Primero

Primero is an open-source information management platform for protection professionals handling child protection, gender-based violence, incident monitoring, or family tracing and reunification work. It best suits humanitarian, development, and public-sector teams that can either run their own infrastructure or fund a supported deployment. Its broad configuration and offline-capable workflows are compelling, but the choice of plan determines who carries the operational burden.

Overview

Primero is organized around three modules: CPIMS+, GBVIMS+, and MRMIMS+. Its workflows span identification, registration, assessment, planning, referrals and transfers, and case closure, with supervision, notifications, and tasking tools to support work across a case lifecycle. That breadth makes it more suitable for structured protection programs than for organizations seeking a lightweight general-purpose client database.

Teams can configure forms, roles, lookups, reports, languages, logos, and locations through a self-service interface. More than 40 languages are available out of the box. This gives programme teams meaningful control over how the system reflects their work, though self-managed deployments also require technical capacity to keep the service secure and maintained.

Key features

• Structured case workflows: Coverage from identification through closure, alongside supervision and tasking, helps teams coordinate complex casework rather than manage isolated records.
• Configurable records and oversight: Case intake forms, custom fields, audit trails, and reporting dashboards support consistent collection and review. This combination is useful for programs that need both adaptable records and visibility into case activity.
• Offline access: Primero v2 works online and offline in modern browsers on mobile devices, tablets, and laptops. Offline work is limited to creating cases and editing records previously accessed during the session; changes are submitted after reconnecting. It can help teams with intermittent connectivity, but it is not a full substitute for continuous online access.
• Data sharing: Integrations are designed around auditable, safe sharing to aid coordination and reduce duplication. For example, interoperability with UNHCR’s ProGres v4 is offered, with setup, operating, and support costs determined for each implementation.
• Permissions: Role-based access restricts sensitive information according to users’ need to know, a relevant control for protection casework.
• Support resources: The Support Hub includes documentation, knowledge-base articles, release information, training resources, technical guidance, and community access. The Digital Public Goods Alliance certified Primero as a digital public good in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Pricing

Primero’s freemium plans range from self-managed open-source use to hosted and hybrid deployments. The lower-cost option saves money but shifts infrastructure and maintenance responsibilities to the implementer.

• Tier 1: DIY — free. This is an open-source, self-managed deployment with documentation and community support. It fits organizations with the technical capacity to provide servers, security, DNS, configuration, updates, and support, and to cover their own hosting and IT costs. Those requirements make it a poor fit for teams expecting a provider to operate production.
• Tier 3: Full Service SaaS — $8,250 USD per year. UNICEF Azure hosts demo and production sites, and the plan includes deployment, operations, training, upgrades, and ongoing support, with no limits on users or data volumes. It is the clearest fit for organizations that want operational support and predictable annual pricing; its yearly commitment is substantial compared with the free self-managed tier.
• Tier 4: Hybrid deployment — $25,000 USD for the 1st year. Production is hosted locally and the demo on UNICEF Azure. The partner manages production infrastructure, security, configuration, and maintenance. The price decreases to the cost listed in Tier 3 in the 2nd year and thereafter. This suits organizations that need local production hosting and can take on the partner-managed responsibilities, but requires a much higher first-year budget.
• Tier 5: Custom package — custom pricing. Scoped case by case, it may include custom development, integrations, API development, extensions, or migrations. It is the option to consider when standard deployment plans do not cover implementation needs, with cost depending on the requirements.
• Tier 2: Single organization — custom pricing. This plan is currently under development and is marked as available July 2026. It is intended as a future option rather than a current basis for choosing a deployment.

Platforms

Primero supports Android, iOS, web, API, and self-hosted deployments. Its progressive web app can work offline in modern mobile, tablet, and laptop browsers, though offline functionality is limited to creating cases and editing records accessed during the session.

Who it's for

Primero is a strong fit for humanitarian, development, and public-sector social services teams managing protection-related casework, especially when they need configurable workflows, multiple languages, controlled access to sensitive data, and coordination across programs. Organizations with in-house technical capacity can use the free DIY tier; those seeking hosted operations and ongoing support should weigh the annual SaaS cost. Teams without either technical capacity or budget for supported hosting should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Purpose-built workflows cover multiple stages of case management; configuration spans forms, roles, reports, languages, and locations; support for more than 40 languages and limited offline work can serve varied operational settings; the full-service plan has no user or data-volume limits.
• Cons: DIY users must provide and pay for their own hosting and IT operations; offline mode does not support unrestricted work and only syncs changes after reconnection; hosted support starts at $8,250 USD per year, while hybrid deployment costs $25,000 USD for the 1st year.

Alternatives

Consider Collaborate if you want a paid platform with Android, iOS, API, and web support and custom pricing based on organization size, user count, and modules, without per-seat licensing fees. CaseFlow may suit a smaller team seeking a defined starting package: its Base Package is $150 a month, or $1800/year, plus $1995 setup, and includes 2 users, 1 custom workflow, unlimited cases, and unlimited document. In-Form is another freemium option for readers comparing a free plan and Android, iOS, and web support.

Bonterra Penelope, TigernixClub, OSCaR, SKAS, and Bonterra ETO are additional paid alternatives.

Explore Nonprofit Case Management Software and Case Management Software for broader category comparisons.

Verdict

Choose Primero if your organization runs protection-related casework and needs configurable, multilingual workflows with controlled access and a deployment model suited to your operational capacity. Its strongest case is the combination of lifecycle case management and flexibility across self-managed, hosted, and hybrid options. Look elsewhere if your team cannot shoulder DIY infrastructure and cannot justify the annual cost of supported hosting.