TL;DR: PandaDoc fits teams that want eSign plus proposals in one vendor β Free eSign at 60 documents/year, then published Starter and Business seats (PandaDoc list pages have shown Starter $19/user/mo annual and Business $49/user/mo annual; monthly racks are higher). Qwilr fits web-style interactive proposals on qwilr.com/pricing. Proposify fits sales orgs that want a dedicated proposal workspace. Better Proposals fits smaller firms that want a simpler published ladder and built-in sign-off.
Proposal software is the tool that builds, sends, tracks and often signs a commercial offer. It is not a full CPQ suite and it is not a standalone e-sign comparison (Kurums already has e-signature software).
Every entry uses the same fields: published pricing, eSign, CRM, free/trial and the main limitation. The order below is not a quality ranking. PandaDocβs printed Free eSign row sits first. The others follow as paid proposal products.
Proposal software compared at a glance
| Provider | Published pricing | eSign | Best for | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PandaDoc | Free eSign: 60 docs/year. Starter and Business per-seat on pandadoc.com (annual figures commonly $19 / $49 per seat; confirm live monthly). Enterprise quote | Included; legally binding eSign is the Free rowβs job | Proposals plus signatures in one login | Visit β |
| Qwilr | Published per-seat plans on qwilr.com/pricing | Plan-gated; often paired with a sign tool | Interactive web proposals | Visit β |
| Proposify | Published plans on proposify.com/pricing | Built-in sign on paid rows | Sales teams living in a proposal workspace | Visit β |
| Better Proposals | Published plans on betterproposals.io/pricing | Built-in | Smaller firms that want a simpler editor | Visit β |
PandaDoc Free limits (60 documents/year, two recipients) come from PandaDocβs plan-comparison help article. Seat list prices were cross-checked against PandaDoc pricing pages on 14 September 2026 β toggle annual vs monthly before you quote a board.
One vendor lets you sign 60 documents a year at $0. Proposal-as-a-craft tools are paid seats.
A proposal is not only a signature
If you only need a signature on a PDF you already wrote, the e-signature comparison is the right page. If you need pricing tables, content libraries, deal rooms and view tracking, you are buying proposal software.
The four providers in detail
1. PandaDoc
FREE ESIGN, PAID PROPOSAL WORKFLOW
Best for: teams that want documents, tracking and signatures in one vendor and can live with 60 docs/year on Free or a per-seat Starter/Business bill after that.
| Published pricing | Free eSign 60/year. Starter and Business per user per month (annual list commonly $19 / $49). Enterprise is per-seat or per-document quote. CRM, web forms and CPQ features are Business/Enterprise or add-ons per the help grid |
| eSign | Yes on Free. Recipient and document caps apply |
| CRM | Business is the public row that talks CRM integrations |
| Free plan / trial | Permanent Free eSign with a yearly document cap |
| Main limitation | Free is eSign, not a content library plus deal rooms. Those start on paid seats |
- Count documents per year, not optimism. 60 goes quickly on a sales team.
- Price Business if HubSpot/Salesforce push is the point.
- CPQ and notary are Enterprise/add-on language on PandaDocβs own grid.
2. Qwilr
WEB PROPOSAL, NOT A DOCX CLONE
Best for: teams that want the buyer to scroll a web page rather than download a PDF.
| Published pricing | qwilr.com/pricing β per-seat published plans |
| eSign | Available; confirm whether your plan includes it or expects DocuSign |
| CRM | Plan-gated integrations |
| Free plan / trial | Trial. Not a 60-document Free eSign analogue |
| Main limitation | Buyers who insist on a Word attachment will fight the format |
- Use Qwilr when the sales motion is visual (agencies, productised services).
- Check offline/PDF export if procurement requires a file.
- Do not pick Qwilr only to avoid PandaDocβs 60-doc cap β paid PandaDoc exists.
3. Proposify
SALES WORKSPACE
Best for: sales orgs that want templates, approvals and analytics in a tool that is only about proposals.
| Published pricing | proposify.com/pricing β named self-serve or sales-assist plans |
| eSign | Built-in on paid rows |
| CRM | Plan-gated |
| Free plan / trial | Trial |
| Main limitation | Another seat if PandaDoc or the CRM already does documents |
- Shortlist Proposify when proposal ops (approvals, locked pricing) is the pain.
- Count proposal creators, not the whole company.
- Import of existing decks is the implementation risk.
4. Better Proposals
SIMPLER EDITOR
Best for: smaller firms that want branded proposals and signatures without a CPQ project.
| Published pricing | betterproposals.io/pricing β published plan ladder |
| eSign | Built-in |
| CRM | Lighter than PandaDoc Business |
| Free plan / trial | Trial |
| Main limitation | Not the enterprise CPQ path. That is PandaDoc Enterprise or a real CPQ |
- Use it when the team is five sellers, not a revenue-ops department.
- Read document and user caps on the live plan.
- If legal requires your e-sign vendor, you may still need DocuSign beside it.
Kurums Match: which one fits your situation
We only need signatures on files we already have
PandaDoc Free eSign, or the e-signature comparison if you are already on DocuSign.
Sales needs tracked proposals and CRM push
PandaDoc Business, or Proposify if you want a proposal-only workspace.
The buyer should scroll a web page
Qwilr.
We are a small services firm
Better Proposals or PandaDoc Starter. Count yearly documents first.
Buying tip: count documents sent last year and people who edit templates. Those two numbers pick Free vs Starter vs Business faster than a feature matrix.
How this comparison was put together
Vendor pricing pages and PandaDocβs plan-comparison help article, 14 September 2026. Monthly vs annual PandaDoc racks differ β the page tells you to confirm the live toggle. No paid placement. Kurums did not send live customer proposals on all four.
Order is published $0 signing first. No badge reflects a commercial relationship.
Frequently asked questions
Is PandaDoc Free enough?
For light eSign (60 documents a year, recipient caps), yes. For a content library and CRM, no.
Do we still need DocuSign?
Only if legal or the counterparty requires that vendor. Otherwise PandaDoc/Proposify sign-off may be enough.
Is this CPQ?
No. PandaDoc Enterprise mentions CPQ. Dedicated CPQ is a different shortlist.
Can we keep using Google Docs?
Yes, plus an e-sign tool. You then lose view-tracking and locked pricing tables.
Did we measure close-rate lift?
No. Vendor case studies are not our tests.
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