ConnectWise CPQ vs. VisibleThread RFP Platform

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ConnectWise CPQ
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
ConnectWise CPQ (formerly ConnectWise Sell, and Quosal) is the quote and proposal solution of the ConnectWise Suite. With ConnectWise Sell, users can create professional technology quotes and proposals that include rich product information, cover letters, and statements of work in minutes and automatically update their sales pipelines accordingly. The vendor says key benefits include: Save time creating IT quotes and proposals through automation …N/A
VisibleThread
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
VisibleThread RFP Platform is an end-to-end pursuit intelligence solution purpose-built for organizations operating in highly regulated sectors like defense, government contracting, and aerospace. The platform leverages a unique combination of deterministic analysis and traceable AI to automate the most complex phases of the proposal lifecycle. Unlike generic tools, VisibleThread provides deep linguistic and structural insights, allowing teams to "shred" documents for compliance, track…N/A
Pricing
ConnectWise CPQVisibleThread RFP Platform
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ConnectWise CPQVisibleThread
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ConnectWise CPQVisibleThread RFP Platform
Considered Both Products
ConnectWise CPQ
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
Most likely we are moving to QuoteWerks, they answer the phone when you call them for support. I tested their support last week and within 5 minutes I had a live tech on the phone.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
ConnectWise Sell better meets our needs vs QuoteWerks, better customization and automation features were readily available.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We were using D-Tools for proposal creation and that application is far better. The only reason we moved to Sell is that it has leasing capability.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We were using D-Tools and that application is much better. Its actually 10x better. The only reason we move to Sell is because Sell have the leasing capability.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
When it comes to the quoting layout Sell gives you so many more customization options. The item inventory is also easier to maintain. Sell is by far the best selling module that I have used thus far and it has helped keep us more organized.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
I have not used any other quoting platforms like ConnectWise Sell except for the integrated estimates and invoicing in Freshbooks. These softwares are wildly different, however, since I use Freshbooks as a financial platform for another business I have. I would say in terms of …
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We have previously used Excel and templates for quoting. We also have used Salesforce to generate quotes. Neither method was as clean as ConnectWise Sell and they were not geared specifically to how we work. We still use Salesforce for our main CRM and ConnectWise Sell …
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
Salesforce is the main competitor but this is easier to keep up with and I highly recommend any businesses to use this just for the convenience factor. Other programs and suites are also more expensive so you know that you are saving money using this service. Highly …
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
Both tools have a very common feature set. Sell is different primarily in the fact that it is online software-as-a-service based deployment, rather than a local server based deployment. That gives it a major leg up. I can use Sell from anywhere in the world easily.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We've also had some experience with quotewerks in the past. Quotewerks has some pretty solid functionality for the basic quoting features that we need, but didn't have the tight integration that we wanted.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We prefer having access to it inside our connectwise versus it being a separate program. Quosal took a long time to load or it would glitch. Sell is much quicker to use.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
Matchs our CRM (Manage) AX was too expensive and Quotewerks had no API to manage. We did a Proof of concept, are members of Microsoft's partner program, and were worried about the scalability of this product versus others in the market. Connectwise has made good on their …
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We did not evaluate any other solutions, except to compare it against our current QuickBooks estimate and Word document proposal method.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
Infusionsoft - It is made more for an internet store, and it never answered our needs for effective quoting.

Microsoft Excel - It was nice to create algorithms for speedy quotes but moving around products, or sharing quotes with co-workers was hard. Google Sheets did not come …
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
Quotewerx was previously the product of choice for our company. When CW purchased Quosal, CW ceased providing Integration to Quotewerx which forced our company to migrate to Quosal.

At that particular time, it would have just been better if CW had admitted to us right from …
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
Bought it because of the integration to ConnectWise Manage. Did not review other products.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
I haven't used a competitor in a while, but I am also not interested in looking. Other systems we used export to ugly and confusing Excel sheets. The Quosal system creates professional, customizable quotes and the customers love how easy it is to interact with them.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ

We looked at Salesforce.com as an option but it just wasn't the right fit. It didn't integrate well into our system, and to close the gap was costly. We needed a comprehensive sales tool to handle every aspect of our business. Data needed to systematically flow into all company …

Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We used to use Quotewerks. It also had integration with our PSA tool and the integration was pretty good. The fact that quotewerks was not cloud based meant we had to provide it via terminal services to handle all our locations and remote access. It's installer was difficult …
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We selected Connectwise Sell based on available features, cost and the integration with other products.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We decided ultimately that we wanted to remain within the Connectwise Manage/Sell family. It made sense.
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We selected Sell due to its integration with ConnectWise and the notable improvements over Create. The GUI on the quote creation page has streamlined the quoting process with the ability to make changes and moves between tabs and line items like I would with a Word document. …
Chose ConnectWise CPQ
We saw Quosal and ran with it. Other apps just don't compare.
VisibleThread
Chose VisibleThread
VisibleThread VT Writer is better at identifying passive voice, run-on sentences and complex words and actually shows you where the problem in your writing is happening. Wordtune is better at providing suggestions or completely rewriting the content, which can save time but …
Chose VisibleThread
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 …
Features
ConnectWise CPQVisibleThread RFP Platform
CPQ
Comparison of CPQ features of Product A and Product B
ConnectWise CPQ
9.3
Ratings
6% above category average
VisibleThread RFP Platform
-
Ratings
Quote sharing/sending10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Product configuration10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Configuration options10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Pricing rules7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Price adjustment10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Purchase history and open contracts10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Guided selling/Sales portal8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
CPQ reporting & analytics6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
CPQ-CRM integration10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Attachments to quotes10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ConnectWise CPQVisibleThread RFP Platform
Small Businesses
QuoteWerks
QuoteWerks
Score 9.7 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
QuoteWerks
QuoteWerks
Score 9.7 out of 10
Responsive
Responsive
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Everstage
Everstage
Score 9.1 out of 10
Responsive
Responsive
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ConnectWise CPQVisibleThread RFP Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.8
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ConnectWise CPQVisibleThread RFP Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
ConnectWise Sell is great for Managed Service Providers and smaller IT shops who primarily do computer repairs and maintenance. The tool is generally good at everything it does, but I would not recommend using it for a company that sells IT equipment as its primary business. Quotes take a relatively large amount of time to build in order to get them looking good for the end user.
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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.
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Pros
  • It provides our company with a standardized quoting process. Everyone works the same way, uses the same templates, and generates a professional quote. Nothing gets left out or missed.
  • Portal provides your sales staff and management with a complete view of their efforts. They see in real time what opportunities are in the pipeline, and how successful their efforts are when these opportunities are won.
  • Provides a collaborative platform for our sales team to work on customer quotes. We can now have 2 or 3 members working in the same quote whereas before we had to wait for someone to free up the document before others could access it.
  • It allows us to provide much more information in our quotes by attaching documents to the quote. Things like manufacturer specifications or brochures can now be easily attached into the quotes making it a presentation instead of a bunch of line items with numbers.
  • ConnectWise Sell is customizable to meet the needs of my company. This is so important to us because similar products only allow you to do what they design it for. Our business changes regularly and we need our software systems to be agile and adaptive to it.
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  • 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.
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Cons
  • The first year we were using Quosal, they were consistently posting new 'How to' videos and live training sessions to help users become familiar with the software features and best practices. While those videos are still available, they are becoming less relevant with each software version patch. The help manual documentation should be updated with the software versions as well.
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  • More automation, other software in this space is able to completely rewrite content and even provide multiple iterations at once
  • Ability to tailor results and desired output based on target audience, i.e. desired grade level might vary based on audience
  • Would be nice if VT can start writing content based on bullet points, again more automation
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Likelihood to Renew
We are in our 4th year with Quosal and fully expect to renew again and again. With their development of additional features such as the Order Porter, Visual Quoting and others, we see the adoption rates continuing to rise while making our time to quoted shorter and shorter. Quosal and ConnecWise's vision of automated quoting is an exciting frontier that we are very happy to be a part of
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No answers on this topic
Usability
Quosal is a very solid product with a LOT of functionality. Quosal has two main products that they offer, 'Quosal Sell' and 'Quosal Create.' If you are looking for an "out-of-the-box" or "ready to use" quoting software, I would recommend Quosal Sell. If you are interested exploring advanced functionality and integration or have a resource on staff willing to assume an "admin" role, I would highly recommend Quosal Create.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
I dont think we use this tool to potential
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I have been in business for 30 years, we have about 30 vendors we have worked with or more. Connectwise is on the bottom, if you ask any MSP how you loose clients the fastest, it's all about response and support. Connectwise has not found that out yet.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Great implementation, the Quosal team has a smart and well planned process to guide your team through the process. More importantly, they understand the challenges with change and user adoption.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Both tools have a very common feature set. Sell is different primarily in the fact that it is online software-as-a-service based deployment, rather than a local server based deployment. That gives it a major leg up. I can use Sell from anywhere in the world easily.
Read full review
VisibleThread VT Writer is better at identifying passive voice, run-on sentences and complex words and actually shows you where the problem in your writing is happening. Wordtune is better at providing suggestions or completely rewriting the content, which can save time but also doesn't give the user the ability to self-correct in the future.
Read full review
Scalability
Connectwise Sell is listening and building their software to fit the needs of their customers. Sell is consistently looking to us for feedback and making sure their product is working for us as partners/customers. We feel we are generally behind on getting to know their updates and software upgrades. They are a great vendor and wonderful corporation.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Customer satisfaction improvement. It's an impressive and professional way to present information that our customers appreciate. They not only have a clear way of knowing exactly what is being proposed, but now have another method they can use to easily track and organize approved/ not-approved quotes.
  • Improved brand consistency. We have a reputable, trusted image that projects across our client portfolio (not to mention within our community) and this system helps to promote and maintain our transparency and professional image.
  • Following up and referencing past quotes is made easy and quickly, which has benefited us from a time-cost savings perspective.
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  • It has made our content more readable
  • It makes us sound relevant to our clients
  • Ensures the content everyone writes is consistent
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ScreenShots

ConnectWise CPQ Screenshots

Screenshot of Sell DashboardScreenshot of Sell EtilizeScreenshot of Sell IntelScreenshot of Sell Order Porter E-SignatureScreenshot of Sell Place Order

VisibleThread Screenshots

Screenshot of RFP Software for Analyzing Solicitations and Contracts​. This automates tedious, manual doc review steps and improve quality throughout the lifecycle.Screenshot of the Shred Compliance Matrix with Simple Shred. Shreds RFPs and SOWs for words like: “WILL”, “SHALL”, “MUST”, and any other custom keywords.Screenshot of Extract Acronyms, the tool used to check for acronym usage. This scans documents to identify incorrect and inconsistent use of acronyms or acronyms defined in different ways.