Proposal vs quote is a question about who defined the work. A quote is a price against a scope the client already wrote: they know what they want, they want the number. A proposal defines the scope and the price together, because the client has a problem rather than a specification. Freelancers who send a quote when a proposal was needed compete on price against people who understood the job less; freelancers who send a proposal when a quote was wanted look like they did not read the brief. The freelance proposal template tool on this site prices either from your own hours and rate, free and without an account.
The difference between quote and proposal
A quote carries the scope as given, the price, the validity period and the terms. A proposal carries the understanding of the problem, the approach, the scope it recommends, options, the price and the terms. The first is short and fast; the second is where a small agency earns its fee before doing the work.
Quote vs proposal: read the client
If the brief has a deliverable list and a deadline, quote it, and add the assumptions you had to make. If the brief describes an outcome, propose: restate the problem, recommend a scope, offer options. When the client sends a specification that is wrong, send a short proposal that says why and quotes the corrected scope.
When a quote proposal is the right document
Some clients ask for a quote and need a proposal; the quote proposal is a one-page answer that gives the number they asked for, states the scope that number buys, and offers one alternative. It respects the request and still moves the conversation from price to scope.
Whichever you send, price it the same way
Hours at a rate that covers your costs and profit, presented as options where the scope allows, with a deposit and payment dates on the page. Proposal suites charge per seat: from the vendor's own pricing page, Proposify Basic is $29 per user per month and Team is $49 per user per month on monthly billing. Scopedly Pro is $29 per month for the whole studio, and every tool on this site works free with no account.
Questions people ask about proposal vs quote
Is a proposal legally different from a quote?
This site publishes no legal advice. Practically, both become binding when accepted, so both should carry the validity period, the terms and the assumptions.
Can I send a quote and a proposal together?
The quote proposal does exactly that on one page: the number requested, the scope it buys, and one alternative.
Which do the tools on this site produce?
Either. The freelance proposal template prices the scope from your hours and rate and prints it as a proposal with options or as a single-figure quote.