One Link Beats a Pile of Attachments
Freelance proposal software is a tool that sends your client a proposal as a link, lets them respond, and collects a signature. Done without one, a proposal travels as a PDF in one email, comments come back in a second, and a signed copy arrives in a third. You end up matching three threads to one job.
A single link keeps the document, the client's notes and the signature in one place. The tools below differ in what they cost, what they add on top, such as invoices, and what the client has to do.
Loop
Loop is a Mac app that turns a file into your own branded link. Export your proposal as a PDF and send the link. Your client opens it in any browser, circles or highlights a section, writes on the page, leaves a note only you see, and signs by typing their name on a Sign Here box. The recording below shows it happening.
A real recording of Loop's reader page. Press play, or jump to a step.
The same steps in words:
- Open. The client opens your link. Your logo, name and colours are on the page, and there is no account to create.
- Feedback. One button opens the pen, highlighter, arrow and text tools, plus a note and emoji.
- Draw. The client circles the part of the proposal they want to talk about.
- Write. They type a short label on the page, here "Love this".
- Sign. On the last page they press Sign Here, type their full name and press Sign.
- Record. A Signed card shows who signed, when and where.
Feedback and signing are switches on each link, and you place the Sign Here spots yourself. You see all of it in Loop, with the signed copy kept as a PDF: every page with the signature drawn on, then a last page recording who signed, when, where and which copy.
Highlights
- Your own branded link. Your logo, colours and typeface on every page your client opens.
- Markup on the page. Pen, highlighter, arrow and text on PDFs and pictures, in six colours.
- Signing in order. Name up to 10 signers and each signs in their turn, in up to 12 spots.
- Your own templates. Save your proposal or contract once, with blanks such as the client's name, and make a tracked link per client.
- No account for your client. They open the link in any browser.
- Pay once. $49 for one person, yours forever, with a 14-day free trial.
Your own branded link, with notes on the exact second. $49 once.
Options
The tools below differ in what they cost, what they add, and what the client can do on the page. Several rivals also run invoices and payments, which Loop does not.
| Tool | Client can | Cost, one person |
|---|---|---|
| Loop | Mark up, note, sign | $49 once |
| HoneyBook | Sign and pay | $708 a year |
| Bonsai | Accept, sign, pay | $348 a year |
| Better Proposals | View, accept, sign | $252 a year |
| PandaDoc | Comment and sign | $588 a year |
| DocuSign | Sign, no account | $300 a year |
US dollars for one person, billed yearly, before tax, on the plan that adds your own branding in place of the vendor's, read from each vendor's own pages in October 2026. Vendors show local currency to some visitors, so their dollar figures come from archived US copies of those pages. HoneyBook's price comes from an archived copy of 8 August 2026, which showed Essentials at a list price of $59 a month with 25% off ($588 a year), and may have changed.
HoneyBook
HoneyBook is a business suite that puts a proposal, an invoice and a contract in one document and runs a client portal. Its pricing page lists Starter at $29 a month billed yearly, and Essentials at $59 a month billed yearly, $708 a year, which removes the "Powered by HoneyBook" label. The page we read showed a 25% promotion on Essentials, $49 a month or $588 a year. Its pricing FAQ describes a 30-day free trial with no card. We could not confirm from its pages whether a client can leave notes on the proposal itself.
Bonsai
Bonsai bundles proposals, contracts, a client portal and invoices. Its pricing page lists Essentials at $19 a month billed yearly, $228 a year, and Premium at $29 a month, $348 a year, which adds "Remove Bonsai branding". Bonsai's help says clients need no account to accept proposals, sign contracts or pay invoices.
Better Proposals
Better Proposals is built around the proposal itself. Its pricing page lists Starter at $13 a month billed yearly, $156 a year, with 10 sends a month and one seat, and Premium at $21 a month, $252 a year, with 50 sends, a custom domain, your own badge and several signers. Inline comments from clients are on the $42 a month Enterprise plan only.
PandaDoc
PandaDoc is a document platform with an editor, templates and signing. Its Starter plan is $19 a seat a month, $228 a year, with unlimited e-signatures and a 14-day trial; custom branding is on Business at $49 a month, $588 a year, and needs a demo request. Clients can comment inline from Starter, in PandaDoc's own editor, though not on a PDF you upload. Our Loop vs PandaDoc page goes further.
DocuSign
DocuSign is the signing specialist. On its e-signature page, Personal is $10 a month billed yearly, $120 a year, for 5 envelopes a month. Standard is $25 a month, $300 a year, with custom branding, real-time commenting and 100 envelopes a user a year. Signers need no account.
Limits
Loop is built for sending your own document to a client who then notes and signs it. It is not a proposal business suite, and these gaps matter for some freelancers:
- No invoices or payments. Keep your invoicing tool, or choose HoneyBook or Bonsai if you want proposal and invoice together.
- No ready-made library. Loop sends your own document. Templates keep your proposal with blanks, but Loop supplies no proposals or contracts.
- A simple electronic signature. The client types a name. Loop does not check identity or verify the email, and the record page says so. It is not a certified signature.
- No initials, tick boxes or text fields for the signer.
- No client portal. The link is the whole experience, and readers cannot reply to each other.
- You paste the link. Loop makes the link; you send it in your own email.
- Mac only on your side. Clients open the link on any device. You send from a Mac.
If you want proposals, contracts, invoices and payments in one place, use HoneyBook or Bonsai. If you send your own documents and want your name on the link, use Loop.
Cost
For one person for one year on the plan that adds your own branding, Loop is $49, paid once. HoneyBook is $708 at its list price ($588 with the promotion), Bonsai $348, Better Proposals $252, PandaDoc $588 and DocuSign $300. On each paid plan that is the cheapest to send and get a signature, the figures are $348 for HoneyBook, $228 for Bonsai, $156 for Better Proposals and $120 for DocuSign. PandaDoc has a free plan of 5 documents a month with e-signatures, and its paid Starter is $228.
HoneyBook and Bonsai include invoicing and payments, so they are not like for like with Loop, and a freelancer who uses those features is paying for more. The renewing prices come back every year, while Loop has no renewal.
Loop includes a 14-day free trial that starts on first run, and Loop asks for no payment to begin it. During the trial a small "Shared with Loop" badge shows on the pages your clients see, and it goes with a licence. Your files are stored in your own Cloudflare account, and Cloudflare may ask for a card when you switch storage on.
Preparing a Proposal
Five habits make any proposal easier to approve, whichever tool you use.
- Send a PDF. Export from Pages, Word or Google Docs so every client sees the same pages.
- Put the fee and the Sign Here box on the last page. The client reads, then signs, without hunting.
- Name it clearly. "Website Proposal, Harbour Clinic" tells the client which job it is.
- Say what you want back. "Circle anything you want to change, then sign on page 3" gets more useful notes than "let me know".
- Keep one link per client. Replace the file when you revise it, and the client's bookmark opens the latest version.