Getting started with QuoteCloud

Questions marketing agencies ask

Retainers, ad spend, signers, payments, questionnaires, AI, integrations and plans, answered for agencies, studios, PR firms and freelancers.

Answers to the questions marketing agencies, creative studios, PR firms and freelancers ask about QuoteCloud: pricing retainers by channel and tier, showing ad spend apart from fees, several signers, the first payment on signing, onboarding questionnaires, the AI Co-Worker, CRM and accounting integrations, templates, renewals and which plan to choose.

Retainers, tiers and ad spend

How do I price a marketing retainer in QuoteCloud?

Put each channel in a price table as a repeating price item with its tier, deliverables and monthly fee, add one-off rows for onboarding, and optional rows for add-ons the client can tick. The table shows monthly fees, one-offs, tax and the value over the term. Save it to the content library so every proposal uses the same tiers.

Can clients choose between good, better and best?

Yes. Packages work as a single-choice group, such as a PR firm's Launch, Profile and Always-on retainers, and choosing one changes the monthly line and the totals. Add-ons can be optional rows the client ticks. Your team sets the options and defaults; the client makes the choice in the proposal.

How should a proposal show the client's ad spend?

As the client's own estimate, in its own block outside every total, so nobody mistakes it for your fee. The client pays the ad platforms directly; QuoteCloud doesn't collect ad spend or connect to any ad platform. Your management fee stays in the price table, and any forecast is labelled as your agency's own estimate.

Can I hide my costs and margins from the client?

Yes. Price tables can carry cost and margin columns that only your team sees, for example a freelancer's or contractor's cost behind a content or video line. The client sees the price; your team sees what the work costs. Price tables are on Essentials and up.

Signing and the first payment

Can the marketing lead and finance both sign?

Yes. Add every signer the client needs, such as the head of marketing and the finance director, or both owners of a small business. Each gets their own link and signature block, no account is needed, and you see who has signed. Signers aren't numbered. Every signed document carries a certificate of authenticity and an audit trail.

Does QuoteCloud bill monthly retainer fees?

No. Monthly fees appear in the agreement as repeating charges with the term, and the client pays one amount on signing, such as the first month plus onboarding, through your Stripe or PayPal account. Later months are your agency's own invoices. QuoteCloud doesn't run instalments, recurring billing, payment reminders or auto-renewal.

What can I take as payment on signing?

A percentage of the total, a fixed amount or the full amount, set per template, on Essentials and up. Agencies often take the first month plus onboarding for a retainer, 40 to 50 percent for a project or campaign, and set-up fees in full. The client pays by card through Stripe or by PayPal.

Do retainers renew automatically?

No. Each agreement has an expiry date, and the Expiring Soon filter shows which retainers end soon. After your own review meeting, you re-issue the agreement as a new version or bulk-send a renewal offer, and the client signs the new term. If nobody signs, the old retainer ends on its date.

Where to go next

Each answer has a page that shows it working inside a sample agency's documents.

  • Retainers by channel and tier

    SEO, social, paid, email and content as tiers, with add-ons the client ticks.

    Retainer proposals
  • Ad spend apart from your fee

    The client's media budget as their own estimate, outside every total.

    Ad spend & fees
  • Signers and the first payment

    Every signer from their own link, then the first month paid on signing.

    Sign-off & first payment
  • Questionnaires in the proposal

    The onboarding brief answered in the document the client signs.

    Onboarding questionnaires
  • Renewals after the review

    Expiry dates, Expiring Soon, a new version and bulk send.

    Renewals & reviews
  • Selling media, not services?

    Media plans, insertion orders and rate cards have their own microsite.

    Advertising & media

Content, questionnaires and AI

Can I put my onboarding questionnaire inside the proposal?

Yes, on the Business plan. The Forms block places a form inside the document, so the client answers your onboarding or brand questionnaire in the proposal they sign. It isn't a website form. The Zapier trigger Form Submitted on Document can pass the answers to your other tools. Collect passwords through your own secure process, never in the form.

Does the AI Co-Worker write proposals?

No. The AI Co-Worker, on the Business plan, helps your team draft inside the editor, for example an executive summary from discovery call notes you attach. Its text stays flagged as AI content until someone accepts, edits or rejects it, and it can make mistakes, so a person always reviews it before the proposal is sent.

Can I reuse case studies and team bios?

Yes. Save case studies, team bios, your method and scope wording in the content library, organised in company and personal folders with pinned favourites, then drag them into each proposal and tailor them. On Business, content locking stops account managers changing approved wording such as scope, revision rounds and terms.

Can my team edit a proposal together in real time?

QuoteCloud supports comments and replies on documents, so the team and the client can discuss a proposal inside it. Simultaneous editing by several people isn't something we claim. Version history, on the Business plan, keeps earlier versions when a proposal or agreement is revised.

CRM and integrations

Which CRMs does QuoteCloud work with?

Pipedrive connects directly, with native CRM integrations on the Business plan: proposals from deals and their status on the record. HubSpot and Zoho connect through Zapier, and Salesforce through Zapier or the Sync add-on. Zapier, Make and the QuoteCloud API are available on Essentials and up.

Can signed proposals reach Xero or QuickBooks?

Yes. Xero and QuickBooks Online are native integrations on the Business plan, and connect through Zapier on Essentials. Agencies use them for the invoices that follow a signed retainer, since QuoteCloud takes only the payment on signing and doesn't bill later months itself.

Does QuoteCloud connect to ad platforms or analytics?

No. QuoteCloud has no ad-platform, analytics, reporting or social scheduling integrations, and it pulls no performance data. Ad spend in a proposal is typed by your team as the client's own estimate. Performance reports for reviews come from your own tools.

Can I get a Slack message when a proposal is signed?

QuoteCloud's Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations post document updates, comments and actions for the account team. To act on a signature or a payment, use Zapier triggers such as Recipient Signed Document and Document Payment Event, and your Zap decides where the update goes, for example your CRM.

Try it with your own retainer proposal

Free for 14 days, no credit card required. We'll convert one template for you during the trial.

Which plan, by the work you do

Prices are in US dollars per user per month, from quote.cloud/pricing. Essentials and Business start with a 14-day free trial.

  • Free or Starter

    Free ($0, two documents a month) for eSignatures; Starter ($14.95) adds image blocks, the image editor and PDF export. No payments on signing.

    Compare plans
  • Essentials for freelancers and small agencies

    $39: price tables, templates, the content library, payments on signing, bulk send, expiry dates, Zapier, Make and the API.

    Payments on signing
  • Business for growing agencies

    $59: adds the Forms block, Gantt charts, content locking, version history, approvals, the AI Co-Worker and native CRM and accounting.

    The Forms block
  • Enterprise for groups

    Custom pricing with implementation support and a custom URL for larger agencies and groups.

    Implementation for agencies

Plans and getting started

Which QuoteCloud plan suits a marketing agency?

Most agencies sending retainers choose Essentials, US$39 per user a month, for price tables, templates, the content library, payments on signing, bulk send and Zapier. Business, US$59, adds the Forms block, Gantt charts, content locking, version history, approvals, the AI Co-Worker and native Pipedrive, Xero and QuickBooks.

Is QuoteCloud suitable for freelancers?

Yes. A freelance copywriter, designer or consultant can send quotes and proposals, collect a deposit by PayPal or card on signing and keep templates for repeat work. Free covers eSignatures for two documents a month; payments on signing need Essentials. Tax can be set to nil if you aren't registered for sales tax, VAT or GST.

Is there a free trial?

Yes. Essentials and Business start with a 14-day free trial, with no credit card required. During the trial, QuoteCloud converts one of your existing proposals into a template for free on Essentials, Business and Enterprise, and paid plans include a 45-minute training session for your team.

Do you cover media buying and insertion orders?

Not on these pages. This microsite covers agencies, studios, PR firms, consultants and freelancers selling their own services. Media plans, insertion orders, rate cards and sponsorship packages are covered by QuoteCloud's advertising and media pages, which show how media sellers use QuoteCloud for those documents.

More for marketing agencies

Every page of the QuoteCloud marketing services microsite.

Your next pitch, signed and started

Free for 14 days. No credit card required.