# Proposal software for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "proposal software" and as "sales proposal and quote document tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/revops/proposal-software/2026-11/smb

**Standing:** PandaDoc leads with 74% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 53 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [PandaDoc](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/pandadoc/index.md) | 74% | 10% | 68 |
| 2 | [Better Proposals](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/better-proposals/index.md) | 9% | 10% | 52 |
| 3 | [Proposify](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/proposify/index.md) | 6% | 20% | 64 |
| 5 | [Qwilr](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/qwilr/index.md) | 2% | 13% | 52 |
| 9 | [HoneyBook](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/honeybook/index.md) | 0% | 5% | 22 |
| 10 | [Bonsai](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/bonsai/index.md) | 0% | 6% | 16 |
| 11 | [GetAccept](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/getaccept/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 11 |
| 12 | [Jotform](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/jotform/index.md) | 0% | 18% | 11 |
| 53 | [Loopio](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/loopio/index.md) | 0% | 36% | 11 |
| 67 | [Responsive](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/responsive/index.md) | 0% | 42% | 12 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 67 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: PandaDoc; alternatives Better Proposals, Proposify, Qwilr
- GPT-5.4 mini: PandaDoc; alternatives GetAccept, Ignition, Proposify, Qwilr
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: PandaDoc; alternatives Better Proposals, GetAccept, Proposify, Qwilr
- Perplexity Sonar: PandaDoc; alternatives Better Proposals, Proposify
- Grok 4.20: PandaDoc; alternatives Bonsai, FreshBooks, HoneyBook, Proposify
- Mistral Small: PandaDoc; alternatives HoneyBook, Proposify
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: PandaDoc; alternatives Better Proposals, Proposify
- Llama 4 Maverick: PandaDoc
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: PandaDoc; alternatives DocuSign Quote, Proposify, Qwilr
- Kimi K2: Better Proposals, PandaDoc; alternatives GetAccept, Qwilr
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: PandaDoc; alternatives Better Proposals, HoneyBook, Proposify, Qwilr
- MiniMax M2.5: PandaDoc; alternatives Better Proposals, FreshBooks, Proposify, QuoteWerks
- GPT-6 Luna: PandaDoc; alternatives Proposify, Qwilr
- Muse Glimmer 30B: PandaDoc; alternatives Better Proposals, HoneyBook, Proposify, Qwilr

## Sources the answers cite

72 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- softwareadvice.com: 36 answers, 50 citations
- proposify.com: 33 answers, 40 citations
- spotsaas.com: 27 answers, 33 citations
- pandadoc.com: 23 answers, 45 citations
- blog.pdffiller.com: 23 answers, 23 citations
- zapier.com: 23 answers, 23 citations
- thedigitalprojectmanager.com: 22 answers, 27 citations
- g2.com: 20 answers, 38 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://softwareadvice.com/proposal-management (26 answers)
- https://blog.pdffiller.com/best-proposal-software-small-business (23 answers)
- https://zapier.com/blog/best-proposal-software (23 answers)
- https://softwareadvice.com/proposal-management/small-business (19 answers)
- https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/tools/best-proposal-software (19 answers)
- https://proposify.com/ (18 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/gtm/revops/proposal-software/smb (17 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/best-proposal-software (17 answers)
- https://spotsaas.com/list/proposal-software/for-small-business (16 answers)
- https://freshbooks.com/hub/estimates/best-proposal-software (15 answers)

## Warned against

- Proposify: 13 of 64 labels negative. "Several users report a cumbersome text editing experience, inconsistent formatting, and difficulty aligning multi‑page content." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- PandaDoc: 7 of 68 labels negative. "PandaDoc criticized as "expensive" for online forms or small teams; ... frequent complaints about difficult editing post-send" (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- Better Proposals: 5 of 52 labels negative. "Tools like Proposify and Better Proposals have been flagged in model testing and user reviews for: Buggy editors" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)
- Qwilr: 7 of 52 labels negative. "Avoid paying $35–$50/month for tools like Proposify or Qwilr" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: PandaDoc at 74%.

- PandaDoc: 67% to 74%, +7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 1 of 67, unchanged.
- Proposify: 2% to 6%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 6 → 3 of 67.
- Bonsai: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 7 → 10 of 67.
- Jotform: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 8 → 12 of 67.
- Better Proposals: 8% to 9%, +1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 3 → 2 of 67.
- Prospero: 4% to 4%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 4 of 67, unchanged.
- Qwilr: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 5 of 67, unchanged.
- HoneyBook: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 13 → 9 of 67.
- GetAccept: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 11 of 67, unchanged.
- Loopio: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 52 → 53 of 67.
- Responsive: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 53 → 67 of 67.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/gtm.