Deploying CPQ software in your organization will help your sales reps spend less time on non-sales activities, such as drafting quotes, creating proposals, and getting quote approvals. Most sales professionals use only 34% of their time selling; the rest is used to set prices for potential clients. Analyzing custom order configurations, setting the price for the configuration, and quoting this information to a client are some of the crucial tasks for revenue growth.
Unfortunately, not many businesses use software or tools that are dedicated to the capabilities that CPQ software provides. Choosing the right platform from an enormous number of options can be difficult, especially if you’re not sure what to look for in an effective solution. So, I gathered several options that are available on the market right now to help guide you in selecting the best tool to satisfy your needs.
Best CPQ Software Shortlist
- Salesforce CPQ
- Quoter
- Infor CPQ
- DealHub.io
- PandaDoc
- Paperless Parts
- Proposify
- Configure One
- Subskribe
- Conga CPQ
- Qwilr
- Epicor CPQ
What is CPQ Software?
CPQ, or configure price quote, software is a tool businesses can use to create invoices according to their needs. The software can also provide quotes, discounts, and other financial information for your customers. Small businesses and large enterprises can use CPQ software, but it’s especially beneficial for organizations that want to track finances and ensure they’re offering the best prices possible to customers. Companies with large numbers of customers typically use this software because they don’t want to spend significant money on complex systems that provide the capabilities they need.
Overviews of the 12 Best CPQ Software
You can use the simple overviews of each tool below to understand how each tool stands out from other CPQ software.
1. Salesforce CPQ - Best for custom pricing
Salesforce CPQ helps businesses provide quotes, control pricing, and win more deals.
Why I picked Salesforce CPQ: The platform will help your business close more deals faster than ever to keep your revenue flowing effectively. Salesforce CPQ provides a deal configuration module that allows you to quickly create in-depth product specifications and custom pricing compositions. The tool’s risk and compliance management module will ensure all your sales quotes and deals are compliant with business policies.
Salesforce CPQ helps any sized business that is already using Salesforce Revenue Cloud or new subscribers that need a solution that will simplify numerous sales processes. The software can configure items and prices and generate quotes immediately. The guided selling feature helps your sales reps find appropriate products for each customer and make accurate quotes. Salesforce CPQ also provides search engine-like functionality that can help your reps make custom product suggestions.
Salesforce CPQ Standout Features and Integrations
Features include product catalogs, price books, advanced approvals, order management, usage-based pricing; automated payments, renewals, and allocations; quote line editor and contract amendments, proposal document generation, and multi-element revenue recognition.
Integrations include OnScreen, OmniConnect, Zapier, Wufoo, Adobe Sign, RELAYTO, Salesforce Service Cloud, Inspire Planner, 3D Source Product Configurator, Tavant Warranty, Momentum, Secuvy AI, and Flosum.
Salesforce CPQ costs from $75/user/month, billed annually. Salesforce CPQ provides a free 30-day trial for new subscribers.
Pros
- Supports multiple quote rates.
- Professional templates.
- Simple proposal generation.
Cons
- No self-service portal.
- No product modeling.
2. Quoter - Best quote development tool
Quoter is a platform that will help businesses save time and enhance revenues with quote development tools.
Why I picked Quoter: The tool is a quote development system that saves time, decreases errors, and promotes faster payments. Quoter is a cloud-based platform that can pull data from documents and spreadsheets into one location. The system’s quote templates allow you to configure them once and maintain a single source of truth to allow teams to create consistent quotes.
Quoter is suitable for any sized business that needs a solution to simplify the sales quote and proposal process. The software provides tools to help eliminate bottlenecks in your sales lifecycle and get paid faster. Quoter also allows you to send automated email reminders to customers about pending quotes. You can also get delivery analytics and open timestamps on the quotes you send.
Quoter Standout Features and Integrations
Features include product bundling, a product configurator, smart templates, e-signatures and agreements, product cloud, product cross-sell and upsell, payment processing, custom sales proposals, discounts, manager approvals, reporting and analytics, and email tracking.
Integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Agile, Highrise, Nutshell CRM, OnePage, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, FreshBooks, Quickbooks, Mailchimp, Zapier, and Ingram Micro.
Quoter costs from $129/month when paying monthly or $99/month when billed annually. Quoter provides a free demo to help you understand whether the platform is right for you.
Pros
- It increases efficiency.
- Simplifies quote options.
- Intuitive and easy-to-use interface.
Cons
- Integrations require some troubleshooting.
- No autosave when creating quotes.
3. Infor CPQ - Best for addressing issues
Infor CPQ helps businesses address issues that are slowing down sales cycles.
Why I picked Infor CPQ: You can use Infor CPQ to address issues that can slow down your sales processes and sales reps’ performance. It does this by unifying all information and providing a single source of truth that is accessible to everyone. Your sales reps will enjoy Infor CPQ because of its accuracy, which will motivate and drive them to remove inefficiencies and improve performance.
Infor CPQ works well for large manufacturing enterprises needing a solution to help create, edit, and analyze their supply chain operations. The system is a rule-based and visual configurator that integrates with high-level CRMs. So, your sales reps can focus on contacting clients and pitching your products instead of searching through manuals and brochures to determine a price quote.
Infor CPQ Standout Features and Integrations
Features include visual configuration, innovative quoting and ordering, collaboration tools, approval workflows, manufacturing information generation, custom pricing options, a recommendation engine, automated quoting, catalog management, and client portals.
Integrations include Smartflow, SnapAP, OnScreen, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, SolidWorks, Universal Background Screening, Algonomy, Codeless Platforms Alering Software, and Uptempo.
Infor CPQ offers custom pricing upon request. Infor CPQ offers a free demo to help you understand whether the platform is right for you.
Pros
- Flexible and user-friendly.
- It can handle multiple workflows.
- Simple user interface.
Cons
- It can be slow.
- No guided selling.
4. DealHub.io - Best for real-time insights
DealHub.io helps businesses simplify quote generation by providing real-time insights.
Why I picked DealHub.io: The platform will examine activities, prospects, and interests to help your sales reps offer precise and specialized quotes for your products. To start generating quotes, you only need to enter your products’ information and establish business rules into the system. Afterward, DealHub.io will handle everything and generate error-free quotes in multiple formats.
DealHub.io is an excellent choice for businesses that need a solution to connect every stage of their sales lifecycle. It can help enhance the quoting process by ensuring all quotes follow your business’s policies and requirements to create quotes that align with your workflows, rules, and specifications. DealHub can also help your sales reps develop and carry out personalized sales journeys for every customer across each interaction stage.
DealHub.io Standout Features and Integrations
Features include subscription management, document generation, e-signatures, sales proposals, buyer engagement, approval workflow, product configuration, guided selling, contract lifecycle management, workflow management, completion tracking, and version control.
Integrations include Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Freshworks, HubSpot, SugarCRM, DocuSign, and Gong.
DealHub.io offers custom pricing upon request. DealHub.io provides a free demo to help you understand whether the platform is right for you.
Pros
- It creates dynamic workflows.
- Excellent customer support.
- Simplifies sales quote creation.
Cons
- The navigation takes time to learn.
- The amount of customization can be overwhelming.
5. PandaDoc - Best for document management
PandaDoc is a document management platform that helps businesses create, send, and sign digital documents.
Why I picked PandaDoc: The software is an online system for managing documents that allows you to create and share documents. PandaDoc provides its Smart Content tool that automatically creates custom documents based on your customers’ use cases, industry, and size. The platform’s signature tool will collect the signatures you need by making the signing process straightforward for your customers. You can implement a signing order and assign who will receive the document based on approval requirements.
PandaDoc helps small, medium, and large-sized businesses increase productivity when it comes to creating documents such as quotes and proposals. You can use the software to encourage customers to say yes by allowing them to select from multiple options, change quantities, and talk to your team directly. Also, PandaDoc can apply discounts to your price if your customer increases the quantity of an item, which will save your reps time from searching through spreadsheets or making calculations by hand.
PandaDoc Standout Features and Integrations
Features include advanced quotes, smart content, a document repository, workspaces, signing orders, signature requests, version history, user management, document tracking, product catalogs, and audit trails.
Integrations include HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho, Copper, monday.com, Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Salesmate, Zapier, Integromat, Zendesk Sell, Insightly, and SugarCRM.
PandaDoc costs from $29/user/month when paying monthly or $19/user/month when billed annually. PandaDoc offers a free 14-day trial for new subscribers.
Pros
- Free forever plan.
- Full document creation capabilities.
- Simple online document signing.
Cons
- Uploading non-PDF files is complex.
- Limited customization options.
6. Paperless Parts - Best for advanced analytics
Paperless Parts provides advanced analytics to help sales teams analyze data, make informed decisions, and deliver accurate quotes.
Why I picked Paperless Parts: The software will help your business analyze multiple datasets to prioritize quotes and accurately price work. Paperless Parts provides advanced analytics to help you understand why your teams are winning or losing contracts, so you can make effective business decisions. The analytics can help you identify profitable jobs and show you how your organization performs over time so you can improve operations.
Paperless Parts is suitable for small and medium manufacturing organizations that want to increase revenue and profitability. The platform’s automated part file analysis will collect information such as setup count, manufacturability warning, process-specific feature detection, and volume removal to help you create accurate quotes. Paperless Parts also uses a more straightforward and automated estimating process to help your sales reps manage risks more effectively when making a quote.
Paperless Parts Standout Features and Integrations
Features include job costing, quotes and estimates, order management, billing and invoicing, shipping management, purchase order management, collaboration and workflow tools, 3D modeling, multi-component nesting, and file sharing and storage.
Integrations include E2 Shop System, JobBOSS, JobBOSS2, Epicor, MIE Trak Pro, Infor VISUAL, Infor SyteLine, and Made2Manage.
Paperless Parts offers custom pricing upon request. Paperless Parts provides a free demo to help you understand whether the platform is right for you.
Pros
- Calculates estimated machine run times from 3D models.
- Reduces quote turnaround times.
- Identifies overlooked part features while quoting.
Cons
- Working on large quotes is complex.
- The platform isn’t flexible.
7. Proposify - Best for brand management
Proposify helps businesses protect their brand assets from inconsistencies when sales reps create new quotes.
Why I picked Proposify: You can use Proposify’s framework to develop effective proposals from its library of pre-approved templates, content, fees, and images. Before sending quotes to customers, you can use the platform to organize product descriptions, sections, case studies, and graphics into folders and add filters to help everyone find what they need when they need it. You can use the mass update tool to make changes across templates to save your teams from manual edits and ensure everything remains consistent.
Proposify works well for small and medium businesses that need a simple way to create and deliver winning proposals. The software provides insights to help you scale sales processes, make effective engagements, and accurately forecast revenues. Proposify can provide a straightforward sign-off experience for customers and prospects thanks to its e-signature capabilities.
Proposify Standout Features and Integrations
Features include a content library, design editor, roles and permissions, pipeline insights, notifications, e-signature, client previews, interactive pricing, automatic formatting, a content repository, document management, and proposal templates.
Integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Stripe, Copper, AgileCRM, ActiveCampaign, Zapier, Trello, Zendesk Sell, Zoho, Slack, SharpSpring, Salesflare, Olark, Mailchimp, monday.com, Microsoft Teams, and Intercom.
Proposify costs from $49/user/month and is billed quarterly or annually. Proposify offers a free 14-day trial for new subscribers.
Pros
- It sends data instantly after sending proposals.
- Creates compelling proposals quickly.
- Wide range of customizable templates.
Cons
- It’s not user-friendly for new subscribers.
- The editor can be clunky.
8. Configure One - Best for large or complicated product catalogs
Configure One is a CPQ software that helps sales reps create quotes for large or complicated product catalogs.
Why I picked Configure One: The software’s rules and logic capabilities will help you through the configuration process for even the most extensive and most complicated product catalogs. If your products consist of a significant number of components, Configure One can provide strict control to ensure product options are compatible. So, you and your customers will know that everyone’s quote will have the most accurate price.
Configure One is suitable for any sized organization that manufactures high-tech products. The tool can provide increased revenues to your organization by enhancing efficiency and improving customer loyalty. Also, Configure One’s product modeling capabilities allow your customers to get a live visualization of the options they pick when ordering from your company.
Configure One Standout Features and Integrations
Features include automated quoting and cataloging, client portals, pricing and discount management, multi-currency support, sales forecasting, proposal generation, BOM product configurator, CAD automation, 2D and 3D modeling, guided selling, and approval workflows.
Integrations include Salesforce, NetSuite, Global Shop Solutions, Oracle CRM On Demand, SYSPRO ERP, SAP Business One, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, GUMU, and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Configure One offers custom pricing upon request. Configure One provides a free demo to help you understand whether the platform is right for you.
Pros
- AutoCAD output capabilities.
- Easy to use.
- Flexible to match users’ needs.
Cons
- Customer support needs improvement.
- Steep learning curve.
9. Subskribe - Best for innovative deal structures
Subskribe helps SaaS businesses create quotes for simple to innovative deal structures.
Why I picked Subskribe: You can use the Subskribe platform if your business regularly creates quotes for innovative deal structures quickly. No matter how innovative your quote needs are, the software can speed up deal closes by simplifying approvals with workflows, previews, and notifications. Subskribe also allows your sales reps to make simple modifications to any quote with upsells, cross-sells, and plan renewals.
Subskribe focuses on helping SaaS organizations in any market that need an all-in-one sales solution. It allows your teams to be completely transparent with deal flows that you or managers can execute instantly. Using Subskribe means your sales reps don’t have to rely on complicated workarounds to create custom quotes for every customer so they can get the deal they want.
Subskribe Standout Features and Integrations
Features include multi-year quotes, complex quote creation, versatile discounting, deal metrics, customizable terms, approval flows, deal progress tracking, email notifications, multiple pricing combinations, and reseller tools.
Integrations include Salesforce, DocuSign, and Avalara.
Subskriber offers custom pricing upon request. Subskriber provides a free demo to help you understand whether the platform is right for you.
Pros
- Handles all quoting.
- Easy to learn.
- Regular feature updates and additions.
Cons
- Not many integrations are available.
- No guided selling.
10. Conga CPQ - Best for applying AI to quote generation
Conga CPQ helps businesses use AI to help sales reps produce accurate, personalized quotes.
Why I picked Conga CPQ: By eliminating manual sales quote processes with artificial intelligence, Conga CPQ will help your sales reps to create large and complex quotes fast. Conga CPQ provides an AI it calls Max, and it guides your reps as if it’s a real personal assistant. The AI will guarantee that every aspect of your quotes is covered properly.
Conga CPQ is ideal for organizations that need a CPQ platform that will refine current strategies and ensure they can meet their customers’ requirements. The software’s deal projection tool will help your organization predict how likely your reps are to close a deal. To do this, Conga CPQ will score quotes and suggest ways to make them more appealing.
Conga CPQ Standout Features and Integrations
Features include product search, solution selling, product comparison, asset-based ordering, configuration validation, product recommendations, dynamic questionnaires, product rules, pricing optimization, approvals, and renewal management.
Integrations include Salesforce, Conga Contracts, Workato, IBM API Connect, IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration, Conga Sign, Conga Order Management, and LivePreso.
Conga CPQ offers custom pricing upon request. Conga CPQ provides a free demo to help you understand whether the platform is right for you.
Pros
- Increases sales process speed.
- Robust configuration options.
- Excellent customer service.
Cons
- Not much documentation is available.
- The software often breaks.
11. Qwilr - Best for interactive quotes
Qwilr helps sales teams create custom, interactive quotes that will impress potential customers.
Why I picked Qwilr: Instead of sending endless attachments to customers, Qwilr allows you to shore quotes, pricing, and product demos with a website link. Your proposal can start as a blank page or one of the platform’s proposal templates. Qwilr’s proposal builder uses a series of blocks that you can drag and drop onto the page. Each block allows you to embed images, videos, pricing, texts, and other crucial proposal components, which are all flexible to match your customers’ screens. Each proposal within Qilr has a helpful analytics tool that will track how many views your page gets, the total viewing time per block, the number of clicks, and more vital details to help you understand your customers’ interests and priorities.
Qwilr works well for any sized business in any industry that wants to use a proposal creation tool that will keep everything consistently branded. The page editor allows you to consistently apply fonts, colors, and other collateral on every page. Qwilr also helps you close business deals faster by empowering customers to sign, pay, and upsell themselves through every interactive proposal.
Qwilr Standout Features and Integrations
Features include content creation, a no-code web editor, custom branding, a content library, notifications, buyer engagement tracking, identity authentication, automated content, dynamic personalization, centralized content, proposal templates, and workspaces.
Integrations include Zoho CRM, HubSpot, Slack, Stripe, Quickbooks, Pipedrive, Zapier, Google Analytics, Xero, Mixpanel, Hotjar, Wufoo, Olark, Retently, Pabbly Connect, and Salesforce.
Qwilr costs from $35/user/month, billed annually. Qwilr offers a free 14-day trial for new subscribers.
Pros
- Creates engaging, eye-catching proposals.
- Simple user interface.
- Provides useful metrics and insights.
Cons
- Tracks when colleagues open proposals.
- API access is limited to higher-tier plans.
12. Epicor CPQ - Best for visual configurations
Epicor CPQ makes it easy for businesses to implement 3D product visualization into the quoting configuration process.
Why I picked Epicor CPQ: The platform will help your sales reps provide a visual experience that can help guide potential customers throughout the sales cycle. When using Epicor CPQ, you can embed a robust product configuration tool on your website to allow customers to have excellent buying experiences. By providing a visual experience, you can simplify the buying process for your customers by allowing them to experience the product, change options, and instantly see pricing updates. Epicor CPQ will use your advanced product rules and logic to guide customers and help them configure the product to match their requirements.
Epicor CPQ is an ideal choice for medium businesses and large enterprises spanning all industries that need a product configuration and quoting tool that handles the entire sales lifecycle. The automation capabilities within Epicor CPQ will help you simplify rules, workflows, documents, and CAD drawings and ensure accuracy. Your customers can also buy directly from your website, instead of through a sales rep, by using the tool’s self-service portal.
Epicor CPQ Standout Features and Integrations
Features include 2D and 3D modeling, proposal generation, product configuration, guided selling, approval workflows, self-service portals, analysis and constraints, recommendation engine, automated quoting, catalog management, and contact management.
Integrations include Salesforce, Shopify, Magento, SOLIDWORKS, Salesforce CPQ, Inventor, and Creo.
Epicor CPQ offers custom pricing upon request. Epicor CPQ provides a free demo to help you understand whether the platform is right for you.
Pros
- Easy product configuration capabilities.
- Simple scheduling and workflow management.
- Able to collaborate across multiple stakeholders.
Cons
- The user interface isn’t customizable.
- No access to advanced training.
Other Options
Here are a few more options that didn’t make the best CPQ software list:
- HubSpot Sales Hub - Best for enhancing CPQ processes.
- Zoho CRM - Best for task management.
- Oracle CPQ - Best for eliminating sales cycle difficulties.
- Expedite Commerce - Best for B2B ecommerce.
- AutoQuotes - Best for food service equipment manufacturers.
- InMindCloud - Best end-to-end CPQ platform.
- CloudSense - Best for service businesses.
- vloxq CPQ - Best for automating quote generation.
- FastSpring Interactive Quotes - Best for communicating pricing and packages.
- QuoteWerks - Best for integrating with business systems.
- Pricefx - Best for precise quote pricing.
Other Software Types
RevOps can be complicated—just like other business functions. Using software can help you simplify your revenue operations and ensure you don’t experience performance issues. Here are some other RevOps tools you should consider for your organization:
How I Selected the Best CPQ Software
Perhaps you’re wondering how I selected the best CPQ software for this list? To build this top 12 list, I evaluated and compared a wide range of CPQ software with positive user ratings.
After determining my long list of top choices, I further honed my list by using the selection criteria below to see how each platform stacked up against the next one. I also drew on my years of RevOps experience to pinpoint the features that add a lot of value.
If you have general questions about CPQ software or how to pick the best CPQ software for your organization, take a look at our frequently asked questions section below. Or, you can skip directly to my detailed software summaries, if that’s what you need the most.
Selection Criteria
Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best CPQ software for this article:
User Interface (UI):
The tool’s user interface can significantly affect how well your sales reps can use it. You decide to implement a new platform to make use of its features, so it makes sense to ensure the software you’ll use makes it easy to find its capabilities. I look for CPQ software that has a well-designed interface that’s simple to navigate and will help you find the tools you need.
Ease of Use:
Your sales staff and other teams will be using your CPQ tool, so it should be easy for everyone to understand and use. Ensuring the platform you implement is easy to use will help your sales reps provide accurate customer price quotes. I look for CPQ software that is flexible and agile and improves communications and sales process workflows to make everyone’s work easy because complex tasks will impact your team’s capability to engage effectively with customers.
Automation:
Automation will help your sales team pay greater attention to their primary goals. Many businesses search for tools that will automate workflows and reduce the amount of manual work involved in quote configuration and pricing. I look for tools that will easily automate sales processes and empower your reps to access the data they need immediately.
Software Integrations:
It’s always beneficial to implement CPQ software that quickly integrates with your existing systems, CRMs, and ERPs to get the best business value. Understanding the tool’s integration potential with your current systems and the new systems you choose to implement in the future as you scale is essential. I look for software that has multiple built-in integrations with third-party applications and a vendor that provides an API that will allow you to make custom integrations.
Pricing:
This is unarguably an incredibly critical criterion when choosing the best CPQ software - especially for startups and small-to-medium businesses. The platform you decide to use should be sustainable and affordable for your organization if you’re planning on using the tool for the long term. An ideal tool will help you meet business objectives and use essential features without unnecessarily paying for extra components. I look for tools that offer monthly payments or flat fees and ensure the vendor won’t be charging a hefty fee when your business scales in the future.
People Also Ask
Here are a few popular questions answered for your convenience!
How Does CPQ Software Work?
What are the Key Features of CPQ Software?
Using CPQ Software to Upgrade the Sales Process
CPQ software is one of the most essential upgrades for organizations. With the tools that I listed above, you’ll control every moving part of your sales channel. Also, your sales team will get more time to meet new customers and make more sales.
If you need more help with enhancing your revenue operations, I highly recommend you sign up for the RevOps team newsletter. There you’ll get the latest updates about the software you should use to increase revenues and learn the latest advice from top revenue professionals.