What does each option do?
| Option | Job it does | Illustrative cost shape | Internal review still required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract bid writer | Drafts responses from your inputs and evidence | Day rate × days per tender (assumption, get dated quotes) | Full: technical accuracy, pricing, compliance, yours |
| Bid consultant | Advises on strategy and win themes, often drafts key sections | Higher day rate, fewer days, plus advice premium (assumption) | Full: judgement is bought, accountability is not |
| Software | Qualification scoring or drafting assistance at machine speed | Subscription plus verification time (assumption, check current pricing) | Full: every output verified, see the error protocol |
Figures illustrative and labelled; get dated quotes before deciding anything; vendor pricing moves and day rates vary by market. Feature claims about actual products belong to vendor documentation, not to this table: verify Loopio, Responsive, AutogenAI, or any alternative against current docs, and see build-your-own costs for the in-house alternative. This page sells nothing and ranks nothing; the publisher’s commercial interest is disclosed plainly on the software pages.
What does this mean for the bid/no-bid call?
Resourcing changes pursuit cost, never the gate: a cheap draft of a poor-fit tender is still a poor-fit tender, and an expensive consultant cannot rescue a failed axis. Price the option, keep the gate, and review the resourcing decision quarterly against actual verification burden, not against the sales demo.