Source: https://tendernation.io/compare/best-tender-alert-services-uk Comparison # Best tender alert services in the UK (2026): 10 compared From the free government portals to market intelligence platforms, here's who each UK tender alert service suits, what it costs and where it falls short. Updated 14 Oct 2026 The best tender alert service depends on what you need: the free government portals cost nothing and suit suppliers who bid in one nation, while paid tools earn their cost on wider coverage, market data or bid writing help. We make one of the ten tools below (TenderNation), so we've tried to say plainly where others do a job better. > **Pricing note:** prices below were checked in **October 2026** on each company's own website. Supply2Gov, Stotles and Tussell were checked on 14 October, BidScout on 11 October and the rest on 9 October. Prices are shown as each vendor publishes them and may differ in whether VAT is included. Prices and plans change, so check the vendor's site before you buy. ## The short answer - **Lowest cost:** [Find a Tender and Contracts Finder](#find-a-tender-and-contracts-finder), free. - **Free local alerts, or Wales and Northern Ireland on a budget:** [Supply2Gov](#supply2gov). - **Low-cost UK-wide alerts:** [BidStats](#bidstats), from £350 a year. - **Market analytics for established suppliers:** [Tussell](#tussell) or [Tracker](#tracker). - **Global coverage:** [Open Opportunities](#open-opportunities). - **Unlimited users and a people-led service:** [Tenders Direct](#tenders-direct). - **Help deciding what to bid for and writing the bid, at SME prices:** [TenderNation](#tendernation) or [BidScout](#bidscout). Not sure you need to pay at all? Our guide to [free vs paid tender alerts](/guides/free-vs-paid-tender-alerts) covers what the government portals give you for nothing. ## At a glance ServiceSuitsPublished price (October 2026)Find a Tender / Contracts FinderEveryone, especially single-nation suppliersFreeSupply2GovMicro-businesses bidding locallyFree for one local area; from £25/monthBidStatsSole traders and small firms wanting cheap alertsFree tier; Standard £350/year; Pro £800/yearTenders DirectOrganisations wanting many users and support£1,359 to £2,319/yearStotlesSales teams doing account-based sellingFree plan; paid from £75/monthTrackerMid-size and larger suppliers wanting market dataQuote onlyOpen OpportunitiesSuppliers bidding internationally£150/user/month; Team £325/monthTussellEstablished suppliers wanting market intelligenceQuote only, annual subscriptionBidScoutSMEs wanting AI bid writing on published tenders£49 to £499/monthTenderNationSMEs wanting help qualifying and writing bidsFree plan; £49 to £249/month## Find a Tender and Contracts Finder **Suits:** anyone, and especially suppliers who sell in England or across the UK and bid a few times a year. **Price:** free. See [Find a Tender](https://www.gov.uk/find-tender) and [Contracts Finder](https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder) on GOV.UK. **Strength:** they cost nothing and they're where the notices are published first. Find a Tender lets you save a search and get an email when a new notice matches. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own free portals too. **Limitation:** each portal only shows its own notices, alerts match on your keywords and codes, and nothing helps you judge whether a tender is worth bidding for. Our [Contracts Finder vs Find a Tender guide](/guides/contracts-finder-vs-find-a-tender) explains which covers what. ## Supply2Gov **Suits:** micro-businesses that bid close to home. **Price** ([pricing page](https://www.supply2govtenders.co.uk/pricing/)): Local Area free; Country £25/month or £270/year; UK £80/month or £499/year; UK & Ireland £95/month or £899/year. Its terms say advertised prices exclude VAT. **Strength:** free weekday email alerts for one local area, and country plans that cover Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. **Limitation:** its terms allow one named user per subscription, and a monthly downgrade takes effect at the end of the following month's term. More in our [Supply2Gov comparison](/compare/supply2gov-alternative). ## BidStats **Suits:** sole traders and small firms that want low-cost alerts and award history. **Price** ([pricing page](https://alpha-app.bidstats.uk/pricing)): free tier with 5 tender views a day; Standard £350/year; Pro £800/year with 3 seats; Insights from £5,000/year. **Strength:** price. At £350 a year, Standard is one of the cheapest ways on this list to pay for UK-wide alerts. **Limitation:** spend data, frameworks, pre-procurement leads and decision-maker contacts sit in the Insights tier, from £5,000 a year. More in our [BidStats comparison](/compare/bidstats-alternative). ## Tenders Direct **Suits:** organisations that want everyone to have a login and a person to call. **Price** ([product page](https://www.tendersdirect.co.uk/product/)): Basic £1,359, Core £2,044, Premium £2,319 per year, with a 7-day free trial. **Strength:** unlimited users, expert onboarding and account management, with UK, Irish and European notices. **Limitation:** no free plan is listed, plans are priced by the year, and the £1,359 entry plan costs more than most of the published entry prices on this list. More in our [Tenders Direct comparison](/compare/tenders-direct-alternative). ## Stotles **Suits:** sales and bid teams selling to named public sector accounts. **Price** ([pricing page](https://www.stotles.com/pricing)): Free plan with tender tracking, pre-tenders and 3 AI bid/no-bid reports; Sales Studio Basic from £75/month; Sales Studio Growth from £475/month; Bid Studio Growth from £990/month. The page shows other figures in other sections (Basic from £50 and £99, Bid Studio Growth from £495), so ask Stotles which applies. **Strength:** a generous free plan, and strong buyer intelligence for teams doing account-based selling. **Limitation:** buyer, competitor and framework intelligence starts at the Growth tier, several hundred pounds a month. More in our [Stotles comparison](/compare/stotles-alternative). ## Tracker **Suits:** mid-size and larger suppliers that want market data and a dedicated contact. **Price** ([plans page](https://www.trackerintelligence.com/plans/)): quote only. Four plans, from 1 licence to 5 or more, with a 3-day free trial or demo. **Strength:** depth of market intelligence, including historical data, spend analysis and a contacts database, plus a dedicated success manager. **Limitation:** no published prices, so you'll need a sales conversation to compare it. More in our [Tracker comparison](/compare/tracker-alternative). ## Open Opportunities **Suits:** suppliers that bid outside the UK. **Price** ([pricing page](https://openopps.com/pricing/)): Solo £150/user/month, or £120/user/month paid yearly; Team £325/month, or £259/month paid yearly, with unlimited users. 7-day free trial. **Strength:** global coverage. It says it gathers tenders from over 1,050 sources in more than 180 countries, with translation and an "activity search" that matches a plain description of your work. If you bid internationally, it does more than TenderNation. **Limitation:** Solo includes 1 daily alert, 1 saved search and 90 days of history. More in our [Open Opportunities comparison](/compare/open-opportunities-alternative). ## Tussell **Suits:** established suppliers whose sales and strategy teams need market share, spend and framework data. **Price** ([plans page](https://www.tussell.com/pricing)): Starter, Plus and Pro, quote only, on an annual subscription. **Strength:** market analytics. It de-duplicates records, links call-off contracts to their parent frameworks by hand, and covers Wales and Northern Ireland. For market analysis it does more than TenderNation. **Limitation:** by its own FAQ, it's less suited to firms new to public sector selling that mainly need basic tender alerts, and it doesn't offer AI bid writing. More in our [Tussell comparison](/compare/tussell-alternative) and [Stotles vs Tussell](/compare/stotles-vs-tussell). ## BidScout **Suits:** SMEs that want to find published tenders and draft bids quickly. **Price** ([pricing page](https://www.bidscout.co.uk/pricing)): Starter £49/month with 500 credits; Professional £149/month with 2,500 credits; Enterprise £499/month. 14-day free trial. **Strength:** win-probability scoring on every plan and AI drafting, at the same entry price as TenderNation. **Limitation:** AI use runs on monthly credits, and team seats are on the £499 Enterprise plan. More in our [BidScout comparison](/compare/bidscout-alternative). ## TenderNation **Suits:** SMEs and bid consultants who want to spend less time qualifying tenders and more time writing good bids. **Price** ([pricing page](/pricing)): Free; Professional £49/month; Business £149/month for up to 5 people; Consultant £249/month for up to 10 client workspaces. 14-day free trial of Professional, no card needed. **Strength:** a fit score, bid/no-bid call and eligibility check on every tender, free, plus AI drafting grounded in the tender documents and your own bid library from Professional. **Limitation:** Welsh and Northern Irish notices reach us through Find a Tender, but the smaller ones published only on Sell2Wales or eTendersNI don't, as neither has a working public feed. If you bid for small contracts there, check those free portals too. We also don't offer account managers or global coverage. ## How to choose 1. **Start free.** Set up saved searches on Find a Tender and your nation's portal. Our [free vs paid tender alerts guide](/guides/free-vs-paid-tender-alerts) walks through it. 2. **Track a month.** Count the alerts you open, and the tenders you'd actually bid for. 3. **Name the gap.** Missed tenders, too much reading, no early warning, or slow bid writing. Each points to a different tool above. 4. **Test on a real tender.** Most paid services have a free plan or trial. If you know a tender you'd have wanted to see, [Did we catch it?](/did-we-catch-it) shows whether our alerts would have found it. *Find a Tender and Contracts Finder are UK Government services. Supply2Gov, BidStats, Tenders Direct, Stotles, Tracker, Open Opportunities, Tussell and BidScout are trademarks of their owners and are named only to identify them. This roundup is based on each company's published plans and pages in October 2026 and is intended to be accurate and fair. If you spot something out of date, tell us and we'll correct it.* See TenderNation with your own tenders Search UK, EU and World Bank tenders in one place, get AI summaries and a fit score for each one, and track bids in a pipeline. Professional comes with a 14-day free trial, no card needed. [Browse live tenders](/opportunities)[Start free trial ](/register) 14-day free trial, no card required Browse by sector - [Construction work](https://tendernation.io/sectors/construction-work)7180 - [Architecture, engineering & surveying](https://tendernation.io/sectors/architecture-engineering-surveying)4032 - [IT services](https://tendernation.io/sectors/it-services)1784 - [Business services](https://tendernation.io/sectors/business-services)2492 - [Health and social work](https://tendernation.io/sectors/health-social-work)1062 - [Sewage, refuse, cleaning & environmental](https://tendernation.io/sectors/sewage-refuse-cleaning-environmental)3512 [All sectors ](/sectors) ## More comparisons - [vs![BidStats logo](/images/competitors/bidstats.svg)TenderNation vsBidStatsa BidStats alternative with AI built inBidStats is a popular, low-cost UK tender search and alert service. Here's how it compares with TenderNation on price, coverage and AI.See the comparison9 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/bidstats-alternative) - [vs![Stotles logo](/images/competitors/stotles.webp)TenderNation vsStotlesa Stotles alternative for SMEsStotles is a well-funded public sector sales platform with strong buyer intelligence. Here's how TenderNation compares for smaller teams.See the comparison14 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/stotles-alternative) - [vs![Tracker logo](/images/competitors/tracker.webp)TenderNation vsTrackera Tracker Intelligence alternativeTracker is an established tender and market intelligence service with a range of plans sold by quote. Here's how TenderNation compares for SMEs.See the comparison9 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/tracker-alternative) - [vs![Tenders Direct logo](/images/competitors/tenders-direct.webp)TenderNation vsTenders Directa Tenders Direct alternativeTenders Direct is a long-running tender alert service with peer-reviewed notices and account management. Here's how TenderNation's AI-first approach compares.See the comparison9 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/tenders-direct-alternative) - [vs![Open Opportunities logo](/images/competitors/open-opportunities.webp)TenderNation vsOpen Opportunitiesan Open Opportunities alternative for UK SMEsOpen Opportunities (from Spend Network) searches 1,050+ tender sources in 180+ countries. Here's how TenderNation compares for UK-focused SMEs.See the comparison9 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/open-opportunities-alternative) - [vs![BidScout logo](/images/competitors/bidscout.svg)TenderNation vsBidScoutsame price, earlier signalsBidScout and TenderNation charge the same. Here's what each gives you for it, so you can pick the one that fits how you bid.See the comparison11 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/bidscout-alternative) - [vs![Tussell logo](/images/competitors/tussell.webp)TenderNation vsTussella Tussell alternative for SMEsTussell is a deep UK public sector market intelligence platform sold on annual contracts. Here's what it costs, what it says it isn't for, and when a smaller tool fits better.See the comparison14 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/tussell-alternative) - [![Stotles logo](/images/competitors/stotles.webp)vs![Tussell logo](/images/competitors/tussell.webp)Head to headStotles vs Tussellwhich UK public sector intelligence tool fits?Stotles and Tussell both sell UK public sector market intelligence, but one leans towards sales and bid workflow and the other towards deep market data. A fair side-by-side.See the comparison14 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/stotles-vs-tussell) - [vs![Supply2Gov logo](/images/competitors/supply2gov.webp)TenderNation vsSupply2Gova Supply2Gov alternative for SMEsSupply2Gov gives you free tender alerts for one local area and paid plans by country. Here's how it compares with TenderNation on price, terms, coverage and bid help.See the comparison14 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/supply2gov-alternative) - [vs![AutogenAI logo](/images/competitors/autogenai.webp)TenderNation vsAutogenAIan AutogenAI alternative for UK SMEsAutogenAI is an AI proposal writing platform built for enterprise bid teams. Here's how TenderNation compares for small businesses that also need to find the tenders.See the comparison14 Oct 2026](https://tendernation.io/compare/autogenai-alternative) [Read our procurement guides ](/guides)