If you work in sales, fundraising, or marketing, you know that sharing a proposal or pitch deck is only half the battle. Tools like DocSend revolutionized this by providing document tracking, letting you see who opened your file and which pages they spent the most time on. This insight is incredibly powerful.
But for agencies and service providers who manage ongoing client relationships—not just one-off sales pitches—DocSend’s specialized focus and rising price tag often stop being enough. It forces you to treat every client interaction as a single document link, rather than a holistic, secure relationship. If you’re ready to upgrade from link tracking to a full client experience, it’s time to look at solutions built for the agency model.
What is DocSend?
DocSend is a secure document sharing platform known primarily for its robust analytics. It allows users to upload files (like PDFs, pitch decks, and proposals) and generate unique, secure links for external sharing.
The platform excels in document security and engagement tracking. Users can control access with features like password protection, email verification, and the ability to instantly revoke a link or prevent downloads. Its signature selling point is the page-by-page analytics that tells you exactly how much time a viewer spent on each section, which is critical for measuring interest in sales materials or fundraising decks.
Why DocSend Might Not Be the Perfect Fit for Every Business
DocSend is a powerful tool for a single use case: sales and fundraising intelligence. However, its structure and pricing can become severely limiting when applied to the ongoing, collaborative needs of a service agency.
Here are the main challenges that push agencies and service providers to seek alternatives:
Limited collaboration beyond file sharing
DocSend’s core focus is the document itself, not the client workspace. Collaboration is mainly about viewing analytics and, on higher tiers, creating simple “Spaces” to group files. It entirely lacks the features essential for agency work, such as built-in task management, project milestones, internal team work journals, or centralized client messaging. You have to duct-tape all these functions together using other, separate tools.
Pricing can get costly for small teams
The pricing structure is a major hurdle. DocSend does not offer a free plan, and the paid tiers scale aggressively:
- The basic Personal plan ($10–$15 per user/month) is limited to just 4 eSignatures per month, has no custom branding, and often has strict limits on monthly document visits before documents become inaccessible.
- The Standard plan, which includes essential features like custom branding and unlimited eSignatures, jumps to $45–$65 per user per month.
- The Advanced tiers, required for dynamic watermarking and better access control, start at $150 per month and include only three users, making the per-user cost extremely high for growing teams.
Not ideal for agencies or service providers managing multiple clients
For an agency handling 15–20 active clients, managing projects by sending out dozens of individual DocSend links becomes chaotic. There is no central, easy way for a client to log in and see a unified view of all their work—their shared files, their open tasks, and their account passwords—in one spot.
Branding limitations
While custom branding is available on higher tiers, DocSend does not offer the ability to use a custom domain or custom URL on any plan. This means your shared documents will always live under a docsend.com link, which limits your ability to maintain a completely professional, cohesive brand experience.
Meet Ahsuite: A Complete DocSend Alternative for Client Collaboration
Ahsuite (pronounced “aw sweet”) offers the secure, trackable document sharing you need, but built into a robust client portal framework that eliminates all the pricing and collaboration pitfalls of DocSend. It is designed to be the single, branded login your clients use for everything.
Unified client portals
Instead of sending dozens of one-off links, Ahsuite gives every client their own secure, personalized portal accessible via a single password-protected link. This portal becomes the unified source of truth, organizing their documents, project timelines, and communication. This massively cleans up client-side clutter and provides a premium brand experience.
Secure, trackable document sharing
Our platform allows you to upload and share files securely, complete with granular access control. Critically, because Ahsuite’s core philosophy is integrating with your best-in-class tools, you can easily embed your favorite e-signature platform or link directly to tracked documents, keeping all client activity centralized behind your brand.
Built for service providers and agencies
Ahsuite isn’t just about the files; it’s about the work. We provide all the necessary internal and external collaboration tools that DocSend skips, including a Team Password Manager for securely sharing client credentials and a Work Journal for maintaining transparent records of activity.
Integrated task management & checklists
You can create clear, easy-to-read checklists and project boards for your client to track progress. This integrated task management allows you to move beyond just sharing files and start actively managing the workflow within the same secure environment the client uses to access their contracts.
Affordable pricing for growing teams
Ahsuite removes the per-user and per-link price anxiety. The Free plan covers up to ten portals. When you need to scale, our paid plans start at only $6.50/month, and our full white-label Agency plan (with custom domain and custom email) is just $24/month. This allows you to scale your team and your brand professionally without worrying about hitting an expensive per-user pricing wall.
Other Notable DocSend Alternatives
If your primary need is specialized document tracking, some other alternatives are worth looking at, though they share DocSend’s link-centric focus.
- Papermark: Papermark is an open-source alternative focused on secure document sharing and analytics, similar to DocSend, but with the added flexibility of a free tier and self-hosting options. It’s often praised for its clean interface and competitive pricing model.
- Peony: Peony targets startups and fundraising, offering strong features like investor engagement analytics, AI-powered organization, and built-in e-signatures, making it a powerful tool for teams whose main goal is securing investments.
- Plox: Plox is an AI-driven virtual data room solution. It is highly specialized for dealmakers, using AI to analyze pitch decks and extract key metrics into dynamic dashboards, making it ideal for complex, high-stakes fundraising and M&A deals.
Try Ahsuite as a Complete DocSend Alternative Today
DocSend is excellent at one thing: tracking a single document sent to a sales prospect. But an agency needs a unified workspace that can handle ongoing projects, recurring files, passwords, and communication—all while maintaining a premium brand.
If you are tired of paying enterprise prices for basic link tracking and want a platform built for the complexities of client service, Ahsuite is the clear winner. Why not see for yourself how easy it is to set up a branded client hub? You can sign up for free right now and start building your first portal.
FAQs
Can I migrate my data from Docsend to Ahsuite?
Yes, migrating is easy. You can download your documents from DocSend and upload them directly into the secure file manager within each client’s Ahsuite portal. You can then replace your old DocSend link with a link to the corresponding new portal, giving your client access to the file plus all the other organization tools.
Does Ahsuite have a free plan?
Yes, Ahsuite offers a permanently free plan that allows you to create up to ten client portals. This is perfect for freelancers and new agencies who want to test the platform and manage their first few clients without any financial commitment.
Can I white-label Ahsuite like Docsend?
Yes, and with greater flexibility. DocSend does not offer custom domains on any plan. Ahsuite includes full white labeling—custom domain, custom email address, and removing the “Powered By” badge—in our Agency plan for only $24/month, making professional, on-brand sharing highly accessible.