OpenGrants Review: Grant Discovery and Tracking for Nonprofits
An honest review of OpenGrants — a grant discovery platform for nonprofits. Covers features, pricing, limitations, and the important distinction between grant seekers and grant managers.
OpenGrants is a grant discovery platform — a tool that helps nonprofits and social enterprises find relevant grant opportunities more efficiently than manual research allows. It aggregates grant opportunities into a searchable database, allows organisations to track their applications, and provides team collaboration features for the grant-seeking process.
Before evaluating OpenGrants or any similar tool, it is worth clarifying a distinction that causes considerable confusion in the market: grant discovery platforms and grant management systems are fundamentally different products, designed for different users with different needs.
Grant discovery tools (such as OpenGrants, Instrumentl, and GrantStation) are built for grant applicants — the charities, nonprofits, and social enterprises that are looking for funding. Their job is to help these organisations find relevant opportunities, track their applications, and manage the grant-seeking workflow.
Grant management systems (such as Plinth, Fluxx, and Foundant GLM) are built for grant funders — the foundations, trusts, government bodies, and corporate giving teams that receive applications, assess them, and award funding. Their job is to manage the full lifecycle of a grant programme from the funder's side.
If you are a funder looking to manage your grant programmes, OpenGrants is not the tool you need. This review explains what OpenGrants is, who it is for, and how it compares to other tools in the grant discovery category — and clarifies what funders should be looking for instead.
What is OpenGrants?
OpenGrants is a SaaS platform primarily designed to help nonprofits and social enterprises find grant opportunities. The core product is a searchable database of grant funding opportunities, which users can filter by organisation type, focus area, location, and funding amount. When relevant opportunities are identified, users can track them through their application process within the platform.
Additional features support the grant-seeking workflow: team collaboration tools allow multiple staff members to work on grant applications together, notification features alert users to new opportunities matching their profile, and application tracking helps organisations maintain an overview of where they are in multiple simultaneous application processes.
OpenGrants operates on a freemium model. A free tier is available, giving access to a limited number of grant discoveries. Paid tiers unlock more grants, more discovery features, and expanded team collaboration capabilities.
Deployment is immediate — OpenGrants is a SaaS product with no implementation process. Users sign up and begin searching within minutes.
Who is OpenGrants designed for?
OpenGrants is designed for the grant-seeking side of the grants ecosystem:
- Nonprofits and charities that depend on grant funding and need to identify relevant opportunities more systematically than manual research allows.
- Social enterprises exploring grant funding alongside revenue from trading activities.
- Development staff at nonprofits who manage grant applications across multiple funders and need an organised way to track their pipeline.
- Small organisations without dedicated development staff, who need to search for relevant grants without spending extensive time trawling multiple funder websites.
OpenGrants is primarily relevant to organisations seeking US grants. Its opportunity database focuses substantially on the US funding landscape — US federal grants, state grants, foundation grants from US-based foundations, and private funders. UK-based organisations seeking UK grants will find the platform's coverage less directly applicable to their funding environment.
What are OpenGrants's key features?
Grant database and discovery: The core product is a searchable database of grant opportunities. Users can filter by criteria relevant to their organisation — cause area, eligible organisation types, funding amount ranges, application deadlines — to surface relevant opportunities. The quality and breadth of the database is the central value proposition.
Application tracking: Once opportunities are identified, users can track where they are in the application process — from research through drafting, submission, and decision. This provides an overview of the full grant-seeking pipeline at a glance.
Team collaboration: Paid tiers support multiple team members accessing the same grant pipeline, allowing development staff and programme teams to collaborate on grant applications within the platform rather than managing this through shared spreadsheets or email.
Opportunity notifications: Users can set up alerts for new opportunities matching their profile, reducing the need for manual monitoring of multiple funder websites.
Free tier access: A free tier allows organisations to access a limited number of grant discoveries without paying, making the tool accessible to very small organisations as a starting point.
What are OpenGrants's limitations?
Grant applicant tool only: OpenGrants provides no functionality for grant funders. It cannot receive applications, manage assessment panels, track grant agreements, or monitor grant delivery. If you are a foundation or trust managing a grant programme, this tool is simply not designed for you.
US-centric funding landscape: The grant opportunity database is primarily populated with US funding opportunities — federal grants, state and local government grants, and US-based foundation grants. UK-based organisations seeking UK grants, or organisations seeking European funding, will find the platform's coverage limited in their geography.
Not a grant management system: OpenGrants does not provide application intake forms, reviewer portals, due diligence tools, grant agreement management, or post-award monitoring. These are the functions that grant management systems serve, and OpenGrants is not positioned to provide them.
Database completeness: The quality of a grant discovery tool is substantially dependent on the completeness and currency of its opportunity database. As with all such platforms, users should evaluate whether the specific funding landscape relevant to their organisation is well represented before committing to a paid subscription.
Limited UK relevance: UK nonprofits and charities seeking UK grant funding will find that OpenGrants's database is not optimised for UK funders. UK-focused grant directories and funder databases are more directly relevant for UK-based organisations.
How is OpenGrants priced?
OpenGrants operates on a freemium model. A free tier provides access to a limited number of grant opportunities. Paid tiers — typically priced per month or per year — unlock expanded discovery access, more opportunity matches, and team collaboration features. Specific pricing tiers and costs are available on the OpenGrants website and are subject to change; it is worth checking current pricing directly.
For organisations evaluating OpenGrants against alternatives, the relevant comparison is cost per relevant opportunity discovered and acted upon — a harder metric to assess without trialling the platform against your specific funding landscape.
Grant discovery tools vs grant management systems: understanding the difference
This distinction is fundamental and worth explaining clearly, because many people searching for "grant management software" are looking for two completely different things.
| Grant Discovery Tools | Grant Management Systems | |
|---|---|---|
| Who uses them | Grant seekers (nonprofits, charities) | Grant funders (foundations, trusts, government bodies) |
| Primary purpose | Find relevant grant opportunities | Manage the full grant programme lifecycle |
| Key capabilities | Grant database, opportunity alerts, application tracking | Application intake, assessment panels, due diligence, grant agreements, monitoring |
| Examples | OpenGrants, Instrumentl, GrantStation, Foundation Directory Online | Plinth, Fluxx, Foundant GLM, Submittable |
| Who pays | The organisations applying for grants | The organisations awarding grants |
| Implementation | Immediate (SaaS sign-up) | Days to months depending on platform |
Grant management systems — used by funders — are designed to manage everything that happens once a funder opens a grant programme: publishing criteria, receiving and processing applications, managing reviewer panels, making award decisions, issuing grant agreements, disbursing funds, and tracking delivery against grant conditions.
Grant discovery tools — used by applicants — help organisations find out which grant programmes exist and are relevant to them, and manage their own pipeline of applications to external funders.
These two product categories address entirely different problems. Knowing which category you need is the first step in choosing the right tool.
How does OpenGrants compare to other grant discovery tools?
For US-based nonprofits evaluating grant discovery tools, the main alternatives to OpenGrants are Instrumentl, GrantStation, and Foundation Directory Online (published by Candid).
| OpenGrants | Instrumentl | GrantStation | Foundation Directory Online (Candid) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary strength | Discovery + tracking | Discovery + prospect research | Extensive database | Largest foundation database |
| Application tracking | Yes | Yes | Limited | No |
| Team collaboration | Yes (paid) | Yes (paid) | Limited | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Trial only | No | No |
| US focus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (with some international) |
| UK coverage | Limited | Limited | Limited | Better than most |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription |
Instrumentl is a direct competitor offering a similar combination of grant discovery and application tracking. Instrumentl is particularly known for the quality of its prospect research features and its integration of deadline tracking with workflow management. It does not offer a free tier, but does offer a trial period.
GrantStation offers an extensive database of grant opportunities with a focus on providing detailed funder profiles. It is primarily a research and discovery tool rather than an application tracking platform. It operates on a subscription model with no free tier.
Foundation Directory Online (Candid) is one of the most established grant databases, particularly strong for foundation research in the US market. Candid has the largest database of foundation grants of any of these tools. It is a research tool rather than an application tracking system, and it has somewhat better international coverage than the other platforms listed.
For UK organisations seeking UK grants specifically, these US-centric discovery tools are of limited practical value. UK grant directories, individual funder websites, and UK-focused funding databases provide more relevant coverage of the UK funding landscape.
I am a funder — what tools should I be looking at?
If you are a foundation, trust, corporate giving team, or public sector funder looking to manage grant programmes — receiving and assessing applications, awarding grants, and tracking delivery — you need a grant management system, not a grant discovery tool.
Grant management systems for funders handle:
- Application intake: Configurable forms through which applicants submit their proposals, eligibility checks, and supporting documents.
- Assessment and review: Reviewer portals, scoring rubrics, panel management, conflict of interest logging, and audit trails for assessment decisions.
- Due diligence: Verification of applicant organisations — for UK funders, this typically includes Charity Commission checks, Companies House verification, and OFSI sanctions screening.
- Grant agreements: Digital grant agreements with signing workflows, terms and conditions management, and agreement storage.
- Monitoring and reporting: Tracking delivery against grant conditions, collecting progress reports, and monitoring KPIs across a grant portfolio.
- Impact reporting: Aggregating outcome data and generating funder impact reports.
Plinth is a grant management platform built specifically for UK funders. It includes AI-assisted application assessment, built-in Charity Commission and Companies House due diligence checks, OFSI sanctions screening, digital grant agreements with signing workflows, KPI monitoring, and AI-generated impact reports — covering the full grant lifecycle from application to close-out. It has a free tier for smaller programmes alongside paid plans for larger funders.
For a broader comparison of grant management systems for funders, see the grant management systems comparison.
FAQ
Is OpenGrants a grant management system?
No. OpenGrants is a grant discovery platform for grant applicants — organisations looking for funding opportunities. It is not a grant management system for funders. If you need to manage a grant programme (receive applications, assess them, award and track grants), you need a different category of software. See the grant management systems comparison for platforms designed for funders.
Does OpenGrants help with writing grant applications?
OpenGrants helps organisations discover grant opportunities and track their applications. It does not provide AI-assisted grant writing tools as a core feature. Some grant writing assistance tools exist as separate products, though it is worth noting that many funders are beginning to flag AI-generated applications where they do not reflect genuine organisational voice.
Can OpenGrants be used in the UK?
OpenGrants can technically be accessed from the UK, but its grant database is primarily focused on US funding opportunities. UK-based organisations seeking UK grants will find the platform's coverage limited. UK-focused grant directories and individual funder websites are more practically useful for UK nonprofits seeking UK funding.
What is the difference between OpenGrants and Instrumentl?
Both OpenGrants and Instrumentl are grant discovery and tracking tools for grant applicants. Instrumentl is particularly noted for the quality of its prospect research features and deadline tracking integration. OpenGrants offers a free tier, which Instrumentl does not. Both are primarily focused on the US grants landscape.
Is OpenGrants free?
OpenGrants has a free tier that provides access to a limited number of grant discoveries. Paid tiers unlock expanded discovery access and team collaboration features. The free tier is a useful starting point for smaller organisations to assess whether the platform surfaces relevant opportunities before committing to a subscription.
What should a UK foundation use to manage its grants?
A UK foundation managing grant programmes needs a grant management system, not a grant discovery tool. Key features to look for include configurable application forms, reviewer portals, Charity Commission and Companies House due diligence checks, grant agreement management, and monitoring tools. Platforms built for the UK market address these requirements natively. See AI for Funders for a guide to evaluating platform capabilities, and the grant management systems comparison for a side-by-side view of the market.
How does OpenGrants make money?
OpenGrants operates on a freemium SaaS model. Revenue comes from paid subscription tiers that unlock additional grant discoveries, expanded database access, and team collaboration features beyond what the free tier provides.
Recommended next pages
- Grant Management Systems Compared: Fluxx, Submittable, Foundant, SmartSimple and More — For funders: a side-by-side comparison of the platforms that manage grant programmes
- AI for Funders: The Future of Grantmaking — A guide to AI capabilities in grant management for the funder side
- How to Automate Due Diligence in Grantmaking — What UK funders need from applicant verification tools
- What is Grant Management? — A clear explanation of what grant management involves and who it applies to
- Best Free Grant Tools for Small Organisations — Options for small funders with limited technology budgets
Last updated: February 2026