SHARE

6 Best Contract Management Software for Salespeople 2022

Name: PandaDoc
Item: PandaDoc
Rating: 4.3
Author: Sam Rinko

Written By

Sam Rinko

Mar 31, 2022

2 minute read

Selling Signals content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

Contract management software, or contract lifestyle management (CLM) systems, are web-based platforms that help businesses create, send, and manage contracts while also providing a searchable repository in which to store them. The top tools offer features that streamline contract turnaround, such as templates and esignatures. To help you choose the right one for your business, we vetted top platforms and wrote up evaluations for the ones that scored the highest.

Here are the six best contract management software platforms for salespeople:

PandaDoc: Best contract management software for features and cost (free starting price)
DocuSign: Best software option for contract management automation (30-day free trial)
Zoho Contracts: Best free contract management option with upgrades (free starting price)
Outlaw: Best contract management software for reports and dashboards (call for quote)
HoneyBook: Best software with a client portal for contracts and payments (7-day free trial)
Pipedrive: Best CRM platform and contract management software in one (14-day free trial)

If you also need a platform to help you create and send quality proposals before drafting a contract, check out our guide to the best proposal software. However, if you're just looking for esignature features rather than a full-blown contract management solution, visit our article on the best electronic signature software. Otherwise, continue reading below.

How We Evaluated the Best Contract Management Software

In our independent evaluation of the top contract management software, we looked at over a dozen options based on five weighted scoring criteria, each of which comprised multiple subcriteria. We scored each sales software to reach a total of five for each subcategory, then calculated their overall scores to determine a winner. Each option's primary use case rounded out our analysis.

Evaluation Criteria

Quality contract management software help businesses create and manage contracts at an affordable price, so our scoring placed the most emphasis on cost and core features. We prioritized ease of use and customization next, followed by customer support, so sellers can easily use and personalize the platform, and receive help when needed.

Methodology weights

Cost 30%

Core Features 30%

Ease of Use 20%

Customization 15%

Customer Support 5%

Note: All per-user prices are with a one-year commitment unless noted.

Per our evaluation, PandaDoc offers the best overall value for those seeking contract management software, and it also earned the highest subscore for cost. DocuSign received second place overall and tied for the top spot for core features. Keep reading to learn about each company’s pricing, use case, and key features.

PandaDoc: Best Overall for Features & Cost

Offers the best contract management software feature set for the price.

Price Range: Free to $49+ per user, per month (14-day free trial)

Overall Rating

4.3

Cost

4.2

Core Features

4.8

Ease of Use

4.3

Customization

4.0

Customer Support

4.1

Pros

Many clause and contract templates
Advanced analytics and reporting
Drag and drop document editor

Cons

Customer support can be unresponsive
Free plan has only a few integrations
Approval workflows tricky to set up

PandaDoc is document management software that helps businesses create, monitor, and esign contracts. Along with seamless CRM integrations, it offers a large library of legal clauses and templates. You can find relevant contracts, customize them, set a signing order, and email them without any esignature limits. In all tiers, activity tracking keeps you in the loop on contracts' status, making PandaDoc perfect for businesses looking for solid, affordable features.

Because PandaDoc is a versatile tool for document management, its robust features and fair pricing earned it a top spot in our guides to the best proposal software and the best electronic signature software.

PandaDoc Pricing

Free Version: Support for unlimited users, esignatures, and document uploads
Essentials: $19 per user, per month
Business: $49 per user, per month
Enterprise: Call for quote
Free Trial: 14 days

PandaDoc Key Features

Template Library: Choose from hundreds of contract templates and clauses to create personalized, legally binding contracts.
Approval Workflows: Replicate and enforce your existing contract approval process and rules with permissions and workflow automation.
Drag and Drop Document Editor: Easily create your contracts with a simple drag and drop user interface.
CRM and Zapier Integrations: WIth the Business package, PandaDoc will integrate with 10+ CRMs and other tools through Zapier.
Collaboration Tools: Make comments on the contract for team members to see or use online chat to negotiate with clients.

DocuSign: Best for Contract Automation

Facilitates automation throughout the contract management lifecycle to improve efficiency and reduce errors.

Price Range: Call for quote (30-day free trial)

Overall Rating

3.8

Cost

3.1

Core Features

4.9

Ease of Use

2.7

Customization

4.4

Customer Support

3.6

Pros

Offline sending and signing supported
Offers a lengthy free trial
Meets global security standards

Cons

Additional cost for customer support
No pricing transparency for CLM
Hard to set up approval workflows

DocuSign is a digital agreement platform offering powerful workflows. Its CLM product can tell you when a contract is up for renewal, then autopopulate customer data from your CRM into a template. During negotiations, it will flag risky verbiage and suggest changes, and after signing, it'll auto-store the contract in a central location and update your customer's CRM record. This makes DocuSign great for those looking to heavily automate their contract processes.

DocuSign's esignature capabilities also merited the top spot in our review of the best electronic signature software. Check it out to learn more about DocuSign eSignature, which is included in DocuSign CLM.

DocuSign Pricing

DocuSign CLM: Call for quote
Free Trial: 30 days

DocuSign Key Features

Multi-Language Support: Recipients can sign contracts in 44 languages and users can send them in 14, fostering global partnerships.
Centralized Repository: Save, tag, and organize contracts in a filterable and searchable online location to easily find documents.
Contract Agreement Workflows: Create custom contract agreement workflows to eliminate bottlenecks and increase compliance.
Auto-Populating Document Templates: Create templates that automatically fill in data from other systems and supported languages.
Clause Library: Select from a pre-approved clause library to make changes to the contract during negotiation.

Zoho Contracts: Best Free Plan With Upgrades

Allows three users to manage five contracts per month for free or upgrade for more features and documents.

Price Range: Free to $65 per user, per month (15-day free trial)

Overall Rating

3.8

Cost

3.2

Core Features

4.8

Ease of Use

4.2

Customization

2.8

Customer Support

2.9

Pros

Feature-rich free version
Easy to set up and use
Provides 24/7 customer support

Cons

Lowest paid plan is pricey
Zoho CRM integration only in top plan
Less security and privacy in lower tiers

Zoho Contracts is a contract management tool within Zoho's product suite. While it offers paid plans for the most functionality, its free version provides the key features most small businesses need: a contract editor with fillable fields, collaborative editing, approval workflows, esignature reminders, and more. Upgrading gives you access to security and data privacy tools, Zoho CRM integration, and additional documents, but the free plan is a good place to start.

Zoho Contracts includes access to Zoho Sign, which we found to be one of the best electronic signature software.

Zoho Contracts Pricing

Free Version: Support for 3 users and 5 contracts per month
Standard: $50 per user, per month; 25 monthly contracts per user
Professional: $65 per user, per month; unlimited contracts per user
Free Trial: 15 days

Zoho Contracts Key Features

Native Esignature: Zoho Contracts includes Zoho Sign, so you can receive notifications when your customers sign or send reminders when needed.
Editing and Commenting: Sellers and buyers can suggest changes to facilitate collaboration and negotiation, and you can add comments for only your team to see.
Document Editor: Create a contract with Zoho Writer, incorporate certain clauses from a library, and enter values into fillable fields.
Renewal Reminders and Letters: Receive an alert when a contract is due for renewal, then have the platform generate a renewal letter using details from your contract.
Zoho CRM Integration: In the Professional tier, integrate Zoho Contracts with Zoho CRM to bring customer information into a contract from their contact record.

Outlaw: Best for Contract Reporting

Tracks contract information in a secure database and provides insights and analytics through robust reporting.

Price Range: Call for quote

Overall Rating

3.5

Cost

1.2

Core Features

4.9

Ease of Use

4.6

Customization

2.0

Customer Support

3.8

Pros

Top-notch security
Feature-rich platform
Easy to set up and use

Cons

No pricing transparency
No free trial or free-for-life plan
Few native integrations

Outlaw is a contract management platform offering rich features to draft, send, sign, and store documents. Contracts in its searchable database can be filtered by deal status, template, date, and more. Robust reporting features show contracts out for small to large deals plus average close time, contested clauses, seller performance, and more. You can also view reports in a dashboard, making Outlaw right for businesses wanting real-time feedback on their contracts.

Outlaw Pricing

Flat-Rate Core User: Call for quote

Outlaw Key Features

Clause Libraries: Autosave your top clauses, create links between templates, and allow your draft to complete clauses for you.
Live Edits and Comments: Resolve your customers' redlined contract changes in real time and respond to threaded comments in the contract.
Advanced Security: Keep all versions of your documents safe and private between you and your customer, and accept or decline access requests.
CRM Integrations: Use native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive or use Zapier for third-party CRM integrations.
Compatible Esignatures: Allow your customers to sign your contracts from anywhere using any device.

HoneyBook: Best Client Portal for Contracts

Offers a client portal where your customers can access updated contracts, make payments, and view past payments.

Price Range: $9.00 to $32.50 per month for 1 to unlimited users (7-day free trial)

Overall Rating

3.5

Cost

2.6

Core Features

4.2

Ease of Use

3.9

Customization

3.2

Customer Support

5.0

Pros

Full-service client portal
High customer support reviews
Starter plan is very affordable

Cons

Teams can't use Starter plan
No free-for-life option
Not highly customizable

HoneyBook is a CMS that helps users organize their clients and contracts. Send a contract to your customer for signing, then follow up with an invoice payable via HoneyBook's secure client portal. The customer can see proposals, contracts, and transactions associated with the project and send you messages in the portal, so HoneyBook is a good option for small businesses that want to make updated contracts and files easily accessible to their customers.

If you're looking for software to help you build and send proposals in addition to contracts, HoneyBook earned a top spot in our editorial review of the best proposal software, as well.

HoneyBook Pricing

Starter: $9.00 per month for one user
Unlimited Annual: $32.50 month for unlimited users
Free Trial: 7 days

HoneyBook Key Features

Reminders and Notifications: After sending a contract, track its activity and follow up to encourage signing or negotiations.
Branded Client Portal: Replace HoneyBook's branding with your own logo, imagery, colors, business name, and preferred verbiage.
Internal Billing System: Send an invoice for your customer to pay directly through HoneyBook's client portal.
Custom Templates: Start drafting your contract using HoneyBook's templates or save your typical contracts as templates to use again.
Smart Fields: Autofill your contract with key information about your company, your customer, and the deal you're working on together.

Pipedrive: Best CRM & Contract Software

Sales CRM with contract management functions included in the top tiers and offered as an add-on in lower tiers.

Price Range: $14 to $99 per user, per month (14-day trial)

Overall Rating

3.5

Cost

2.2

Core Features

4.4

Ease of Use

3.5

Customization

4.5

Customer Support

3.7

Pros

Contracts included in top levels
Import contract data from CRM
CRM offers intuitive UI

Cons

Contracts cost extra in low plans
Might pay for unused features
Contract reporting is lacking

Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM with a Smart Docs add-on for contract management. Create a shareable template from a commonly used contract, then Pipedrive will autofill certain fields using your product catalog or a contact record. After sending a contract, track its activity and send reminders from within the CRM to encourage your customer to sign or negotiate. Pipedrive Smart Docs is a useful tool for those needing a way to manage their contacts and contracts.

In addition to its contract management capabilities, we found Pipedrive and its Smart Docs add-on to be one of the best electronic signature software for those looking to combine CRM functions with esignature functionality.

Pipedrive Pricing

Essential: $14 per user, per month
Advanced: $29 per user, per month
Professional: $49 per user, per month
Power: $64 per user, per month
Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
Smart Docs Add-On: $32.50 per company, per month in Essential and Advanced; included in Professional and Enterprise
Free Trial: 14 days for Pipedrive and Smart Docs
Additional sales and marketing add-ons also available for purchase

Pipedrive Key Features

Shareable Templates: Make a template out of your most used contracts, and share them with the entire sales team to promote consistency and standards.
Reminders and Notifications: Send reminders to customers so they're more likely to sign a contract quickly, and get an alert when it's been signed so you can move on to next steps.
Cloud Imports and Uploads: Import a contract from any Google Drive application or from Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint, or upload a PDF.
DocuSign Integration: After finalizing a contract draft, create an envelope in DocuSign, send it, and receive updates when it's been opened and signed.
Autofillable Fields: Automatically complete template fields and tables using relevant product or contact information.

For a closer look at Pipedrive, check out our Pipedrive review, which incorporates user feedback and our own analysis. To learn more about Pipedrive and Smart Docs, visit their site:

Bottom Line: Best Contract Management Software

Contract management software helps you create and negotiate contracts to sign and gives you a place to organize and store them after you close a sale. The right contract management software for you depends on your business’s particular lead nurturing needs and budget. That said, the above list is a good place to begin your search. To learn more about what this software can do for you, consider scheduling a live demo for one of the platforms mentioned above.

Sam Rinko

Sam is a former SaaS sales rep turned freelance writer. He spent his career selling real estate technology to C-suite executives before switching over to blogging, where he now covers sales, marketing, and small business topics. Sam specializes in lead generation, lead nurturing, and deal closing articles for Selling Signals. When he’s not researching the latest sales trends, he’s either penning short stories, hiking, or reading in NYC’s Washington Square Park.

6 Best Contract Management Software for Salespeople 2022

How We Evaluated the Best Contract Management Software

Evaluation Criteria

Bottom Line: Best Contract Management Software

Sam Rinko

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories