Volunteer management software / Free volunteer management software, compared honestly
Free volunteer management software, compared honestly
"Free" means five different things in this category: free with ads, free up to a cap, free for a trial, free if you take a tip-funded checkout, and free for one page. Here is what each tool's free tier includes, from their own pricing pages, and when the free tier is enough.
Who this is for: You run a PTA, a team, a classroom, a small church ministry or a community group, nobody has a software budget, and you want to know what you can use without paying or putting ads in front of your volunteers.
What each tool costs
From each vendor's own pricing page, checked October 24, 2026. Tell us at support@justsignup.io if something has changed and we will fix it the same day.
| Tool | Price | Free tier | Volunteer accounts |
|---|---|---|---|
| JustSignup | Pro $9 a month or $79 a year for the whole organization, cancel anytime | One live page, up to 4 lists and 30 volunteers, no ads, forever | No. Name and email |
| SignUpGenius | Silver $11.99 a month or $107.89 a year (one ad-free sign-up, 150 texts a month); Gold $29.99; Platinum $59.99 | Yes: unlimited sign-up pages, 1,000 emails a month, no texts. Free pages carry ads | No |
| SignUp.com | Starter $99.99 a year ($8.34 a month, annual only on the pricing page) with unlimited text reminders; removing ads is a separate $99.99 a year | Yes: unlimited participants and sign-ups, one group page, no texts. Free pages show ads | No passwords for participants |
| POINT | Pro $140 a month, or $99 a month billed annually; texting is an add-on bundle | Yes, forever: unlimited volunteers and admins, sign-ups, scheduling, reminders, hour tracking, portal and app | Volunteer portal and app; the pricing page does not say whether sign-up requires one |
| Golden | Professional $100 a month billed annually ($110 monthly) | Yes: no volunteer cap, up to 5 admins, background checks and waivers | Volunteer portal and app; not stated whether required |
| Timecounts | Pro $79 a month billed annually ($89 monthly), up to 15 admins | Yes: one admin, unlimited volunteers, shifts, events and hour logs | Not stated; volunteers join a branded community hub |
| Track It Forward | Basic $13.25 a month billed annually per 100 user accounts; texts only on Advanced at $37 | Yes, for organizations with under 25 volunteers | Yes: volunteers register under your organization and log hours in the app |
| GivePulse | Give Joy $20 a month (20% off annual), 2 admins; texting is an add-on on every paid plan | Yes: Basic, one admin, no subgroups | Not stated; the platform invites members |
| VolunteerMark | Essential $75 a month billed annually ($89 monthly), 100 texts a month | Yes: up to 50 volunteers, one admin | Volunteer app with social sign-in |
| Planning Center Services | $15 a month for 20 team members, $32 for 50, $69 for 150; no contract; texting $0.02 a text through People | Yes: People is free; Services is free up to 5 team members | Yes: team members log in through Church Center or Services |
| Google Forms | Free with a Google account; Workspace from $7 a user a month | Everything, for personal accounts | Respondents need none unless you require sign-in |
| Microsoft Forms | Free with a Microsoft account | Everything | Respondents need none by default |
| Zeffy | $0; there is no paid plan. Funded by optional donor tips at checkout | Donation forms, ticketing, memberships, forms | Not stated |
| Doodle | Team $16 a seat a month billed annually; Pro price did not load for us; no texting | Yes: 3 basic sign-up sheets, with ads | Not stated |
| Jotform | Bronze $39 a month, or $34 a month billed $408 a year; nonprofits get 50% off; no reminder texts | Yes: 5 forms, 100 submissions a month, Jotform branding | Not stated |
When each one is the right choice
- JustSignup
- You need shifts filled and people reminded every week, and you do not need a volunteer database, applications or background checks.
- SignUpGenius
- You run one or two simple sheets a year, your volunteers already know it, and ads next to your event don't bother you.
- SignUp.com
- Your school already runs on it or you need text reminders on the cheapest paid tier and can live with the ad-removal add-on.
- POINT
- You want a full nonprofit platform with a volunteer portal and app at no cost and your volunteers will use the app.
- Golden
- You screen volunteers (waivers, background checks) and want that free, with a portal your volunteers will log in to.
- Timecounts
- One coordinator, many volunteers, and you want a volunteer database with hour logs for free.
- Track It Forward
- Your main job is logging and approving volunteer hours for reports, and your volunteers will use an app.
- GivePulse
- You are a campus or community network that needs impact reporting across many groups.
- VolunteerMark
- Fewer than 50 volunteers, you want an app, and you are fine with the jump to $75 a month after that.
- Planning Center Services
- You already run Planning Center for services and people, and your worship and tech teams are used to the app.
- Google Forms
- You need a one-question survey, not spots that run out, reminders or a waitlist.
- Microsoft Forms
- Same as Google Forms, inside a Microsoft 365 school or church.
- Zeffy
- You sell tickets or take donations alongside a sign-up and want it fee-free; it is not a shift scheduler.
- Doodle
- You schedule meetings and the occasional sheet, and your organization already pays for Doodle.
- Jotform
- You build many kinds of forms (applications, waivers, surveys) and a sign-up is one of them.
When a sign-up page is enough
- You post shifts or spots, people take them, and they need a reminder. That is most PTA events, snack schedules, potlucks, festivals, concession stands and Sunday rotations.
- You have one page at a time, or you are fine paying a few dollars a month once you run several.
- You would rather nobody had to make an account, including you.
When it is not
- You screen volunteers: applications, references, background checks and training records. That is a volunteer management platform, and none of them are free.
- You report volunteer hours to a funder across many programs and sites. Free tools cap this; Track It Forward and the platforms do it properly.
- You take payments or sell tickets alongside the sign-up. SignUp.com and Zeffy handle money; a sign-up page does not.
Try the simple option in a minute
Describe your schedule in a sentence, paste the sheet you use today, or send it to us and a person builds the page for you, free. Your first page is free with no ads; Pro is $9 a month or $79 a year for everything.
Questions people ask
- Is there completely free volunteer management software?
- Google Forms, Zeffy and the free tiers of JustSignup, SignUpGenius and SignUp.com cost nothing. The differences are ads (SignUpGenius and SignUp.com show them on free pages), caps (volunteers or pages), and whether reminders and waitlists are included. A full volunteer management platform with a database and screening is never free beyond a trial.
- What does the free JustSignup page include?
- One live page with up to four lists and 30 volunteers, confirmations, a reminder the day before, a waitlist, cancel links, every template and the AI builder. No ads, no time limit. Pro adds unlimited pages and volunteers, co-organizers, assigning, hours reports and texting for $9 a month or $79 a year.
- Why do free sign-up tools show ads?
- The organizer pays nothing, so the volunteer pays with attention. If your volunteers are parents or church members, the ads sit next to your organization's name. JustSignup's free page has no ads because the organizations that run several pages pay for Pro instead.