# RFP vs RFQ vs RFI Three documents, three different things being asked of you, and three different mistakes if you answer the wrong one. The distinction is about what the buyer can do with your response. - [Build a matching profile](https://app.captivaq.com/login) - [See how Captivaq works](https://captivaq.com/#how) On this page 1. [The short version](https://captivaq.com/guides/rfp-vs-rfq-vs-rfi#the-short-version) 2. [RFI and sources sought: shape the requirement](https://captivaq.com/guides/rfp-vs-rfq-vs-rfi#rfi-and-sources-sought-shape-the-requirement) 3. [RFQ: price against a fixed requirement](https://captivaq.com/guides/rfp-vs-rfq-vs-rfi#rfq-price-against-a-fixed-requirement) 4. [RFP: a proposal that gets scored](https://captivaq.com/guides/rfp-vs-rfq-vs-rfi#rfp-a-proposal-that-gets-scored) 5. [What these are called in Canada](https://captivaq.com/guides/rfp-vs-rfq-vs-rfi#what-these-are-called-in-canada) 6. [Answering each one well](https://captivaq.com/guides/rfp-vs-rfq-vs-rfi#answering-each-one-well) The clearest way to tell these apart is to ask what the buyer is able to do with what you send. An RFI produces information the buyer uses to shape a future requirement. An RFQ produces a price against a requirement that is already defined. An RFP produces an offer the buyer can evaluate and accept. Everything else follows from that. ## The short version What the buyer is asking for, and what they can do with it. A request for information is market research. The buyer does not yet know exactly what to buy, who can supply it, or what it should cost. No contract results, and responding is voluntary. A sources sought notice in United States federal procurement does the same job with an added purpose: finding out whether enough small businesses exist to justify setting the requirement aside for them. A request for quote asks what you would charge for something already specified. In United States federal practice a quote is not an offer that the government can simply accept. It is information about price, and the government’s order becomes the offer. That distinction matters if a buyer tries to hold you to a quoted number after conditions change. A request for proposal asks how you would meet the requirement and what it would cost. Your proposal is an offer, and the buyer accepting it forms a contract. That is why RFPs come with page limits, evaluation criteria, and a validity period on your pricing. - RFI: information, no award, voluntary - RFQ: price against a defined requirement - RFP: an offer the buyer can accept ## RFI and sources sought: shape the requirement The cheapest influence you will ever have on a solicitation. An RFI is the one point in the process where a buyer is allowed to listen to you individually. The scope is not fixed, the evaluation criteria do not exist yet, and the buyer genuinely wants to know what the market can do. A well-written response can steer a requirement toward capabilities you actually have, and can flag a specification that would exclude reasonable suppliers for no benefit. Answer it as a capability response, not a sales brochure. Address the specific questions asked, describe comparable work with enough detail to be credible, and be direct about anything in the draft scope that would restrict competition or drive cost without adding value. Where the notice asks about small business capability, say plainly which certifications you hold, because that answer feeds the decision on whether to set the work aside. Responding does not guarantee anything and does not create a relationship you can trade on later. It does make it more likely that the eventual solicitation describes work you can win, and it tells you a competition is coming months before it is published. ## RFQ: price against a fixed requirement Simpler, faster, and usually decided on price. RFQs cover requirements that are already well defined: commercial products, standard services, orders under an existing vehicle. In the United States they are common in simplified acquisitions and in ordering from GSA Schedule contracts. The buyer knows what they want and is asking who will supply it at what price. Keep the response short and exactly responsive. Quote the item specified, or state clearly and prominently where you are offering an alternate and why it meets the requirement. Include the delivery timeline, the validity period of the price, and any assumption the price depends on. An unstated assumption discovered after the order is placed is your problem, not the buyer’s. The main trap is treating an RFQ as a chance to sell. Additional capability the buyer did not ask for rarely earns anything here, and a quote burdened with marketing material is slower to evaluate than a competitor’s clean one. ## RFP: a proposal that gets scored Technical merit and price, weighed against published criteria. An RFP is used where approach matters: the buyer cannot fully specify the solution, or the difference between suppliers affects the outcome enough to be worth evaluating. You will be asked for a technical response, often a management and staffing response, past performance evidence, and a separately packaged price. Because the response is an offer, the mechanics are stricter. Page limits are enforced. Mandatory criteria are pass or fail. Pricing has a validity period you are bound to. Amendments have to be acknowledged. The buyer may be permitted to award without discussions, which means the first submission has to be the best one. Effort should follow the evaluation weighting, not the length of the scope. Find out how technical merit trades against price before deciding how much to invest in the response. ## What these are called in Canada Same three ideas, different labels, plus two that have no US equivalent. Canadian federal procurement uses RFI and letter of interest for market research, request for quotation for simple priced requirements, invitation to tender where a fixed specification is awarded on price, and request for proposal where technical merit is evaluated. An ITT and an RFP are genuinely different documents, and the basis of selection tells you which behaviour to expect. Two more have no direct United States counterpart. A request for standing offers establishes a supplier the buyer may call up against pre-agreed pricing, without committing to buy anything. A request for supply arrangements creates a pool of qualified suppliers who are then invited to bid on individual requirements. Both are qualification exercises rather than competitions for a specific piece of work, and winning one gets you the right to compete rather than the work itself. Provincial, municipal, and broader public sector buyers use the same vocabulary loosely. A document titled RFP from a municipality may be evaluated purely on price. Read the evaluation section rather than the cover page. - RFI or LOI: market research - RFQ: quoted price on a defined requirement - ITT: fixed specification, awarded on price - RFP: technical merit evaluated with price - RFSO and RFSA: qualification for future call-ups ## Answering each one well Match the effort and the register to what is being asked. For an RFI, be useful and specific. Answer the questions asked, be candid about constraints in the draft requirement, and treat it as the moment to make a future competition winnable rather than as a sales opportunity. For an RFQ, be fast, exact, and complete. Price what was specified, state your assumptions, and do not pad. Where you are quoting through a vehicle, make sure the item is actually on it. For an RFP, build the response around the evaluation criteria, run a compliance matrix, and protect time at the end for review and submission mechanics. In all three cases, the document tells you what it wants. The most common failure is answering the document you expected rather than the one you received. ## Keep the useful signals Captivaq watches procurement sources against your capabilities, certifications, locations, and past performance. It helps you spend time on opportunities that have a credible fit. [Build a matching profile](https://app.captivaq.com/login) ## Related resources - [### What is an RFP? What the document contains and how evaluators read your response.](https://captivaq.com/guides/what-is-an-rfp) - [### Writing a winning bid Answering the requirement rather than describing your company.](https://captivaq.com/guides/writing-a-winning-bid) - [### Procurement glossary The rest of the acronyms, defined in a sentence each.](https://captivaq.com/guides/procurement-glossary) - [### How public bidding works Where each document sits in the wider buying lifecycle.](https://captivaq.com/guides/how-bidding-works) ## Questions people ask ### Should you respond to an RFI if you cannot bid on the eventual contract? Often yes, if you could bid as part of a team. RFI responses shape the requirement and may influence whether it is set aside or broken into smaller lots. They also identify who else is interested, which is useful for finding a prime or a partner. ### Is a quote legally binding? In United States federal procurement a quote is generally not an offer the government can accept outright. The government’s resulting order is the offer, and your acceptance forms the contract. Practice differs elsewhere and by document, so read the terms rather than relying on the label. ### Can a buyer award directly from an RFI? No. An RFI is market research and cannot result in a contract. If a buyer needs to award without competing, they use a separate justified process, such as a sole source or limited tendering justification, which is published and can be challenged. ### Which one is worth the most effort? An RFP, because it is the only one of the three where the quality of your writing changes the outcome. But an RFI on a large future requirement can be worth more per hour, because influencing the scope early is cheaper than competing against a scope written around a competitor. --- Source: https://captivaq.com/guides/rfp-vs-rfq-vs-rfi (the same page as HTML). 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