Proposals · alternatives
Alternatives to Cone
22 proposals tools sit alongside Cone in this directory. Below is what separates each from Cone on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 4
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Cone starts at
- On request
Why people look past Cone
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Cone entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for Cone carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 4 of the 22 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
Cone publishes a single plan, Cone at On request. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Industrial automation platform for SCADA, HMI and MES
- Sold on a Per-server licensing with published module pricing; unlimited clients and tags model rather than quote.
Client management for coaches and consultants
- Publishes an entry price of $40/month, where Cone does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 2 tiers to Cone's 1.
Create Proposals That Win
- Can be used without paying; Cone cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $13/month, where Cone does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 3 tiers to Cone's 1.
Freelance workflow suite covering proposals, contracts, invoices and time tracking with a usable free tier
- Can be used without paying; Cone cannot.
eSignatures Made Easy
- Can be used without paying; Cone cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $10/month, where Cone does not.
Business management for creatives
- Can be used without paying; Cone cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $335/year, where Cone does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 2 tiers to Cone's 1.
Every Cone alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cone (this page) | On request | Quote | 1 | |
| IgnitionThe established proposal to payment product for accounting practices, with deeper integrations and a longer record | On request | Per-server licensing with published module pricing; unlimited clients and tags | - | vs Cone |
| PracticeClient management and scheduling for coaches and consultants where engagement letters are not required | $40/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Cone |
| Better ProposalsA general proposal tool if you do not need engagement letters or recurring collection | Free, then $13/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Cone |
| Indy | Free | Quote | 1 | vs Cone |
| HelloSign | Free, then $10/month | - | - | vs Cone |
| Dubsado | Free, then $335/year | Subscription | 2 | vs Cone |
| Subskribe | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Cone |
| Moxie | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Cone |
| Nusii | $29/month | Per month by active proposal count | 3 | vs Cone |
| Quoter | $299/month | Per month by published quote volume | 3 | vs Cone |
| Paperbell | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Cone |
| 17hats | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Cone |
| Prospero | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Cone |
| Nutshell | $13/month | Subscription | 5 | vs Cone |
| Prospect | $225/month | - | 1 | vs Cone |
| Responsive | $10000/year | Subscription | 3 | vs Cone |
| HoneyBook | $29/month | - | 3 | vs Cone |
| RFPIO | $10000/year | Subscription | 3 | vs Cone |
| Loopio | $20000/year | - | - | vs Cone |
| Bidsketch | $29/month | - | - | vs Cone |
| GetAccept | $25/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Cone |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 | $50/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Cone |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Cone badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (4)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Better Proposals , Free, then $13/month
- Indy , Free
- HelloSign , Free, then $10/month
- Dubsado , Free, then $335/year
What you would be giving up
Cone is most often brought in for a bookkeeping practice moving clients from ad hoc invoicing onto signed recurring fee agreements, an accountancy firm that needs engagement letter wording attached to every proposal for compliance reasons, a practice losing revenue to out of scope work that is never billed because nobody notices it, standardising pricing across a firm so that partners stop quoting the same service at different rates. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Cone is broadly right and the question is cost, the Cone pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Proposals category lists everything the directory holds, and best proposals tools ranks them.
Cone runs on web. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Cone alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Cone?
- 22 other proposals tools are listed in this directory, led by Ignition, Practice, Better Proposals, Indy. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Cone?
- 4 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Better Proposals, Indy, HelloSign, Dubsado.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Cone?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Cone?
- Cone is most often brought in for a bookkeeping practice moving clients from ad hoc invoicing onto signed recurring fee agreements, an accountancy firm that needs engagement letter wording attached to every proposal for compliance reasons, a practice losing revenue to out of scope work that is never billed because nobody notices it, standardising pricing across a firm so that partners stop quoting the same service at different rates. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Cone?
- None of the proposals tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Cone alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Proposals, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Cone against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Cone covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every proposals tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Proposals category, 22 tools beside Cone. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.