Help Center — Answers to Common Questions

Go to bidstride.com/auth/signup and enter your email address. You'll receive a verification email — click the link to activate your account. No credit card is required to start.

You'll be taken through a short onboarding flow where you enter your NAICS codes, state, and business type. BidStride uses this to score opportunities for relevance. Your first briefing will be ready the next morning.

No. BidStride works for contractors at any stage — including those who haven't registered on SAM.gov yet. Our SAM Registration Wizard at /tools/sam-registration can walk you through that process.

A daily briefing is a curated list of federal and state contract opportunities matched to your NAICS codes, business type, and set-aside eligibility. It is delivered each morning by email and available in your dashboard.

Yes. BidStride has a free tier that includes daily briefings, access to all 12 free tools, and the guide library. Paid plans add team features, advanced scoring, and integrations.

Go to Dashboard > Settings > Billing. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your plan at any time. Upgrades take effect immediately. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period.

Go to Dashboard > Settings > Billing and click 'Cancel subscription'. Your account remains active until the end of the billing period. After cancellation, you revert to the free tier — you don't lose your account or saved data.

We accept all major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) through Stripe. We do not accept wire transfers, checks, or PayPal.

If you are unsatisfied within the first 7 days of a paid subscription, contact support@bidstride.com and we will issue a full refund. After 7 days, we do not offer refunds on subscription charges.

Go to Dashboard > Settings > Billing and click 'Update payment method'. You can replace your card without interrupting service.

We are working on a discount program for verified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) and nonprofits. Email support@bidstride.com with your certification documentation and we'll work something out.

BidStride scores each opportunity against your NAICS codes, state preferences, set-aside eligibility, and historical performance in similar contract categories. Scores range from 0–100. Anything above 70 is a strong match.

BidStride monitors SAM.gov (federal), USASpending, and 50+ state and local procurement portals. State portals include all 51 state procurement sites plus major county and municipal systems.

Federal opportunities from SAM.gov are updated daily. State and local portals are scraped on a 24-hour cycle. New solicitations posted after the morning briefing cutoff will appear in the following day's briefing.

Yes. The Opportunities tab in your dashboard lets you search by keyword, agency, NAICS code, set-aside type, and deadline range. You can save searches and receive notifications when new results come in.

A set-aside contract is reserved for a specific category of small businesses — such as SDVOSB (service-disabled veteran-owned), HUBZone, 8(a), or WOSB (women-owned). BidStride filters opportunities by the set-aside types you qualify for.

If your briefing is empty, it usually means your NAICS codes are very narrow, your state filter is too restrictive, or you signed up recently and the first briefing hasn't run yet. Try adding additional NAICS codes in Settings or expanding your geographic coverage.

The Capability Statement Generator at /tools/capability-statement walks you through the components of a compliant federal capability statement and outputs a formatted document you can attach to bids, email to contracting officers, or include in teaming proposals.

Use the NAICS Code Finder at /tools/naics-finder. Enter a description of your services and the tool will surface the most relevant 6-digit NAICS codes along with their small business size standards. You can add multiple codes to your BidStride profile.

A Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) is assigned by SAM.gov when you register your business. You need a UEI to bid on most federal contracts. Use /tools/uei-lookup to verify your UEI or check a vendor's registration status.

The FAR/DFARS Reference at /tools/far-reference lets you browse all 959 Federal Acquisition Regulation and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement clauses. Each clause includes a plain-language summary so you don't need a procurement attorney to understand what you're agreeing to.

Yes. All 12 tools are free to use without a BidStride account. A free account unlocks saved results, history, and personalization features.

First, check your spam folder and add support@bidstride.com to your safe senders list. Second, verify your email preferences in Dashboard > Settings > Notifications. If the problem persists, email support@bidstride.com with your account email and we'll investigate.

Try a hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows, Cmd+Shift+R on Mac). Clear your browser cache if that doesn't help. BidStride works best in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge on current versions. If you're on an older browser, please update.

Go to /auth/login and click 'Forgot password'. Enter your email address and we'll send a reset link. The link expires after 60 minutes. If you don't receive it, check spam and then contact support@bidstride.com.

Yes. BidStride is mobile-responsive and works on all major mobile browsers. A dedicated mobile app is on the roadmap but not yet available.

Go to Dashboard > Settings > Integrations and disconnect the Slack integration, then reconnect it. If the problem persists after reconnecting, it may be a Slack permissions issue — check that the BidStride app still has access to the channel.

Email support@bidstride.com with a description of the issue, the page URL where it occurred, and your browser/OS. Screenshots are helpful but not required. We aim to respond within one business day.