In short
Anyone looking for an alternative to Altura will soon notice that the best choice depends on what you need. If you want to write more easily and quickly and have your application reviewed before proposal, then TenderRender is the accessible writing and review alternative. It covers the entire chain from signaling to proposal, writes in your style and scores your text on the evaluation criteria. If you want document analysis, Brainial is strong. If you are looking for a purchasing marketplace, Mercell comes into the picture. And there is a new generation of AI-first NL tools such as TenderApp and TenderB. Below we compare them honestly, with a real table and in the words of bid managers and government bid supervisors.
Last year we spoke to more than 300 bid managers and procurement professionals. The quotes in this article come from those conversations, presented anonymously. It is what we hear in the market, also about ourselves.
Why people seek an Altura alternative
Altura is a well-known name for bid management in the Netherlands. The platform raised a Series A (approximately 8 million euros, led by Octopus Ventures) and is increasingly focusing on more complex and larger bid processes: structure, collaboration, overseeing the entire process. This makes sense for large bid teams with many simultaneous processes. But that is exactly where the problem lies for part of the market.
Three objections keep recurring in conversations with bid managers and government bid supervisors.
It's too expensive for what you use it for. A bid consultant says it straight away: "I also really like those guys from Brainial and Altura. But I think they're too expensive." For an SME that submits eight to twelve government bids per year, a broad platform with an associated price tag is difficult to justify.
You are forced to work in a tool that does not feel automatic. The same bid consultant: "Don't make it too complicated. Because that is the feedback I get from people who use Brainial and Altura: I am forced to do all kinds of things in a tool and it is not self-evident." Anyone who already does their work in Word and Teams does not want a parallel workflow next to it.
The writing module is not the strongest point. A bid consultant is clear about it: "the others are not very good at writing. Altura is moving away from writing. Brainial remains fully committed to it. I am not so impressed with the quality of the writing modules of the others." For those who register themselves as the core issue, this is the objection that carries the most weight.
We regularly hear two signals on top of that. The first is about what you actually use. A bid manager at a translation service sums it up sharply: "I don't like the cost of Altura. It is actually a very expensive Trello board. You cannot tweak the AI model to our style either." The project management side is strong, but many teams only use part of it. And AI writing cannot be adjusted to your own corporate identity.The second signal is about the run-up. A government bid supervisor about the implementation of Altura: "At Altura they say that they fixed that within six weeks. In the end it took six months. To make all those links with your SharePoint before you can actually start using it." His summary: "Before it really starts working for you, you're just working really hard for that tool." The large platforms usually come with long contracts and a high annual price.
In short: people are looking for an Altura alternative because they don't need the very broad platform. What they do want is to accurately write and review the evaluation criteria, without their own bid desk and without months of implementation. Accessible and quick to start. Below are the alternatives, explained individually.
The alternatives in one table
| Tool | Best for | How it differs from Altura | ISO 27001 / GDPR | SME fit |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | TenderRender | The entire chain from signaling to proposal, with an emphasis on writing in your style and reviewing based on evaluation criteria | Deliberately kept simple and writing-oriented: does your text score on the evaluation criteria, instead of being a broad platform to manage a large bid team | ISO 27001 certified, GDPR compliant, does not train on your data | High: made for SMEs without a bid team, first analysis in approximately 15 minutes | | Brainial | Document analysis and an AI assistant that parses the government bid | Continues to focus strongly on writing and analysis, while Altura is moving away from writing; wider and usually more expensive | GDPR compliant; check the current certification with the provider | Medium: powerful, but can feel too extensive for a small team | | TenderApp | Signaling, monitoring and market analysis of government bids | AI-first NL tool at the front of the process: strong in finding and forecasting government bids, lighter in writing and reviewing the government bid | GDPR compliant; check the current certification with the provider | Medium to high: good for finding opportunities | | TenderB | AI-first proposal writing with autonomous agents | Dutch AI-first player positioning itself with "autonomous agents writing winning proposals", instead of Altura's broad process platform | GDPR compliant; check the current certification with the provider | Still young: part of the new generation of AI-first NL tools | | Mercell | Find government bids through a purchasing marketplace and sourcing | Different layer than Altura: marketplace and publication, no bid management or writing software | GDPR compliant; check the current certification with the provider | Means: useful for obtaining government bids, not for winning them | | Sequesto | RFP and government bid management, more towards larger or international processes | Similar process-oriented principle as Altura, with its own RFP approach | GDPR compliant; check the current certification with the provider | Varying: depending on the complexity of your processes |A note on the table: government bid.app itself has an Altura alternatives page, but it is prose and omits TenderRender. That is why we explicitly put the comparison in a table here and we call ourselves honest where we are strong and where someone else fits better.
TenderRender: the writing and review alternative
What it is. TenderRender covers the entire chain of a government bid: identifying, analyzing, writing and reviewing. It links with TenderNed at the front, so that you receive new government bids above the threshold values every day. You create a search profile with broad CPV codes plus a company description, and the AI gives each government bid a match score from 1 to 5 with an explanation, which you can adjust. But the crux lies next: the AI writes your government bid in your writing style and scores the text on the evaluation criteria before you submit. No more white sheets of paper, no cutting and pasting from old documents, no separate ChatGPT prompts that you have to adjust question by question.
How it differs from Altura. Altura is moving towards broader and larger bid management: overseeing and managing the entire process. TenderRender consciously does less and therefore more sharply, in the two phases where the most time and profit are spent: writing and reviewing. A bid manager at an installation company wrote: "The basis is already there. You can start fine-tuning earlier. You have more time to turn it into something beautiful." About the review: "that review function is very good." The time savings that customers mention in writing is around half to two-thirds: a bid manager in education mentions "60, 70 percent" and adds: "The quality is better. Definitely."
What distinguishes the AI writing side is that you can tailor it closely to your own corporate identity. This is often not possible with a broad platform. A bid writer: "We write 'your employees' instead of 'employees', and we adhere very strictly to what is stated here." TenderRender retains those kinds of corporate identity details, instead of delivering text that is "just a bit too Jip-en-Janneke".
The difference that is most noticeable is in the review. Where most tools stop at drafting text, TenderRender watches as a strict but constructive colleague. A bid manager at a consultancy firm: "During the review he said: nice that you described it nicely, but the invoicing part is not mentioned. You will get fewer points for that. Sharp." That is exactly the loss of points that you no longer see due to company blindness, and that you would rather hear before proposal than in the award notice. The review does not give a fair-weather figure that always turns green: it points out weaknesses and prioritises them. You remain editor-in-chief.Where Altura is stronger: project management. Let's be honest: if you are looking for a heavy platform to manage a large bid team, then Altura is stronger. Altura does project management well, and we have deliberately not made it our core. The reason lies in what we hear back. When we ask teams whether they really use the project management features of a broad platform, the answer is often no. Hence the “expensive trello board” comparison. We therefore opted for writing and review as the core, with a light project pipeline around it instead of heavy planning software. Full-fledged project management is on our roadmap. If you want to manage your entire bid team in one tool, Altura makes more sense. If you especially want to write and review sharply, then TenderRender is the right place for you, whether you are a one-person company or a large bid team.
Try without a long implementation process. That government bid supervisor spent six months at Altura getting all the connections working, while he was promised six weeks. You can try TenderRender for free for a week. No long onboarding, no high start-up costs, can be canceled monthly and money back guarantee for the first month. The onboarding plus training takes a maximum of three to four hours, at your office or remotely. Then you can start. This can be done in such a short time because we deliberately keep the tool simple. The large platforms actually have a long onboarding process due to their many functions. A bid manager summarized the accessible model this way: "Onboarding, are there any costs involved? No. So it is actually a very accessible model." It's a different story with the major platforms: annual prices in the market are around 20,000 to 40,000 euros, long contracts and sometimes an onboarding fee of several thousand euros before you go live.
For whom. For SME companies that conduct government bids "on the side", without a permanent bid team: cleaning, construction and installation, education, healthcare, ICT, consultancy and secondment. For those who find Altura too broad or too expensive and mainly want to write and review. TenderRender is ISO 27001 certified, GDPR compliant and does not train on your data. 50+ bid teams are now working on 200+ projects, and the first analysis is usually completed within 15 minutes.
Brainial: strong in document analysis
What it is. Brainial uses AI to analyze government bids: it dissects the pieces and helps generate answers. It is an assistant that makes the documents manageable for you.
How it differs from Altura. While Altura is moving away from writing according to the market, Brainial continues to focus on it. In that respect, a bid consultant calls it more serious than the rest: "Brainial remains fully committed to it." In terms of content, it is therefore closer to the writing phase than a broad process platform, but it remains a broader and generally more expensive package. Brainial also includes your previous government bids. The difference we hear is not that, but in the simplicity and ease of use, and in the review that scores your text on the evaluation criteria.For whom. For teams that mainly want to understand complex bid documents and who have the budget for a more extensive platform. The objection mentioned by a bid consultant also applies here: nice people, good tool, but it can feel too extensive for a small team. We also hear it referred to as "too complex" or "too cumbersome": teams that purchased it for two or three years and then hardly used it. If you want to write easily in your own style plus a review of the evaluation criteria, then that focus is on TenderRender.
TenderApp: AI-first signaling at the front end
What it is. TenderApp is a Dutch, AI-first platform to proactively identify, monitor government bids and analyze the market. It tells you what opportunities there are and helps with forecasting.
How it differs from Altura. TenderApp is at the front of the chain: it's all about finding government bids, not about managing the bidding process or writing the government bid. Teams deliberately use it for "signalling and a bit of forecasting" and then use another tool for writing.
For whom. For those who want to see better at the front which government bids are coming up. It is not a writing tool. TenderRender also covers the signaling phase itself: via the TenderNed connection, a search profile on CPV plus company description and an AI match score from 1 to 5. The difference is that with TenderRender the emphasis is on writing and the review. If you only want to sit at the front, you can use a specialized signaling tool such as TenderApp.
TenderB: AI-first with autonomous agents
What it is. TenderB is a Dutch, AI-first player that positions itself with "autonomous agents writing winning proposals" (tenderb.nl). It is part of the new generation of AI-first NL tools that, like TenderRender, want to accelerate the writing phase with AI.
How it differs from Altura. While Altura is a broad process platform, TenderB relies on AI agents who draw up the proposal themselves. So the focus is on writing with AI, not on managing a large bid team.
For whom. For teams that want to look at an AI-first approach to writing. He is a young player; weigh the concrete claims and the way of working against what you need. If, in addition to writing, you also want a review that explicitly scores your text on the evaluation criteria and points out where you are missing points, then that is the focus of TenderRender.
Mercell: a marketplace, not a bidding software
What it is. Mercell is a purchasing marketplace and sourcing platform: it connects buyers and suppliers and publishes government bids.
How it differs from Altura. Mercell plays at a different level than Altura. Altura helps you manage the bidding process; Mercell will help you with the government bids themselves. It is not bid management or writing software.
For whom. For those who want to find and publish government bids via a marketplace. It is complementary to a writing tool, not a substitute for it. Mercell finds and publishes government bids; TenderRender helps you win them by writing and reviewing the government bid.
Sequesto: RFP-oriented, more towards the larger processes
What it is. Sequesto focuses on RFP and government bid management, with a process-oriented approach that in practice often suits larger or international projects.How it differs from Altura. The premise is similar to Altura's: manage the process. The difference with TenderRender is the same as with the other broad platforms: the focus is on management and structure, not on writing in your style and reviewing based on the evaluation criteria.
For whom. For teams with more complex RFP processes that are looking for a process-oriented platform. For an SME that mainly wants to write faster and better, it is usually heavier than necessary. In the market we regularly hear Sequesto mentioned in the same breath as the other heavy platforms: expensive and overkill for a small team. A prospect put it next to Brainial: heavy overkill, with an annual price in the same order of magnitude as the other major players.
Which alternative suits you?
- Easier and faster writing and reviewing, accessible and without hassle: TenderRender.
- Have complex documents analyzed: Brainial, broader and more expensive.
- Signalize government bids especially at the front: TenderApp, AI-first at the front.
- Exploring an AI-first approach to writing: TenderB.
- Obtaining government bids via a marketplace: Mercell, as a source, not as bidding software.
- Heavy, process-oriented RFP processes: Sequesto; too difficult for accessible writing and reviewing.
Frequently asked questions
Isn't TenderRender just ChatGPT with a shell around it? No. The difference is two things that separate ChatGPT does not do reliably. Firstly, TenderRender writes in your writing style based on your own winning entries, instead of sending you question by question and by sub-question. A bid writer at a translation agency about the separate ChatGPT approach: "These are the ten questions, just answer them. That's not possible. You have to do question by question. And then again within a question per sub-question." Secondly, TenderRender reviews your text based on the evaluation criteria and points out specifically where you are missing points. Includes traceable source citation, so you can click back to where something is in the document.
Why should I consider an Altura alternative when Altura is so well known? Familiarity is not a reason to pay for features you don't use. Altura is moving towards broader and larger bid processes. If you mainly do government bids "on the side" and want to write and review sharply, then with a broad platform you pay for a process that you do not need. The market feedback that comes back: too expensive, and you are forced into a tool that does not feel obvious.
How does TenderRender compare to Altura and Brainial? Altura and Brainial are broader and focused on larger or more complex prayer processes. TenderRender has been deliberately kept more accessible: a tool that you can pick up without a difficult implementation process, aimed at writing and reviewing your government bid. The market feedback about the broad platforms is that they quickly feel too heavy for smaller teams. Request a demo to see if the approach suits your number of government bids.
Is my data safe and is it being trained on? TenderRender is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant, and does not train on your data. There are processing agreements with the underlying AI providers. This is important if you work for the government or in a regulated sector. Otherwise, putting data into any AI is simply a no-go. For the other tools: check the current certification with the provider itself.Can I combine signaling and writing? Yes, and that is often the smartest plan. TenderApp or Mercell helps you find government bids, TenderRender helps you write and review the government bid. The tools are not mutually exclusive: they cover different parts of the chain, from finding an opportunity to submitting it. This especially works for SMEs without a permanent bid team, who also submit government bids and want to halve the writing time without sacrificing quality.
Read more
- Brainial vs Altura vs TenderRender: which AI government bid tool to choose?
- Best AI bid management software: the complete comparison
- The best bid management tools
- Review and score bid or proposal with AI before proposal
