I understand they have to make their $ to be able to keep the platform always updated and give back the rewards. I also agree that if a business is not buying 60K worth per YEAR, than portal free ( 4 proposal per month ) should be enough.
Also, if you really just use it for proposals because you love it, than $49 is not the end of the world... we have spend more than that in lame iOS apps for inventory and stuff.

oh, last thing - if you think that portal sucks and it's buggy, than why bother? just don't use it ;)

Yes, version 2 is buggy - I miss version 1, BUT - it's the tool that we use all day long, and it's better buggy than going back to quickbooks.