Alternative to Oracle CPQ

Proposals

While you can send proposals to your clients using Oracle CPQ, it's not clear how simple the process will be. While Oracle CPQ does mention templates in their documentation, they don't mention whether you'll have to create them from scratch or not.

On the other hand, Better Proposals offers 200+ pre-written and pre-designed templates. And you can easily edit and customize them to suit your needs. On top of that, you have the option to search by industry and make sure that your proposal's design fits the job. And if you want to speed up the process of getting your proposal signed, Better Proposals has got your back. By using the digital signature feature it offers on all plans, the process of emailing back and forth is completely eliminated.

Pricing

If you want to start with Oracle CPQ, you'll need to ask for a quote first. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because it might be for customization reasons, but it does mean you will need to go through extra steps to get an idea of what you'll be paying. There's also no free trial, so you won't be able to try it out before you buy.

When it comes to Better Proposals, the pricing options are transparent. Depending on the size of your team and the features you need, the software will cost you as little as $19/month per user. There's also the option of setting up manager approvals with the $49/user plan. And while this plan does have a two-user minimum, at least you know what kind of an investment you’ll have to make. To top it all off, Better Proposals also offers you a free trial so you can see first hand what the software can do for your company.

Payment integrations

When it comes to collecting payment, Better Proposals makes it simpler than Oracle CPQ. Better Proposals offers three one-click payment integrations: PayPal, GoCardless, and Stripe. They're available on all plans and don't require complex configuration.

With Oracle CPQ, you'll need to go through the process of creating an integration to collect payment. This includes going into their Developer tab, generating an extension ID, packaging everything into a ZIP file, and then uploading it. And you're still not done - after you've gone through all this, you'll also need to enable the payment gateway, which is an entire process in itself.

Conclusion

While Oracle CPQ is a powerful tool for huge corporations, its complexity might not be worth it. At the end of the day, what you end up paying for it isn't only what's on your annual invoice. With the software and staff training, you could be wasting valuable resources when there's a simpler solution for your company. So, if you want a tool that unites simplicity and functionality and adapts to all company sizes and industries, consider Better Proposals. You can even try it out for free.