6 Best Tenders Direct Alternatives (2026 Top Picks)

The best Tenders Direct alternatives in 2026 are Stotles for UK tender search with a free plan and published paid tiers, AI Tender Writer for SMEs that want tenders found, scored and drafted in one tool, and a soft FM specialist at number three for cleaning and security contractors. Tracker Intelligence, Tussell and Bidstats complete the list below.

Suppliers switch from Tenders Direct mostly for price visibility, a free option or help with the bid itself. It's a long-running UK tender alert service, and plenty of suppliers use it happily. People look for Tenders Direct alternatives for simpler reasons: they want to see prices before a sales call, they want a free option, or they want help deciding which tenders to bid for and writing the response, not only an alert email.

Tenders Direct at a glance¶

Tenders Direct sends personalised email alerts when public-sector contracts that match your profile are published. It covers notices from contracting authorities in the UK and Ireland, plus opportunities published in the Official Journal of the EU. Tenders sit in one searchable database, each subscriber gets a dedicated account manager to set up their search, and you can add colleagues at no extra cost.

Pricing isn't shown as fixed figures on its website. Its pricing page describes flexible, customised plans, and you contact the team or book a demo for a price. It suits suppliers who want a managed alert service with a human to help set it up.

The common reasons suppliers compare Tenders Direct with other services are:

• Price visibility. Some buyers prefer a service with a published price or a free tier they can try straight away.
• Free sources exist. Find a Tender and Contracts Finder are free, so small firms want to know what a paid service adds.
• Alerts are only the first step. An alert tells you a tender exists; it doesn't tell you if you can win it or help you write the answers.
• Market intelligence. Larger suppliers want incumbent, spend and contract expiry data to plan months ahead.
• No AI scoring. Teams that get dozens of alerts a week want each one scored against their capabilities.

How we picked these Tenders Direct alternatives¶

We compared each service as a replacement for Tenders Direct from the point of view of a UK supplier. Our criteria were:

• Coverage of Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI.
• How well alerts match your business, and whether they're scored or only keyword-filtered.
• Forward view: contract expiries, pipeline notices and award history under the Procurement Act 2023.
• Help after the alert: bid/no-bid support and drafting.
• Published pricing and a free way to try it.
• Fit for the size of your business, from sole traders to national suppliers.

We didn't use review-site star ratings. Where a vendor doesn't publish prices, we say so rather than guess.

1. Stotles: Best for UK tender search with a free plan¶

Stotles pricing

When to choose Stotles

• You want to try a UK tender feed free before paying.
• You want expiring contracts and buyer history to plan ahead.
• You already have a way to write bids and mainly need intelligence.

Where Stotles falls short

• Doesn't draft bid answers.
• Higher tiers add up for small firms.
• Aimed more at sales and account planning than writing.

2. AI Tender Writer: Best for SMEs that want tenders found, scored and drafted¶

AI Tender Writer pricing

When to choose AI Tender Writer

• You get more alerts than you can read and want each one scored.
• You want to go from alert to a Word draft in the same tool.
• You want a published monthly price and a free plan to start.

Where AI Tender Writer falls short

• Lighter on spend and incumbent analysis than specialist intelligence tools.
• UK public sector only: no European tender coverage.
• Drafts still need your review and real evidence.

3. CleanTender: Best for cleaning and security tenders¶

CleanTender pricing

When to choose CleanTender

• You bid for cleaning, security, grounds, waste or catering contracts.
• You want to know about compliance gaps before you start a bid.
• You want the alert and the draft in one low-cost tool.

Where CleanTender falls short

• Soft FM only: no works, IT or professional services tenders.
• No spend, incumbent or framework analysis.
• Drafts still need your own evidence and editing.

4. Tracker Intelligence: Best for researched leads and award data¶

Tracker Intelligence pricing

When to choose Tracker Intelligence

• You want researched leads across the UK and Ireland.
• Award and forward-planning data help you plan bids.
• You like having a managed service behind your alerts.

Where Tracker Intelligence falls short

• Prices aren't published.
• No AI scoring or drafting.
• More than a small, occasional bidder may need.

5. Tussell: Best for public-sector market intelligence¶

Tussell pricing

When to choose Tussell

• You need to know who holds a contract today and what it's worth.
• You want competitor and incumbent profiles.
• You plan accounts across many public-sector buyers.

Where Tussell falls short

• Prices aren't published.
• No bid/no-bid scoring or drafting.
• More data than a small bidder will use.

6. Bidstats: Best for free UK tender search¶

Bidstats pricing

When to choose Bidstats

• You bid occasionally and don't want another subscription.
• You want to look up past awards for a buyer quickly.
• You're happy to check for tenders yourself.

Where Bidstats falls short

• No account manager to set up your search.
• No fit scoring or bid writing help.
• The free search lacks the intelligence found in its premium plans and other paid platforms.

Tenders Direct alternatives pricing compared¶

How to choose a Tenders Direct alternative¶

What to look for in a Tenders Direct alternative¶

• Coverage of every UK portal. Since the Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, above-threshold notices publish through the Central Digital Platform and Find a Tender, but devolved portals still matter.
• Early signals. Pipeline notices, preliminary market engagement and contract expiries give you months to prepare.
• Scored alerts, not just matched ones. The reality is that a keyword match says nothing about whether you can win.
• Right-sized intelligence. Spend and incumbent data is valuable to national suppliers and noise to a 10-person firm.
• Help once you decide to bid. Writing time is usually the real bottleneck for SMEs.
• Thresholds you care about. Central government goods and services contracts above £139,688 go on Find a Tender; lower-value work often appears on Contracts Finder.

Related guides: the best tender alert services, Find a Tender UK explained, where to find tender opportunities, bid/no-bid software, government tenders for small businesses. Free tools: CPV code finder, procurement threshold checker and tender scoring calculator.