Cone review: pricing, features and alternatives (2026)

Overview

Cone (GetCone) is a proposal-to-payment and practice-management tool for accountants and bookkeepers, pairing proposals with a client portal, task tracking, and invoicing.

Key features

• Proposals with automated project kick-off on acceptance
• Invoicing and payments from accepted proposals
• Client portal and client requests (Cone Practice plans)
• Task and deadline visibility for the team

Who it's for

Accountants and bookkeepers who send proposals and want a client portal, task tracking, and billing in one tool.

Where it falls short

Gaps we found in research, each linked to its source.

• Multiple signers on a proposal is a paid add-on on every plan, priced per user ($2/user/mo monthly or $17/user/yr annually). getcone.io, 2026-10
• Automated billing and payment collection, client reminders and the Zapier integration sit on Cone Propose Growth ($12/user/mo billed annually); Essentials leaves them out. getcone.io, 2026-10
• The client portal and client requests are listed under Cone Practice (Essentials and Growth), not in the Cone Propose plans, so a proposals-only subscription does not include them. getcone.io, 2026-10
• Cancelling an annual plan keeps access until the end of the billing cycle, but the amount paid for the remaining period is not refunded. getcone.io, 2026-10

Security: ISO 27001, SOC 2, and regional hosting

A security review of Cone usually starts with three questions: ISO 27001, SOC 2, and whether you can keep data in the US or the EU. We only mark a yes when a public vendor page supports it.

ISO 27001

Not listed

SOC 2

Not listed

US hosting

Not listed

EU hosting

Not listed

Slack, Teams and the rest of the stack

Cone collaboration is only as useful as the chat tools your SMEs already live in. Slack and Microsoft Teams are the two that matter on a live questionnaire.

Slack

Not listed

Microsoft Teams

Not listed

Subprocessors

For Cone, start with the big three clouds (AWS, Azure, GCP), then look at niche processors that touch answer content, call a third-party model, or record sessions.

AWS, Azure, GCP

Not listed

No named subprocessors are listed in our sourced dataset for Cone.

Topics

Industries and roles

Pages that list Cone because its published profile shows evidence of that fit.

Ratings

Pricing and value

How much does Cone cost?

Cone uses per-seat pricing, starting at $9/user/mo Cone Propose from $9/user/mo billed annually ($13/user/mo monthly), with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. Cone Practice starts at $5/user/mo billed annually on Starter, which excludes proposals.

Cone publishes a free trial, last checked Oct 2026.

On our capability model it scores 3.5 out of 5 across 9 dimensions, and G2 reviewers rate it 4.9/5 across 34 reviews. Weigh that against accounting and bookkeeping firms that want proposals and practice management together to judge whether the price fits the job.

Pricing and details verified Oct 2026. Confirm on the vendor's site before you buy.

Who should pick Cone, and who should skip it

Pick it if you fit this profile: accountants and bookkeepers who send proposals and want a client portal, task tracking, and billing in one tool. Where it earns its place: Ties proposals to project kick-off and invoicing for accounting firms.

Look elsewhere if this limitation is a deal-breaker: Multiple signers is a paid add-on on every plan, billed per user. Also look around if rfps is central to how you work (0/3 here). In that case, one of the Cone alternatives may fit better.

Bottom line

Best use case in one line: Accounting and bookkeeping firms that want proposals and practice management together.

Similar tools

Loopio, AutoRFP.ai, and Responsive come first as category benchmarks, followed by the closest peers on the job Cone is hired for (shared categories and tags, plus aligned capabilities). The snapshot above already scores each job. The notes below say where each tool is stronger, lighter, or a match.

Loopio (4.6/5, Custom (~$20K+/yr est.)). Best for large enterprise teams with high response volume and a mature content library. Leads Cone on RFPs, DDQs, and AI drafting. Audience: Teams in SaaS, tech, financial services, and healthcare answering high volumes of RFPs, RFIs, DDQs, and security questionnaires. Watch-out: No public prices: the entry Foundations plan includes 10 seats, and multi-step reviews start one tier up on Enhanced.

AutoRFP.ai (4.9/5, $899/mo). Best for software and finance teams answering structured RFPs in Word and Excel who want accuracy-first drafts, responses written to win, and a workflow that is easy to run. Leads Cone on RFPs, DDQs, and AI drafting. Audience: Software and finance response teams whose RFPs come in as Word or Excel files and who want accuracy-first drafts, winning responses with every line cited to a source, a person, or the AI, and a workflow that is easy to run. Watch-out: Built for structured, source-cited answers rather than creative writing on long-form responses. For persuasive multi-page narrative, AutogenAI is built for that prose job.

Responsive (4.6/5, $10,000 (Emerging edition)). Best for enterprise teams with complex approval chains and heavy integration requirements. Leads Cone on RFPs, DDQs, and AI drafting. Audience: Enterprise sales and proposal teams that need the widest workflow across RFPs, RFIs, DDQs, and security questionnaires. Watch-out: Quoted by edition, user count, and add-ons, with a 12-month minimum term as standard and no free trial.

Ignition (3.7/5, $39/mo). Best for accounting and service firms that want proposals and billing joined up. Matches Cone on RFPs and DDQs, and leads on AI drafting. Audience: Service-based businesses, especially accountants and bookkeepers, who want engagement letters and billing in one flow. Watch-out: Internal proposal reviews and approvals only arrive on Pro+ ($399/mo billed annually).

Nusii (3.6/5, $29/mo). Best for agencies and consultants who want simple, multilingual proposals at a clear price. Matches Cone on RFPs and DDQs, and leads on AI drafting. Audience: Creative and professional-services agencies sending client proposals, often across languages and currencies. Watch-out: Active proposals are capped at 5 on Freelancer and 20 on Agency.

Proposable (3.6/5, $19/user/mo). Best for sales teams that want a simple builder with solid recipient analytics. Matches Cone on RFPs, DDQs, and AI drafting. Audience: Sales teams and managers who want quick proposal creation with tracking and approval controls. Watch-out: Solo allows 5 proposal deliveries a month, with no Stripe payments or team collaboration.

LOLoopioContent-library-first RFP response managementRFP ResponseDDQSecurity QuestionnairesLoopio is an established RFP response management platform built around a tagged, versioned answer library and multi-step review workflows. Loopio says more than 1,700 companies use it.from Custom (~$20K+/yr est.)4.6AUAutoRFP.aiAccuracy-first, AI-native, source-grounded platform for RFPs, security questionnaires, and DDQsRFP ResponseDDQAI-NativeAutoRFP.ai is the accuracy-first platform for writing winning responses to RFPs, security questionnaires, and DDQs. Every answer is written from content your team has approved and shows the sources behind it, in a workflow that is easy to run: the library files each approved answer on its own.from $899/mo4.9REResponsiveEnterprise response management from intake to submissionRFP ResponseDDQSecurity QuestionnairesResponsive (formerly RFPIO) is a dedicated response-management platform covering RFPs, DDQs, and security questionnaires with a wide intake-to-submission workflow.from $10,000 (Emerging edition)4.6IGIgnitionProposals plus billing for service firmsProposal ManagementIgnition ties proposals to billing for service businesses, especially accounting firms: send a proposal, sign the engagement, then automate invoicing and collection from the same agreement.from $39/mo3.7NUNusiiSimple, multilingual proposals for agenciesProposal ManagementNusii is a lightweight proposal tool for agencies and consultants, with published pricing from $29/mo, localization in dozens of languages, and multi-currency handling for international clients.from $29/mo3.6PRProposableProposals with a focus on trackingProposal ManagementProposable is a straightforward proposal builder for sales teams, with a content library, e-signatures, approval controls, and analytics on how recipients interact with each document.from $19/user/mo3.6