Likelihood to Recommend I think Bidsketch would work well for any small business or freelancer looking for a low-cost, simple to use proposal software solution. It's quick and easy to set up and provides everything you need for more cases. If you're looking for something with more flexibility or features that Bidsketch does not offer then you may need to keep looking.
Read full review VT is fabulous to proposal writing as it created for that. It can also be used for ANY type of persuasive or technical writing. If you can write it, VT can help to make the writing better. BUT!!! if you are writing news articles or descriptive writing, this is NOT the software for you. VT works to eliminate fluff, ambiguous words, exaggerations, run-on sentences, improper grammar, misspelled words, sentence fragments, etc. VT also works to eliminate passive writing. As with any software, use it for what it was created - and find something else for the rest.
Read full review Pros Pre-written proposals for many scenarios. Integrations with 3rd party apps. Own domain for branding. Read full review Acronym finder - the best acronym finder I have used! This creates an Excel spreadsheet with the acronyms and their definitions in an alphabetically sorted worksheet ... AND this worksheet includes actual sentences from the document showing how and where the acronym was used. Compare documents - WOW! what a wonderful update! You get an Excel worksheet with the 2 compared documents side-by-side showing differences in red and statements with no changes in blue. Starter compliance matrix (SCM) - again, one of the best SCM-creators I have used. This choice is quick, concise, and the resulting Excel worksheet is easy to manipulate and change. Read full review Cons REALLY PRICEY for a small business/freelancer that doesn't do a lot of proposals each month. Would be nice if they offered a per proposal pricing for the smaller guys. Wish there was more customization of the design/layout to better fit in with branding. Also would like to be able to mark a proposal private. Read full review Dictionaries - I would like to see more "canned" dictionaries. We create our own, but I know that VT has more that they can supply, giving us more quick turnaround changes (versus always having to start from scratch). Read full review Usability I'd say Bidsketch is very easy to use. I don't think most people would have any problem getting comfortable with this software. I was able to get up and running very quickly. Their template library is a great resource to get a professional proposal up and out the door fast.
Read full review Support Rating Although I didn't need to reach out to support much, they seemed to do a very good job. I've also heard great things about the team through people I've talked to so I wouldn't expect anyone to run into issues with regards to their support. Their support definitely was not a factor in my ultimately not sticking with the product.
Read full review Alternatives Considered We used
DocSend to track our outgoing proposals but after testing Bidsketch we never returned back. It is simply better suited for us as we send out tens of proposals every week and the professional output and management of proposals won us over.
Read full review We reviewed many other products but found all of them did not have the extent of tasks that VT had. These searches were over 5 years ago and many of the products reviewed are no longer available. In addition, some software still in existence have merit, just not to the extent we need. I do not want to give anyone a bad rating just because we did not choose them. Again, choose the right software for the right job!
Read full review Return on Investment The proposals do look professional (even if you can't fully customize to your brand) and make a great impression on the potential client. The cost of Bidsketch is prohibitive if you don't do a lot of proposal writing on a regular basis. Read full review We reduced proposal writing time and output. By reducing time, we gained time for work in other areas of proposal handling. I used to need 3-5 DAYS to create an acronym list. Now, with VT, I do the same work in 1-2 hours! VT is for proposal WRITING and not for proposal HANDLING. Our proposal managers and coordinators do the handling part. Read full review ScreenShots VisibleThread VT Docs Screenshots