RFI vs RFP vs RFQ: what is the difference?

What is the difference between an RFI, an RFP and an RFQ?

The difference between an RFI, an RFP and an RFQ is what the buyer asks for. A request for information (RFI) asks what suppliers can offer. A request for quotation (RFQ) asks for prices on a need already specified. A request for proposal (RFP) asks for a proposed solution and a price.

Each request fits a different moment in a purchase. Take a hospital that wants to track its medical equipment. At first it does not know which tracking technologies exist, so it sends an RFI. Later it decides it needs a full tracking service, with software, tags and support, which suppliers will design in different ways: that is an RFP. A year on, it needs 2,000 more tags of the model it already uses: that is an RFQ. The table compares the three point by point.

Each document has its own guide: the RFP guide explains what an RFP contains and how proposals are scored, and the RFQ guide does the same for quotations. A guide to what an RFI means in business, and what it should contain, is in preparation. This page covers only the comparison and the choice.

RFI vs RFP: when do you ask for information instead of proposals?

Send an RFI when you cannot yet write the requirements; send an RFP when you can. The RFI is research: it helps the buyer find out which solutions exist, which suppliers are credible and what a sensible budget looks like. The RFP is a competition: suppliers commit to a solution and a price, and one of them wins.

US federal rules make the line clear. Under FAR 15.201(e), an agency may use an RFI when it does not presently intend to award a contract, and responses “are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract”. An RFP, under FAR 15.203, must describe the requirement, the expected terms, what the proposal must contain and the evaluation factors with their relative importance.

Example: a university plans to replace its student records system. It does not know whether to buy a cloud product or extend its current system, so it sends an RFI to eight suppliers with twenty questions on functions, hosting, migration and typical costs. The answers show that only cloud products fit its budget. Its RFP then asks four suppliers for a cloud solution, with weighted criteria, a demonstration script and a fixed price for migration. A common mistake is to send an RFI that reads like an RFP, with 300 detailed requirements: suppliers either ignore it or answer with sales brochures.

RFQ vs RFP: which one fits your purchase?

The difference between an RFP and an RFQ is who defines the solution. In an RFQ, the buyer defines it and suppliers only price it. In an RFP, the buyer defines the need and suppliers propose how to meet it. Use an RFQ when every compliant answer would deliver the same thing; use an RFP when answers will differ in content.

The same need can call for either one, depending on how it is written. A city that wants 40 laptops of a set model, with a set warranty, sends an RFQ: the cheapest compliant quote wins. A city that wants a managed laptop service, where suppliers choose the devices, the support model and the replacement cycle, sends an RFP: it will compare service levels, risks and total cost, not just a unit price.

An RFQ can still weigh more than price. US federal buyers using simplified acquisition must tell suppliers whether the award will be made on price alone or on price and other factors, such as past performance and quality (FAR 13.106-1). What changes is the effort: an RFQ evaluation is short and needs no formal scoring plan, while an RFP evaluation follows a published method. How a procurement team chooses between quotations, sealed bids and RFPs is explained in the RFP in procurement.

RFI vs RFQ: what changes?

An RFI asks what is available; an RFQ asks what it costs. The RFI comes before the buyer has decided what to buy, and nobody wins it. The RFQ comes after the specification is fixed, and it leads straight to an order.

The two are often used one after the other for simple items in a market the buyer does not know. A food manufacturer that needs a new type of recyclable packaging may first send an RFI to find which suppliers can make it, in which materials and at what volumes. Once it has chosen a material and a size, it sends an RFQ for 200,000 units to the suppliers that answered well. RFI answers sometimes include indicative prices. These help set a budget, but they are not quotes: the supplier has not priced a defined quantity, delivery date and set of terms.

Do you need all three, and in what order?

No. Most purchases need only one request. The three are not a fixed sequence but a choice made for each purchase. When more than one is used, the RFI comes first because it prepares the others. The usual combinations are these:

• RFQ alone: the buyer knows the item, the market and the suppliers, for example a repeat order of office furniture of a set range.
• RFP alone: the buyer knows the market but suppliers will propose different solutions, for example a cleaning contract for several sites.
• RFI, then RFP: the buyer does not know the market and the solution is complex, for example new software or an outsourced service.
• RFI, then RFQ: the buyer does not know the market but the item is simple once chosen, for example a new raw material or packaging.
• RFP with a price schedule: the buyer asks for proposals and fixed prices together, so no separate RFQ is needed after the RFP.

Public buyers follow the same logic under other names. In the EU, contracting authorities may hold a preliminary market consultation before a procedure (Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 40). In the UK, the Procurement Act 2023 calls it preliminary market engagement (section 16). Both play the role of an RFI and come with a condition: the exchange must not distort competition or give one supplier an unfair advantage. The steps of a full RFP, from need to signed contract, are in the RFP process guide.

How do you choose between an RFI, an RFQ and an RFP?

Choose by asking, in order, what you still need to learn. Each question rules out one or two of the requests. A buyer who works through them before writing anything avoids the most common mistake: sending a heavy RFP for a need that a quote would have settled, or the reverse.

1. Do you know which solutions and suppliers exist? If not, start with an RFI, and keep it short: ten to twenty questions that will change what you buy.
2. Can you write a specification that every supplier would price in the same way? If yes, send an RFQ.
3. Will suppliers propose different products, methods or teams? If yes, send an RFP with evaluation criteria and weights decided before you publish it.
4. Is there already a contract or framework agreement for this need? If yes, order from it or run a mini-competition among its suppliers instead of a new request.
5. Do the rules set a method? Public buyers check their procurement law and thresholds; companies check their procurement policy and approval limits.

Many buyers run all three in an e-sourcing tool, which sends the same documents to every supplier and keeps the answers and the scores in one place. When only price is left to settle between qualified suppliers, a reverse auction can replace the final round of quotes.

Is a response to an RFI, an RFQ or an RFP binding?

In US federal procurement, only the proposal is binding as an offer. FAR 2.101 defines an offer as a response to a solicitation that, if accepted, would bind the offeror to perform the contract. Responses to requests for proposals are offers called proposals; responses to requests for quotations are quotations, not offers.

The practical effect is simple. When a federal buyer accepts a proposal, a contract is formed. When it receives a quotation, nothing is formed yet: under FAR 13.004 the buyer’s order is the offer, and the contract exists once the supplier accepts it or starts the work. RFI responses, under FAR 15.201(e), cannot form a contract at all.

Outside US federal rules, the answer depends on the law that applies and on the wording of the request and the response. Many RFIs say plainly that they are not a commitment to buy, and many RFPs ask suppliers to keep their offer valid for a set number of days. Read both documents before relying on a price, and ask a lawyer when the stakes are high.

What do public buyers call the RFI, RFQ and RFP?

Public buyers use the same ideas, sometimes under other names, and the law often fixes which one applies by value. The table gives the usual equivalents in three systems.

In the UK and in many Commonwealth countries, an invitation to tender (ITT) or request for tender (RFT) plays the role of the RFP. Private companies use all these names freely; what matters is that the document states what is asked, how answers will be judged and what the buyer will do next.