Proposals · alternatives
Alternatives to Indy
21 proposals tools sit alongside Indy in this directory. Below is what separates each from Indy on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 21
- With a free tier
- 3
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Indy starts at
- Free
Why people look past Indy
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Indy entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
Indy publishes a single plan, Indy 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.
All-in-one business management for freelancers and agencies
- Publishes an entry price of $9/user/month, where Indy does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 4 tiers to Indy's 1.
Business management for creatives
- Publishes an entry price of $335/year, where Indy does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 2 tiers to Indy's 1.
Accounting for sole traders and the self-employed
- No free tier, where Indy has one.
- Publishes an entry price of 1/per $100 income, where Indy does not.
- Sold on a usage-based model rather than quote.
eSignatures Made Easy
- Publishes an entry price of $10/month, where Indy does not.
Quote-to-revenue platform built by former Zuora staff to keep CPQ, billing and revenue recognition on one data model
- No free tier, where Indy has one.
Proposal to payment software for accounting and bookkeeping firms, with engagement letters and direct debit
- No free tier, where Indy has one.
Every Indy 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indy (this page) | Free | Quote | 1 | |
| BonsaiDeeper feature set and better reporting across the same all in one freelance workflow, with no free tier | Free, then $9/user/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Indy |
| DubsadoStronger workflow automation for service businesses, priced from the first day with no free tier | Free, then $335/year | Subscription | 2 | vs Indy |
| HnryHandles tax and payments as well as invoicing, which matters more than proposals in some jurisdictions | 1/per $100 income | Usage-based | - | vs Indy |
| HelloSign | Free, then $10/month | - | - | vs Indy |
| Subskribe | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Indy |
| Cone | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Indy |
| Moxie | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Indy |
| Nusii | $29/month | Per month by active proposal count | 3 | vs Indy |
| Quoter | $299/month | Per month by published quote volume | 3 | vs Indy |
| Paperbell | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Indy |
| 17hats | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Indy |
| Prospero | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Indy |
| Nutshell | $13/month | Subscription | 5 | vs Indy |
| Prospect | $225/month | - | 1 | vs Indy |
| Responsive | $10000/year | Subscription | 3 | vs Indy |
| HoneyBook | $29/month | - | 3 | vs Indy |
| RFPIO | $10000/year | Subscription | 3 | vs Indy |
| Loopio | $20000/year | - | - | vs Indy |
| Bidsketch | $29/month | - | - | vs Indy |
| GetAccept | $25/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Indy |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 | $50/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Indy |
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 Indy badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
What you would be giving up
Indy is most often brought in for a new freelancer who needs a real signed contract before there is revenue to fund a subscription, testing whether an all in one freelance bundle suits your workflow before committing money to one, part time or side project freelancing with low monthly document volume that stays inside the free caps, replacing an unsigned emailed quote with a proposal that converts into a contract and an invoice. 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 Indy is broadly right and the question is cost, the Indy 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.
Indy runs on web, ios, android. 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 Indy alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Indy?
- 21 other proposals tools are listed in this directory, led by Bonsai, Dubsado, Hnry, HelloSign. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Indy?
- 3 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Bonsai, Dubsado, HelloSign.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Indy?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Indy?
- Indy is most often brought in for a new freelancer who needs a real signed contract before there is revenue to fund a subscription, testing whether an all in one freelance bundle suits your workflow before committing money to one, part time or side project freelancing with low monthly document volume that stays inside the free caps, replacing an unsigned emailed quote with a proposal that converts into a contract and an invoice. 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 Indy?
- 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 Indy 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 Indy against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Indy 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, 21 tools beside Indy. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.