Responsive (Previously RFPIO) Competitors & Alternatives in 2026

1. AutoRFP.ai: Best for High-Volume RFP, DDQ, and SQ Automation With Semantic Search and Exact-Format Export

AutoRFP.ai is an AI-native platform that generates accurate, winning responses to RFPs, DDQs, and SQs in minutes.

Unlike Responsive, which users say can miss context and force manual cleanup, AutoRFP.ai uses advanced AI with semantic search to auto-suggest answers by pulling from your past responses and content library so it understands meaning, not just keywords.

Used by teams at Fortune 500 companies and high-growth tech firms, AutoRFP.ai helps teams move faster, with up to 80% of drafts usable as-is with minimal edits.

Key Features

These features highlight the real advantage AutoRFP.ai has over Responsive.

1. Import and Export in the Customer’s Original Format

Upload any RFP in Word, Excel, or PDF, and AutoRFP.ai auto-parses sections, requirements, and context so the AI can draft immediately.

It also avoids common export and formatting headaches Responsive teams face by keeping outputs clean and preserving the prospect’s required format, including Excel macros, dropdown validations, and custom templates, so you can submit without reformatting. 

2. Instant First Draft Engine

AutoRFP.ai generates on-brand first drafts from your best past responses and approved internal documentation.

You skip the copy-paste loop by refining answers with quick, one-click edits instead of rewriting.

3. Libraryless Semantic Answering

AutoRFP.ai uses semantic understanding to retrieve answers by meaning, not keywords, so you’re not stuck maintaining a manual content library. 

It updates its library based on what you approve, keeping responses aligned as messaging and security details change.

4. Capacity and Win Rate Dashboard

AutoRFP.ai consolidates win rate, volume, velocity, and workload in one dashboard so you can assess capacity before committing. 

It makes it easier to forecast next quarter’s RFP load and avoid SME bottlenecks.

5. ROI Proof and Savings Tracking

AutoRFP.ai tracks automation rate, reuse, and manual effort per project to quantify time saved and efficiency gained. 

You get ROI reporting that shows where AI delivered value and where human input drove the final win.

Pricing

AutoRFP.ai provides a 30-day money-back guarantee, personalized onboarding, and tailored training so teams can launch fast. Every plan comes with unlimited users (no per-seat fees), and teams can be up and running in as little as 48 hours.

Where AutoRFP.ai Shines

• Portal questionnaire automation: Pull questions straight from portals, draft answers, then push them back in automatically. Supports Ariba, UpGuard, and Jaggaer.

  
  

• Go/no-go risk screening: Auto-check incoming RFPs against your go/no-go criteria before you invest time. Flags deal-breakers and impossible requirements early.

  
  

• Ask-a-bot Q&A: Ask once, get a sourced answer in seconds. Use it in Slack or Microsoft Teams with no tab switching.

  
  

• Broad integrations: Connect around 16 tools across SSO, knowledge bases, comms, help centers, file storage, and CRM. Keeps everything in sync.

Where AutoRFP.ai Falls Short

• Not ideal for AEC, US GovCon/defense, custom software development, or highly bespoke professional services: Responses in these sectors are often too unique to follow repeatable patterns.

Customer Reviews

Saxon W., a Senior Workforce Management Consultant, wrote in a Capterra review that, “Without AutoRFP.ai I simply wouldn’t have the time to complete RFPs regularly it saves an exceptional amount of time the responses are infinitely better than other systems because AutoRFP.ai understands context most systems I’ve used just regurgitate irrelevant answers setup was painless and the team actively works with customers and continues to innovate.”

In a Reddit thread about buying RFP software, one user said that “AutoRFP.ai isn’t bad, has a nice enough UI, is easy to manage projects in, and offers decent support. It also seemed to be significantly cheaper than competitors like Loopio and Responsive when we were shopping last year.”

Jake Phillpot, CEO of Workforce, said, “We've used AutoRFP.ai to win 50+ successful bids and plan to continue using it into the future for all bids that come through.”

Who AutoRFP.ai Is Best For

• Mid-to-large B2B SaaS: Teams handling high volumes of enterprise RFPs and RFIs that need fast, consistent first drafts, clear progress tracking, and SME ownership.

  
  

• Enterprise deal teams: RFP managers/bid writers, pre-sales engineers, and enterprise AEs coordinating SME-heavy responses across tight timelines.

  
  

• Financial services: Managed funds, insurance firms, and asset managers running high-stakes DDQs and security reviews that need sourced answers, strict approvals, and ROI reporting.

  
  

• Regulated enterprises: Healthcare, fintech, and cybersecurity teams answering compliance-heavy DDQs and security questionnaires, including portal workflows and exact-format exports.

2. Loopio: Best For Managing Cross-Functional RFP Workflows With Clear SME Ownership

Loopio is response management software for RFPs, RFIs, DDQs, and security questionnaires. As a Responsive competitor, it helps teams reuse approved answers, collaborate with SMEs, and ensure consistent responses across bids.

Key Features

• Content library: Stores approved answers so you can reuse and update them fast.

  
  

• AI drafting: Suggests initial drafts based on your existing RFP library content.

  
  

• Collaboration workflow: Assigns questions to SMEs and tracks review status end-to-end.

  
  

• Integrations: Connects with common sales and document tools to reduce copy-paste work.

Pricing

Where Loopio Shines

• Ease of use: Feels straightforward for teams adopting a library-first workflow.

  
  

• Answer consistency: Keeps messaging aligned by pulling from approved content.

Where Loopio Falls Short

• Search precision: May return broad results when you need exact matches quickly.

  
  

• Export formatting: Can require cleanup depending on your template and destination format.

  
  

• Content governance: Needs strong upkeep, or the library can get stale and duplicated.

  
  

• Learning curve: Can take time for new users, especially with advanced workflows.

Customer Reviews

Jonathan R., Director, said, “Loopio has improved our response speed with the organizational and new library stack features, giving us back valuable time to review with key stakeholders and present a polished proposal.”

Ankit J., Sr. Proposal Specialist, mentioned in his Capterra review: “Overall experience was good but not excellent. A few functionalities like interface, Database handling were good, but Export functionality and Template handling is bit of a problem. The export functionality doesn’t work properly. Always face issues with formatting changes.”

Who Is Loopio Best For

• Proposal teams: Handling recurring RFPs with lots of repeated questions.

  
  

• Sales enablement teams: Maintaining a single source of truth for approved messaging.

  
  

3. Inventive.ai: Best for AI-First Drafting From Connected Sources With Slack-Friendly Collaboration

Inventive.ai is an AI-native RFP platform that generates first drafts from your connected knowledge and keeps answers grounded with citations and confidence signals. It’s built for teams that want faster drafting without losing control over accuracy and review, making it a good Responsive alternative. 

Key Features

• Cited answer generation: Produces drafts with source citations and confidence scoring.

  
  

• Knowledge source integrations: Connects to systems like Google, Microsoft, Slack, and Salesforce.

  
  

• SME collaboration: Assigns questions, tracks progress, and supports review workflows. 

Pricing

Where Inventive.ai Shines

• Response quality: Reasons across multiple sources and supports higher-trust drafting.

  
  

• Workflow coverage: Handles RFPs plus security questionnaires in common formats.

Where Inventive.ai Falls Short

• Reporting and analytics: Needs more flexible dashboards and performance insights.

  
  

• Set up and integrations: Onboarding and integrations can take time to get fully right.

  
  

• Learning curve: May require ramp-up time to use more complex workflows consistently.

  
  

• Access and user management: Reviewers ask for more granular permissions and controls.

  
  

• Notification noise: Slack alerts can get noisy without better filtering.

Customer Reviews

In a Capterra review, Shikha C., Sr. Product Manager, shared that, “Inventive helps speed up RFP responses and keeps things organized. There’s a small learning curve, but it’s a useful tool.”

A verified reviewer on Capterra said, “At times, the AI-generated content needs manual fine-tuning to align perfectly with the company’s tone and requirements. The reporting and analytics features could also be more detailed.”

Who Is Inventive.ai Best For

• Proposal ops teams: Managing high-volume RFP workflows with tight review requirements.

  
  

• Sales engineering and SMEs: Needing faster drafting while keeping answers defensible.

  
  

• Security and compliance teams: Handling security questionnaires that require traceability.

  
  

4. Qvidian: Best for Enterprise Proposal Teams Working in Word and Excel

Qvidian is an AI-powered RFP response and proposal management platform that helps sales and proposal teams collaborate, find answers quickly, and deliver polished, compliant submissions faster. It’s commonly used by enterprise teams that build final deliverables in Microsoft Word and Excel.

Key Features

• Microsoft Office integration: Supports answering and updating content directly in Word and Excel workflows.

  
  

• AI assist: Adds AI-supported drafting to speed up first-pass responses. 

Pricing

Qvidian’s pricing isn’t publicly listed, so you’ll need to contact Upland’s sales team for a quote.

Where Qvidian Shines

• Office-first execution: Fits teams that build final submissions inside Microsoft documents.

  
  

• Enterprise controls: Works well for structured, deadline-driven proposal operations.

Where Qvidian Falls Short

• User interface and ease of use: Can feel dated and harder to navigate for new users.

  
  

• Performance on large workloads: Can lag and feel slow on heavier projects.

  
  

• Cost and licensing model: Can be pricey, especially if SMEs need paid access to contribute.

  
  

• Content maintenance overhead: Managing duplicates and keeping content clean can be time-consuming.

  
  

• Integration gaps: Some teams report friction in Office-adjacent workflows and weaker e-signature capabilities than competitors'.

Customer Reviews

David M., Proposal Specialist, said: “I have used Qvidian for almost two years now and couldn't see myself doing my job without it. It's very easy to navigate and download the specific information I need for proposals, presentations, and RFPs. Customer service has always been prompt and follows through. Often, it does move a little slow (not sure if that’s their servers or ours), which is why I rated it 4 stars overall.”

Kartik M., Senior Manager – Sales Operations, expressed his view that “Lot of human intervention is needed in order to fully utilize all features and functionalities of this tool.”

Who Qvidian Is Best For

• Proposal operations teams: Running formal review and approval workflows across many contributors.

  
  

• Enterprise sales teams: Producing responses primarily in Word and Excel with structured governance.

5. 1up: Best For Teams With Low RFP Volumes Who Want To Test Value First

1up is an AI RFP and security questionnaire tool that generates draft answers from sources you connect, like your website, docs, and knowledge bases. It also includes a browser extension so you can answer directly inside web-based questionnaires without copy-pasting. As a Responsive alternative, it’s built for quick proof of value with a free trial and a lightweight setup.

Key Features

• Connected knowledge sources: Pulls answers from your website and tools like Google Drive, Notion, and Confluence.

  
  

• Browser extension: Generates answers inside web-based portals on Chrome and Edge. 

Pricing

Where 1up Shines

• Fast first drafts: Produces quick answers from connected sources for common questionnaire formats.

Where 1up Falls Short

• Answer review still needed: Can draft quickly, but teams still need human checks for accuracy and nuance.

  
  

• Workflow depth: Can feel light if you need complex approvals, governance, and enterprise reporting.

  
  

• Knowledge quality dependency: Output quality depends heavily on the cleanliness and timeliness of your sources.

  
  

• Scaling by volume: Plans are tied to questionnaire limits, which can get restrictive as volume grows.

Customer Reviews

As one Reddit user put it: “1up is cheap (like half the price of the other ones), so if you’re on a strict shoestring budget, your decision is made for you. Overall, though, I think it’s a ‘you get what you pay for’ type of situation in the space.”

Another user in the same Reddit conversation shared that, “It occasionally skips questions it can’t answer. It also doesn’t have all the project management capabilities I’ve seen in other tools.”

Who 1up Is Best For

• Lean proposal teams: Handling a small number of RFPs and needing speed over a heavy process.

  
  

• Sales and SMEs: Answering customer and security questions directly inside web portals.

6. PandaDoc: Best For Sales Teams Sending Proposals With Built-In eSignature And Payments

PandaDoc is a document automation platform for proposals, quotes, and contracts that helps teams create, send, track, and get documents signed in one workflow. This tool is popular with revenue teams that want faster turnaround from draft to signature without jumping between tools.

7. Proposify: Best For Sales Teams That Need Fast Proposals With Tracking

Proposify is a proposal automation tool that helps teams create on-brand proposals using templates, pricing tables, and reusable content blocks. 

It also adds buyer activity tracking so you can see when prospects view and interact with a document, then close with built-in e-signatures. As a Responsive competitor, it’s strongest for proposal execution, not deep RFP workflows.

Reasons to Consider an Alternative to Responsive (Previously RFPIO)

Here are a few reasons you might look for an alternative to Responsive:

1. Inaccurate AI Pulls

Responsive’s AI can miss context and pull irrelevant or outdated library content, forcing teams to manually review and correct responses before submission. 

AutoRFP.ai trains its AI on your actual winning responses and shows sources, content age, and confidence scores for every draft, so you always know what was used and why, with no black box.

2. Inefficient Search

Users often report frustration when searching for exact phrases or trying to quickly surface the right content in Responsive. 

Meanwhile, AutoRFP.ai uses semantic search that understands meaning, not just keywords, connecting related ideas across your entire response history, even when wording differs.

3. Export and Formatting Issues

Responsive exports can introduce spacing errors, merge-tag issues, and extra cleanup work when reusing content outside the platform. 

AutoRFP.ai exports directly into the prospect’s original Word or Excel templates, preserving formatting, macros, dropdowns, and complex multi-tab structures.

4. Steep Learning Curve

Responsive’s feature depth can feel overwhelming during onboarding, slowing early adoption.  With AutoRFP.ai, you get clear help guides, practical walkthroughs, and fast support so the team can ramp up quickly and follow a simple workflow from draft to final.

Automate Your RFP Workflow with AutoRFP.ai

Responsive can feel like a constant hunt for the “right” answer. AutoRFP.ai is built for teams who want fewer tabs, fewer follow-ups, and fewer last-minute surprises. You get a smoother path from intake to submission, with less manual cleanup and more confidence in what you send.

Sign up and automate your next RFP.