PandaDoc Pricing: What Each Plan Actually Costs

PandaDoc's Pricing Structure

PandaDoc runs on a per-user, per-month model with four main tiers. I've tested it across multiple businesses, so here's what you're actually paying for.

The Starter plan is new and limits you to 60 documents per year, then charges $3 per additional document. It includes basic document creation, e-signatures, tracking, and 24/7 support. This is essentially a freemium tier for companies that send very few documents annually. Unless you're sending fewer than 5 documents per month and never plan to scale, skip this entirely.

The Essentials plan starts at $19/user/month (billed annually) or $35 month-to-month. You get unlimited documents, e-signatures, and basic templates. This works if you're just sending proposals and need digital signatures, but you'll hit walls fast if you want automation or integrations. No CRM connectivity, no analytics, no approval workflows. It's basically glorified PDF signing.

The Business plan is $49/user/month annually or $65 monthly. This is where most sales teams end up because you get CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive), content library, approval workflows, deal rooms, web forms, bulk send capabilities, and payment collection through Stripe or PayPal. If you're running any kind of real sales operation, Essentials won't cut it. The Business tier is where PandaDoc actually becomes useful for revenue-generating activities.

The Enterprise plan requires custom pricing, which usually means you're looking at $100+ per user depending on volume and negotiation. You get Salesforce CPQ integration, advanced workflow automation, smart content, SSO, team workspaces, notary services, and API access. Most companies don't need this unless you're doing complex quote-to-cash workflows with hundreds of users or need enterprise-grade security features.

There's also a free eSign plan that lets you send up to 3 documents per month. It's basically a trial disguised as a free tier, not useful for actual business operations. If you're only sending 3 documents monthly, you don't need proposal software at all.

The Costs They Don't Advertise Up Front

Here's what catches people: PandaDoc charges per seat, and they count anyone who needs to send, edit, or approve documents. If your operations person needs to review proposals before they go out, that's another seat. If your finance person needs to approve contracts, another seat. If your marketing person updates templates, another seat.

I've seen teams think they need 5 seats and end up paying for 12 because they didn't account for everyone who touches documents in their workflow. This is where per-user pricing gets expensive fast compared to flat-rate alternatives.

Payment processing fees are separate. If you collect payments through PandaDoc, you're paying Stripe or PayPal's standard rates (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) on top of your PandaDoc subscription. They don't take an additional cut, but it's not included in the pricing. On a $10,000 deal, that's $290 in processing fees regardless of your PandaDoc plan.

CRM integrations are Business tier and up, which means if you're using Salesforce or HubSpot and want native sync, you're automatically at $49/user minimum. No way around it. This is a deliberate strategy to push sales teams toward the higher tier, and it works because manual data entry between your CRM and proposal tool is a massive time suck.

Document analytics (who opened what, how long they viewed each section) are also Business tier only. If you're doing sales and need to know when prospects view your proposal so you can time your follow-up, you can't use Essentials. This single feature is often worth the upgrade because timing your follow-up call for 10 minutes after a prospect views your pricing can double your close rate.

API access is Enterprise only. If you're building custom integrations or want to trigger document creation from your own applications, you're forced into custom pricing. For most tech companies with engineering resources, this is frustrating because API access should be standard.

Bulk send capabilities are Business tier and above. If you need to send the same agreement to 50 clients at once (common for renewals or policy updates), you can't do it on Essentials. You'll be manually sending documents one by one, which defeats the purpose of proposal software.

What You Actually Get at Each Tier

I've used PandaDoc at the Business level for two years running a sales agency. Here's what matters in practice, not what their marketing says.

Starter gives you: 60 documents per year (that's 5 per month), then $3 per additional document. Basic editor, e-signatures, tracking, and support. This tier is designed to get you hooked on the platform before forcing you to upgrade. The math doesn't work - if you send 10 documents per month, you're paying for 60 extra documents annually at $3 each, which is $180 on top of whatever the base Starter plan costs. You'd be better off on Essentials at that volume.

Essentials gives you: Document creation, templates, e-signatures, mobile app, and basic branding. You can create a proposal, send it, get it signed. That's it. No automation, no integrations, no analytics, no content library. If you're a freelancer sending 5 proposals a month and you don't use a CRM, this works. If you're a sales team, it doesn't. You'll spend more time manually recreating proposal content than you'll save from having e-signatures.

Business gives you: Everything in Essentials plus CRM integrations with two-way sync, content library (reusable sections you can drop into documents), approval workflows, deal rooms for collaborative sales, payment collection, document analytics, conditional logic in forms, web forms for inbound document capture, and bulk send. The CRM integration alone justifies the upgrade because manually recreating deal info in proposals is a waste of time. When a deal moves to "Proposal" stage in HubSpot, PandaDoc can auto-populate a proposal with the company name, contact info, deal value, and custom fields. That's 15-20 minutes saved per proposal.

The content library is more useful than it sounds. You build a library of pricing tables, case studies, service descriptions, and terms, then drag them into documents instead of copying from old proposals. Keeps everything consistent and cuts proposal creation time in half. More importantly, when you update a content block (like raising your prices), it updates across all future proposals automatically. No more accidentally sending old pricing because you copied from a 6-month-old proposal.

Deal rooms are surprisingly valuable for complex B2B sales. Instead of emailing proposals back and forth, you create a shared workspace where prospects can view the proposal, ask questions, loop in stakeholders, and collaborate on changes. Everything stays in one place with a full audit trail. For deals with multiple decision-makers, this removes friction and speeds up the sales cycle.

Enterprise gives you: Everything in Business plus Salesforce CPQ for complex product configurations, advanced workflow automation that can trigger based on data conditions, smart content that changes based on recipient characteristics, custom roles and permissions, SSO for enterprise security, team workspaces for organizational structure, notary services for documents requiring notarization, and API access. Unless you're running a 50+ person sales org or need CPQ for complex product configurations like manufacturing equipment with hundreds of SKUs and options, you don't need this. The ROI calculation only makes sense at serious scale.

Who Should Actually Use PandaDoc

PandaDoc works best for B2B sales teams selling services or software where proposals are a regular part of the process. If you're sending 10+ proposals a month, need e-signatures, and want to track engagement, it's worth considering.

It's particularly good for agencies, consultancies, and SaaS companies where deal sizes are $5K-$100K+ and you need professional-looking proposals that integrate with your CRM. The time savings on proposal creation and the tracking features pay for themselves when your average deal is worth $10K+. At that deal size, shaving 2 hours off your sales cycle or increasing close rates by 5% through better timing pays for the software 10x over.

It's also solid for professional services firms (legal, accounting, consulting) that need to send detailed scope-of-work documents with multiple pricing options and payment terms. The conditional logic features let you show different pricing based on what options the client selects, which streamlines complex proposals.

It's not worth it if you're sending simple one-page agreements or contracts that don't need much customization. You're better off with a simpler tool or even a good contract template. I've got a one-page contract template that works for most service agreements, and if you need something more detailed, check out my agency contract template. Both are free and cover 80% of what small businesses actually need.

If you're selling products with complex configurations (like manufacturing equipment with dozens of options, enterprise software with module-based pricing, or custom-built solutions), PandaDoc can work but you might outgrow it and need actual CPQ software like Salesforce CPQ or Oracle CPQ Cloud. The Enterprise tier includes CPQ functionality, but it's not as robust as dedicated CPQ platforms.

Solo consultants and freelancers rarely need PandaDoc unless they're closing $20K+ deals regularly. The per-user pricing isn't punitive when it's just you, but the time investment to set up templates and learn the platform isn't worth it if you're sending 3 proposals a month. Use a simple template and DocuSign instead.

Where PandaDoc Actually Saves Time

The real value isn't in the e-signatures (every tool does that now). It's in the workflow automation and integrations that eliminate repetitive manual work.

When a deal moves to "Proposal" stage in your CRM, PandaDoc can auto-generate a proposal using the deal data. No copy-paste, no manual entry, no risk of typos. That alone saves 15-20 minutes per proposal. Over 100 proposals a year, that's 25-33 hours of your sales team's time back. At a $75/hour fully-loaded cost, that's $1,875-$2,475 in saved labor.

The content library means you're not digging through old proposals to find that case study or pricing table. You've got a library of approved sections you can drop in. Keeps proposals consistent and cuts creation time way down. More importantly, it ensures your sales team is always using current pricing and approved messaging. No more accidentally sending outdated information because someone copied from an old proposal.

Document analytics tell you when prospects open your proposal and which sections they spend time on. If they viewed your pricing 5 times but never looked at your case studies, that's a signal. They're price-sensitive and need justification. You can time your follow-up for right after they view it instead of guessing. I've doubled response rates on follow-ups by calling within 15 minutes of a prospect opening a proposal. The tracking notifications make this possible.

Payment collection inside the document means prospects can sign and pay in one flow. For smaller deals ($1K-$10K), removing friction between signature and payment increases close rates noticeably. Instead of signing, then waiting for an invoice, then processing payment, they do it all at once. Fewer steps means fewer drop-offs. I've seen conversion rates on signed proposals go from 70% to 90%+ when payment is embedded.

Approval workflows eliminate bottlenecks. If your proposals need legal review before sending, you can set up automatic routing. Sales rep creates proposal, it auto-routes to legal for approval, then back to the rep to send. No Slack messages, no email chains, no proposals sitting in someone's inbox for 3 days. The workflow enforces the process.

Version control is automatic. Every change to a document is tracked with who made it and when. If a prospect says "you changed the terms," you can pull up the version history and show exactly what was sent. This has saved me from disputes multiple times. When a client claims you quoted them a different price, you can prove what was actually sent.

Cheaper Alternatives That Actually Work

If PandaDoc's pricing is too high, here are alternatives I've used that work well for different use cases.

Better Proposals is similar functionality at $19/month for unlimited users on their starter plan (team plan is $49/month). The per-user versus flat-rate pricing can make it dramatically cheaper if you've got a bigger team. If you need 10 users, that's $490/month on PandaDoc versus $49/month on Better Proposals. Interface isn't as polished and the integrations aren't as deep, but it gets the job done for agencies and consultancies. The template design tools are actually better than PandaDoc's, but the CRM integrations are weaker.

Proposify is comparable to PandaDoc at similar pricing ($49/user/month for their Business tier). Slightly better template design tools, slightly worse integrations. It's a lateral move, not really cheaper. The main reason to choose Proposify over PandaDoc is if you prioritize design flexibility and client-facing aesthetics over workflow automation and integrations. Their templates look better out of the box, but you'll spend more time on manual work.

DocuSign is the standard for e-signatures but it's not built for proposals. If you just need signatures on contracts, it works great. Pricing starts at $10/month for individuals, $40/user/month for teams. Integrations are solid but you're building documents elsewhere (Word, Google Docs) and just using it for signatures. This is the right choice if your documents are simple and don't change much deal-to-deal. Create your template once, send it through DocuSign, collect signatures. No need for proposal software.

HelloSign (now Dropbox Sign) is another pure e-signature tool at $15/month for individuals, $25/user/month for teams. Cleaner interface than DocuSign, fewer features. If you just need basic e-signatures without the enterprise features, this is cheaper and easier to use.

Qwilr is a proposal tool focused on beautiful, web-based proposals instead of PDFs. Pricing is similar to PandaDoc ($35-$75/user/month depending on tier). The proposals look modern and interactive, but tracking and analytics are weaker. Best for creative agencies and consultancies where aesthetics matter more than workflow automation.

PandaDoc's actual competition is Proposify and Better Proposals. DocuSign and HelloSign are for a different use case (contracts and agreements, not sales proposals). Qwilr is for teams that prioritize design over functionality.

If you're bootstrapping and can't justify $49/user, honestly just use Google Docs or Word for proposals and DocuSign for signatures. It's clunky but it's nearly free. Once you're sending 20+ proposals a month and closing $50K+ in deals, then invest in proper proposal software. The ROI isn't there until you hit volume.

The Contracts and Proposals Most People Actually Need

Most service businesses and agencies don't need elaborate proposals with conditional logic and payment processing. They need a clear scope of work, deliverables, timeline, price, and payment terms. That's it. You can put this in a 3-page Google Doc.

I've closed millions in agency deals using simple proposals and contracts. The fancy software helps at scale, but it's not what closes deals. The offer, the clarity, and the timing matter way more than whether your proposal has animated graphics and embedded videos. Focus on making your offer compelling before you worry about proposal software.

If you're figuring out contracts for the first time, read my guide on how to write a contract. It covers the essential elements every service contract needs and the mistakes that actually get you in trouble. Most contract problems come from vague scope definition and unclear payment terms, not from lacking proposal software.

For AI-assisted proposal writing, I've got proposal AI templates that can speed up the initial draft. You still need to customize for each prospect, but it beats staring at a blank page. The AI handles the structure and filler content, you focus on the specific details of the deal.

What I Actually Use

I use PandaDoc at the Business tier for my coaching business because I send enough proposals that the time savings justify the cost. The HubSpot integration means proposals auto-populate from deal records, and the analytics tell me when to follow up. I'm sending 20-30 proposals monthly, so the time savings add up to multiple hours per week.

But for simple service agreements and contracts, I use templates. There's no reason to pay monthly software fees for a standard contract you send 3 times a year. Build a good template once, store it in Google Drive, and use it. I have standard contracts for coaching, consulting, and agency services that I've used hundreds of times. They're in Google Docs, I fill in the client details, export to PDF, and send through DocuSign. Takes 5 minutes.

The decision point is volume and complexity. If you're sending 10+ proposals a month, closing deals over $5K, and using a CRM, proposal software pays for itself in time savings. Below that threshold, you're better off with templates and a simple e-signature tool. The break-even is somewhere around 8-10 proposals monthly at $10K+ average deal size.

The other consideration is how many people touch your documents. If it's just you, paying per-user doesn't matter. If you've got 8 people who need to create, edit, or approve proposals, suddenly you're looking at $400+/month. At that point, carefully consider who actually needs a seat versus who just needs to review the occasional document. You can often get by with 3-4 power users and have everyone else review documents as non-editor recipients.

Building Your Prospect List Before You Send Proposals

Before you worry about proposal software, you need prospects to send proposals to. Most businesses spend too much time optimizing their proposal process and not enough time filling their pipeline with qualified leads.

If you're doing outbound sales, you need a reliable way to build targeted prospect lists. I use ScraperCity's B2B email database to build lists filtered by industry, company size, job title, and location. You can export thousands of verified contacts in minutes instead of manually researching prospects. The time savings here dwarf what proposal software saves you.

For finding specific decision-maker emails, Findymail has the highest accuracy rate I've tested. You feed it company domains or LinkedIn profiles and it returns verified emails. Beats paying $1+ per credit on platforms like ZoomInfo when you're prospecting at scale.

If you're prospecting local businesses (agencies targeting restaurants, gyms, dental practices, etc.), this Maps scraper pulls business names, addresses, phone numbers, websites, and review counts from Google Maps. You can build a list of 1,000 local prospects in an hour instead of manual Google searches.

The point: proposal software matters, but only after you've got prospects to send proposals to. Too many salespeople optimize the back-end of their sales process (proposals, contracts, closing) without focusing enough on the front-end (prospecting, outreach, qualification). Get your pipeline full first, then worry about optimizing proposal creation.

PandaDoc's CRM Integrations and Why They Matter

The Business tier CRM integrations are the main reason to choose PandaDoc over cheaper alternatives. If you're not using a CRM or your CRM is just a glorified contact database you rarely update, the integrations won't matter and you shouldn't pay for them.

But if you're actually running deals through a CRM pipeline (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, etc.) and your sales team lives in the CRM, the two-way sync is incredibly valuable. When a deal hits "Proposal" stage, PandaDoc can auto-create a proposal with deal data. When a prospect signs, the deal auto-moves to "Closed Won" and the signed document attaches to the deal record. Zero manual work.

The HubSpot integration is particularly good because it syncs custom properties. If you've got custom fields in HubSpot for industry, company size, specific pain points, or proposed solution, you can pull those into your PandaDoc templates. Your proposal can dynamically change content based on the prospect's industry or show different case studies based on their company size. This level of personalization at scale is hard to replicate manually.

Salesforce integration is solid but requires more setup. You'll need to map fields correctly and potentially create custom objects depending on your Salesforce configuration. Budget 5-10 hours of admin time to get it working properly. Once set up, it's powerful, but the initial configuration is more complex than HubSpot.

Pipedrive integration is simpler but less feature-rich. Basic data sync works well, but advanced features like conditional content based on deal fields are limited. If you're using Pipedrive, you'll get the core benefits (auto-population, deal stage updates) but not the advanced personalization features.

Implementation Reality Check

Setting up PandaDoc properly takes longer than their sales team admits. You need to build your template library, set up integrations, configure workflows, and train your team. Budget 20-40 hours of setup time if you want it done right, not the "you'll be up and running in an afternoon" pitch you'll hear from their sales team.

The templates they provide are generic and obvious. You'll need to customize them heavily or build your own. I spent about 15 hours building a proper template library with all our service packages, pricing tables, case studies, and standard contract terms. This is unavoidable - generic templates look like generic templates, and prospects can tell when you're using a template without customization.

CRM integration works but you need to map fields correctly. If your CRM field names don't match PandaDoc's expected fields, you'll be doing manual fixes or writing custom mapping logic. Allocate time for testing the integration before you're sending real proposals. I recommend doing a parallel run where you continue your old process while testing PandaDoc, then fully cut over once you've verified everything works. Don't just flip the switch and hope for the best.

The learning curve for your team is moderate. Anyone comfortable with Google Docs can figure out the basics in an hour. The advanced features (conditional logic, content library, approval workflows) take longer to master. Plan on 3-5 hours of training per team member to get them proficient. Don't just assume they'll figure it out - schedule actual training sessions.

Version migration is a pain if you're moving from another proposal tool. You can't bulk-import existing templates - you'll need to recreate them in PandaDoc's editor. If you've got 20 proposal templates you actively use, that's another 10-15 hours of work. Factor this into your implementation timeline.

PandaDoc's Document Analytics and Follow-Up Timing

The document analytics feature in the Business tier is underrated. Most people focus on the CRM integration or e-signatures, but the analytics are what actually impact close rates.

PandaDoc tracks when a prospect opens your proposal, how long they spend on each page, and whether they forwarded it to anyone else. You get real-time notifications when activity happens. This lets you time your follow-ups perfectly instead of guessing.

If a prospect opens your proposal and spends 15 minutes reviewing the pricing section, call them within 30 minutes. They're actively evaluating your offer, they've got questions, and they're most likely to engage. If you wait 2 days to follow up, they've moved on to other priorities and your proposal is buried in their to-do list.

If they open it once for 30 seconds and never come back, that's a different signal. They're not interested, they're too busy, or your proposal didn't hook them. Your follow-up should be different - maybe a short email asking if they have questions, or a call to see if the timing is still right.

If they forward it to multiple people and you see 5 different viewers, that's a strong buying signal. They're socializing your proposal internally, which means they're serious. Your follow-up should offer to do a group call to answer questions from all stakeholders. Don't just send a generic "checking in" email.

The analytics also show which sections prospects spend time on. If everyone skips your company background section, remove it. If everyone reads your case studies in detail, add more. This feedback loop helps you optimize your proposals over time based on actual recipient behavior, not your assumptions about what matters.

Payment Collection and Cash Flow

The payment collection feature in PandaDoc (Business tier and up) is valuable for deals under $25K where you want to reduce friction between signature and payment. You embed Stripe or PayPal payment buttons directly in the proposal. Prospects sign and pay in one session.

For larger deals, prospects rarely pay on the spot. They need to process through AP, get internal approvals, or pay via wire or check. Payment buttons don't help much when someone is buying $100K in services - they're not putting that on a credit card in the proposal.

But for smaller deals ($1K-$10K), embedded payments significantly improve cash flow. Instead of signing a proposal, then waiting for an invoice, then processing payment (3 separate steps over potentially days or weeks), they do it all at once. I've seen days sales outstanding drop by 5-10 days when payment is embedded, which materially improves cash flow for smaller businesses.

The setup requires connecting your Stripe or PayPal account. Processing fees are standard (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction). PandaDoc doesn't take an additional cut, which is good. But on a $10,000 deal, you're paying $290 in processing fees. For some businesses, that's acceptable for the convenience and faster payment. For others, it's too expensive and they'd rather invoice and collect via ACH (which is free or low-cost).

You can also set up payment plans in PandaDoc. A prospect can sign a $12K proposal and pay $2K/month for 6 months. The payment plan is defined in the proposal, they agree to it when signing, and charges process automatically. This removes the need to manually invoice monthly and chase payment. For subscription or retainer businesses, this is valuable.

The Approval Workflow Features

Approval workflows are underutilized but incredibly valuable if you've got any compliance or review requirements. Most small businesses skip this because they don't think they need it, then run into problems when proposals get sent with incorrect pricing or terms.

If your proposals need legal review, finance approval, or manager sign-off before sending, you can build automatic workflows. Sales rep creates proposal, it auto-routes to legal, legal approves or requests changes, it routes back to the rep, rep sends to prospect. The entire approval process is tracked with timestamps and notifications.

This eliminates the "did you review this?" Slack conversations and proposals sitting in someone's inbox for days. The workflow enforces the process. If legal hasn't reviewed within 24 hours, the system can auto-escalate to their manager. You can set SLAs for each approval step.

For businesses with complex pricing (volume discounts, custom terms, non-standard deal structures), approval workflows prevent sales reps from offering deals outside of approved parameters. The rep creates a proposal with 40% discount, it auto-routes to the VP of Sales for approval because anything over 30% requires executive sign-off. This prevents margin erosion and unauthorized discounting.

You can also use workflows for counter-party approvals. If a prospect requests changes to terms, those changes can route to your legal team for approval before you send the revised proposal. This prevents you from accidentally agreeing to problematic terms.

Deal Rooms and Complex B2B Sales

Deal rooms are a Business tier feature that most people don't understand until they need them. If you're selling to SMBs with one decision-maker, you don't need deal rooms. If you're selling to enterprises with 5-10 stakeholders, deal rooms are invaluable.

A deal room is a shared workspace for a specific deal. Instead of emailing proposals and documents back and forth, you create a room and invite all stakeholders. The proposal, supporting documents, case studies, security documentation, and pricing spreadsheets all live in one place. Prospects can comment, ask questions, and loop in additional stakeholders without endless email chains.

Everything is tracked. You can see who accessed the room, which documents they viewed, how long they spent on each, and what comments they left. This visibility helps you understand the internal sales process on the buyer's side. If the CFO spent 20 minutes reviewing your pricing but the CTO never looked at your technical documentation, you know where to focus your follow-up.

Deal rooms also solve the "forwarding" problem in complex sales. If a prospect forwards your proposal email to their team, you lose visibility into who's reviewing it and what questions they have. If they share a deal room link instead, you maintain visibility and control. You can see exactly who's engaged and who hasn't looked at anything yet.

For long sales cycles (3-6 months), deal rooms keep everything organized in one place. Instead of prospects digging through months of email to find that case study you sent, it's in the deal room. This reduces friction and keeps momentum going through a long evaluation process.

When to Upgrade from Essentials to Business

The question most teams face is whether to start with Essentials at $19/user or jump straight to Business at $49/user. Here's how to decide.

If you don't use a CRM or your CRM is just a contact list you barely update, start with Essentials. The main value of Business is CRM integration, and if you're not running deals through a CRM pipeline, you won't benefit from it. Essentials gives you e-signatures and basic proposal creation, which might be all you need.

If you do use a CRM actively and you're sending 10+ proposals monthly, start with Business. You'll outgrow Essentials in weeks and wish you'd started with the right tier. The migration from Essentials to Business isn't hard (just an upgrade), but you'll waste time learning Essentials features you don't need and then relearning the Business features.

If you need to track proposal engagement for follow-up timing, you need Business. The analytics alone can improve close rates by 10-20% if you use them properly. That ROI pays for the upgrade immediately.

If multiple people touch your proposals (sales creates, manager approves, ops reviews), you need Business for the approval workflows. Without them, you're coordinating via Slack or email, which is slow and error-prone.

If you collect payment through proposals, you need Business. Payment processing is not available on Essentials. If reducing friction between signature and payment matters for your business model, Business is required.

The only scenario where Essentials makes sense long-term is if you're a solo consultant sending simple proposals that don't need CRM integration, you don't care about analytics, and you're not collecting payment through the proposal. That's a narrow use case. Most businesses that need proposal software at all need Business tier.

Final Take on PandaDoc Pricing

PandaDoc is worth it at the Business tier ($49/user/month) if you're a B2B sales team sending 10+ proposals monthly and using a CRM. The time savings on proposal creation, the CRM integration, and the analytics justify the cost. You're looking at 10-20 hours saved per month for a typical sales team, which is $750-$1,500 in labor cost at $75/hour fully-loaded rates.

It's not worth it if you're sending simple contracts that don't need customization, or if you're early-stage and sending fewer than 5 proposals a month. Use templates and a cheap e-signature tool until you hit the volume where automation matters. The break-even is around 8-10 proposals monthly.

The Essentials tier at $19/user is a trap for most teams. You can't integrate with your CRM, can't see analytics, and can't set up workflows. You'll outgrow it in a month and wish you'd just started at Business. The only exception is if you're a solo freelancer who doesn't use a CRM and just needs better-looking proposals with e-signatures.

The Starter tier with 60 documents per year is only relevant if you send fewer than 5 documents monthly and never plan to scale. At that volume, you don't need proposal software - use a template and DocuSign.

Enterprise is only relevant if you've got 50+ users, need Salesforce CPQ for complex product configurations, or have enterprise security requirements like SSO. Most companies never need it. The pricing premium doesn't justify the features unless you're at serious scale.

If you decide to go with PandaDoc, start with a 14-day trial at the Business tier to test the features that actually matter. Don't waste time on Essentials just because it's cheaper - you'll end up upgrading anyway. Test the CRM integration, build a sample template using the content library, and track a few proposals to see the analytics in action. If those features don't provide clear value in your trial, you probably don't need PandaDoc at all.

The alternative strategy is to use simple templates for now and revisit proposal software once you're at higher volume. There's no shame in using Google Docs and DocuSign when you're sending 5 proposals a month. Focus your resources on filling your pipeline and closing deals. Once you're sending 20+ proposals monthly and you've validated your sales process, then invest in proposal software to optimize the process you've proven works.