There is a very famous saying that "You Never Get A Second Chance To Make A First Impression." Besides excellent communication, delivering accurate quotations to your customers on time is an important aspect of helping you to win the business.
What Does a Quote Contain?
A quotation is often compared to an invoice, but it has a different purpose than an invoice. A quotation is submitted to the customer before the order is confirmed. Whereas, the invoice is submitted after the products or services are delivered. Thus, a quote becomes the first point of contact and an opportunity to impress the customer. Precisely, the better your quotes, the better are the chances of conversions. Thus, it becomes highly significant to submit flawless & professional quotes to the prospects.
In business, the products/services, their specifications, and prices constantly change. In that case, preparing accurate quotes that can impress your prospects and gain conversions becomes quite challenging. Errors in price calculation, and spending too much time juggling between several documents and applications, can result in a slow process or inaccuracy in preparation of quotes. This can lead to lost deals, which can become quite frustrating.
To overcome these challenges, you need to consider using the best quoting software to automate, track, manage, and streamline the entire quoting process. To help you in selecting the right quotation software for your business, here we have listed the best 7 free and open source quoting software.
But, before you go through the details of each quoting software listed here, let's have a basic understanding of what exactly is a quoting software, benefits of using it, and few must-have features to consider while selecting one.
What Is Quoting Software?
Quoting software, also known as quotation software, helps in designing and preparing a quotation in a professional manner. It can automate the entire process of creating quotations, emailing to the clients, maintaining records, and generating required reports. It also allows you to follow a standardized procedure and pricing, eliminating errors, and ensuring compliance with local Government rules & regulations. Precisely, the best quoting software helps salespeople in submitting an accurate & personalized quote in less time, so that they can focus on their customers and get more business.
What Does a Quoting Software Do?
Whether you are submitting your quote to a new prospect or a valued returning customer, you can serve them effectively and deliver an amazing experience of dealing with your business using the best quoting software. The below-mentioned benefits can prove that.
Benefits of Using a Quoting Software
Must-Have Features of a Quoting Software
Ability to Define Pricing Rules
The pricing rules depend on the overheads, profit margin, taxes, and many other criteria pertaining to different products and services. The quoting software you select should allow you to define pricing rules so that you don’t have to manually insert the price while preparing a quotation. Based on the products/services and their variations, the quoting tools can calculate the accurate prices automatically.
Product/Service Configuration
The best quoting software would facilitate you to configure several products and services in the database and assign a code to each one of them. So, when you are preparing a quote for a specific product, you can access all the details of that product with a click of a mouse. You don't need to enter the product name and details every time you prepare the quote for the same product. This helps in preparing quotes quickly and easily.
Customizable
Every business is different, and so is yours. While selecting a quotation software, you need to ensure that it works as per your business logic and requirement. For example, if you are dealing with products requiring to mention highly technical information in the quotation, but your quoting software doesn't allow you to do that, then that system is of no use to you. Make sure that the quoting software you select allows you to customize the format of the quote as per your requirements.
Security
Quotations are considered as highly confidential documents for a business, and you cannot afford to leak that information to any of your competitors.You need to ensure that the quoting software you select has high-end security features and only allows role-based access to the users, to keep the information secure and confidential.
Supports Multiple Currencies
Every quoting software can support US Dollars, but what if you are dealing with the customers in other countries besides the USA? If you are into international business, it becomes important that your quoting software supports multiple currencies, and also your local currency if you are dealing with only local clients.
Scalable
None of the businesses can afford to remain stagnant. Your business is surely going to grow, and so are the quoting requirements. The number of products you are dealing with can increase in a couple of years, and if your quoting software doesn't allow that change, then it might be a hassle again to look for another one that suits your business requirements. It would be better to go for the best quoting software that is scalable enough to handle your business expansion and growth.
Regulatory Requirements
The regulatory requirements may vary for different regions. You need to ensure that the quoting software you select supports your regulatory requirements and allows you to define taxation and other rules to the prices of your products and services accordingly.
Integration
Integrating your quoting software with tools like CRM and accounting software you are using at present would add to your convenience. Instead of switching between different applications to get a job done, you can do it from a single interface. Moreover, it becomes easy to export customers' information from applications like CRM while preparing error-free quotes.
So, these were the must-have features of a quoting software you need to consider. To help you further, you can go through the below comparison chart and details of the best 7 free and open source quoting software and pick the right one that suits your business requirements.
The Best 7 Free and Open Source Quoting Software Comparison Chart
The Best 7 Free and Open Source Quoting Software
#1 CatalystK
Catalystk is a free and open source quoting software that can help you in preparing quotations with and without images. Besides creating images, it can track all the customer conversations, maintain follow-up, and improve the speed of the entire sales cycle. It can also be customized as per your business requirements and can generate more than 400 different reports. You can control all the sales activities from this single quoting platform.
Key Features
- Allows preparing quotations with and without images
- Ability to email and SMS quotations
- Can send reminders and notifications for quotation follow-ups
- Allows monitoring and tracking tasks
- Can maintain ledgers for clients and suppliers
- Allows generating invoices
- Monitors manufacturing process
- Includes automated sales order and invoice mailing system
If you have already used CatalystK, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#2 MethodosiT
The quotation management system by MethodosiT is an open source and free quoting software. It is a web-based application that can be downloaded as a Windows installer. It is an easy to use and flexible application that allows you to prepare, send and track quotes and invoices. It can also generate reports showing compliance and audit information, ensuring an error-free sales process.
Key Features
- Stores all the quotation records in a centralized location, making the information easy to track and access
- Allows generating automatic quotation in PDF format with customized PDF forms
- Allows attaching supporting documents to the quote
- Supports web-based document management functionality which allows preserving the history and locking/unlocking documents
- Allows emailing the quotes directly from the application
- Can generate customized reports
If you have already used MethodosiT, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#3 OpenJanela
OpenJanela is a free and open source quoting software that also works as a customer and document management software. It can help you in managing estimates, quotes, and customers at all your branches and locations. It also allows you to convert your quotes into invoices with a few clicks of a mouse. This free quoting software is extremely user-friendly and helps in managing all day-to-day quoting needs for a business organization easily.
Key Features
- Allows managing clients’ information
- Helps in creating quotes automatically
- Includes appealing quote design templates
- Helps in optimizing materials and reducing waste
- Can convert quotes to invoices
- Includes barcode system to streamline manufacturing and delivery process
- Can integrate into your existing accounting system
If you have already used OpenJanela, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#4 FossLook
FossLook is a free quoting software specially designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It allows you to design and create highly professional invoices quickly. With easy to use interface and versatile features, it makes creating and sending quotes so easy that you can focus on important jobs like selling. It can also help in generating printable expenses reports and set reminders for payments and follow-ups. Using this free quoting solution allows you to track everything relating to your quotations easily and quickly.
Key Features
- Allows managing customers’ information
- Includes customizable design templates for preparing quotes and invoices
- Includes easily adjustable interface
- Allows setting up reminders for pending payments and follow-ups
- Can prepare expense reports to organize your business trips
- Allows printing and emailing quotes, invoices, and expense reports
If you have already used FossLook, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#5 Osmos Cloud
Osmos Cloud is a free and web-based quoting software that allows you to prepare and send quotes from anywhere and everywhere. It can receive quote requests from social media platforms, and store all the requests at one place, ensuring that you don't miss out fulfilling even a single quote request. Being quick and easy, it helps you in sending 50% more quotes, 10 times faster than spreadsheets, accounting software, and even other quoting solutions. It can even automate follow-ups helping you to close more deals.
Key Features
- Allows preparing and sending quotes with electronic signatures from anywhere
- Allows you to receive and manage quote requests from different channels like Facebook, Whatsapp, SMS, etc
- Allows bundling and grouping items in a single quotation
- Helps in managing your leads, track payments & inventory to streamline the entire sales process
- Can convert quotes into invoices
- Can generate 30+ sales reports displaying real-time data
- Can integrate with other applications like Gmail, Mailchimp, QuickBooks, Slack, etc
If you have already used Osmos Cloud, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#6 Bahaquote
Bahaquote is free quoting software that helps in tracking expenses and sending invoices. It can integrate with any type of business. It provides access to a sales method that helps in quoting fair prices and sending online invoices accurately. Its functional and user-friendly design application allows you to create quotes and invoices, managing expenses, and accepting payments online.
Key Features
- Allows importing and adding customer details
- Allows creating, modifying, and editing product listings
- Can add and modify estimated prices
- Allows preparing and modifying invoices & expense reports
- Allows adding, assigning and modifying tasks
- Can generate graphical reports providing a complete overview of quotes & invoices submitted, pending, and payments received
If you have already used Bahaquote, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#7 Momenteo
Momenteo is a free online quote and invoice software specially designed for freelancers. You can now track your tasks, expenses, and travel in an appealing calendar format. Moreover, this free quoting software can also maintain your accounts accurately. It is a cloud-based software allowing you to access from everywhere, and so your task of preparing and sending quotations become extremely easy.
Key Features
- Allows keeping track of customers and their information
- Tracks and manages your travel expenses
- Allows preparing and tracking estimates/quotes
- Can generate and track expense reports
- Provides insights about the overall current situation of the business
- Can prepare and send invoices to the clients
If you have already used Momenteo, please feel free to share your reviews here.
Are you still looking for more options in this software category? Besides, these free and open source quoting software, we would also suggest you to go through the details of one of the most popular quoting solutions like - Quotient.
Quotient
Quotient is one of the most popular quoting solutions that helps you in creating attractive looking quotes and sending them to your customers through email. You can easily add images, files, and website links into your quote to provide everything to your clients they need to make a purchase decision. It also allows the client to post directly on the quote to keep everyone in the sales team on the same page. Basically, Quotient makes it easy for you to close the deals.
Key Features
- Helps in creating attractive quotes with the help of easy to customize design templates
- Allows your customers to choose the items they want the quote for
- Allows your customers to post their query directly on the quote
- Allows you to view as and when your customer opens the quote sent by you so that you know when and how to follow up for the same
- Includes intuitive dashboard providing a complete overview of your quotes at one place
- Provides insights and analytics helping you to make informed decisions for the future
- Allows you to search and view all the quotes sent in the past
- Works perfectly on any device and platform
- Can integrate with other applications like Xero, Mailchimp, etc
If you have already used Quotient, please feel free to share your reviews here.
Conclusion
Automating the quoting process is highly significant in terms of ensuring to submit relevant and accurate information to the customers and also saving time of the sales staff so that they can focus on acquiring new business.
After going through the list of these quoting solutions, are you still looking for more options in this software category? We suggest you to go through the details of some freemium and paid quoting tools like PandaDoc, Socket, iQuoteExpress, QuoteSoft, Quote Roller, Quikflw, Qwilr, Cubit, and many more available in the complete list of quoting software curated by the GoodFirms team.
Also, you can browse all software categories and stay tuned for the latest updates in emerging tools & technologies.
Have you used any of the quoting tools mentioned in this article? Please leave your valuable feedback here.
