If you've ever wrestled with a Word doc or fumbled through endless email threads just to get a proposal out the door, you know the pain. Agencies and SaaS teams waste way too much time cobbling together sales proposals, tracking edits, and chasing down signatures. This review digs into whether Proposify actually makes this process less painful—or if it’s just another “all-in-one” tool that overpromises and underdelivers.
Let’s get into what works, what doesn’t, and where you might hit a wall.
Who Should Actually Care About Proposify?
- Agencies juggling multiple clients, proposals, and revisions.
- SaaS sales teams looking to look polished and track who’s opening what.
- Anyone tired of copy-pasting from old docs and wondering if there’s a better way.
If you send a handful of proposals a year, you probably don’t need this. But if proposals are a regular part of your sales process, keep reading.
What Is Proposify, Really?
At its core, Proposify is cloud-based software for creating, sending, tracking, and managing proposals. It tries to be the central hub for everything from branded templates to e-signatures and analytics.
Here’s what it claims to do:
- Let you build good-looking proposals fast
- Track who opens your proposals and when
- Make it easy for clients to sign (digitally)
- Keep all your team’s docs and templates in one place
- Integrate with CRMs and payment platforms
But as with any software promising to “streamline” something, there’s the pitch—and there’s the reality.
The Core Features (and the Reality Check)
1. Proposal Builder & Templates
How it works: You get a drag-and-drop editor with a library of templates for common proposal types (agencies, SaaS, marketing, etc.). You can brand these with your logo, colors, and custom sections.
What’s good: - Pre-built templates save time if you don’t want to reinvent the wheel. - Branding controls are solid—no more half-baked PDFs. - Content library lets you reuse sections (pricing tables, bios, case studies).
What’s not: - Editor can be clunky. Sometimes formatting gets weird if you copy-paste from other docs. - Learning curve. If you’re used to Google Docs, there’s an adjustment period. - Limited design flexibility. If you want “wow-factor” layouts, you may feel boxed in.
Pro tip: Don’t overthink your first template. Start basic, then tweak as you go.
2. Proposal Tracking & Analytics
How it works: You send proposals right from Proposify and get real-time notifications when someone opens, views, or signs.
What’s good: - Instant notifications when a client opens your proposal (so you know when to follow up). - Page-by-page analytics show what sections they spend time on (useful for sales calls). - Basic reporting on win rates, deal value, and bottlenecks.
What’s not: - Analytics are basic. Don’t expect deep insights or slick dashboards. - Notifications can get noisy. You’ll want to adjust your settings or risk inbox overload.
Reality check: If you’re chasing bigger deals, knowing when a prospect is reading your proposal is genuinely useful. But if you’re a one-person shop, it might just be more notifications to ignore.
3. E-Signatures & Approvals
How it works: Clients can sign proposals right in the browser—no downloading or scanning. You can set up approval workflows if you need internal sign-off before sending.
What’s good: - E-signature works well. No more bouncing between DocuSign, PDFs, and email. - Audit trail so you know who signed, when, and from where. - Multi-party signing if your deals need several approvals.
What’s not: - Not a full contract management tool. If you need redlining or legal review, look elsewhere. - Some clients are still weird about e-signatures. (That’s on them, not the software.)
Worth noting: If your clients are old-school and insist on wet signatures, this feature won’t fix that.
4. Integrations
How it works: Proposify plugs into CRMs (like HubSpot and Salesforce), payment processors (Stripe), and communication tools (Slack, Zapier).
What’s good: - CRM sync reduces double-entry. - Payment links let clients pay as soon as they sign. - Zapier support means you can connect Proposify to just about anything.
What’s not: - Some integrations are surface-level. Don’t expect deep, bi-directional sync everywhere. - Setup can be fussy. You might need a tech-savvy person to get everything working just right.
Pro tip: Test integrations with a dummy proposal before rolling out to your whole team.
5. Team Collaboration & Permissions
How it works: Assign who can edit, view, or send proposals. Commenting and approval flows help teams avoid stepping on each other’s toes.
What’s good: - Role-based permissions keep junior folks from sending out half-finished proposals. - Comment threads streamline feedback and reduce Slack ping-pong. - Version control lets you roll back if someone makes a mess.
What’s not: - Not real-time like Google Docs. Edits aren’t instant, and you can get locked out if someone else is working. - Collaboration is “okay,” not magical. Teams still end up messaging outside the platform.
What We Like (and What We Don’t)
The Good
- Saves time if you’re churning out lots of similar proposals.
- Helps teams look more professional—no more off-brand PDFs.
- Tracking and notifications make follow-ups less of a guessing game.
- Solid for remote teams who need a central place for proposal content.
The Bad
- Editor quirks can frustrate if you’re a perfectionist about formatting.
- Steep learning curve for folks used to Word or Google Docs.
- Not cheap. Pricing starts at a level that makes sense only if proposals are a real bottleneck.
- Some features (like CRM integrations) could go deeper.
The Ignore List
- “AI recommendations.” As of 2024, these are generic at best—don’t expect magic.
- Overly fancy templates. Focus on clarity and speed; most clients don’t care about “wow” graphics.
Pricing: Worth It?
Proposify isn’t free, and it’s not bargain software. Plans start at about $49/user/month, with the more useful features (like integrations and advanced permissions) gated behind higher tiers. There’s a free trial, so you can see if it fits your workflow.
Bottom line: If you only send a few proposals a year, stick with Google Docs or PandaDoc’s free tier. If proposals are clogging your sales process, Proposify may pay for itself fast.
How To Get Started (Without Getting Overwhelmed)
- Sign up for the free trial. Don’t buy until you’ve run at least one real proposal through the system.
- Import your best existing proposal. Use it as a starting template. Don’t rebuild everything from scratch.
- Set up your branding. Add your logo, fonts, and colors so you don’t look generic.
- Test drive e-signatures. Send a proposal to yourself or a colleague and go through the full signing process.
- Connect your CRM (if you have one). Start simple; don’t get lost in integration rabbit holes on day one.
- Train your team, but keep it short. A 30-minute walkthrough beats a day-long workshop.
- Iterate. Update your templates and sections as you learn what works (and what clients ignore).
Pro tip: Don’t try to automate everything at once. Get the basics working, then layer on more features as you go.
Final Thoughts
Proposify isn’t magic, but it’s a big step up from scattered docs and endless email chains. For agencies and SaaS teams that live or die by their proposals, it can save real time and make you look more buttoned-up. Just don’t expect it to fix a broken sales process—or to deliver “AI-powered” miracles.
Keep your setup simple, focus on the basics, and tweak as you learn. Your clients don’t care how fancy your proposal editor is. They just want it clear, fast, and easy to sign. Stick to that, and let the software do the grunt work.