What is RFQ software, and how do you choose it?

What is RFQ software?

RFQ software is software that runs requests for quotation for a buyer. It sends the same request to several suppliers, collects their prices and terms by a fixed deadline, keeps the quotes closed until then, compares them line by line and records the award, which then becomes a purchase order. It is also called RFQ management software.

A simple case shows what it replaces. A maintenance manager needs 400 bearings of one reference, delivered to two sites within three weeks. Without a tool, the buyer emails five suppliers, receives quotes in five formats, some in the body of the email and some as PDFs, and copies them into a spreadsheet by hand. With RFQ software, every supplier fills the same price lines in a portal, the comparison is ready at the deadline and the winning quote is converted into an order without retyping.

What an RFQ is, what it contains and how quotes are compared on landed cost is explained in what is an RFQ. This page covers the software that runs it. In US federal buying, a quotation is not an offer: the buyer’s order is the offer, and the contract forms when the supplier accepts it. Other legal systems can treat a firm quote differently. In every case, good RFQ software keeps the quote and the order linked, so both sides can see what was quoted and what was ordered.

Is RFQ software for buyers or for suppliers?

Both use the name, for opposite jobs. In October 2026, the first search results for “RFQ software” mixed buyer tools that issue and compare RFQs with supplier tools that write responses or price quotes. This page is about the buyer side. The supplier side has two kinds of product, shown below so that a buyer does not shortlist one by mistake.

The same split exists for requests for proposal. The difference between buyer tools and response tools, and what AI changes on each side, is set out in what is RFP software.

What does RFQ management software do, step by step?

RFQ management software follows the life of one RFQ, from the need to the order. Each step removes a manual task and leaves a record that an auditor or a losing supplier can check later.

1. Build the request. The buyer picks a template, adds line items with quantities, units and delivery dates, and attaches drawings or specifications. Price fields are fixed, so every supplier quotes the same unit and currency.
2. Invite suppliers. Suppliers come from the supplier database, a framework agreement or a category list. New suppliers can be invited by email and register in the portal.
3. Answer questions. A supplier asks whether the price must include delivery to the second site. The buyer answers once in the tool, and every invited supplier sees the same answer, without the name of the one who asked.
4. Collect sealed quotes. Quotes stay closed until the deadline. Late quotes are refused or marked late, and the time of each submission is recorded.
5. Compare. The tool puts quotes side by side, line by line, and adds freight, lead time or currency conversion where the buyer asked for them. The buyer can award all lines to one supplier or split them.
6. Award and order. The award, its reasons and the losing quotes are kept. The winning lines become a purchase order in the procurement tool or the ERP, with the quoted price and terms.

The last step is where many tools differ. A sourcing tool that stops at the award leaves the buyer to retype the order, and the price can change on the way. Ask to see the quote turn into a purchase order in your own ERP during the demonstration.

What forms does RFQ software take?

RFQ software comes in four forms. Most organisations already own one of them: RFQ features are part of nearly every e-sourcing tool and source-to-pay suite. Specialist tools add speed and volume for many small RFQs. Public buyers often must use a shared platform.

Disclosure: the author works as an Ivalua consultant. The products named on this page are described from their vendors’ public pages only, as read on the dates shown; this is not a ranking or a recommendation.

The table describes what vendors say they offer, not how well it works. A feature missing from a vendor’s page is not proof that the product lacks it, and vendor wording changes often. Some vendors publish savings figures on their home pages; these are their own claims about their customers and are not repeated here.

How do you choose RFQ software?

Choose RFQ software by testing it on your own RFQs, not on the vendor’s example. Start from your volumes: how many RFQs a month, how many lines each, how many suppliers, and who creates them. A team that runs ten large RFQs a year needs different features from a plant that sends forty small RFQs a week.

1. Count and sort your RFQs. Take the last six months: number, value, lines per RFQ, suppliers invited, time from request to order. This gives the baseline you will measure against.
2. Check what you already own. Your ERP, procure-to-pay tool or sourcing suite may already run RFQs. Find out why it is not used before buying another tool.
3. Write three test RFQs. One with a long price list, one with a supplier question during the RFQ, and one where the award is split between two suppliers.
4. Run them in each shortlisted tool, with your own suppliers if possible. Time each step and note every manual action.
5. Check the record. Export everything from one RFQ: request, questions and answers, quotes with their time of receipt, comparison and award. An auditor should be able to follow it without the tool.

When RFQs are one part of a wider sourcing programme, with RFPs, auctions and supplier qualification, use the fuller method and criteria in how to choose procurement sourcing software.

What do public buyers need from RFQ software?

Public buyers need a tool that follows the procedure the law sets and keeps a record that can be challenged. The rules differ by country, but three examples show what to check.

• US federal simplified acquisitions. FAR 13.106-1 requires contracting officers to tell suppliers the basis of award, and says oral requests may not be practical above $25,000. Quotes are then evaluated on that stated basis (FAR 13.106-2). The software must hold the basis of award and every quote received.
• US federal schedule orders. For orders above the simplified acquisition threshold, FAR 8.405-1 asks the contracting officer either to post the RFQ on GSA eBuy, so that all schedule contractors offering the item can quote, or to send it to as many schedule contractors as practicable to reasonably expect quotes from at least three. An RFQ is also required when the description names a brand, and the justification is posted with it on eBuy.
• EU public procurement. Tools that receive tenders electronically must meet minimum rules in Annex IV of Directive 2014/24/EU, such as recording the exact time of receipt and keeping tenders closed until the set date. A public buyer should ask the vendor to show how the tool meets each one.

These US rules follow the FAR as published on acquisition.gov in October 2026. The FAR is being rewritten under the 2025 FAR overhaul, and agencies apply the new text through class deviations, so paragraph numbers can change. Check the version your agency applies.

Public buyers in many countries also use framework agreements, where an RFQ is a mini-competition among the suppliers already on the framework. The tool must then invite only those suppliers and apply the award criteria set in the framework. How this works is explained in what is an RFQ.

What does RFQ software cost, and what does AI add?

Most RFQ software is priced on quote. Among the vendors named on this page, only Market Dojo published prices on the pages read: its Simple Sourcing plan was £500 a month billed annually, or £1,000 per event as a one-off payment, in October 2026. Suites usually include RFQs in a sourcing module priced by users, spend or modules. Add supplier onboarding, integration with the ERP and training to the subscription when you compare offers.

AI in RFQ software does three things today. It drafts the request from a short description of the need. It reads quotes sent as PDFs or emails and fills the price lines. And in tactical sourcing tools, agents pick suppliers, send the RFQ and compare the answers for small purchases, sometimes with a negotiation step. Each output can be wrong: generative AI can state false content with confidence. Keep a buyer accountable for every award, and check that each AI suggestion links to the quote it came from. How to choose AI features across procurement is covered in AI procurement software.