Three little acronyms cause more procurement confusion than almost anything else: RFI, RFQ, and RFP. They're not interchangeable, and sending the wrong one wastes everyone's time. Here's the plain distinction.
RFI — Request for Information
An RFI is about learning. You don't yet know enough about the market, the options, or who's out there. An RFI gathers information — capabilities, approaches, rough feasibility — to shape what you'll eventually buy. No prices are committed. Use it early, when the requirement is still fuzzy.
RFQ — Request for Quotation
An RFQ is about price. You know exactly what you want — the spec is fixed — and you're asking qualified suppliers to price that defined scope so you can compare. Price is the main variable; everything else is held constant. Use it when the requirement is clear and the differentiator is cost. (It's the flow our RFQ walkthrough shows end to end.)
RFP — Request for Proposal
An RFP is about solution. The problem is defined but the best answer isn't — you want suppliers to propose how they'd solve it, and you'll weigh approach, capability, risk, and price together. Use it for complex or service-heavy purchases where the "how" matters as much as the "how much".
A quick rule of thumb
- Don't know the options? RFI.
- Know exactly what you want, comparing on price? RFQ.
- Know the problem, want the best solution? RFP.
Send an RFQ when you want a price and an RFP when you want a plan. Mixing them up either strips out the thinking you needed or drowns a simple buy in proposals.
Running a clean RFQ — one identical spec, scored consistently, the decision on the record — is what SourceWright — one of our products — is built for.