Best Contract Management Software 2024

Contracts are a fundamental part of many business models, and managing them effectively is essential to overall growth and success. Traditional paper-based contract management can be very time-consuming and result in delays or errors. However, there are now significantly more efficient ways to manage contracts, using quality contract management software. But which software is the right one for your business? Let’s find out as we explore the best contract management software of 2024. As well as the key factors to look for in good providers.

What is contract management software?

Contract management software is a tool that proactively organises contracts at every stage of their lifecycle. From its creation to sending, signing, completion, and renewal. This type of software is typically designed to streamline and automate contract lifecycle management for businesses. 

Software options can vary in complexity with some providing more extensive features whilst others focus on simpler functionality aimed at specific industries and use cases. Whilst each solution will have its own unique functionality, many modern CLM softwares will generally have some or all of the features below: 

• Mobile compatibility – a user-friendly mobile version of the software that allows for quick and easy document management on the go.
• Contract creation – simplify contract generation with templates and automated document creation.
• Organised storage – a secure and centralised location for contracts to be stored and accessed when needed with version control.
• Tracking and monitoring – the ability to use date reminders, milestone tracking, and reporting on documents.
• Electronic signature capabilities – seamless finalisation of contracts with compliant, secure, and legally binding e-signatures.

E-Sign

E-Sign is an industry-leading e-signature and digital document solutions provider, with many beneficial features that can support businesses with their contract management. The platform allows users to create contracts in just a few clicks. Thanks to the ability to create new templates or use pre-built ones, saving time and boosting team productivity. It is easy to use for both senders and signers, meaning you can provide your customers with a seamless experience when completing important transactions. 

Security is one of the biggest priorities for E-Sign. The platform is secured using SSL encryption, and it features malware protection, vulnerability testing, anti-tampering controls, and more. Additionally, each signed document comes with a digital certificate and a full audit trail providing details about the signature. This includes the date, time, location, and IP address of it, confirming its validity and authenticity. 

Another advantage of E-Sign for contract management is that it can be integrated with a wide range of other applications to support businesses with their existing processes. For example, the integration with SharePoint can help businesses streamline their contract management even further by combining the features of both platforms and utilising automated workflows to enhance efficiency.

ContractWorks

ContractWorks is an AI-powered CLM software that is favoured for its security and repository. Users can access custom reporting automation which is a popular feature, as well as notifications, OCR functionality and more. Its AI smart dragging feature helps to locate contracts easily and track any changes made, which is beneficial to users. Its detailed functionality makes it a popular option for many businesses. 

However, ContractWorks does lack in some areas which prevents commercial teams from being able to sufficiently self-serve on on contracts. For example, it doesn’t have a collaborative workspace or native contract editor. Which means users will need to use Microsoft Word to effectively work together on contracts. Therefore, ContractWorks is likely most beneficial for managing contracts that don’t require too much team collaboration.

Conga

Conga is a versatile contract management solution designed to assist businesses in creating, managing, tracking, and reporting various contracts from a single, centralised hub. It offers a range of features, including approval workflows, flexible pricing options like pay-as-you-grow, and comprehensive enterprise solutions. Conga also provides a suite of tools for streamlined contract management, such as Conga Collaborate, Conga Composer, Conga Sign, and Conga CPQ. This makes it particularly useful for sales teams, as it integrates seamlessly with other CRM systems to enhance sales processes. In addition, Conga offers other sales-focused products, such as quoting software, which can be added to further boost team productivity.

Whilst Conga is a good option to consider for sales teams, its features can be limiting for other industries. For example, the platform doesn’t have a native template editor specific to contracts. So contract drafting is done through Microsoft Word, which isn’t the ideal solution for legal teams. Also, their e-signing tool is separate and integrated. Along with some of their other tools which can complicate the contract process rather the achieving the intention of simplifying it.

Ironclad

Ironclad is a contract management system designed for in-house legal teams as it allows them to automate time-consuming, repetitive manual tasks related to black-box contracts. Legal departments can generate reports, process contracts, efficiently automate workflows, and more with Ironclad. 

Some key benefits of Ironclad are its user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop functionality that is accessible to all stakeholders regardless of technical knowledge, approval workflows, and secure repository storage for contracts with intuitive search capabilities. Making it easy to locate important documents when needed. Ironclad is tailored towards the legal sector. So other industries that regularly manage contracts may want to consider other alternatives on this list.

CobbleStone

CobbleStone is a contract management software that best serves teams that regularly handle procurement contracts. It is an enterprise-level solution and one of the oldest platforms on the market, first launching in 1995. Over the years the software has been optimised to provide businesses with a suite of useful features. These include secure contract storage, simple and effective tracking, and reminders to ensure contracts are organised and sent on time. 

However, it’s important to note that some features will only be available on the higher price plans. Additionally, CobbleStone does not have a native eSigning. So users would need to integrate the system with an electronic signature tool. This works well for some organisations but for others that want a more combined solution, one of the other platforms like E-Sign may be a better choice for them.

Icertis

The Icertis platform provides users with clause libraries and contract templates. With the ability to accelerate document processes thanks to its cloud computing and storage system. Other useful features of Icertis include its enterprise-grade administration standards which ensure only the intended recipients can access contracts, flexible rule-based contract generation capabilities which simplify the process of creating, collaborating on, and executing new contracts, and its governance, commercial risk, and compliance tools to support business in adhering to relevant standards. The main drawback to Icertis is its interface is overloaded with options. Making it somewhat complex to learn for new users.

Concord

Concord is a CLM software designed to effectively facilitate contract compliance and negotiations. Examples of its features include pre-built templates for faster document creation, automated approval that accelerates the process by automatically sending contracts through the appropriate approval channels, and version control that ensures users receive the most up-to-date versions of the contract. 

Concord is generally well-received as a contract management solution. However, some complaints from users are that it lacks familiar features for lawyers and in some instances emails have failed to reach their intended recipients.

LinkSquares

LinkSquares is another software that is best used by the legal industry. It has innovative automated AI tools and a comprehensive platform that can effectively support legal teams with their contract processes. The powerful AI and automation tools help to save time in contract creation and reduce the risk of errors by removing manual intervention. 

It is this feature that stands out the most with LinkSquares as it makes contract management easier and quicker for legal teams. However, a drawback to this platform is that it has limited search functionality and the user interface is not the most convenient. These factors aren’t major negatives but they are important to consider if you’re in the legal sector and are looking for an easy-to-use solution for contract management.

Find the right contract management software for your business

As you can see there are many quality contract management softwares on the market. So when determining which one is right for your business you will need to consider what is most important to you in terms of functionality. Start by completing a detailed analysis of your requirements for features, user experience, and integrations. From there you will be able to narrow down the range of options until you find the one that best suits your needs. You might even need to try a few first before deciding. 

E-Sign offers a 14-day free trial so you can experience the features and functionality of the platform for yourself and how it can work for contract management in your organisation. If you have any specific questions about E-Sign for your business, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our digital transformation team are on hand to help you find a tailored solution that meets your requirements.