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HigherGov Alternative

CLEATUS — the agentic AI alternative to HigherGov™

If you are evaluating HigherGov for GovCon, see how CLEATUS compares on what actually matters — true agentic AI that calls tools and executes multi-step work, full AI proposal writing, AI Workflows, Claude + ChatGPT MCP, and transparent published pricing.

At a glance

A side-by-side read on the dimensions buyers most often ask us about. Each row about HigherGov traces back to a public source — see the disclosure below.

DimensionCLEATUSHigherGov
Core positioningAI-first GovCon platform — agentic capture, proposal writing, and workflow automation in one productMarket intelligence platform with capture/CRM tooling built around it
AI contract breakdown (pre-shredding)Every matched opportunity arrives pre-shredded, before anyone opens it: CLEATUS reads every page of the package (base solicitation, amendments, attachments, exhibits) and breaks it into one standardized Contract Breakdown following the Uniform Contract Format: scope, requirements, deliverables, deadlines, pricing, and evaluation criteria. That breakdown is what your PWIN score is computed against, so the score reads Sections C, H, K, L, and M plus the attachments instead of a title, a NAICS code, and a set-aside. When a package has not been read, the card says so and the confidence drops rather than the model filling the gap. One format across federal, state, and local also means search works at the requirement and scope-of-work level, and agent answers stay grounded in structured dataPositioned as market intelligence and pursuit management over a dataset of 60M+ contracts and 4.1M+ opportunities. It is deep on the record around the opportunity, and the search runs over documents. What is not advertised is a page-by-page breakdown of each opportunity package into one standardized analysis before you open it, so nothing computes a fit score against Sections C, H, K, L, and M[1]
Parallel research subagentsAsk for real research and the agent hands the job to subagents: separate AI researchers, each with its own context and its own 21-tool research catalog covering contracts, solicitation documents, award history, agencies, contracting officers, and the web. Up to three run at the same time on independent tasks. Each one is a live line in the chat you can open to read the exact task it was given and every search it makes, and you can stop it mid-run. Their tool traffic never enters your conversation, so three investigations come back folded into one answer instead of a wall of raw results. Included from DATA + AIAI Tools analyze awards and opportunities to surface relevant matches, competitors, and partners. The word "agent" appears nowhere in HigherGov’s captured marketing[2]
AI proposal writingAI Proposal Writer opens every bid with a Proposal Plan built from your solicitation, checks steps off as the work lands, reconciles the plan when an amendment posts, and drafts multi-volume proposals with compliance matrices, win-strategy plans, and citations to your award history — exported as Word and PDFNo AI proposal-writer product
End-to-end GovCon operations automationAutomates your GovCon operations end-to-end — multi-step AI automations run capture screening, go/no-go prep, amendment monitoring, award-lead delivery, and team routing on autopilot. Force multiplier for capture and BD teams. Unlimited on DATA + AI + Automations.No native automation runtime[3]
Claude and ChatGPT integrationOne-click apps published in both official directories, the Claude.ai connector directory and the ChatGPT app store, connectable at /agents/claude and /agents/chatgpt, turn CLEATUS into a tool inside Claude.ai and ChatGPTHosted Government MCP endpoint working with Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients, for searching and analyzing its opportunity, award, contractor, and document data[4]
Agentic AI document generationAI Agent generates executive summaries, capability statements, past-performance narratives, pricing tables, and compliance matrices — exported as Word, PDF, Excel, or PowerPoint and stored in your Document HubNo document-generation product
Opportunity coverageFederal (SAM.gov), 50,000+ SLED sources, DLA DIBBS, GSA eBuy (OASIS+ and MAS RFQs), SeaPort NxG, PIEE directed solicitations, Grants.govFederal contracts and grants, plus 1M+ state, local, and education opportunities across all 50 states[5]
Forecasts and pre-RFP signalSignals surface work before it posts: subcontract scopes inside primes, agency procurement forecasts, and AI-predicted recompetes scored for likelihood 12–18 months out, delivered as daily recommendationsForecasted opportunities, anticipated recompetes, vulnerable incumbents, and subcontract leads[6]
Market intelligence depthAgency hierarchies, top contracting offices ranked by award dollars, contracting-officer contacts, competitor award history with award-history timelines, subcontractor breakdowns, vehicle award families with task orders and remaining ceiling, and government locationsReports a market-intel dataset of 60M+ contracts, 8.0M+ grants, 4.1M+ opportunities, 1.5M+ awardees, 3.1M+ documents, and 130K+ people[1]
Capture and pursuit managementKanban, list, and calendar pipelines with live solicitation amendments, team collaboration, AI workflows, and unlimited pursuits on DATA + AI + AutomationsPipelines, pursuits, and task tools positioned as a government-contracting CRM[7]
API accessPublic REST API with OAuth, plus Zapier, on DATA + AI + Automations. See /integrationsREST API access listed on every paid tier[3]
Capital markets / M&A dataNot a focus — CLEATUS centers on capture and proposalsDedicated capital-markets dataset covering M&A transactions, investors, and advisors[8]
Labor pricing benchmarksNot currently offeredLabor pricing tool covering 450K+ competitor prices for 25K+ job titles[9]
Entry-level annual price$78/mo billed annually ($936/year) on the DATA + AI plan — opportunity discovery, GovCon AI chat, market intelligence$500/year on the Starter plan for one user[10]
Full AI stackDATA + AI + Automations (sales-led) — AI Proposal Writer, AI Workflows, native GSA eBuy, SeaPort NxG, API access, unlimited pursuitsStandard $2,500/year for up to 10 users; Enterprise is unlimited users at a custom price, contact-us only[11]

When each platform is the right choice

Two real tools. They optimize for different work. Here is where each one shines — straight, not spun.

When HigherGov is the right choice

  • You primarily need a deep market-intelligence dataset — contracting-officer profiles, awardee research, M&A activity, and labor pricing benchmarks.
  • Your work centers on capital-markets and investor research alongside GovCon market intel in the same workspace.
  • Proposal generation is not part of what you need a platform for, and you already have a process for it elsewhere.
  • You want API and Zapier access at the bottom of the price list. HigherGov ships API access, eBuy import, task order import, and a Zapier integration on every tier including the $500/year Starter plan, and offers a free trial. On CLEATUS those integrations sit on the sales-led DATA + AI + Automations plan.

When CLEATUS is the right choice

  • You want to hand research off, not do it yourself. CLEATUS splits a research-grade question into subagents that run up to three at a time, each with its own context and its own 21-tool research catalog, each one a live line you can open to read every search it makes and stop mid-run, with the reports folded back into a single answer. HigherGov offers AI tools that match and analyze its own dataset; the word "agent" appears nowhere in its captured marketing.
  • You want an AI Proposal Writer that reads the full solicitation, builds the compliance matrix and win-strategy plan, and drafts multi-volume Word and PDF proposals from a Proposal Plan that checks itself off and reconciles against amendments — not just an outline.
  • You want to automate your GovCon operations end-to-end — multi-step AI automations that screen opportunities, prep go/no-go briefs, alert on amendments, deliver award leads, and route work to the right person on autopilot, as a force multiplier for your capture and BD team.
  • You want CLEATUS available as a tool inside Claude.ai and ChatGPT via first-party MCP connectors, so the AI assistant your team already uses can read contracts, draft documents, and update your pipeline.
  • You want an AI Document Hub that auto-references your past performance, capability statements, and resumes inside every proposal and contract analysis.
  • You bid across federal, SLED, DLA DIBBS, GSA eBuy, SeaPort NxG, PIEE, and grants and want all of it in one AI-aware pipeline.
  • You want the score computed against the actual package, not the cover sheet. CLEATUS pre-shreds every matched opportunity before you see it, and that breakdown is what your automatic PWIN score is computed against: Sections C, H, K, L, and M plus the attachments, rather than a title, a NAICS code, and a set-aside. When a package has not been read, CLEATUS says so on the card and lowers the confidence instead of guessing. The same structure lets you search contracts by scope of work and specific requirements.

Feature by feature

The places where the platforms diverge most. Each row shows what CLEATUS ships on the left and how HigherGov addresses (or doesn't address) the same need on the right.

Parallel research subagents

CLEATUS

The CLEATUS agent handing one research question to subagents that run at the same time and report back one answer

Some questions are too big for one pass: shred a solicitation and its amendments, work up the incumbent and their award history, map the buying agency and the contracting officers behind it. Ask CLEATUS to research one of those properly and the agent stops answering and starts delegating. It writes a focused task, hands it to a subagent, and that subagent works in its own context with its own 21-tool research catalog: contract search, document outline, read and grep across every file in the solicitation package, semantic and award search, agency, contractor, and contracting-officer lookups, plus live web search and fetch. Up to three subagents run at the same time on independent tasks. Each one appears in the chat as a single live line. Open it and you see the exact task the agent wrote, every search the subagent runs, and its reasoning as it goes, and you can stop it whenever you want. Its tool traffic never enters your conversation, so a run that burns through a hundred searches costs your chat only the length of its report, and three separate investigations come back folded into one answer.

Learn more →

HigherGov™

HigherGov owns the deepest dataset in this comparison and does not pretend to be an agent product. Its Big Data & AI page describes AI Tools that analyze "millions of awards and opportunities in real time to find relevant opportunities, competitors, and partners," which is matching and analytics over that dataset. The word "agent" appears nowhere in its captured marketing. The research stays yours to do, with better raw data than most tools give you.[2]

AI proposal writing

CLEATUS

CLEATUS AI Proposal Writer drafting structured proposal volumes

CLEATUS AI Proposal Writer plans before it writes. Every proposal opens with a Proposal Plan built from your specific solicitation, running from "Review the solicitation" through "Format & assemble," with ready-to-send prompts written for each step and a Draft all button that runs the step as one batch. It extracts requirements and evaluation factors into a compliance matrix, drafts structured multi-volume proposals citing your real award history, checks steps off automatically as documents get drafted and compliance gets verified, reconciles the plan when an amendment posts, and exports professionally formatted Word and PDF files. Included on DATA + AI + Automations. The agent never fabricates past performance — it pulls from your UEI award history and Document Hub.

Learn more →

HigherGov™

No AI proposal-writer product.

Automate your GovCon operations end-to-end

CLEATUS

CLEATUS Workflows visual builder with triggers, AI agent steps, and Slack actions

CLEATUS Workflows is a force multiplier for capture and BD teams: a visual canvas with 13 trigger events, 19 addable step types, and 16 distinct actions that runs multi-step GovCon processes on autopilot. Each AI Agent step is its own agent with a model you pick, a scoped tool set, and a structured output schema, so it returns typed fields that later steps branch on instead of a blob of prose. Chain as many as you like, run them in parallel, query contracts, and search your documents, then route with If/Else and Filter. Triggers fire on new recommendations, new opportunities, pipeline changes, pursuits created, updated, or archived, phase moves, amendments, awards, matched custom alerts, schedules, webhooks, or on demand. Actions cover Slack, Microsoft Teams, email, webhooks, in-app notifications, log note, add to or remove from pipeline, change phase, assign member, create task, save document, Google Drive, and SharePoint. A dedicated Start Proposal step launches the full proposal writer inside the pursuit and can wait for the structured bid package to finish before downstream steps read it, run a review, and route the draft. Start from a prebuilt template (including a full Shipley capture pipeline) or describe the automation in plain English and let the platform assemble it. Unlimited on DATA + AI + Automations.

Learn more →

HigherGov™

No native automation runtime.[3]

Claude and ChatGPT integration

CLEATUS

CLEATUS surfacing GovCon opportunities inside ChatGPT via the MCP connector

CLEATUS is published as a one-click app in both official directories, the Claude.ai connector directory and the ChatGPT app store. Under the hood these are first-party MCP (Model Context Protocol) connectors, connectable straight from your dashboard with no endpoint URLs or API keys to configure. Once connected, your AI assistant can search opportunities, read solicitations, draft proposal sections, look up contracting officers, and update your pipeline using natural language — without leaving Claude or ChatGPT. Included from the DATA + AI plan.

Learn more →

HigherGov™

HigherGov also ships a hosted Government MCP endpoint that works with Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Cursor, a real capability worth acknowledging. It is built for searching and analyzing HigherGov's market data. The difference is action scope: the CLEATUS connectors also draft proposal sections, generate documents, and update your pipeline.[4]

Agentic AI — tool calls, reasoning, and live web research

CLEATUS

CLEATUS performing agentic web searches to find labor rates and generate pricing tables

CLEATUS is built on agentic AI — the kind that reasons, plans, and takes actions, not the kind that just writes text. The agent breaks your request into steps, then calls tools to execute them: semantic search across federal and SLED contracts, awards, contractors, agencies, people, and NAICS; grep and read across your Document Hub; autonomous web search for current wage determinations, market rates, and competitor history; file and spreadsheet generation; PWIN calculation against your past performance; and pipeline mutations. The same 33-tool agent is exposed inside Claude.ai and ChatGPT via the MCP connectors. Every answer cites sources and every mutation is logged.

Learn more →

HigherGov™

HigherGov is positioned as a market-intelligence and government-contracting CRM platform — its differentiator is dataset scale and research tools (FOIA, capital markets, labor pricing). Public marketing describes data, search, and CRM features, not an agent that reasons, calls tools, researches the web autonomously, or executes multi-step tasks on its own.[7]

Pricing comparison

CLEATUS DATA + AI is closer to HigherGov's entry pricing and includes the Claude + ChatGPT MCP connectors; DATA + AI + Automations adds the AI Proposal Writer and AI Workflows that HigherGov's public marketing does not advertise. Compare what you would pay against what each platform actually does for your team.

CLEATUS DATA + AI

$78/mo billed annually

Annual plan ($936/year). Opportunity discovery, GovCon AI chat, market intelligence, Claude + ChatGPT connectors, unlimited-pursuit CRM. No proposal writer, no workflows, no premium integrations.

See CLEATUS pricing →

CLEATUS DATA + AI + Automations

Contact us

Sales-led. Adds AI Proposal Writer, unlimited AI Workflows, native GSA eBuy + SeaPort NxG ingestion, API access, Zapier, unlimited pursuits, unlimited Document Hub.

See CLEATUS pricing →

HigherGov Starter / Standard / Enterprise[10][11][12]

$500 / $2,500 / custom per year

1 user / up to 10 users / unlimited users respectively. Every tier includes API access, eBuy and task order import, and Zapier. A free trial is offered from the site header. Pricing as published on highergov.com/pricing.

Ready when you are

Switch your GovCon stack to CLEATUS

True agentic AI — plans, reasons, calls 33+ tools, searches the web, and executes multi-step GovCon tasks end-to-end

Daily AI contract matching against your capture profile — high-fit opportunities with compliance analysis delivered to your inbox every morning

An AI Proposal Writer and AI Workflows that HigherGov doesn't ship, plus Claude + ChatGPT MCP connectors included from DATA + AI

Dedicated CLEATUS account executive bundled with annual plans

Miguel
Hillary
Keith Deutsch
Christine

Join 750+ contractors already using CLEATUS

What our clients are saying

See what our customers say about CLEATUS.

Dotted
CLEATUS vs HigherGov FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

CLEATUS is an AI-first GovCon platform — it focuses on agentic opportunity discovery, an AI Proposal Writer that drafts multi-volume proposals, a visual AI Workflows builder, and first-party MCP connectors for Claude.ai and ChatGPT. HigherGov is primarily a market-intelligence platform with capture and CRM tooling layered on top. Both cover federal and SLED opportunities; the question is whether you want AI doing the capture and proposal work for you, or you want a deeper market-intel dataset with strong manual research tooling.

Related buyer's guides

Independent comparisons of the wider GovCon software market, sourced the same way as this page and refreshed monthly.

  • 8 Best AI Capture Management Platforms for Federal Contractors

    CLEATUS, GovDash, Sweetspot, Deltek GovWin IQ, Procurement Sciences, TechnoMile, Civio RFX, and Unanet CRM, judged on how much of the capture process the software actually does versus how much it just tracks. HigherGov is not one of the eight platforms reviewed.

  • 8 Best GovCon CRM & Pipeline Management Software Platforms

    CLEATUS, Sweetspot, GovDash, TechnoMile, Unanet CRM, Deltek Costpoint, Procurement Sciences, and generic Salesforce or HubSpot builds, judged on how much of the pipeline maintains itself. HigherGov is not one of the eight platforms reviewed.

  • 10 Best Federal Bid Tracking & Opportunity Tracking Platforms

    CLEATUS, Deltek GovWin IQ, HigherGov, GovTribe, SamSearch, Sweetspot, GovDash Discover, GovSpend, BidNet Direct, and SAM.gov, judged on source coverage, match quality, pre-RFP visibility, amendment tracking, and what happens after the match. HigherGov is ranked third.

References

Numbered citations above link here. All sources are publicly available HigherGov marketing pages captured on 2026-08-31. Each source below carries its own capture date.

  1. [1]
    https://www.highergov.com/big-data-ai/· captured 2026-08-31

    Reports a market-intel dataset of 60M+ contracts, 8.0M+ grants, 4.1M+ opportunities, 1.5M+ awardees, 3.1M+ documents, and 130K+ people.

  2. [2]
    https://www.highergov.com/big-data-ai/· captured 2026-08-31

    The AI Tools section describes analyzing "millions of awards and opportunities in real time to find relevant opportunities, competitors, and partners." The word "agent" appears nowhere on the homepage, the Big Data & AI page, Market Intelligence, Government CRM, For Contractors, or the news index. No research agent you can hand a question to, no research runs that go in parallel, and no step-by-step view of an AI research run are advertised.

  3. [3]
    https://www.highergov.com/pricing/· captured 2026-08-31

    Offers REST API access on every paid tier, including the $500/year Starter plan, alongside eBuy import, task order import, and a Zapier integration on every tier.

  4. [4]
    https://www.highergov.com/gov-mcp/· captured 2026-08-31

    Ships a hosted Government MCP endpoint (highergov.com/mcp/) that "lets supported AI assistants search and analyze government opportunities, awards, contractors, documents, and related market intelligence using natural language" and "works with Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients." Unlimited usage is marketed for teams with high-volume research, capture, and AI automation needs.

  5. [5]
    https://www.highergov.com/government-crm/· captured 2026-08-31

    Covers state, local, and education opportunities — "1M+ opportunities at over 10,000 state, local, and education agencies across all 50 states."

  6. [6]
    https://www.highergov.com/government-crm/· captured 2026-08-31

    Markets forecasted opportunities ("$500B forecasted opportunities") plus anticipated recompetes, vulnerable incumbents, and subcontract leads.

  7. [7]
    https://www.highergov.com/government-crm/· captured 2026-08-31

    Includes pipeline and pursuit management tools positioned as a government-contracting CRM.

  8. [8]
    https://www.highergov.com/capital-markets/· captured 2026-08-31

    Maintains a dedicated capital-markets dataset of M&A transactions, investors, and advisors in the government contracting market: 6000+ transactions, 200+ investors, and 20+ advisors.

  9. [9]
    https://www.highergov.com/for-contractors/· captured 2026-08-31

    Provides a labor pricing tool — "450K+ active competitor prices for 25K+ job titles."

  10. [10]
    https://www.highergov.com/pricing/· captured 2026-08-31

    Starter plan is $500/year for 1 user (annual billing), and a free trial is offered from the site header.

  11. [11]
    https://www.highergov.com/pricing/· captured 2026-08-31

    Standard plan is $2,500/year for up to 10 users, adding a dedicated success manager and unlimited training.

  12. [12]
    https://www.highergov.com/pricing/· captured 2026-08-31

    The third tier is Enterprise: unlimited users, custom pricing, contact-us only. The $5,000/year Leader plan for up to 50 users is gone; the published ladder is now Starter, Standard, Enterprise.

Source disclosure

Information about HigherGov is accurate as of 2026-08-31, sourced from publicly available marketing materials. Spot something wrong? Email legal@cleat.ai and we'll review and correct it.

HigherGov and the HigherGov logo are trademarks of their respective owner and are used here for nominative comparison only. CLEATUS is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by HigherGov.