IBIOS vs Proposify: Trade ERP vs B2B Proposal Software
Proposify is proposal software for sales teams. As a Proposify alternative for trades, IBIOS reads a supplier PDF into quote lines, matches them to your own products, then manages supplier orders, shade-lot tile tracking and installation scheduling in one system.
They operate in different workflow layers. Proposify is for winning B2B contracts. IBIOS is for running a bathroom showroom or tile merchant from first enquiry through to installation.
At a glance
✓IBIOS wins on
- ✓AI reads supplier PDFs into quote lines
- ✓Live stock and margin awareness
- ✓Supplier order management
- ✓Shade-lot and dye-lot tile tracking
- ✓Coming soon: AI phone receptionist with live ERP data
- ✓Multi-brand supplier catalogue (import your own)
- ✓Installation scheduling tied to jobs
- ✓UK hosting
~Check with each vendor
- ~Customer-facing quote document output
- ~Quote acceptance workflow
iProposify may suit you better for
- iPolished, designed B2B proposal documents
- iB2B sales teams sending proposals to business clients
- iTeams that need a dedicated proposal tool rather than a trade ERP
What Proposify is
Proposify is proposal software for B2B sales teams. It is aimed at consulting firms, agencies, IT companies, and service contractors that win work by sending polished proposal documents to prospects. It is a different product from Proposify AI (proposifyai.com), which we compare separately.
IBIOS approaches the problem from the other end: the quote starts with a supplier document and leads into supplier orders, goods-in and installation. Check Proposify’s current features, plans and pricing directly with Proposify before purchasing, including how it handles work after a proposal is accepted.
Is IBIOS a good Proposify alternative for UK trade businesses?
You run a UK bathroom showroom, tile merchant, or kitchen fitting business. You receive supplier PDFs and need to turn them into customer quotes fast. You stock products from multiple brands, place supplier orders, receive tiled deliveries that must match shade lots, and schedule installers. IBIOS runs all of that in one system, from first enquiry through to deposit payment and installation.
You are a B2B professional services business, such as a consultancy, agency, IT firm or service contractor, whose primary sales motion is sending a polished proposal document to a prospective business client, and you do not need ERP, stock management, or supplier orders.
What is the difference between Proposify and IBIOS?
| Feature | IBIOS | Proposify | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI quote from supplier PDF | ✓ Live | Check with Proposify | IBIOS extracts line items from supplier PDFs with AI |
| Live stock and margin awareness | ✓ Native ERP | Check with Proposify | IBIOS quotes draw on live stock levels and supplier pricing |
| Supplier order management | ✓ | Check with Proposify | IBIOS: quote → approval → supplier order → goods-in |
| Shade-lot and dye-lot tile tracking | ✓ | Check with Proposify | Critical for tile retailers matching dye lots across deliveries |
| AI phone receptionist (live data) | Coming soon | Check with Proposify | Coming soon: IBIOS answering inbound calls with real-time stock, job, and quote data |
| Multi-brand supplier catalogue | ✓ Import your own | Check with Proposify | Catalogues are private to each company; IBIOS has a catalogue import |
| Proposal engagement analytics | Not offered | Check with Proposify | IBIOS tracks quote acceptance and deposit payment instead |
| E-signature on contracts | Live: contracts from quotes | Check with Proposify | IBIOS E-sign is live for contracts from quotes, sent from your own email; online quote acceptance and deposit by link are live too |
| Drag-and-drop proposal builder | Structured trade quote | Check with Proposify | IBIOS produces structured trade quotes rather than designed proposals |
| CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce) | ✗ Not current | Check with Proposify | IBIOS has its own built-in CRM |
| Installation scheduling tied to jobs | ✓ | Check with Proposify | IBIOS links surveyor and installer dates directly to job records |
| Pricing | Founding prices for waiting-list members | Check with Proposify | See the IBIOS pricing page; check current Proposify rates with Proposify |
| UK hosting | ✓ UK-hosted | Check with Proposify | IBIOS runs on UK-hosted servers (some AI processing uses US providers) |
Proposify features and pricing change over time. Check current Proposify capabilities and pricing directly with their team before making a purchasing decision.
Where IBIOS wins for bathroom showrooms
✓AI reads a supplier PDF into quote lines
When a supplier sends a price-list PDF, IBIOS uses AI to extract every line item, match items to the product catalogue, calculate margins at your supplier discount rate, and flag low-confidence items for manual review. Check with Proposify whether it can process an incoming supplier document.
✓Quotes know what you have in stock and what it costs
IBIOS Quote Studio is built into the same system as your product catalogue, supplier pricing, and stock records. A quote draws on live data: supplier cost, your discount rate for that brand, current stock availability. Check with Proposify whether it connects to inventory or supplier pricing.
✓Coming soon: AI Receptionist that knows your live ERP data
IBIOS AI Receptionist is coming soon. It is being built to answer inbound phone calls and query your live inventory, open quotes, and job status before responding, so a customer asking “do you have a 1700mm Carron bath in stock?” gets an answer without interrupting your team. Check with Proposify whether it offers anything comparable.
✓Quote to supplier order in one system
IBIOS runs the trade cycle: customer enquiry → AI-extracted quote from supplier PDF → quote versioning and approval → customer acceptance → supplier order → goods-in and shade-lot matching, with invoicing coming soon. Raising a purchase order, booking in the supplier delivery, matching the tile dye lot and scheduling the installer all happen on the same job. Check with Proposify how it handles these steps.
✓Shade-lot and dye-lot tile tracking built in
Tiles are manufactured in batches: two deliveries of the same SKU may have visibly different dye lots. IBIOS tracks shade lots across supplier deliveries and flags mismatches before goods are accepted. A batch mismatch discovered on the customer’s bathroom floor is an expensive remediation problem.
✓UK hosting
IBIOS runs on UK-hosted VPS infrastructure (some AI processing uses US providers, as listed on our sub-processor page). For a UK bathroom showroom subject to UK GDPR, check where any software vendor stores your data, including Proposify.
Pricing
IBIOS pricing: founding prices for waiting-list members; see the pricing page. Proposify publishes its own plans, so check current pricing directly with Proposify. Compare what each price covers as well as the price itself: IBIOS covers AI supplier PDF processing, supplier orders, shade-lot tracking and installation scheduling.
Why bathroom showrooms use IBIOS instead of a proposal tool
The gap between a proposal software and a trade ERP is not a matter of preference — it is a structural difference in what gets done after the document is signed.
The quote starts with a supplier document, not a blank template
A bathroom showroom receives a price list from Carron, Trojan, or Merlyn and needs to build a customer quote from it. IBIOS processes that PDF with AI and extracts the line items. For a showroom receiving supplier PDFs regularly, populating a template by hand is slow; check with Proposify how its templates are populated.
After acceptance, the real work begins
When a customer accepts a quote, the showroom must raise a supplier purchase order, track the delivery, receive goods and match tile shade lots, book the surveyor, and schedule the installer. IBIOS manages these in the same system as the quote. If you use a proposal tool, check where these steps would happen.
Stock and pricing awareness cannot be bolted on
IBIOS knows your current stock levels, your supplier discount rates for each brand, and your retail margin on every product in the catalogue. When you build a quote, that data is live. No integration with an external tool is required. Check with Proposify what integrations it would need to reach the same product data.
Related IBIOS products, guides and comparisons
If you are comparing Proposify with IBIOS for a UK trade business, these pages cover the IBIOS products involved, the sectors it is built for and other honest comparisons.
IBIOS (Integrated Business Intelligence & Operations System) is made by IBIOS Limited (NI743167), Northern Ireland. Access is by waiting list; there is no free trial.
- Quote Studio: reads a supplier PDF or a photo of a handwritten form into quote lines, then matches them to your own products.
- Online quote acceptance: customers accept a quote online, and revisions stay on the job.
- Bathroom showrooms and retailers: how IBIOS is set up for bathroom businesses.
- Quoting software for UK trades: what to look for when choosing a quoting tool.
- IBIOS vs Proposify AI: another honest side-by-side comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Is Proposify suitable for a bathroom showroom or tile retailer?
Proposify is designed for B2B sales teams who send polished proposal documents to business clients, such as consultancies, agencies, IT firms and service contractors. A UK bathroom showroom also needs supplier orders, shade-lot tile tracking, multi-brand pricing and installation scheduling; check with Proposify which of these it covers. IBIOS is built for the trade operation, from quote through to installation.
Does IBIOS process supplier quote PDFs automatically?
Yes. IBIOS uses AI to read a supplier PDF into quote lines, then match them to your own products and flag low-confidence items for review. Proposify is a proposal document builder; check with Proposify whether it can ingest a supplier price-list PDF and extract line items.
Does IBIOS have proposal engagement analytics like Proposify?
No. IBIOS does not track proposal opens, scroll depth or section dwell time. IBIOS confirms acceptance via a magic-link click and records deposit payment as the confirmation signal, which is the operationally meaningful event for a trade business. If proposal engagement analytics are a priority for a B2B sales operation, check with Proposify what it offers.
Is IBIOS a Proposify alternative, and how does pricing compare?
For a showroom or trade team, IBIOS can be a Proposify alternative. IBIOS pricing: founding prices for waiting-list members; see the pricing page. Check Proposify’s current pricing on their website. When comparing, look at what each price covers: IBIOS includes quoting, supplier orders, stock and installation scheduling in one system, while Proposify is proposal software.
What is the difference between a B2B proposal and a trade quote?
A B2B proposal is a sales document: it includes case studies, testimonials, a defined scope of work, and is designed to convince a prospective client to award a contract. Proposify is built for this. A trade quote is an operational document: SKUs, quantities, supplier prices, retail prices, lead times, a deposit request, and the launch point for a purchase order. After a trade quote is accepted, the work begins: supplier orders must be raised, deliveries booked in, tile shade lots matched, and an installer scheduled. IBIOS runs that workflow from quote to installation; check with Proposify how it handles the work after acceptance.
Built for trade showrooms, not B2B sales teams.
AI reads a supplier PDF into quote lines, then matches them to your own products. Supplier orders, shade-lot tracking, and installation scheduling, all in one system. Early access by waiting list.
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