Best Contract Management Software: 6 Tools Compared for Businesses of Any Size

Best contract management software SUMMARIZED

Best contract management software IN DETAIL

• Agiloft (www.agiloft.com)
• Updraft (www.originsystems.co.za)
• Concord (go.concordnow.com)
• ContractSafe (www.contractsafe.com)
• ContractWorks (gartnerdigitalmarkets.com)
• Onit (www.onit.com)

1. Agiloft

Agiloft is considered by many to be the best contract management software all-around. The software is both easy to use and extremely customizable. Agiloft also offers some of the best functionality available, including advanced automated workflows and incredibly detailed analytics.

Agiloft also offers one of the most robust free plans in the industry, with access to advanced features like contract authoring, contract comparison, and integrations with programs like Adobe Sign and DocuSign. You can have up to ten users on this plan.

🔧 Key features

• Excellent contract editor with drag-and-drop layouts
• Clause library
• Contract templates
• Approval workflows
• Secure database
• Powerful search function
• Excellent customer service
• Electronic signing through integrations with Adobe Sign and DocuSign

👍 Pros

• Agiloft allows you to manage every aspect of contract creation, negotiation, and documentation in one place.
• The dashboard is easy to use.
• Everything is customizable.
• The free plan is more generous than what is available with most other platforms.

👎 Cons

• The sheer scale and customizability of this program might be overwhelming for users who are not familiar with contract management software.

💸 Pricing

Agiloft is free for up to ten users. After that, you can choose one of four plans:

• Professional – $65 per license per month. This plan comes with timer-based rules at five minute intervals and access to phone support.
• Professional Extended – $95 per license per month. This plan allows for unlimited contract requesters and viewers. You can also customize what people see based on their user roles.
• Enterprise – $135 per license per month. This plan gives you access to pre-built AI modules and a deeper application programming interface (API).
• Enterprise Extended – Quotes are made for this plan on an individual basis. This plan comes with deeper AI integration, unlimited custom modules, and assignment to a specific customer support representative.

Agiloft does also offer discounts for nonprofits.

🤔 Who this option is best for

If you want to handle every aspect of contract management in one place, Agiloft is the ideal program for you. This is also a great option if you only want a small team to have full access to your contract management software.

2. Updraft

Updraft offers an online contract editor and a guided approach to contract lifecycle management based on an extensive Q&A. This facilitates a more natural contract creation process. In the long run, it can also save you an enormous amount of time. During this process, the program automatically extracts important deadlines to set alerts for. Updraft also features some of the best reporting and analytics of any contract management software.

The one drawback of Upwork is that some of the functionality outside of the contract editing process is clunky to use.

🔧 Key features

• Q&A based approach to contract creation and workflow
• High quality contract editor
• Detailed reporting and analytics
• Task management tools with color-coding for urgency
• Rich database search with extensive filtering options
• Native electronic signing

👍 Pros

• One of the most flexible contract editors on the market.
• The Q&A approach develops a contract creation process that is unique to your needs.
• Email alerts are largely automated but can also be customized.

👎 Cons

• There is significantly more initial setup time than there is with other contract management software.
• Outside of the interview process and contract editor, the user interface can be somewhat clunky.

💸 Pricing

Updraft requires companies to go through an assessment in order to determine exact pricing for their plan. The base rate is $42 per user per month.

🤔 Who this option is best for

Updraft is the best contract management software for businesses that want a customized, seamless contract creation experience. If your main concern is an efficient database, however, you might want to consider one of the other options on this list.

3. Concord

Concord is widely recognized as one of the best contract management software options available. The program offers an excellent editor for contract writing and formatting, strong collaboration and negotiation features including track changes, and native eSigning. Concord also uses a simple, Gmail-like interface, making it easy to learn.

Last but certainly not least, Concord is free for up to three contract creators and an unlimited number of viewers. This allows you to test the program without investing your hard-earned dollars.

🔧 Key features

• Access to a variety of contract templates
• Central clause management
• Track changes, version control, and contract history audit capabilities
• Custom user groups
• Integrations with programs like Microsoft Word, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Salesforce
• Native e-signing

👍 Pros

• Easy to learn
• High quality document editor
• Streamlined processes for negotiation, collaboration, and contract editing

👎 Cons

• Workflow automation tools are extremely basic
• Analytics reporting does not provide the same level of in-depth, easy-to-understand data as what can be gained from other programs

💸 Pricing

Concord is free for up to three creators. Once you exceed three users, the cost is $100 / month / creator and $50 / month / collaborator.

🤔 Who this option is best for

If you are looking for contract management software that is incredibly easy to use but still has an impressive list of features, Concord is your best bet.

4. ContractSafe

ContractSafe doesn’t offer built-in contract creation or editing capabilities, but it does allow you to store and track your contracts with ease. The program offers Google-like search capabilities, allowing you to find contracts based on keywords included within. ContractSafe also allows you to store attachments and track contract amendments. To protect this data, ContractSafe encrypts and stores each user’s contracts separately.

For full contract editing capabilities, you can integrate ContractSafe with a variety of tools, including DocuSign and Salesforce, but these integrations are only available with higher-tier plans.

🔧 Key features

• Google-style search
• Unlimited users
• Customizable user roles (including read-only users)
• Ability to set reminders for custom dates
• Tracking for contracts set to auto-renew

👍 Pros

• Unlimited users in all roles
• Comprehensive security features
• Easy-to-use interface

👎 Cons

• No built-in contract creation or editing
• Lack of automated workflows
• Limited options for collaboration
• Less-than-stellar analytics and reporting

💸 Pricing

There are five plans available from ContractSafe:

• Basic: This plan is available for $299 / month and allows storage of up to 500 contracts and unlimited related documents.
• Standard: The Standard plan costs $499 / month and allows storage of up to 1,000 contracts and unlimited related documents. The Standard plan also includes one-way Docusign integration, audit trails, and templates.
• Professional: At $699 / month, the Professional plan includes everything included in the previous two plans, Active Directory (AD) integration, and two-way Docusign integration. You can store up to 2,500 contracts with this plan.
• Enterprise: This plan costs $899 / month and allows you to store up to 5,000 contracts. At this level, ContractSafe can be integrated with Salesforce.
• Enterprise+: Available for $1,269 / month, this plan is basically the same as the regular Enterprise plan, but with storage for up to 25,000 contracts.

🤔 Who this option is best for

ContractSafe is a great option for businesses that already have a preferred program for contract creation and editing. ContractSafe is also great if you want to give a large number of users access to your contract database. And, of course, if you can deal with a high investment.

5. ContractWorks

ContractWorks is another option that acts more like a contract storage program than a contract management program. The software does not have built-in contract creation. ContractWorks does, however, offer excellent functionality within their contract database. There are numerous built-in tags and categories for sorting contracts, and you can create your own if you’re not satisfied with the pre-existing tags.

ContractWorks does also come with native e-signing. This means that you might have to create the contract elsewhere, but you can use ContractWorks to finalize it.

🔧 Key features

• Customizable user roles
• Two-factor authentication to protect your data
• Custom tag creation, plus ability to assign tags to specific departments
• Integration with Salesforce
• Ability to add unlimited users on main plan
• Native e-signing

👍 Pros

• Extensive security features
• Full ability to customize how your contracts are organized

👎 Cons

• No contract creation feature
• Lack of collaboration and negotiation tools

💸 Pricing

ContractWorks has plans available at $600 / month, $800 / month, and $1,000 / month. All plans allow for unlimited users, although the number of e-signing users is currently limited to five. Additional e-signing users can be purchased in packs of five for $1,200 / year.

🤔 Who this option is best for

If your primary concern is storing contracts in a more efficient way, ContractWorks is a great solution. However, if you want a program with built-in contract creation, you will need to consider the other options on this list. Again, consider this one if you’re ready to invest a larger amount in your contract management software.

6. Onit

The Onit contract management software is part of a larger application ecosystem that allows you to build automated processes for a wide variety of business tasks. Their contract lifecycle management tool is among the best in the industry.

This tool makes it remarkably easy to collaborate on contract creation and negotiation. Onit also maintains audit trails and transaction histories, as well as detailed analytics. The program integrates with HelloSign, DocuSign, and Adobe Sign to allow for e-signatures.

The one thing Onit doesn’t have is a contract creator. You will need to import contracts from somewhere else in order to use this program.

🔧 Key features

• Ability to build customized workflows
• Timeline-based linear calendar of contract activity
• Advanced reporting with customizable interactive widgets
• Extensive collaboration and negotiation tools

👍 Pros

• The Onit contract management tool is part of a larger solution that allows you to create custom workflows for almost every area of your business.
• Detailed and fully customizable reporting.
• Negotiation and collaboration are remarkably simple.

👎 Cons

• No built-in contract creator.

💸 Pricing

Onit requires companies to schedule a demo and obtain a customized quote. There is no base price listed on the website at this time.

🤔 Who this option is best for

Onit is ideal for large companies with complex contract management needs and a desire to automate other areas of their business.

What to look for in your best contract management software

Contract management software facilitates the creation, negotiation, and documentation of legal contracts. Done well, this saves you money and protects your business from legal complications. This makes your choice of software incredibly important.

In order to choose the best contract management software, you must consider the program’s features, dashboard quality, and associated customer service.

There are several features you should look for in contract management software in particular:

Contract clause and template library

These resources will help you create a variety of legal contracts with pre-approved language.

Intelligently organized contract repository

This will automatically sort and store your contracts in a logical way.

Global search

This should also be an intelligent search function, with features like automatic OCR scanning and indexing. You want to be able to type in a contract type, company name, or individual name, and find all relevant contracts within seconds.

Collaboration options

This operates on two levels. First, you want other members of your team to be able to help with contract management. Second, the software should allow you to perform negotiations in-suite.

Role-based security

This allows you to choose who sees what information.

Automated alerts

These will notify you when important contracts need to be reviewed or renewed. Look for a program that allows you to customize when alerts happen, the number of alerts to send, and where to send them.

Detailed reporting

The best contract management software will record patterns in your contracting process and make them easily digestible through tools like bar graphs.

Dedicated functions for routine tasks

Things such as contract amendments should be easy to implement.

Ability to track and view all changes

This function should actively highlight changes to contracts so they are easily found.

Risk assessment

The best contract management software allows you to configure models that track various types of risks. The main risk types you want to be able to track are financial, contractual, and performance.

Electronic signing

Allow people to sign contracts electronically and cut paper out of the process.

Use workflows to manage contracts

Create set workflows for specific contracts to ensure that every step of the process is followed properly.

Integrations with performance appraisal tools

When it comes time to update employee contracts, you have options for important key criteria into their new contract.

The best contract management software will also be easy to use and come with excellent customer service.

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Final thoughts on the best contract management software

As with any software choice, your decision should be based on your company’s unique needs.

Not sure which of these options most suits your needs? Here’s a quick roundup:

Which of these tools sounds right for your business? Let us know in the comments section below!

Layout, presentation and editing by Karol K.