Best Conga CLM Alternative for Startups in the UK (2026)

Conga CLM, part of the Conga revenue lifecycle suite and formerly known as Apttus, is an enterprise contract platform known for deep Salesforce integration, strong document generation and sales side contracting. Revenue and sales operations teams standardised on Salesforce often adopt it to keep quoting, documents and contracts in one flow. It is a serious tool, but startups in the UK still compare it against other platforms on fit, AI depth, implementation effort and cost. This guide explains what Conga CLM does well, why startups look around, and the real alternatives compared fairly. ## What Conga CLM is and who it suits Conga CLM suits mid to large enterprises that live inside Salesforce and want contracting tied closely to their CRM, quoting and document generation. For that buyer the tight Salesforce link is a genuine strength. ## Why UK startups look for an alternative Even strong platforms get compared. The first reason is the Salesforce dependency, since much of the value assumes you run Salesforce and teams outside that stack get less from it. The second is configuration and implementation weight. The third is AI drafting depth, because teams want to benchmark the current best for generative drafting and clause by clause review. The fourth is pricing transparency, since quote only pricing makes budgeting harder. None of this makes Conga CLM a weak product. It means a buyer should test whether AI, workflow, cost and jurisdiction fit match their real priorities before committing. ## What startups actually need A startup needs a contract tool that is cheap to start, quick to set up with no heavy implementation, self serve, and able to turn out standard agreements such as NDAs, customer contracts and employment letters fast. Transparent per seat pricing matters because budgets are tight and a founder or first legal hire cannot wait months for value. ## The real alternatives for a UK startup, compared fairly Juro is a browser native contract platform with a clean editor and automation, popular with startups and scaling in house teams for everyday commercial contracts. It publishes some plan information but confirm current pricing with the vendor. SpotDraft is an AI CLM aimed at fast moving in house teams, with drafting, workflow and tracking, and a reputation for quick onboarding. Pricing is quote based. PandaDoc is a document and e signature tool with templates and simple contract workflows, well suited to small teams that mostly need to send and sign. It publishes tiered pricing. Concord is a straightforward contract management tool for small and mid sized teams, covering drafting, signing and a repository, with published pricing tiers. Adira is an AI legal operating system built on Anthropic's Claude that drafts, reviews, edits and tracks contracts in one workspace, worth a look as a challenger where AI drafting depth and transparent pricing matter, with the honest caveats below. ## Where Adira fits for startups, and where it does not For a startup, Adira's honest edges line up well. It publishes per seat pricing, so a founder can budget without a sales call, starts at a low minimum seat count, and its AI drafting turns a brief into a full structured contract quickly. It is built on Anthropic's Claude, models each contract as a clause tree so edits are precise, and does not train on your contract corpus. The honest caveat is that Adira is India first in its deepest coverage and expanding, so a UK startup should check UK clause depth in the free trial before relying on it for every agreement. On pricing, Adira publishes per seat rates, roughly 70 and 140 pounds per seat per month billed annually as an approximate conversion from about 89 and 179 US dollars for its Practice and Firm tiers, with a 7 day free trial and Enterprise priced custom (approx only, check Adira's pricing page for current figures). That is a transparent reference point that quote only incumbents rarely offer. Adira reports that 18 law firms use it and rank it highly, with contract review and due diligence cut from 10 to 12 days down to under 2 hours in those deployments, its own measured result worth testing on a slice of your own contracts. See how Adira approaches drafting and review. ## How to choose Start from what Conga CLM did not meet for you. If you want the lowest friction and cheapest start for everyday agreements, look at Juro, PandaDoc or Concord. If you want AI drafting of full contracts with transparent per seat pricing, put Adira on the shortlist. Then use free trials, test the exact agreement types you sign most, and favour tools that a non specialist can run without a long setup. ## Switching from Conga CLM: what to check before you move A move only pays off if the new tool fits how you work, so run the checks a careful buyer would. First, test export and import: confirm you can get your existing agreements and their key metadata out of Conga CLM and into the new tool without rekeying, and that renewal dates and obligations carry across. Second, test the integrations you actually use, from signature and storage to your CRM or finance stack, rather than the full list a vendor advertises. Third, put security and data handling through review early, including where data is stored, who can access it and whether your contracts are used to train any model. Fourth, run a real pilot on the contract types you sign most and measure drafting and review time against your current baseline, not a demo script. Fifth, model the fully loaded cost over three years including setup, training and any services, not just the per seat headline. A switch that clears those five checks is one you can defend to the business. This article is general information, not legal advice.