paid plans from $19/month	Simple, functional, document-style layouts	SMB-oriented with engagement tracking, pricing tables	Yes	SMB sales, structured proposals
Docspo	Free plan available; paid plans from $19/month	Modern, visually rich, webpage-style layouts	Lightweight proposal maker	Yes + basic tracking	Small teams, freelancers wanting a simple flow
Bonsai	Free trial (14 days); paid plans from $9/month	Clean, freelancer-focused, practical layouts	All-in-one freelancer suite	Yes	Freelancers & solopreneurs managing the whole workflow

10 Best Proposal Software for Small Businesses: Detailed Comparison

Before creating this guide, we explored each proposal maker online, from onboarding to creating proposals using templates, sharing, and finally downloading them. Based on first-hand experience and third-party reviews from reliable sources such as Capterra and G2, we have discussed the major features, pricing, and suitability.

1. DocHipo

DocHipo is a content and proposal maker tool that offers an all-in-one platform to create, share, and get fast approvals. Unlike most proposal tools, it offers interactive, webpage-style templates across industries such as consulting, IT services, events, travel, legal, training, construction, and more.

With tailored content and a professional format, each layout provides clear deliverables, including the scope of work, timeline, pricing tables, and more. The layouts come with professionally written placeholder content that guides you through each section, helping you make structural decisions during the design process. 

Editing your proposal is easy with the drag-and-drop feature and professionally written placeholder content guiding you at every step. Apart from that, you can seamlessly incorporate case studies and portfolios within your proposals within the editor.

With the interactive pricing tables, you can make items or sections optional, allow editing of quantities, assign currencies, and define billing frequency.

DocHipo’s Company Settings lets you centrally manage item details, signature forms, currencies, and usage units. When creating a proposal, the tool auto-populates the fields, eliminating repetitive manual entry and ensuring consistency across every document.

On top of that, you get seamless Zoho CRM integration that reduces data entry and ensures accuracy across documents. Furthermore, you can track the status of the proposal directly from within Zoho CRM. 

You can also set expiration dates on proposals to create a sense of urgency and ensure your pricing and terms do not remain open-ended indefinitely. For convenience, clients can add an e-signature from any device for fast, frictionless approvals.

On top of that, the tool also offers real-time team collaboration, Brand Kit, and generative AI tools for fast proposal creation. 

Compared with other tools, DocHipo is an emerging, actively evolving proposal maker. As the platform continues to grow, users can expect more advanced tracking and analytics capabilities in future updates.

Ideal for

DocHipo is best for users who want a simple all-in-one suite for creating and sharing webpage-style proposals. It’s also the best option for small businesses that want plenty of features and guided proposal creation with an affordable plan.

Pricing

DocHipo is one of the most affordable proposal software for small businesses. Along with the free plan, you can go for the paid plans for long-term use:

• Pro Plan: $12/month per user (billed annually). Ideal for small teams and solopreneurs.
• Pro Unlimited: $288/month for unlimited users (billed annually). Best for growing teams.

2. Qwilr

Qwilr is modern, intuitive proposal software with a web-page proposal format that replaces static PDF documents with live, interactive URLs. It offers an immersive experience for the recipient, with options to navigate the proposals and download them as PDFs. 

The user interface and onboarding are quite smooth and hassle-free compared to other proposal maker tools. Although the tool offers a variety of proposal templates, the layouts vary, which can be confusing for someone new to creating proposals. 

Also, the platform includes interactive pricing tables that allow clients to select from different packages, add or remove line items, and see the total update in real time. 

Additionally, Qwilr supports rich media embedding, allowing businesses to include explainer videos, product demos, testimonials, and image galleries directly within the proposal. 

Built-in e-signature and payment acceptance functionality allows clients to approve and pay for a project without leaving the proposal page.

Qwilr’s engagement analytics are among the most detailed in this category. Businesses can see exactly when a client opened the proposal, how much time they spent on each section, and how many times they returned to view it. 

The platform integrates natively with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Slack, and with Zapier to connect to a broader range of tools, keeping the sales pipeline up to date without any manual data entry.

Qwilr also aids with branded proposals and lets you collaborate with your team in real time. However, the web-only format can be a limitation when clients expect or require a downloadable PDF. Additionally, Qwilr is priced higher than some competitors, which may be a consideration for very small businesses or solopreneurs with limited budgets.

Ideal for

Qwilr is ideal for small businesses in the digital, creative, and marketing industries that want their proposals to make a strong visual impression with modern layouts.

Pricing

Qwilr does not offer a free plan but provides a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

• Business Plan: $35/user/month (billed annually)
• Enterprise Plan: $59/user/month (billed annually)

3. PandaDoc

This proposal software serves as a centralized workflow tool, streamlining the document lifecycle from inception to final approval.PandaDoc’s content library is one of its most powerful features for small businesses that regularly send proposals. 

It offers an extensive library of PDF-style proposal templates that you can customize using a flexible drag-and-drop editor. However, the layouts are generic and text-heavy. Also, you might need to manually add sections, such as the scope of work and timeline, to some template layouts. 

PandaDoc offers interactive pricing tables, where you can make sections optional, add discounts, assign currencies, and edit quantities.

On top of that, teams can store reusable content blocks such as pricing tables, service descriptions, case studies, team bios, and terms and conditions, then drag them into new proposals with a single click. 

The platform’s real-time collaboration feature allows multiple team members to work on the same proposal simultaneously, leave inline comments, and tag colleagues for input or review. 

PandaDoc’s e-signature capability is legally binding and supports multiple signers, making it suitable for proposals that require sign-off from multiple stakeholders on the client side.

The platform includes a robust analytics dashboard that tracks proposal opens, time spent on each page, completion rates, and overall pipeline performance. 

PandaDoc integrates with an exceptionally wide range of third-party tools, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, Microsoft Dynamics, Stripe, and QuickBooks. The platform also includes an approval workflow feature that routes proposals through internal sign-off before they reach the client.

On the downside, the sheer number of features can feel overwhelming for small teams or solo operators who only need basic proposal functionality. Some users also note that the editor can occasionally feel slow when working with complex documents. For similar or better capabilities, you can also try alternatives to PandaDoc.

Ideal for

PandaDoc is best for small businesses with an active sales team that needs to manage proposals, contracts, and client documents in one place. 

Pricing

PandaDoc offers a free plan that covers basic e-signatures and proposal creation, along with a 14-day free trial on the Starter plan.

• Starter Plan: $19/user/month (billed annually)
• Business Plan: $49/user/month (billed annually)
• Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing

4. Better Proposals

Better Proposals comes with a vast library of industry-specific templates that cover a wide range of business types, including marketing, web design, photography, consulting, and more. Each template offers a webpage-style layout, structured to include all the key sections, but the format can vary from one template to another.

Next, customizing templates is seamless using the drag-and-drop editor and interactive tables. However, you need to create a pricing table from scratch for most of the tables.

Better Proposals includes a digital signature feature that is simple for clients to complete on any device, including smartphones. The signed document is automatically stored and can be downloaded as a legally valid PDF, eliminating the need for physical paperwork during the closing process.

One of its most useful features is real-time notification, which alerts users the moment a client opens a proposal, making follow-up timely and relevant. The moment a client opens a proposal, the sender receives an instant alert via email or browser notification.

The platform also serves as proposal-tracking software, allowing users to see the status of all sent proposals at a glance, including those that have been opened, signed, or are still awaiting a response. 

On the downside, the analytics features are not as deep as those offered by platforms like Qwilr or PandaDoc, and the customization options, while adequate, may feel limiting for businesses with very specific branding requirements.

Ideal for

Better Proposals is best for small service-based businesses and freelancers who want a quick, reliable way to send polished proposals with built-in payment collection. 

Pricing

Better Proposals does not offer a free plan but provides a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

• Starter Plan: $13/user/month (billed annually)
• Premium Plan: $21/user/month (billed annually)
• Enterprise Plan: $42/user/month (billed annually)

5. Proposify

Proposify is another powerful proposal software for small businesses, offering PDF-style proposal templates. You get a variety of templates tailored to industries such as marketing, consulting, photography, architecture, IT, and finance. 

Every layout offers tailored content with structured sections for summary, timeline, pricing, contract, etc. Customizing these sections doesn’t take much time with the drag-and-drop editor. However, when compared to tools like DocHipo and Qwilr, Proposify’s interface feels less intuitive.

Proposify also offers timeline tables like DocHipo, but they aren’t interactive for customization.

On the other hand, the interactive pricing tables allow clients to choose between different service tiers, select optional add-ons, and adjust quantities directly within the proposal. 

The platform’s content library functions as a centralized repository for all approved proposal content. Teams can store individual sections, complete proposal templates, pricing blocks, and images, then pull them into new proposals as needed. 

Proposify’s approval workflow feature is a standout capability for small businesses with multiple people involved in the proposal process. Before you send a proposal to a client, you can route it to a manager or team lead for review and sign-off.

Proposify supports legally binding e-signatures and allows for multiple signers on a single document. 

The platform provides in-depth analytics that go beyond simple open tracking. Users can see time spent on individual sections, view counts, forward rates, and close rate trends over time. 

However, Proposify’s pricing is on the higher end compared to simpler tools, which may be a barrier for very early-stage businesses. Also, some users feel that the customization options are restrictive when editing the layout’s visuals. For better features at similar pricing, you can give Proposify alternatives a shot.

Ideal for 

Proposify is ideal for small businesses with an active sales team that regularly sends proposals and needs a structured, consistent process. 

Pricing

Proposify offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

• Basic Plan: $19/user/month (billed annually)
• Team Plan: $49/user/month (billed annually)
• Business Plan: Custom pricing (10+ users)

6. Prospero

Prospero is another budget-friendly small-business proposal maker, offering plenty of templates and an intuitive user interface. Plus, the platform includes a client database feature that lets businesses store contact information and pull it directly into new proposals.

Prospero’s template library is designed with simplicity and speed in mind, offering a focused selection of clean, professional templates that cover the most common small business proposal scenarios. However, the layouts are text-heavy and lack the visual appeal of other platforms.

With the interactive pricing table, Prospero allows users to add optional services, assign currencies, and upsell items directly within the proposal.

The platform supports digital signatures that are straightforward for clients to complete on any device. Once signed, both parties receive a copy of the completed proposal, creating a clear, simple record of the agreement without requiring any additional steps.

In addition, you can set an expiration date and set reminders for your clients. You can share your proposal with a link via WhatsApp or email. Prospero includes basic proposal tracking that notifies users when a client has opened a proposal. 

The platform integrates with PayPal and Stripe for payment collection, as well as with Zapier to connect to a broader ecosystem of business tools. Given its low price point, Prospero offers a surprisingly capable set of integrations that make it functional across a wide range of small-business workflows.

Ideal for

Prospero is ideal for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small service-based businesses that need a straightforward, affordable way to send professional proposals without a steep learning curve. 

Pricing

Prospero offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. The paid plans are:

• Solo Plan: $12/user/month (billed annually)
• Team Plan: Custom pricing based on the number of users

7. HoneyBook

HoneyBook is an all-in-one proposal management software that helps you create proposals, generate leads, and send invoices. What makes this particularly valuable for small businesses is that HoneyBook does not just offer proposal templates in isolation. 

HoneyBook’s proposal feature is built into a broader client management platform, meaning proposals do not exist in isolation but are part of a connected workflow that includes inquiry management, contracts, invoices, scheduling, and payment collection.

The platform allows users to combine a proposal, contract, and invoice into a single document that clients can review, sign, and pay all at once.

For most small businesses with standard service offerings, the available customization is more than sufficient.

Beyond visual branding, users can create custom contact fields, email templates, questionnaires, and contracts to streamline their processes. HoneyBook’s pricing tables are interactive and built directly into the proposal rather than being a separate document or add-on. 

Clients can select service packages and add-ons within the proposal, and invoices and contracts update instantly based on their selections.

The platform also includes a client portal where customers can log in to view documents, make payments, and communicate, creating a professional and organized experience on the client side. 

Plus, HoneyBook integrates with Gmail, Google Calendar, Zoom, QuickBooks, and Zapier, covering the most essential tools that small businesses and creative professionals rely on day to day.

Overall, HoneyBook’s biggest differentiator for small businesses is that it brings the entire client lifecycle into a single platform. On the flip side, some users wish for a more flexible payment option.

Ideal for

HoneyBook is ideal for creative freelancers and small service-based businesses that want to manage the entire client journey from a single platform.

Pricing

HoneyBook offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card required.

• Starter Plan: $29/user/month (billed annually)
• Essentials Plan: $49/user/month (billed annually)
• Premium Plan: $109/user/month (billed annually)

8. Proposable

Proposable is another online proposal creator and management platform that helps businesses build professional, trackable proposals and contracts, send them to clients, and get them accepted and signed. However, the tool can improve the interface to provide a more intuitive user experience, as the current one feels archaic.

Proposable’s content library is central to its value proposition for small businesses. Also, users can build a library of reusable content blocks, including service descriptions, pricing tables, case studies, and terms, then assemble new proposals quickly by combining relevant blocks without rewriting content from scratch each time.

The platform includes a snapshot feature that allows users to create master proposal templates and duplicate them for new clients with minimal effort. 

Proposable also supports dynamic pricing tables, allowing you to add products or services with clear breakdowns, totals, and optional add-ons, making it especially useful for service providers who want transparent pricing. 

Small businesses can benefit from features such as built-in e-signatures, reusable content blocks, and integrations with popular CRMs, helping to streamline the sales process from start to finish. Along with these, Proposable supports legally valid e-signatures that clients can complete easily, without creating an account or downloading any software. 

The platform provides proposal tracking that shows when a client opens a proposal and how many times they view it. Users receive notifications when activity occurs, enabling timely and informed follow-up.

While not as detailed as the analytics offered by Qwilr or Proposify, these reports provide enough visibility for small teams to track the effectiveness of their proposal process over time.

Ideal for

Proposable is ideal for small sales teams, agencies, consultants, and service-based businesses that send proposals frequently and want a straightforward tool with tracking and signing features.

Pricing

Proposable offers a free trial, and these are the paid plans:

• Solo Plan: $19/user/month
• Team Plan: $39/user/month
• Enterprise Plan: $500/month

9. Docspo

Docspo offers a straightforward document-creation experience with a clean editor. As business proposal software, it allows small businesses to build proposals using a structured template framework quickly.

The templates are web-based rather than static PDF downloads, and each template comes with sample text and example pricing already in place, giving small business owners a practical starting point rather than a blank structure to fill from scratch. However, the tool lacks industry-specific content within the layouts.

The editor supports text formatting, image insertion, and table creation, covering the essential elements that most small-business proposals require without unnecessary complexity.

Docspo supports interactive elements like pricing tables with selectable packages, forms, images, and videos, and also caters to technically advanced users by allowing custom blocks built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

The pricing feature lets clients click to add extra services and products to proposals. On top of that, Docspo supports e-signatures, allowing clients to sign proposals digitally from any device. 

The platform includes real-time collaboration tools that allow team members to work on proposals together, leave comments, and track changes as the document evolves. 

Plus, proposals can be delivered to clients via email or SMS directly from within the platform, and smart reminders and notifications alert the sender when and how many times their client has viewed the proposal.

However, design customization and template variety may be more limited than those of some competitors’ tools, resulting in less flexibility for unique branded styles.

Ideal For

Docspo is ideal for small businesses and freelancers in service industries such as construction, web design, marketing, and consulting that want a clean, visually appealing proposal tool without a steep learning curve or a high price tag.

Pricing

Docspo offers a Free plan for single users at no cost, as well as paid plans: 

• Pro Plan: $19/user/month (billed annually)
• Pro Plus Plan: Custom pricing for higher document volumes

10. Bonsai

Bonsai is business management software that offers a consolidated proposal system for creating, sending, and managing client billing. In addition, the proposal feature integrates seamlessly with the broader suite of freelance business tools, including contracts, invoices, time tracking, project management, and expense tracking. 

The platform offers a focused set of PDF-style proposal templates across industries, including design, development, writing, photography, and consulting. However, the layouts lack the visual appeal of other proposal software, such as DocHipo, Qwilr, and Better Proposals.

Customizing the proposals is seamless, as you can edit the interactive pricing tables. You can allow editable quantities, assign currencies, and add taxes. 

Apart from that, Bonsai includes a client CRM that stores contact information, project history, and communication records for each client. The platform supports digital signatures and allows clients to sign proposals on any device without creating a Bonsai account. 

Once signed, the proposal can automatically trigger the creation of a contract and an initial invoice, making the entire process from pitch to payment seamless and efficient.

Bonsai includes a project pipeline view that gives users visibility into the status of all active proposals, ongoing projects, and outstanding invoices in one place. 

The platform integrates with payment platforms and covers the core tools that independent professionals use for proposal and invoice software.

Ideal For

Bonsai is ideal for freelancers, independent consultants, and very small service-based teams that want to manage proposals, contracts, invoicing, and time tracking from a single platform.

Pricing

Bonsai offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card required across all plans.

• Basic Plan: $9/user/month (billed annually)
• Essentials Plan: $25/user/month (billed annually)
• Premium Plan: $39/user/month (billed annually)
• Elite Plan: $49/user/month (billed annually)

Final Verdict

When you step back and look at what small businesses genuinely need from a proposal tool, the answer is not always the most feature-heavy platform or the one with the most integrations. 

If you are a freelancer or solopreneur on a tight budget, Prospero and Docspo both deliver solid value without overwhelming you with features. On the other hand, if you have an active sales team that sends a high volume of proposals and needs CRM connectivity, PandaDoc and Proposify are the most capable options.

For small businesses that are building their brand, trying to win their first major clients, or simply tired of sending proposals, you need an all-in-one suite that helps you look credible, communicate clearly, and move fast.

And because simplicity is at the core of DocHipo, no learning curve slows you down when you need to turn a proposal around quickly. Additionally, you have built-in e-signatures, CRM integrations, and real-time analytics integrated into your proposal workflow. So, sign up and make your proposals succeed with fast closures.

FAQs

How to write the best business proposal?

To write the best business proposal, you can follow these steps:

1. Start with a personalized introduction that addresses the client’s specific problem
2. Clearly define the scope of work, deliverables, and timeline
3. Present pricing transparently using tables or interactive pricing sections
4. Include social proof such as testimonials, case studies, or past results
5. End with a single, clear call to action

You can use business proposal template software like DocHipo, PandaDoc, or Better Proposals to skip the formatting work and focus on content. Always personalize every proposal before sending, even when starting from a template.

What are the top proposal software options for small businesses?

The best proposal software for small businesses includes:

• DocHipo:  best for clean, interactive, and structured layouts
• PandaDoc:  best for sales teams needing CRM integration and automation
• Qwilr:  best for interactive, web-based proposals
• Better Proposals:  best for speed, ease of use, and payment collection
• Proposify:  best for teams needing approval workflows and analytics
• HoneyBook:  best for creative freelancers managing the full client journey
• Bonsai:  best for freelancers wanting proposals, contracts, and invoicing in one place
• Prospero:  best budget-friendly option for solopreneurs
• Docspo:  best lightweight tool with a free forever plan
• Proposable:  best for simple, reusable proposal content

Which proposal software offers the best features for startups?

Among all the proposal software, DocHipo offers some impressive features such as webpage-style templates, e-signature, CRM integration, Brand Kit, team collaboration, and a negligible learning curve, all available on an affordable paid plan.

How do I choose the best proposal software for a small team?

To choose the best proposal software for a small team, consider checking these factors:

• Check the number of proposals sent per month
• Assess the requirement of CRM integrations
• Check whether the templates’ aesthetics align with your brand
• Check for e-signature and payment workflows
• Set a budget for the tool
• Assess the team size for the per-user plan