TLDR (Summary)
PandaDoc creates proposals and collects signatures, but the moment the contract gets signed, the workflow goes silent. Project management, time tracking, and client portals don't exist at any tier, and invoicing was moved to Business at $49-65/user/month. Plutio connects proposals to everything that happens after the signature. Signed proposals auto-create projects with tasks and deadlines, and tracked hours flow into payable invoices with Stripe and PayPal collection. Contracts attach to projects with built-in e-signatures, and clients check progress from a branded portal at a custom domain. Plans start at $19/month with every feature included.
Project management that starts when the proposal gets signed
PandaDoc has no project management at any tier. Once a proposal gets signed, the freelancer manually creates the project in a separate tool like Asana or Trello, and the agreed scope from PandaDoc doesn't carry over.
After a PandaDoc proposal closes, the scope lives in one tool and the work lives in another. The freelancer opens Asana ($10.99-13.49/month), recreates the scope as tasks, assigns deadlines, and starts tracking progress. When the client asks for a status update, the freelancer switches to Asana, summarizes progress, and sends an email. If the scope changes mid-project, the PandaDoc proposal shows one version while Asana shows another. There's no shared record of what was agreed and what's been delivered.
Plutio's project management starts the moment a client approves. The signed proposal creates the project automatically with tasks, milestones, and deadlines based on the proposal scope. Kanban boards show active tasks at a glance, Gantt timelines map deadlines visually, and task dependencies flag when one deliverable blocks another. When scope changes, the proposal and project stay connected in the same workspace.
For freelancers sending 2-5 proposals a month, every new engagement means recreating the agreed scope as tasks in a separate tool. Multiply the scope-to-tasks handoff across every client each year, and the repeated setup eats into hours that could go toward billable work.
Plutio's project management activates the moment a proposal gets signed, so the agreed scope becomes the project plan without manual recreation in a second tool.
Invoicing connected to the work, not locked behind a higher tier
PandaDoc removed invoicing from its Starter plan. Generating invoices now requires the Business tier at $49-65/user/month, and even there, invoicing doesn't pull from tracked hours because PandaDoc has no time tracking.
PandaDoc's Starter plan (formerly Essentials) used to include basic invoicing and pricing tables. In 2025, PandaDoc moved those features to the Business tier without reducing the Starter price. Freelancers who relied on PandaDoc for invoicing lost access unless they upgraded. For freelancers who stayed on Starter, invoicing requires FreshBooks ($17-55/month) or QuickBooks ($15-30/month) as a separate subscription. Invoice amounts need manual calculation because PandaDoc doesn't track hours worked against the proposal's scope.
In Plutio, closing a billing period converts tracked hours into a ready-to-send invoice with task names, durations, and rates filled in. Clients pay through Stripe, PayPal, or bank transfer directly from the invoice. Recurring invoices go out on schedule for retainer clients, and late payment reminders follow up automatically.
PandaDoc Starter ($19-35/user/month) plus FreshBooks ($17-55/month) brings the monthly total to $36-90/month for two tools where the proposal and the invoice don't share data. Plutio handles proposals and invoicing together from $19/month, and the invoice pulls directly from the work tracked against the proposal's scope.
Plutio's invoicing pulls from tracked hours and connects to the proposal that scoped the work, so invoiced amounts match what was agreed and delivered.
Proposals that do more than sit in a document library
PandaDoc creates proposals and collects signatures, but the signed document sits in a library with no way to create a project, activate a client portal, or feed pricing into the first invoice. Plutio's proposals trigger everything that needs to happen after the client signs.
PandaDoc's proposal builder includes templates, content blocks, and e-signatures. But after the client signs, the proposal becomes a static PDF in PandaDoc's document library. The freelancer copies the scope into a project tool, calculates the first invoice amount manually, and sends a welcome email with file-sharing links. Every step after the signature means opening a different tool and re-entering the same information.
Plutio's proposal builder includes drag-and-drop sections, pricing tables where clients pick service packages and optional add-ons, and e-signatures built into the document. When a client signs, Plutio creates the project with pre-configured tasks and deadlines, activates the client portal, attaches the contract, and sets up billing terms. The approved pricing feeds into the first invoice without manual calculation.
PandaDoc's Starter plan limits templates to 5, and pricing tables now require Business ($49-65/user/month). Plutio includes unlimited templates and pricing tables on every plan from $19/month.
In Plutio, a signed proposal triggers project creation, portal access, and billing setup in one step, so the transition from agreement to active work takes seconds instead of a half hour of manual setup.
Time tracking that connects proposals to invoices
PandaDoc has no time tracking at any tier. Freelancers who bill hourly track time in Toggl or Harvest, then manually calculate invoice amounts from separate reports. Plutio's time tracking logs hours against the project created by the signed proposal.
Without time tracking, PandaDoc freelancers end up running separate tools for scoping (PandaDoc), working (Asana or Trello), tracking time (Toggl at $9-18/month or Harvest at $11/month), and billing (FreshBooks). Each billing cycle means pulling a Toggl report, matching hours to the correct client and project, calculating the total at the agreed rate, and entering line items into FreshBooks. For freelancers with 5-10 active clients at different hourly rates, every billing cycle means going back and forth between time reports and invoice line items to make sure the numbers match.
Plutio's time tracking lives inside every project with a timer that starts from any task. Billable hours separate from internal work, and at billing time, a date range of tracked hours becomes invoice line items with task names, durations, and rates filled in. Budget tracking compares logged hours against the proposal estimate, so when a project hits 80% of its budget with half the work remaining, the freelancer sees the gap before it becomes a loss.
Four separate tools (PandaDoc + Toggl + Asana + FreshBooks) at $56-117/month become one platform at $19/month where the proposal, project, time log, and invoice share the same database.
Plutio's time tracking logs hours against the project created by the signed proposal, so billing reflects the actual work done against the original scope.
Client portals that show more than signed documents
PandaDoc has no client portal, so clients receive documents by email and sign them in a one-time view. After signing, there's no place for clients to check project progress, access files, or view invoices. Plutio's client portals give every client a branded space from the first proposal to the final invoice.
In PandaDoc, the client interaction ends at the signature. After signing, clients get email notifications about document status, but there's no dashboard where they can log in to see project progress, review shared files, check outstanding invoices, or communicate with the freelancer in context. Everything after the signature happens through email threads, Google Drive links, and separate invoicing portals from FreshBooks or QuickBooks.
Plutio's client portals carry a custom logo, color scheme, and domain from the base plan. Clients log in and see the signed proposal, active projects, upcoming milestones, shared files, pending invoices, and messages in one place. Deliverable approvals happen inside the project, and invoice payments go through Stripe or PayPal directly from the portal.
When clients have one login for projects, files, and invoices, the separate update emails stop. Instead of sending a Google Drive link, an Asana update, and a FreshBooks invoice as three separate emails, the client finds all three inside their portal.
Plutio's client portals close the gap PandaDoc leaves after the signature, giving clients one login for project updates, deliverable approvals, and invoice payments instead of separate email threads for each.
With Plutio we don't jump between apps anymore! Everything from projects to invoicing is finally connected in one fully-branded app.
How to switch from PandaDoc to Plutio
Switching from PandaDoc means bringing the proposal tool and 3-4 extra subscriptions into one platform.
- Start a free trial: Plutio's 14-day trial includes the pricing tables and invoicing that PandaDoc moved to Business, plus the project management, time tracking, and client portals that PandaDoc doesn't have at any tier. No credit card required.
- Recreate proposal templates: Move PandaDoc's top 3-5 templates into Plutio's proposal builder. Add pricing tables with service packages and optional line items that PandaDoc Starter no longer supports.
- Send the next proposal from Plutio: When a new client engagement starts, send the proposal through Plutio. The client reviews pricing, signs the contract, and the project creates automatically.
- Cancel the extra tools first: Toggl, Asana, FreshBooks, and any other tools that Plutio replaces can be canceled immediately. Dropping those three alone saves $37-98/month based on their current pricing.
- Finish active PandaDoc work: Proposals already sent through PandaDoc stay there until signed. New proposals go through Plutio. Both platforms run in parallel briefly.
- Downgrade PandaDoc: Once new proposals run through Plutio, downgrade PandaDoc to the free eSign plan for occasional document signing, or cancel entirely.
PandaDoc's free eSign tier (5 documents/month) means the old account can stay active for reference while new client work runs entirely through Plutio.
New proposals go through Plutio where signing triggers project creation, portal access, and billing setup, while PandaDoc's free tier keeps old documents accessible.
