DocSend shows view records. HookDoc shows what to reply to and which pages to fix.

Compare them as a proposal journey

Follow the flow — preparing the proposal, sending it, the reviewer reading and asking, the sender replying and updating — and compare side by side.

1. 1. Preparing the proposal

   The sender built the proposal in PowerPoint, Keynote, Canva, or Word. Now it's time to send the finished PDF to the client.

   The sender uploads the PDF and creates a share link.

2. 2. Setting permissions before sending the link

   The proposal contains sensitive content like the pricing table, timeline, and scope. Before sending the link, the sender decides who can open it, whether to allow downloads, and when to close the link.

   Who can open the link?

   DocSend-style

   Reviewers may be asked for email entry, email verification, password, or NDA confirmation — or can view without an email.

   HookDoc

   Reviewers view anonymously, without any sign-up or email entry.

   What can they do with the link and PDF?

   DocSend-style

   Managed with PDF download restriction, link expiration, and document watermarks.

   HookDoc

   Managed with PDF download restriction, link expiration, instant link cut, and no search-engine indexing.

3. 3. The reviewer clicks the link from email

   The client contact clicks the proposal link from their inbox. If there are too many steps like sign-up, login, or email entry at this point, they may stop before reading the PDF.

   DocSend-style

   Depending on settings, the reviewer may go through email entry, email verification, password, or NDA confirmation — or view without any input.

   HookDoc

   The reviewer views without sign-up or email entry.

4. 4. The reviewer hits a sentence they want to ask about

   The reviewer pauses on the pricing table, the timeline, or a scope sentence. Questions appear: 'Is onboarding included in this cost?', 'Can it start in June?', 'Is this work included or separate?'

   DocSend-style

   Reviewers can leave page-level comments directly in the document viewer.

   HookDoc

   When the reviewer drags a sentence in the proposal, AI suggests fitting questions. The reviewer clicks a suggestion or types their own and leaves it on the PDF.

5. 5. As review reactions pile up

   The reviewer leaves questions or lingers on certain pages and exits. Now the sender needs to check not just whether they 'viewed it,' but which pages raised concerns and which questions remain.

   DocSend-style

   With email identification on, the sender sees per-reviewer who opened it, when, which pages they lingered on, and how much of the document they viewed. Visit attributes like download, NDA, and email verification are visible alongside.

   HookDoc

   Per anonymous reviewer, the sender sees long-dwell pages, questions left, review time slots, and review outcome status. It doesn't stop at view records — what questions to reply to is visible on the same screen.

6. 6. Preparing the next outreach

   The sender needs to reply. Rather than just asking 'have you reviewed it?', they should know which question — pricing, timeline, or scope — to address before reaching out.

   DocSend-style

   The sender sees signals like 'they spent a long time on page 12 — pricing' and uses them to time the follow-up. What sentences to actually put in the email has to be decided by the sender.

   HookDoc

   The sender checks open questions, long-dwell pages, and what reviewers left, all in one view. With HookDoc AI suggested replies for each question as a reference, the sender organizes what to propose around pricing, timeline, or scope, and prepares a more concrete follow-up.

7. 7. Updating the proposal

   The reviewer asked about pricing, timeline, and scope. The sender needs to decide which tables to add, which explanations to add, and which sentences to fix in the next-version PDF.

   DocSend-style

   Which sentences or tables to revise in the proposal has to be judged by the sender.

   HookDoc

   Referencing reviewer questions and HookDoc AI replies, Claude/GPT proposes improved proposal updates. With Claude, PowerPoint proposals can be edited and updated automatically.

When HookDoc fits better

If you want more than just knowing who viewed it — if you also want to know where they got stuck and what to reply to — HookDoc fits better. HookDoc keeps your existing PDF proposal flow and gathers reviewer questions and stuck pages into follow-up replies and next-version updates.