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Plain-English guide · for nonprofits
Free volunteer management software for nonprofits, compared
Updated October 2026
How much of your week goes to sign-up sheets and reminder texts? Plenty of good tools will host the sheet for free. Here's what each free version gives you, where it stops, and which one fits. One disclosure up front: we make Ember, one of the options below.
For a simple sign-up sheet, SignUpGenius and SignUp.com are free. Zelos suits teams that coordinate from their phones. Ember Volunteers adds reminders, check-in and hour totals, and it's free if your budget is under $50K a year. A form and a spreadsheet still work for a handful of people. Every free version stops somewhere, so check the limits.
What free usually leaves out
Free volunteer tools aren't all free in the same way. Some show ads on your sign-up pages. Some allow only one person to run the schedule, or cap how many shifts can be open at once.
Others keep check-in and hour tracking for paying customers. That's the catch, because those are often the parts a grant report needs.
The free options, side by side
| Tool | Free version includes | Where free stops | Good fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| SignUpGenius | Unlimited sign-up pages, with confirmation and reminder emails | Ads on your sign-ups. Silver ($107.89 a year) removes them from one sign-up | One-off events, school and church sign-ups |
| SignUp.com | Unlimited participants, sign-ups and emails. No passwords for volunteers | One organizer, one custom question. Check-in from $249.99 a year, hours tracking from $499.99 a year | Recurring sign-ups run by one person |
| Zelos | Unlimited team members and admins, shift sign-up, chat with push notifications, phone apps | 25 active tasks or shifts at a time. Pro is $99 a month, billed yearly | Teams that coordinate from their phones |
| A form and a spreadsheet | Whatever you build | Reminders, no-shows and hour totals are all on you | A handful of regulars |
| Ember Volunteers (that's us) | Shifts, one sign-up link, reminders, check-in, hour totals, unlimited users | Free under a $50K annual budget. Above that, a flat monthly price by budget | Programs whose hours go into reports |
Read from each tool's own pricing page on 7 October 2026.
Prices and company facts were read from each vendor's own pages on the date shown above and change often. Nothing here is legal, tax or purchasing advice. Check the vendor's current pricing page before you decide, and read your own contract before you switch.
A closer look at each one
SignUpGenius
The free version gives you unlimited sign-up pages with automatic confirmation and reminder emails. Your sign-ups carry ads. Silver, the cheapest paid tier, costs $107.89 a year and takes the ads off one sign-up at a time. It's a familiar choice for one-off events, school volunteers and meal trains.
SignUp.com
Basic is free, with unlimited participants, sign-ups and emails, and volunteers don't need a password. It allows one organizer and one custom question. Check-in starts on Plus at $249.99 a year, and fuller hours tracking on Max at $499.99 a year.
Zelos
The Standard version is free, with unlimited team members and admins. Volunteers pick up tasks and shifts in the iPhone or Android app or a browser, and you can message them with push notifications. It allows 25 active tasks or shifts at a time and keeps the last 100 in its archive. Pro costs $99 a month, billed yearly.
A form and a spreadsheet
Google Forms and Google Sheets cost nothing, and with Google Workspace for Nonprofits they're already yours. They're fine for a handful of regulars. The work shows up later: reminders, no-shows and adding up hours all land on you. Our volunteer sign-up sheet template is a good place to start.
Ember Volunteers (that's us)
You post your shifts and share one link. Volunteers sign up with a name and an email, with no account or password. Each program emails a reminder 3 days before a shift, and hours record when you check people in. Your schedule shows which shifts still need people, like “8 of 12 filled,” and Ember flags volunteers who haven't been seen in over two months.
It's free if your annual budget is under $50K, with unlimited users and no credit card. You don't need 501(c)(3) status. Your first 25 public sign-ups need nothing more from you; confirm your EIN to raise that limit. Ember is the newest tool on this list.
Three questions that pick the tool
Do your hours go into a report?
If volunteer time shows up in a grant report or an annual report, pick a tool that records hours as people serve. Adding them up later from old sign-up sheets is the job nobody wants. The guide to tracking volunteer hours shows what to keep.
How many people run the schedule?
One coordinator can live with a one-organizer limit. A team of program leads can't, so check how many people can manage shifts before you invite volunteers in.
Is it one event or every week?
A single fun run fits a free sign-up sheet. A weekly pantry shift needs reminders and a way to notice who's drifting away.
Before you settle in
Free versions change. Before you put a year of volunteer history into any tool, check that you can export it. Then try your real sign-up with two or three volunteers before you send it to everyone.
Want to know what those hours are worth? The volunteer hour value calculator turns them into a dollar figure you can share with your board.
The Ember tool for thisEmber Volunteers
Share one sign-up link for your shifts. Volunteers get a reminder before each shift, and their hours record when you check them in. Free under a $50K budget. Unlimited users on every tier.
Sources: Read on 7 October 2026: SignUpGenius pricing, SignUp.com pricing, Zelos pricing, Ember Volunteers and Ember pricing. Free versions change often; check each tool's page before you decide.