Pick by how you bid
All 10, ranked by price
Free first, then published price, then quote only- Free · $39/moDeadlines, summaries and alerts for small firmsFree to browse 7,615 open RFPs across 52 states, each with a plain-English summary, plus a free daily digest. Pro is $39/mo or $349/yr. Downside: a feed and an alert, not a submission portal, and state and local coverage is still growing.
RFPFinder
Free: everything - FreeFederal notices from the sourceEvery federal solicitation, free, with saved searches. Downside: nothing state or local, no summaries.
SAM.gov
Free: everything - $19.95/moSolo bidders who want cheap, broad coverage and a daily emailUpside: the cheapest published national plan among the services we track. Downside: no permanent free tier.
FindRFP
Paid only - Free tierContractors submitting to BidNet member agencies in one to three statesUpside: free Basic tier that still lets you submit to member agencies. Downside: cost climbs by geography: three states already cost $1,199 a year.
BidNet Direct
Limited free - Free tierVendors submitting to Periscope-run agencies in one stateUpside: free tier with real submission to Periscope network agencies. Downside: the free tier is a sliver of the paid volume.
Periscope S2G
Limited free - $125/moFederal contractors tracking pursuits, awards and vehiclesUpside: published, self-serve annual plans and a 7-day trial. Downside: the cheapest plan is $1,500 a year and federal only.
GovTribe
Paid only - Quote onlyMulti-state firms that also want Canadian bidsUpside: coverage across the US and Canada in one quote. Downside: no dollar amounts on the plans page.
BidPrime
Paid only - Quote onlyFirms needing international RFPs or a single documentUpside: single-RFP purchase when you only need one document. Downside: prices are not shown until you log in.
RFPMart
Limited free - Quote onlySales teams sizing agencies with spend and purchase-order dataUpside: purchase-order and spend data show what an agency actually buys. Downside: no public price; every deal is a custom annual quote.
GovSpend
Paid only - Quote onlyFederal and SLED capture teams with a business-development budgetUpside: analyst-validated forecasts arrive before the RFP is published. Downside: no public price; every deal goes through a demo and a sales quote.
GovWin IQ
Paid only
DemandStar vs RFPFinder, line by line
Where RFPFinder falls short. It is a feed, a scorecard and an alert, not a proposal workspace or a submission portal. State and local coverage is still being built portal by portal. If several people work every bid together, or your agencies require you to submit through DemandStar, keep that account.
$29 a month. Locked for life.
Instant alerts, 5 categories × 5 states, set-aside and value filters, scorecards and buyer contacts. $39/mo after the founding seats go.
Our take on DemandStar
DemandStar makes sense for a vendor that bids to a handful of counties that use it, where $60 a year per county is cheap. Once you need several states, the per-state pricing and the $2,699 national plan compare poorly with flat-rate feeds, and you still only see DemandStar agencies.
DemandStar reviews: is it worth it?
- Free search and a cheap county plan for genuinely local vendors
- Electronic submission to agencies that run DemandStar
- Unlimited downloads inside the area you subscribe to
- The $5 per package fee adds up fast outside your subscription
- State pricing varies by more than ten times depending on the state
- Coverage is the DemandStar agency network, not every public agency
- Submit bids electronically to agencies that run DemandStar
- Want per-county or per-state subscriptions rather than one feed
- Need bid packages for DemandStar agencies without the $5 per-document fee
- Bid in a few categories or states and want deadline-first lists with a should-bid scorecard
- Want to read full listings, summaries and document links before paying anything
- Need a daily digest or an instant alert more than a bid-management suite
In DemandStar's words: Free search of active/completed bids; Basic free notifications for 1 agency. Paid County/State/National: email notifications + unlimited free bid-package downloads in subscription area. Non-subscribers pay $5 per document package. Coverage claim: Hundreds of thousands of active and completed bids; county/state/national DemandStar agency network (rebranding to Euna OpenBids). We have not used a paid DemandStar account; this review is based on the published plans, prices and feature lists.
DemandStar pricing (2026)
DemandStar pricing starts free, then $60 a year per county, $100 to $1,499 a year per state, or $2,699 a year nationwide, with a $5 fee per document package outside your subscription.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | Search active and completed bids; notifications for one agency |
| County | From $60/yr per county | Email notifications and unlimited bid-package downloads for that county |
| State | $100 to $1,499/yr per state | Price depends on how many agencies in the state use DemandStar |
| National | $2,699/yr | Every DemandStar agency nationwide |
| Pay per document | $5 per package | For bid packages outside your subscription area |
Source: DemandStar's pricing page, 2026-10-05 (also searched as Euna OpenBids). Limits as published: County from $60/yr per county; State $100-$1499/yr per state (varies by agency count); National $2699/yr; $5 download fee outside subscription. Prices in USD as published; some exclude tax.
What a year costs
| Nationwide coverage | Per year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DemandStar National | $2,699 | As published, 2026-10-05 |
| RFPFinder Pro | $349 | All states, instant alerts, 5 categories × 5 states, scorecards, CSV export |
| RFPFinder Pro, founding | $348 | $29 × 12, first 100 subscribers, price locked |
| RFPFinder Free | $0 | Browse everything; one daily digest for one category or state |
| SAM.gov | $0 | Federal only, official source |
Does DemandStar have a free plan?
Yes. You can search active and completed bids for free and get notifications for one agency. Downloading a bid package outside a subscription costs $5. On RFPFinder every listing, summary and document link is free without an account, and the free daily digest covers one category or state. Pro ($39/mo) adds instant alerts, filters and buyer contacts.
Questions people ask
What are the best DemandStar alternatives?
RFPFinder (free to browse, Pro alerts $39/mo), SAM.gov (free, federal only), then FindRFP, BidNet Direct, Periscope S2G, GovTribe, BidPrime, RFPMart, GovSpend, GovWin IQ, ranked above by published price with quote-only services last. The right one depends on whether you need notices, e-submission to specific agencies, or market intelligence.
Why do people look for a DemandStar alternative?
The $5 per package fee adds up fast outside your subscription. State pricing varies by more than ten times depending on the state. Coverage is the DemandStar agency network, not every public agency. None of that makes DemandStar a bad product; it means the fit depends on how you bid.
Is there a free alternative to DemandStar?
Yes. SAM.gov is free for every federal notice. RFPFinder is free to browse with a free daily digest. BidNet Direct, Periscope S2G, RFPMart have limited free tiers restricted to their own agency networks.
How much does DemandStar cost?
DemandStar pricing starts free, then $60 a year per county, $100 to $1,499 a year per state, or $2,699 a year nationwide, with a $5 fee per document package outside your subscription. Checked 2026-10-05 on DemandStar's pricing page.
Does DemandStar have a free plan?
Yes. You can search active and completed bids for free and get notifications for one agency. Downloading a bid package outside a subscription costs $5. On RFPFinder every listing, summary and document link is free without an account, and the free daily digest covers one category or state.
Is DemandStar worth it?
DemandStar makes sense for a vendor that bids to a handful of counties that use it, where $60 a year per county is cheap. Once you need several states, the per-state pricing and the $2,699 national plan compare poorly with flat-rate feeds, and you still only see DemandStar agencies.
What is the cheapest alternative to DemandStar?
For federal notices, SAM.gov is free and official. RFPFinder is free to browse, and Pro alerts cost $39 a month or $349 a year. Among paid aggregators, FindRFP's $19.95 a month regional plan is the lowest published price we track.
Is DemandStar becoming Euna OpenBids?
DemandStar's pricing page notes a rebrand to Euna OpenBids. The plans and prices on this page were checked on the DemandStar supplier pricing page.
Read today's bids. Pay later, or never.
Every listing, summary and document link is public. No login.
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it. Prices checked 2026-10-05. See every government bid website compared on price and free tier.