Comparison
A GrantFinder alternative built on open data
Most UK grant databases sell an annual licence to an editorial database. OpenGrant is different: it is assembled from published open data and funder pages, links every record to its source, and costs £29 a month with no contract. Here is how the options compare, using prices and terms published on each provider's own site as at 7 October 2026.
| OpenGrant | GrantFinder (Idox) | Funds Online (DSC) | My Funding Central (Idox) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published price | £29 per month per email | £1,020 per year (one user, UK VCSE plan) | £475 + VAT per year (one user, one dataset, charity rate) | From £100 per year; free under £30,000 income |
| Contract | Monthly, cancel any time | 12-month agreement, auto-renews | Annual (weekly licence also sold) | Annual |
| Free trial | Search for free; three days of full access before the first charge | Demo on request | No published trial | Free tier for organisations under £30,000 income |
| Who can subscribe | Anyone | Plans by organisation type; enterprise on enquiry | Anyone | England VCSE organisations under £1m income |
| How records are built | Automated ingest of open data and funder pages; every record links to its source with a last-verified date | Editorial team researches and writes programme profiles daily | Editorial profiles of funders, drawn from accounts and funder websites | Editorial database (Idox) |
| Coverage emphasis | Open calls: GOV.UK Find a grant, UKRI, Innovate UK, lottery distributors, Wellcome, major foundations, devolved bodies, councils; Horizon Europe optional | 8,500+ live opportunities across public and third sector, UK and EU | 8,000+ funders: grant-making charities, companies, statutory sources | Grants and social investment for small and medium VCSE groups |
| Funder research | Past-giving profiles from 360Giving and the Charity Commission register; ‘who funds peers’ lookup by charity number | Funder profiles | Detailed funder profiles, including trusts that publish little online | Funder listings |
| Alerts and exports | Daily or weekly email alerts, CSV export, calendar deadlines, shortlist pipeline | Saved searches and alerts | Saved searches and alerts | Saved searches and alerts |
| API and agent access | Public read-only API, OpenAPI spec and MCP server for preview counts | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Source code | Open on GitHub | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
Prices and terms are quoted from grantfinder.co.uk/subscriptions, fundsonline.org.uk/subscribe and myfundingcentral.co.uk on 7 October 2026, and may change. GrantFinder, Funds Online and My Funding Central are trademarks of their owners; OpenGrant is independent of them.
Where OpenGrant is stronger
- Price and terms: £29 a month beats a four-figure annual licence for a freelancer, a small charity, or a second seat.
- Provenance: every record shows its source URL and last-verified date, so you can check guidance before you apply.
- Open calls: statutory, lottery, research and innovation competitions are ingested from the publishers' own feeds, with cross-source duplicates hidden.
- Funder evidence: 360Giving past-giving totals, medians and recent grants, plus a lookup of who funds organisations like yours.
- Workflow: email alerts, CSV export, calendar deadlines and a shortlist with application stages.
Where the incumbents are stronger
- The long tail of small grant-making trusts that publish little online. Funds Online's editorial profiles are the standard here.
- Hand-written programme summaries. Lottery and foundation records in OpenGrant are facts-only: status, amounts, deadlines and a link.
- Multi-user administration and support contracts for large organisations and local authorities.
Many fundraisers will keep a trusts directory and add OpenGrant for open calls, funder evidence and alerts. See the sources page for exactly what is covered.
Try it on your own search
Search for free to see how many open schemes match your project. Full access costs £29 a month after a three day trial, and you can cancel at any time from your account page.