OpenVolunteer
OpenVolunteer helps community organizations coordinate volunteers, staff, shifts, hours, and recognition.
What OpenVolunteer is
OpenVolunteer helps community organizations coordinate volunteers, staff, shifts, hours, and recognition. Departments can create event shifts with time ranges and staffing needs, then monitor coverage and attendance. Volunteers can browse opportunities and sign up for shifts when their permissions and availability allow. Hours can be organized by sector, department, and fiscal ledger for reporting and recognition. Organizations can define staff roles and permissions across sectors and departments. Its perks system tracks progress toward tiered rewards tied to volunteer hours, including physical reward redemption. OpenVolunteer is available through web, API, and self-hosted options. The free Self-hosted plan costs nothing and includes unlimited volunteers and administrators, application source, and the ability to modify and extend it. The Organization plan is $15 a month, typically around $15 a month; it includes deployment, maintenance, backups, monitoring, and email delivery setup. Final cost may vary with email volume, storage, and integration. It is volunteer management software, not a payroll solution.
Good
- Volunteers can sign up based on permissions and availability.
- Departments can track shift coverage and attendance.
- Hours support sector, department, and fiscal ledger categories.
- Reward progress is tied to volunteer hours.
- Free self-hosted plan includes unlimited volunteers and administrators.
Watch out
- It is not a payroll solution.
- Technical support scope may vary because it is open source.
- Organization plan cost can vary with usage and integration.
Who it suits
It suits nonprofits, conventions, and community initiatives that need to organize volunteer shifts, hours, and recognition. Organizations seeking managed deployment or self-hosting can choose between those listed options.
Verdict
OpenVolunteer combines volunteer scheduling, hours reporting, messaging, and recognition in one platform. Its self-hosted plan is free, while managed Organization hosting is $15 a month with potential cost variation.
Plans and prices
From OpenVolunteer's own pricing page, checked 8 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | Free | Unlimited volunteers · Unlimited administrators · Full application source · Community documentation · Modify and extend freely · Your infrastructure, your data · $0 forever |
| Organization | $15 a month | Unlimited volunteers · Unlimited administrators · Deployment and configuration · Platform updates and maintenance · Automated backups · Uptime monitoring · Email delivery setup · Final cost can vary with email volume, storage, and integration requirements · Typically around $15 a month |
The facts
Each one read from OpenVolunteer's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Audience
- The documentation describes it as a staff and volunteer management solution for nonprofits, conventions, and community-driven initiatives.checked 8 Oct 2026
- The application sends invitations, password resets, notifications, and other system messages, and supports SMTP configuration.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Events
- Departments can create event shifts, set time ranges and staffing needs, and monitor coverage and attendance.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Hosting
- Managed hosting includes production deployment, domain setup, application updates, backups, monitoring, and technical support.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Hours and reporting
- Volunteer hours can be categorized by sector, department, and fiscal ledger for reporting and recognition.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Not payroll
- The documentation explicitly says OpenVolunteer manages volunteers and is not a payroll solution.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Organization structure
- The platform supports structured staff roles and scoped permissions across sectors and departments.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- OpenVolunteer coordinates people, shifts, hours, teams, and recognition for community organizations.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Recognition
- The volunteer perks system supports tiered rewards tied to volunteer hours, with progress tracking and physical reward redemption.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Security
- The managed hosting page says its service includes automated backups, monitoring, and sensible security practices.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Shift sign-up
- Volunteers can browse opportunities and assign themselves to events or shifts based on permissions and availability.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Support limit
- The pricing page says technical support availability and scope may vary because OpenVolunteer is open source.checked 8 Oct 2026
- WordPress integration
- An optional integration authenticates users against WordPress user records and requires database connectivity with read access at minimum.checked 8 Oct 2026
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