Nusii vs PDF

PDF proposals go quiet the moment you hit send

An attachment can't tell you it was opened, can't be signed without a printer and is out of date as soon as you spot a typo. A Nusii proposal is a link: you see when it's read, your client signs in the browser and every change shows up without a resend.

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The short version

PDF
PDF
A PDF is free, works everywhere and looks the same on every screen. But once it's attached to an email you can't see whether it was read, you can't change it without sending a new file, and signing it means printing or a separate e-signature tool.
Nusii
Nusii sends your proposal 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 a PDF for one-off quotes and procurement uploads. Choose Nusii if you send proposals every week and need them read, signed and paid.

I have been using Nusii for about 3 years now and it’s the most professional and easy to use proposal software I have come across. In a world where everybody sends ugly PDF proposals, using Nusii makes you stand out.

Roberto CornejoFounder & CEO, Start-Ops Mexico

Point by point

The same proposal, sent as a file or as a link

PDFs were made so a document looks the same wherever it's printed. That's useful for a contract in a filing cabinet. Selling happens on screens now, and a proposal has more to do than look the same.

Putting it together
PDF: Copy last month's file, fix the names and prices by hand, export it again and hope no old client name slipped through.
Nusii: Start from a template and your saved sections. Client names, dates and prices fill themselves in.
Sending it
PDF: An attachment that can get buried, land in spam or bounce for being too big.
Nusii: A link in an email from your own address. Nothing to download, and it reads well on a phone.
Knowing it was read
PDF: You don't, until they reply.
Nusii: A notification when they open the email and when they view the proposal, and on what kind of device.
Making changes
PDF: Export a new version, send it again and hope they open the right one.
Nusii: Edit it in Nusii and the link you already sent shows the update. Nothing to resend.
Pricing options
PDF: One fixed price, or a list of options they have to email you about.
Nusii: Optional sections and line items they can tick. The total updates as they choose.
Video
PDF: Static pages. A video becomes a link that takes your client out of the document.
Nusii: Embed a YouTube or Vimeo video, or upload your own, and it plays right inside the proposal.
Signing
PDF: Print, sign, scan and send it back, or upload it to a separate e-signature tool.
Nusii: Legally binding e-signatures in the browser, on any device. Nothing to print or install.
Getting paid
PDF: Send an invoice once it's signed, then wait for that too.
Nusii: Connect Stripe and collect a deposit as soon as they sign.
Following up
PDF: A calendar reminder and a guess at the right moment.
Nusii: Follow up while they're reading, with reminders for proposals that sit too long.

What a link can do

A PDF is finished when you send it. Your deal isn’t.

Tracking

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

A PDF can't report back. You find out it was read when the client replies, if they reply. With Nusii you get an email when your client opens your email and when they open the proposal, and every view lands in the proposal's activity with the kind of device they used.

So you call while it's fresh in their mind, not three days later. 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 BrownOwner & Director, Digital Stream
Changes

Fix it without sending v4_FINAL

Spotted a typo, or your client's CFO wants the SEO work taken out? A PDF means a new export, a new email and hoping they open the right version. In Nusii you change it, 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 PDF can only list options: your client emails you which ones they want, and you send a new version with the new total. 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 HeningerPresident, 11 Amps
Signing

Signed in the browser, not at the printer

Getting a PDF signed means printing, signing, scanning and emailing it back, or paying for a separate e-signature tool. In Nusii your client types their name or draws a signature, clicks accept and you get the email straight away.

They can download the signed PDF for their records, and if you connect Stripe, they can pay a deposit right after signing.

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

Janelle HardinFounder, Dingo Integrated Marketing

What it costs

A PDF is free to make. Sending it isn’t.

Exporting a PDF costs nothing. The costs show up around it: a separate tool if you want online signatures, and the hours spent copying, re-exporting and chasing.

The software
PDF: The word processor or design tool you already have.
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
PDF: Print and scan, or pay for a separate e-signature tool.
Nusii: Included on every plan.
Tracking
PDF: Not possible.
Nusii: Included on every plan.
Deposits and reminders
PDF: A separate invoice, and your own calendar.
Nusii: Stripe deposits and automatic follow-up reminders on Agency and Business.
Your time
PDF: Copying, fixing, re-exporting and chasing, 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

I own a small design agency, and Nusii has made it easy to send a proposal and get signatures all at once. Can’t beat it for the price!

Danielle K. LambertFounder & CEO, The Snout Group

Which should you use?

An honest answer: it depends on how you sell

PDF Stick with a PDF if…

  • A client's procurement portal only accepts file uploads.
  • It's a one-off quote that nobody needs to sign.
  • You send a handful of proposals a year and never chase them.

Good fit: A freelancer who sends a few fixed-price quotes a year and gets the go-ahead by email.

What PDFs do well

  • Free with the tools you already use
  • Opens anywhere, even offline
  • Looks exactly the same on every screen and printer
  • Easy to upload to a procurement portal or archive

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.
  • More than one person on your team writes proposals.

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 instead of free
  • Themes and covers instead of a free-form page layout
  • Proposals open in a browser (clients can still save a PDF)

Still need a file?

Every Nusii proposal comes with a PDF

Some clients need a file: a procurement portal that only takes uploads, a board pack, their own records. That's fine. You can open the PDF of any proposal from its overview, and your client can save one from the proposal whenever they like.

The difference is that you still hear about it. While a proposal is waiting on a decision, every download shows up in its activity, so you know it's being passed around.

Switching

Moving from PDFs to Nusii

There's nothing to migrate in the usual sense. You bring the proposal you already send, and Nusii turns the parts you repeat into templates and sections.

What comes with you

Your words and prices
Paste your best proposal in 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, so a hand-designed InDesign layout won't carry over pixel for pixel.
Signing and sending
No more print and scan, and no attachments. You send from Nusii, from your own email address, and clients accept in the browser.

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.

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.

Nusii MCP

Give your AI assistant real proposal data

An AI assistant can summarize a PDF you upload. But a folder of PDFs can't tell it which proposals are still unsigned, what you quoted a client last spring or how many deals you won this quarter, because the files don't know.

Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot to Nusii and ask. Your assistant can answer from your real proposals, draft a new one from your templates and update the pricing on a draft. It only ever works on drafts: sending is always done by you, in Nusii.

See how Nusii MCP works

Customers who switched

Before Nusii, it was documents and guesswork

Back then, I was sending sponsorship proposals that I created in Canva. And while my conversion rate wasn’t bad, it certainly wasn’t near as good as what Nusii did for me. The integrated payment processing with Stripe means I don’t have to chase after my sponsors for their money.

Dale L. RobertsAuthor & Video Creator, Self-Publishing with Dale

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

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

PDF proposals vs Nusii: your questions

Should I still send proposals as PDFs?

Sometimes. If a client's procurement team needs a file for their portal, or you're printing for a meeting, a PDF is fine, and Nusii makes one for every proposal. For everything else a link does more: you know when it's read, your client can sign it straight away and you can fix mistakes without sending a new version.

Can you tell if a client opened a PDF proposal?

Not reliably. Once a PDF is attached to an email it's out of your hands, and read receipts are easy for the client to decline. With Nusii you're notified when your client opens the email and when they view the proposal, along with the kind of device they used.

Can my client still download a PDF from Nusii?

Yes. Your client can save a PDF of the proposal at any time, and download the signed copy after they accept. While the proposal is waiting on a decision, you'll see each download in its activity. You can open the PDF yourself from the proposal's overview too.

Can I change a proposal after I have sent it?

Yes, until your client accepts it. Edit it in Nusii and the link you already sent shows the new version, so there's nothing to resend. Once a proposal is signed it's locked, so nobody can change what was agreed.

Can I add a video to a proposal?

Not inside a PDF: the best it can do is a link that takes your client out of the document. In Nusii you paste a YouTube or Vimeo link or an embed code, or upload a video of up to 100 MB, and it plays right inside the proposal. If your client saves the PDF, the video becomes a placeholder that links to it.

Does my client need an account or any software to sign?

No. They open the link in any browser, on a phone or a computer, type their name or draw their signature and click accept. E-signatures in Nusii are legally binding.

How much does Nusii cost compared to sending PDFs?

Making a PDF costs nothing extra, but e-signatures usually mean a separate tool, and the real cost is the time spent copying, re-exporting and chasing. Nusii starts at $29 a month with e-signatures and tracking included, and every plan comes with a 14-day free trial and a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Can I turn my existing PDF proposals into Nusii templates?

Yes, and it's quick: paste your content in once, save the parts you reuse as 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.

Is a proposal link secure?

Each proposal gets its own private link with a random ID, so it can't be found by guessing. You can set an expiry date, after which your client sees that the proposal has expired, and archiving a proposal takes it offline.

Comparing other tools? See how Nusii stacks up against Word, Google Docs, InDesign and PandaDoc.

Send your next proposal as a link

Know when it's read, change it without a resend and get it signed in the browser.

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