Category:Tools
Recommended tools and services for grassroots organizations.
| Tool | Company | Pricing | Amount | License | Hosting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akaunting - free self-hosted accounting software | Akaunting | free | Self-hosted is free (single user/accountant); Cloud-hosted plans $12-218/mo | open | hybrid |
| Bitwarden - open source password manager, great LastPass alternative | Bitwarden | free | Free tier covers unlimited passwords/devices for individuals; Teams $4/user/mo, Enterprise $6/user/mo (open-source server, self-hosting available) | open | hybrid |
| BTCPay Server - self-hosted, non-custodial Bitcoin/Lightning payment processor | BTCPay Server | free | open | self | |
| Buy Me a Coffee - simple one-off tips and memberships | Buy Me a Coffee | varies | 5% platform fee on the free plan (tips, memberships, and product sales); $5/mo Gold membership removes the platform fee; standard Stripe/PayPal processing applies on top | closed | cloud |
| Chuffed - 0% fee crowdfunding for social causes | Chuffed | free | No platform fee -- 100% of funds raised go to the cause, minus standard payment processing | closed | cloud |
| CiviCRM - open source CRM built for nonprofits | CiviCRM | free | Software is free; self-host on existing infra, or managed CiviCRM hosting from roughly $10-100/mo depending on tier | open | hybrid |
| ClickUp - cloud task manager with kanban and time tracking | ClickUp | recurring/mo | $7/user/month (free tier available) | closed | cloud |
| DigitalOcean - Linux VPS provider for self-hosted infrastructure | DigitalOcean | recurring/mo | $6/month (entry-level Droplet: 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB SSD NVMe) | closed | cloud |
| Element - self-hostable, federated encrypted messaging (Matrix) | Element | free | Client and Matrix server software (Synapse/Dendrite/Conduit) are free and open source;
self-host at only your hosting cost, use the free matrix.org homeserver, or buy Element's hosted plans. |
open | self |
| Eventbrite - event promotion and ticketing platform | Eventbrite | free | Free events are always free. Paid tickets: ~3.7%+$1.79/ticket plus 2.9% payment
processing, no fee cap. Pro email tiers $15-100/mo (nonprofits get 50% off after verification). |
closed | cloud |
| GoCardless - bank-debit collection for recurring donations and invoices | GoCardless | varies | Free account, no monthly fee on the entry (Standard) tier; pay-as-you-go
per-transaction (roughly 1% with a per-payment cap -- verify current rates). US ACH is capped at $5,000 per transaction; $5 per chargeback above 15 in a month. |
closed | cloud |
| GoFundMe - personal and charity crowdfunding platform | GoFundMe | varies | Charity fundraisers: 2.2% + $0.30/donation; personal fundraisers: 2.9% + $0.30/donation (plus an optional donor tip in both cases) | closed | cloud |
| Google Workspace - proprietary cloud office suite, not recommended | Google Workspace | recurring/mo | $7-22/user/mo (Starter/Standard/Plus, annual billing) -- no self-hosted or free tier | closed | cloud |
| IVPN - annually-audited, open-source no-logs VPN (Gibraltar) | IVPN Limited | recurring/mo | Standard and Pro plans (roughly USD 6-10 / month depending on term). Anonymous signup
returns a random 15-character account ID with no email; pay by card, Monero, Bitcoin, or cash mailed to Gibraltar. |
open | cloud |
| Jitsi Meet - open-source video conferencing, no account required | Jitsi Meet | free | Free on the public instance (meet.jit.si) or self-hosted at no
licensing cost (Apache 2.0); managed hosting via 8x8 JaaS from $0.35/monthly active user, or $99+/mo |
open | hybrid |
| Jitsi Meet - self-hostable, open-source video conferencing (WebRTC) | Jitsi (8x8, Inc.) | free | Free and open source (Apache 2.0). Self-host at only your hosting cost, use the free public meet.jit.si instance, or buy 8x8's managed Jitsi as a Service (JaaS) for scale/branding. | open | hybrid |
| Kofi - free tip jar with optional shop | Kofi | varies | closed | cloud | |
| Mattermost - open-source Slack alternative with self-hosted free tier | Mattermost | free | Professional $10/user/mo; Enterprise custom pricing (self-hosted free tier available) | open | hybrid |
| Miraheze - free volunteer-run MediaWiki hosting for any wiki | Miraheze | free | open | cloud | |
| Montastic - free uptime monitor with email alerts | Montastic | free | paid plans from $5/mo | closed | cloud |
| Mullvad - anonymous, open-source, audited no-logs VPN (Sweden) | Mullvad VPN AB | recurring/mo | Flat EUR 5 / month, no tiers and no discounts for longer commitments. Pay with a card, PayPal, bank transfer, cash mailed in an envelope, or cryptocurrency (incl. Monero). | open | cloud |
| Nextcloud - self-hosted groupware with built-in office editing | Nextcloud | free | Self-hosted is free, no user limit. Enterprise support from EUR 67.89/user/yr (100-user minimum). Nextcloud One managed hosting ~EUR 13-15/user/mo. | open | hybrid |
| Nextcloud Calendar - shared scheduling via self-hosted Nextcloud | Nextcloud | free | Free -- zero extra cost if you already run Nextcloud (e.g. for Office Suite).
If not, standing up Nextcloud itself is also a free self-hosted install (see that entry for full pricing/hosting details). |
open | self |
| OnlyOffice - self-hosted office suite with real-time editing | OnlyOffice | free | Cloud DocSpace Business $20/admin/mo; self-hosted Enterprise license from $1,500 (50 connections) | open | hybrid |
| Open Collective - transparent fiscal hosting for unincorporated groups | Open Collective | varies | Fee is set by whichever Fiscal Host a collective joins (commonly cited range
roughly 4-10%, some hosts free); Open Collective's own platform software is open source and does not charge separately from the host's fee |
open | cloud |
| Patreon - recurring membership funding for creators | Patreon | varies | Platform fee 8-12% of earnings by tier (Lite/Pro/Premium), plus roughly 2.9-5% payment processing; fee structure was revised in a September 2024 policy overhaul | closed | cloud |
| Proton Mail - encrypted email with a free tier | Proton Mail | recurring/mo | $4.99/mo, or $3.99/mo billed annually (free tier available) | open | cloud |
| Proton Meet - end-to-end encrypted video conferencing from a Swiss non-profit | Proton AG | varies | Free tier hosts up to 50 participants for 1 hour per call; guests join by link with no
account. Paid Meet Professional raises this to 100 participants and 24-hour calls with recording; higher Workspace tiers reach 250. Often bundled with the rest of the Proton suite. |
open | cloud |
| Proton Meet - end-to-end encrypted video meetings | Proton Meet | recurring/mo | $7.99/mo standalone, or bundled into Proton Workspace plans (free tier
available: up to 50 participants, meetings under 1 hour, no account needed for 4-person instant calls) |
closed | cloud |
| Proton VPN - open-source VPN from a Swiss non-profit, with a free tier | Proton AG | varies | Genuinely free tier (unlimited data, no ads, one device, 5 countries). Paid plans add more countries, up to 10 devices, and streaming/P2P; often bundled with Proton Mail/Drive/Pass. | open | cloud |
| Qwiki - locally edit wiki files in markdown then deploy | Doikayt Mobilization Labs | free | open | self | |
| Rocket.Chat - open-source Slack alternative with omnichannel support | Rocket.Chat | free | Commercial/Government/Defense tiers are custom-priced (free self-hosted Community edition available) | open | hybrid |
| Signal - end-to-end encrypted messaging from a nonprofit | Signal Foundation | free | Free, no ads, no paid tiers. Run by the Signal Foundation, a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by grants and donations; by charter it cannot be acquired. | open | cloud |
| Slack - team messaging with channels and threads, not recommended | Salesforce | recurring/mo | $8.75/user/month (free tier available) | closed | cloud |
| Tor - volunteer-run anonymity network (onion routing) | The Tor Project (US 501(c)(3) nonprofit) | free | Free and open source. Run by the non-profit Tor Project, funded by grants (historically
including US-government sources such as the State Department and NRL) plus individual donations. Funding is not control here: the code is public, reproducible, and independently audited. |
open | hybrid |
| WireGuard - run your own self-hosted VPN, no operator to trust | WireGuard (Jason A. Donenfeld) / community tooling | varies | Software is free and open source (GPLv2); your only cost is a VPS -- roughly USD 4-6 / month on a provider like [[Digital Ocean]], or a spare box you already run. | open | self |
| Words of Justice - AI co-pilot for Palestine advocacy | Words of Justice | free | closed | cloud | |
| Zeffy - zero-fee fundraising and event platform | Zeffy | free | $0 platform fee -- Zeffy covers card-processing costs itself, funded by an optional donor tip at checkout (roughly two in three donors tip, per Zeffy) | closed | cloud |
| Zoom - video conferencing with breakout rooms and webinars, not recommended | Zoom Video Communications | recurring/mo | Free (40-min cap on group calls, 100 participants); Pro from $14.16/user/mo (annual) / $16.99 (monthly), removes the time cap | closed | cloud |
Pages in category "Tools"
The following 40 pages are in this category, out of 40 total.