Alternative to Word

The alternative to Word that’s built for proposals

Word is a great place to write. But a proposal in Word starts as last month's file, survives a careful find and replace and leaves as a PDF you can't follow. Nusii starts every proposal from a template that fills in your client's details, and sends it as a link you can track, change and get signed.

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The short version

Word
DOC Word is the writing tool everyone already has, with total control over layout, Track Changes, and in Microsoft 365, Copilot and built-in eSignature. But it's a document editor: every proposal starts as a copy of the last one, and once it's sent you can't see what happens to it.
Nusii
Nusii is built only for proposals. Templates and reusable sections fill in your client's details, and the proposal goes out as a link: you see when it's opened, edits show up without a resend, and your client picks options, signs and pays a deposit in the browser.

Stick with Word for long contracts your lawyers redline. Choose Nusii if you send proposals every week and want them out faster, read and signed.

Before Nusii I was copying and pasting text across my Microsoft Word documents. Now I can save any section as reusable content and put together a proposal in a fraction of the time.

Maurice CherryFounder, 3eighteen media

Why switch

Why people look for an alternative to Word

Word is a brilliant writing tool. A proposal isn't just writing, though: it's a sales process with a document in the middle.

  1. 1

    Hunting for the right old file

    Every proposal starts by digging up last month's version and saving a copy, and hoping it was the good one.

  2. 2

    Find and replace roulette

    Swap the client's name everywhere and one old name still slips through, usually right where the client will see it.

  3. 3

    Formatting that fights back

    Paste a section from another document and its fonts, bullets and spacing come along for the ride.

  4. 4

    Then it’s just a file

    Export a PDF, attach it, send it and wait. You won't know if it was read, and every change means a new version.

Point by point

Writing in Word vs sending with Nusii

Word does the writing well. Everything around the writing is where proposals slow down.

Starting a proposal
Word: Open last month's proposal, save a copy and start replacing names, dates and prices.
Nusii: Pick a template. Your client's name, company and details fill themselves in.
Reusing content
Word: Copy and paste from old files, then fix the fonts, bullets and spacing.
Nusii: Save any section (about us, case studies, terms) and drop it into any proposal, already styled.
Sending it
Word: Export a PDF and attach it, or share a link to the file in OneDrive.
Nusii: A link in an email from your own address that reads well on a phone.
Knowing it was read
Word: Word doesn't tell you when your client opens it.
Nusii: A notification when they open the email and when they view the proposal, and on what kind of device.
Making changes
Word: Edit, export again and send a new version.
Nusii: Edit it in Nusii and the link you already sent shows the update.
Pricing options
Word: A fixed table. Any change your client asks for means a new version.
Nusii: Optional sections and line items they can tick, with a total that updates as they choose.
Video
Word: Online videos play inside Word, but not once it's exported to PDF.
Nusii: Videos play right inside the proposal your client opens.
Signing
Word: Built-in eSignature if your company is on Microsoft 365 and an admin turns it on, at $2 a request. Otherwise print and scan, or another tool.
Nusii: Legally binding e-signatures on every plan, right in the proposal. Nothing to set up.
Getting paid
Word: A separate invoice once it's signed.
Nusii: Connect Stripe and collect a deposit as soon as they sign.

After the writing

Word stops at the document. Your deal doesn’t.

Tracking

Know when it’s read, and follow up at the right moment

A Word document can't tell you anything once it's sent. Email it, or a PDF of it, and you find out it was read when the client replies. With Nusii you get an email when your client opens your email and when they open the proposal, and every view lands in its activity with the kind of device they used.

So you call while it's fresh in their mind. And when a proposal is still waiting after a few days, Nusii reminds you to check in.

I can see when a prospective client opens the email and views the proposal, which is really useful for following up. And getting that notification when they accept? Yippee! That never gets old.

Russell Brown, Owner & Director at Digital Stream
Changes

Change it without sending version 4

In Word, a change means editing, exporting again and emailing a new version, then hoping your client opens the right one. In Nusii you change the proposal, and the link you already sent shows the new version, totals and all.

Once your client signs, the proposal locks, so nobody can change what was agreed.

Pricing options

Let your client choose, and watch the total add up

A pricing table in Word is fixed: if your client wants the extra, they email you and you send a new version. In Nusii, extras go in optional sections or line items. Your client ticks what they want and the total updates right there.

The upsell happens while they read, instead of in a week of back-and-forth.

Great way to templatize your proposals. If your service offering is like Tetris pieces and you have to mix and match and keep track of, account for, and do all the math to track each one, Nusii is your solution. Give it a shot!

Mark Heninger, President at 11 Amps
Signing

Signed on the page they’re reading

Word can request e-signatures now, if your company is on Microsoft 365, the document lives in SharePoint and an admin has switched it on. Each request costs $2, and your client signs a PDF copy. Without that setup, it's print, sign and scan.

In Nusii, signing comes with every plan. Your client types their name or draws a signature right in the proposal, clicks accept and you get the email straight away. Connect Stripe and they can pay a deposit right after.

My clients really enjoy being able to sign electronically instead of printing, scanning, or emailing documents back and forth.

Janelle Hardin, Founder at Dingo Integrated Marketing

What it costs

Word is already paid for. Your time isn’t.

Most teams already pay for Microsoft 365, so Word feels free. The cost is in the hours around it: finding the right file, fixing the formatting, exporting and chasing, plus $2 for every signature request if you use Word's eSignature.

The software
Word: Comes with Microsoft 365, which most teams already pay for.
Nusii: Freelancer $29 a month (1 user, 5 active proposals), Agency $49 (3 users, 20 active proposals), Business $129 (5 users, 50+). Two months free when you pay yearly.
E-signatures
Word: $2 per signature request through an Azure subscription, once an admin sets it up. Or a separate e-signature tool.
Nusii: Included on every plan.
Tracking
Word: Not available.
Nusii: Included on every plan.
Deposits and reminders
Word: A separate invoice, and your own calendar.
Nusii: Stripe deposits and automatic follow-up reminders on Agency and Business.
Your time
Word: Finding, copying, fixing and exporting, for every proposal.
Nusii: Templates, reusable sections and variables do the repetitive part.

The time is the real cost. Strategica Partners measured theirs: sending proposals through Nusii saved them an average of 2 hours per proposal. At 10 proposals a month, that's 20 hours back for the price of the $49 Agency plan.

Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial and a 60-day money-back guarantee. Compare the plans

In the past I used a less than ideal combination of Word templates, PDFs and email. Since using Nusii I’ve found that 75% of my proposals are done within 5 minutes of creating a new one!

Kevin GriffinGriffin Consulting Inc.

Which should you use?

An honest answer: it depends on how you sell

DOC Stick with Word if…

  • Your proposals are long contracts that lawyers redline with Track Changes.
  • You only send a handful of proposals a year.
  • Every page needs a hand-built layout.

Good fit: A consultant who sends a few long proposals a year and negotiates them line by line.

What Word does well

  • Everyone already has it and knows how to use it
  • Total control over layout and typography
  • Track Changes and comments for negotiating line by line
  • Copilot and built-in eSignature in Microsoft 365

Choose Nusii if…

  • You send proposals every week and need to know which ones are being read.
  • Work only starts once the client has signed.
  • You offer packages or extras and want clients to pick them.
  • Several people on your team write proposals, and they should all look the same.

Good fit: An agency or professional services team that sends proposals every week and needs them read, signed and paid.

The trade-offs

  • A monthly subscription on top of Microsoft 365
  • Themes and covers instead of a free-form page layout
  • No Track Changes; clients ask questions or reject with a note instead

Switching

Moving from Word to Nusii

Your Word proposals come with you as content, not files. Paste the best one in once and Nusii turns the parts you repeat into templates and reusable sections.

What comes with you

Your best proposal
Paste it into Nusii once and save it as a template. Every new proposal starts from there.
Your boilerplate
About us, case studies and terms become reusable sections you drop into any proposal.
Your look
Your logo, brand colors and a cover image appear on every proposal you send.

What works differently

The layout
Nusii uses themes rather than a blank page. No more fiddling with margins and page breaks, but a hand-built Word layout won't carry over exactly.
Client details
Names and companies come from variables, so you write {{ client.first_name }} once instead of replacing names in every proposal.

How we help

  • Most people are set up within a day.
  • Free proposal templates to start from if you'd rather not paste your own.
  • Our support team answers by email at support@nusii.com.

Start from a free proposal template or see how templates work.

Before Nusii, our proposals were spread across documents and templates that were hard to keep consistent. Now we build from reusable sections, so every proposal looks professional and on-brand, and the team spends less time formatting and more time on the actual scope.

Aswin KumarIntegrator, CRMified

Nusii MCP

Give your AI assistant real proposal data

Copilot in Word can draft a proposal from your old documents. But the result is still a file, and a folder of files can't tell an assistant which proposals are unsigned, what you quoted a client last spring or how many deals you won this quarter.

Nusii MCP connects Microsoft Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini to your Nusii account. Ask what's waiting on a signature, have a draft made from one of your templates or get the pricing on a draft updated. Assistants only work on drafts: sending is always done by you, in Nusii.

See how Nusii MCP works

Customers who switched

From copy and paste to templates

You could just duplicate a winning proposal for another client. You change the client that it’s assigned to and Bob’s your uncle. … It’s really just a question of reassigning it to the new client and it auto populates all of the client’s information and data into the proposal.

Julian CrasciManaging Director, Webrisor

Instead of spending hours formatting documents and creating proposals from scratch, I can put together polished, professional proposals in much less time.

Shaikh SaqibFounder & CEO, House of Smart Services

We started Jumping Rivers 10 years ago. For the first couple of years, we struggled to send, format, and track proposals. We tried a few options, then happily settled on Nusii. Simple and easy to use.

Colin GillespieCTO, Jumping Rivers

Frequently asked questions

Word vs Nusii: your questions

Can you write business proposals in Word?

Of course, and many businesses do. Word is a great writing tool. The trouble is everything around the writing: digging up old files, replacing names, fixing pasted formatting, exporting a PDF you can't follow and getting it signed. Proposal software takes care of exactly those steps.

Why use proposal software instead of Word?

Speed, visibility and signing. Templates, reusable sections and variables replace copy, paste and find and replace. Notifications tell you the moment a client opens your proposal. And e-signatures let the deal close on the same page it was read.

Does Word have e-signatures?

Yes, if your company uses Microsoft 365: Word can send a document for e-signature through SharePoint once an admin turns it on. Each request costs $2, billed through an Azure subscription, and your client signs a PDF copy that's saved back to SharePoint. Nusii includes e-signatures on every plan with nothing to set up, and your client signs right in the proposal they're reading.

Can I see when a client opens a proposal I wrote in Word?

Not from Word. Once it's emailed as a document or a PDF, there's no way to know whether it was opened. Nusii notifies you when your client opens the email and when they view the proposal, along with the kind of device they used.

What about Copilot in Word?

Copilot can draft a proposal from your old documents, and it does it well. But the result is still a Word file: no tracking, no options your client can pick and no signing on the page. Nusii MCP connects Microsoft Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini to Nusii instead, so your assistant drafts the proposal in Nusii from your templates and you send it from there.

Can I still export my proposals as PDFs?

Yes. Your clients get a link to the web version of your proposal, and both you and they can download a PDF copy at any time.

Do my clients need Word or any software to view or sign my proposal?

No. Clients open a link in any browser, on a phone or a computer, and sign online. No Word, no printing and no scanning.

Can I reuse my existing Word proposals in Nusii?

Yes. Paste your content in once, save the parts you use often as reusable sections and turn your best proposal into a template. Most people are set up within a day, and our support team is happy to help.

Comparing other tools? See how Nusii compares with sending PDFs, Google Docs, InDesign and PandaDoc.

Your next proposal, without the find and replace

Start from a template, see when it's read and get it signed in the browser.

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