Dock vs Aligned (2026): Digital Sales Room Comparison, Fact-Checked

Key takeaways:

• Pricing model differs fundamentally: Dock's paid tiers are flat monthly fees (Standard $350/mo, Premium $1,000/mo) with seats included; Aligned prices per seat ($35–$60/seat/mo) with unlimited seats even on its free plan.
• Free plans differ in shape: Dock's free plan includes 5 seats and 10 workspaces; Aligned's free plan allows unlimited seats but caps each seat at 4 rooms.
• Aligned's free tier already includes a Stakeholder Map and Mutual Action Plans; Dock's comparable structure is playbooks and CMS assets, without a dedicated stakeholder-mapping canvas.
• Dock explicitly gives free access to external (buyer-side) users on every tier; Aligned's external-user policy is "unlimited buyer stakeholders" on its free plan, per its own pricing page.
• Neither tool is built for Japanese-language sales rooms—if that's a requirement, see where Terasu fits at the end of this guide.

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How we compared these tools

Every figure below is drawn from Dock's pricing page and Aligned's pricing page, both opened directly in September 2026. We compared:

• Pricing structure — flat fee vs. per-seat, and what's included at entry.
• Free plan shape — seats, rooms, and feature limits.
• Stakeholder and deal-process tooling — mutual action plans, stakeholder mapping, playbooks.
• External (buyer-side) user policy — whether buyers count against your bill.
• Ecosystem — CRM and other integrations.

The Comparison Table

Pricing: flat fee vs. per-seat

This is the single biggest structural difference between the two. Dock's paid tiers are flat monthly fees: Standard is $350/month with 10 seats included and additional seats at $50/month each; Premium is $1,000/month (billed annually) for 25+ seats. That means a 10-person team on Standard pays the same $350/month whether they use 6 seats or all 10—cost doesn't scale linearly with headcount until you exceed the tier's seat allotment.

Aligned prices per seat: Basic is $35/seat/month ($29/seat if billed annually), and Pro is $60/seat/month ($49/seat annually). A 10-person team on Aligned Pro would pay roughly $490–$600/month billed annually—more than Dock Standard's flat $350/month at the same headcount, but Aligned's per-seat model means a 3-person team pays proportionally less than Dock's $350/month flat entry.

Practical takeaway: if your team is close to Dock's included-seat count (10 on Standard, 25+ on Premium), Dock's flat fee is likely cheaper. If your team is small (3–5 people) or you expect to add seats gradually, Aligned's per-seat pricing scales down more naturally.

Free plans: seats vs. room limits

Both offer a genuine free-forever plan, but the constraint is different:

• Dock's free plan caps you at 5 seats and 10 workspaces, with 25 CMS assets and 1 playbook—the limit is on how much content and how many people can access it.
• Aligned's free plan allows unlimited seats, but each seat is limited to 4 rooms—the limit is on deal volume per person, not team size.

If you have a large team running a small number of deals each, Aligned's free plan fits better. If you have a small core team running many deals, Dock's free plan's seat cap could bind first.

Stakeholder mapping and mutual action plans

This is where the two diverge most on feature philosophy. Aligned's pricing page lists a Stakeholder Map as a named feature included on its free tier, alongside Mutual Action Plans and "unlimited buyer stakeholders." Dock's pricing page does not list a dedicated stakeholder-mapping feature; instead, Dock organizes deal process through playbooks (1 on free, up to unlimited on Premium) and flexible workspace templates.

If a visual, drag-and-drop stakeholder map is a specific requirement—useful for enterprise deals with many buying-committee members—Aligned includes it at every tier including free. If your process is closer to "assemble content in a templated flow," Dock's playbook model may map more directly to how your team already works.

AI features

Both platforms lean into AI, but scope differs. Dock AI is included across all tiers, with "fair-use protections... only to prevent abuse," per Dock's pricing page—meaning AI access itself isn't gated by tier, only usage volume. Aligned's AI suite (AI Client Assist, AI Content Generator, AI Deal Builder) is gated to the Pro tier and above, with a more advanced set (AI Insights & Actions, AI Highlights, full Seller Agent access) reserved for Enterprise.

External (buyer-side) user policy

Dock is explicit on this point: its pricing page states Dock "only charges for internal team members" and gives external collaborators free access on every tier, including Enterprise. Aligned's free plan lists "unlimited buyer stakeholders" as a feature, which suggests a similar buyer-side-free approach, though Aligned's page does not use the same explicit "we only charge internal seats" language Dock uses. If external-user cost is a deciding factor for a deal with many buyer-side stakeholders, confirm current policy directly with each vendor before committing, since packaging can change.

Where Terasu fits as a third option

Dock and Aligned are both English-first, USD-priced tools built primarily for teams selling within the US/UK market. If your team also runs client work in Japanese, or sells to Japanese-speaking stakeholders, neither Dock nor Aligned publishes Japanese-language room support on their pricing or feature pages.

Terasu is built for bilingual (Japanese/English) client work, and—like Aligned—includes a Stakeholder Map at accessible tiers (Solo, Business, Enterprise, per Terasu's plan features). Per Terasu's pricing page, the Free plan covers 3 rooms and 2 users, Solo is ¥4,980/month (1 seat), and Business is ¥29,800/month (10 users included, +¥2,980/user)—priced in Japanese yen rather than USD.

Choose Dock instead if you want a flat monthly fee regardless of external-stakeholder count and your process fits a playbook model rather than a visual stakeholder map.

Choose Aligned instead if you want a free-forever plan with unlimited seats and built-in Stakeholder Map/MAP tooling, and you don't need Japanese-language support.

Consider Terasu if you need Stakeholder Map, page-level view tracking, and AI meeting notes to work natively across Japanese and English client work.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Conclusion

Dock and Aligned solve the same core problem—a shared, trackable buyer-facing deal room—with different pricing philosophies: Dock's flat fee rewards larger teams near its seat allotments, while Aligned's per-seat, unlimited-seat-on-free model rewards smaller or growing teams. If a visual Stakeholder Map matters to your process, Aligned includes it free; Dock's equivalent is a playbook-based workflow. Pilot both on a real deal using their free tiers before committing, and if Japanese-language client work is part of your motion, add Terasu to the shortlist.

Further reading:

• Best digital sales room software
• What is a digital sales room?
• Stakeholder map template
• Recapped alternatives