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Nonprofits · head to head

Submittable vs Tendenci

Submittable logo

Submittable

Nonprofits

Application, review and grant management for funders running open calls at volume

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tendenci logo

Tendenci

Nonprofits

Open-source association management system for nonprofits

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Tendenci has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Submittable pricing is not published and tier jumps are steep, so an organisation that grows past a submission or form limit can face a renewal quote well above the previous year with limited negotiating room mid-programme.; Tendenci self-hosting is a real operational commitment, and organisations without technical capacity should not treat the free licence as a free system
  • They diverge on capability: Submittable covers Configurable application forms, Tendenci covers Open-source licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Submittable and Tendenci actually diverge.

Attributes where Submittable and Tendenci differ
AttributeSubmittableTendenci
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, with paid hosting available
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Nonprofits).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Submittable

  • Configurable application forms
  • Blind and multi-stage review
  • Reviewer management
  • Grant payments
  • Impact reporting
  • Applicant messaging
  • API and integrations

Only in Tendenci

  • Open-source licence
  • Membership management
  • Events and registration
  • Donations
  • Content-managed website
  • Email

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Submittable

  • A foundation running an open grant round where a volunteer panel must score hundreds of applications without seeing applicant identitiesnot Tendenci
  • A corporate giving team collecting employee-nominated grant requests and needing an audit trail for financenot Tendenci
  • An arts council managing fellowship and residency applications with multi-stage juriesnot Tendenci
  • A city agency distributing relief funds and required to show equitable review and decision recordsnot Tendenci

Tendenci

  • Nonprofits whose boards require member and donor data to stay under their own controlnot Submittable
  • Organisations with data residency obligations a hosted platform cannot satisfynot Submittable
  • Groups with technical capacity wanting to avoid per-member subscription costs at scalenot Submittable
  • Associations needing to customise workflows beyond what a proprietary platform allowsnot Submittable

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Submittable

  • Pricing is not published and tier jumps are steep, so an organisation that grows past a submission or form limit can face a renewal quote well above the previous year with limited negotiating room mid-programme.
  • It is built around the application funnel rather than the funder's relationship with grantees, so long-term relationship management, pledge tracking and multi-year commitments are weaker than in a purpose-built grants CRM.
  • Applicant-facing forms are constrained by the platform's templates, and organisations wanting a fully branded application experience on their own domain will find the customisation shallow.
  • Reporting is serviceable for programme counts but limited for board-level financial reporting, so many finance teams still export to spreadsheets to reconcile awards against the general ledger.
  • Payment disbursement capability varies by tier and region, and organisations funding recipients outside the United States often still pay grants through their bank rather than through the platform.

Tendenci

  • Self-hosting is a real operational commitment, and organisations without technical capacity should not treat the free licence as a free system
  • The community is small compared with mainstream open-source projects, so answers are harder to find and contributors are few
  • The interface is dated against the commercial association platforms and this is the most common user complaint
  • Fewer integrations than commercial competitors, and building them is a development task rather than a configuration one
  • Feature depth in events and continuing education is behind the specialist commercial systems

Pricing, plan by plan

Submittable

On request
  • Submittable$undefined/year
    • Application forms and applicant portal
    • Reviewer workflow and scoring rubrics
    • Grant award and reporting modules on higher tiers

Tendenci

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Full source code
    • No per-member licence
    • Community support
  • Managed hosting$undefined/month
    • Hosted and maintained
    • Updates applied
    • Support included

Which should you pick?

Choose Submittable if

  • You need configurable application forms.
  • You also want blind and multi-stage review.
Submittable review

Choose Tendenci if

  • You need open-source licence.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud.
  • You also want membership management.
Tendenci review

Questions people ask

Is Submittable or Tendenci better?
Neither clearly leads. Submittable starts at On request and Tendenci at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Submittable or Tendenci?
Tendenci has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Submittable and Free for Tendenci.
Does Submittable or Tendenci run on more platforms?
Submittable runs on Web. Tendenci runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud.
Can I use Tendenci for free?
Yes. Tendenci has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Submittable starts at On request.
What is Submittable best used for?
Submittable is most often used for a foundation running an open grant round where a volunteer panel must score hundreds of applications without seeing applicant identities, a corporate giving team collecting employee-nominated grant requests and needing an audit trail for finance, an arts council managing fellowship and residency applications with multi-stage juries, a city agency distributing relief funds and required to show equitable review and decision records. Of those, a foundation running an open grant round where a volunteer panel must score hundreds of applications without seeing applicant identities and a corporate giving team collecting employee-nominated grant requests and needing an audit trail for finance are not what Tendenci is typically brought in for.
What can Submittable do that Tendenci cannot?
Submittable covers Configurable application forms, Blind and multi-stage review, Reviewer management, Grant payments. Tendenci covers Open-source licence, Membership management, Events and registration, Donations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Submittable: What does Submittable actually cost?

It is not published. Reported entry points are in the low thousands of dollars a year, with price driven by submission volume, number of forms and seats. Get the tier limits written into the contract before signing.

Tendenci: Is Tendenci really free?

The software is, under an open-source licence with no per-member fee. Running it is not: hosting, updates, backups and security are the organisation responsibility unless managed hosting is purchased.

Submittable: Is it a grants management system or a submission manager?

Both, depending on tier. The review side is its strength. Award tracking, payments and grantee reporting sit on higher tiers and are less deep than a dedicated grants CRM.

Tendenci: Who should choose it?

Organisations with a genuine requirement to control their own data, and the technical capacity to act on it. Choosing it purely to avoid subscription cost usually ends badly.

Submittable: Can reviewers work anonymously?

Yes. Blind review, staged rounds and conflict of interest flagging are core features rather than paid extras.

Tendenci: Can I move my data out?

Yes, entirely. That is the point. Data lives in a PostgreSQL database you control, and there is no vendor holding it.

Submittable: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Nonprofit pricing exists but is applied inside the quote rather than published as a percentage, so compare quotes rather than assuming a standard rate.

Tendenci: How does it compare to Wild Apricot?

Wild Apricot is easier, better supported and better looking. Tendenci is the answer when data ownership is a requirement rather than a preference.

Tendenci: Is it actively maintained?

It is developed openly on GitHub with a small team and community. Check recent commit activity before committing, as with any small open-source project.

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