Board Manager vs. BoardPro

BoardPro is built around the board meeting, covering agendas, board packs, minutes, and decisions. Board Manager is built around the board itself: who is on it, when their terms end, who you are recruiting, and what they still need to sign.

Last verified . We link our sources at the bottom of this page.

At a glance

A tilde (~) means the capability exists but with real caveats. The note explains what they are.

CapabilityBoard ManagerBoardPro
Roster and terms
Member roster with contact detailsYesYes
Term start and end datesYesYes
Alerts before a term expiresBoth do this. BoardPro notifies admins 6 weeks and 1 day out; Board Manager sends a coordinator digest at 180, 90, and 60 days.YesYes
Renewal tracking and term historyBoardPro's help docs state end dates 'only generate notifications' and an admin 'must update this manually if required.'YesPartial
Meetings and committees
Agenda builder and board packsThis is BoardPro's core strength. Board Manager stores board documents but does not build agendas or compile packs.PartialYes
Minutes capture and minute signingBoardPro does real-time minutes, a decision register, and minutes signing. Board Manager does not.NoYes
In-meeting voting and resolutionsAvailable on BoardPro's Premium tier and above.NoYes
CommitteesBoardPro bills subcommittees separately at $82.50/month or $825/year each.YesYes
Meeting RSVPs and attendance per memberYesNo
Compliance and onboarding
Conflict of interest annual signing campaignBoardPro has an interest register and e-signatures (Premium+), but no published send-to-all annual attestation workflow.YesPartial
Electronic signatureBoardPro's e-signatures require Premium or above.YesYes
Per-member onboarding checklistsYesNo
Recruitment
Board candidate pipeline with stagesYesNo
Public recommendation formYesNo
Skills and diversity matrix in the productBoardPro publishes a downloadable skills matrix template, but it is a document, not a feature.YesNo
Access and cost
Board members access without creating an accountBoardPro members receive an invitation and set a password.YesNo
Pricing published publiclyYesYes
Free plan (not a trial)BoardPro offers a 30-day trial with no credit card.YesNo

The honest take

These are different tools for different situations. Here is when each one is the right answer.

Pick BoardPro if

  • The board meeting is the thing that hurts, because agendas, packs, and minutes eat your week
  • You need a formal decision register and in-meeting voting
  • Your board expects a compiled board pack before every meeting
  • You want AI help drafting agendas and minutes
  • You have $1,000–$3,500 a year budgeted for governance software

Pick Board Manager if

  • Your meetings are fine, but the roster, terms, and recruiting keep slipping
  • You are actively recruiting and want a pipeline and a skills matrix
  • You want board members to have zero passwords to forget
  • You need conflict of interest forms signed by everyone, every year, without chasing
  • Your entire software budget is closer to $200 a year than $2,000

What each one costs

Where a vendor does not publish pricing, we say so rather than guessing at a number.

Board Manager
$0 or $19 / month

Published pricing. No demo required, no card to start.

  • Starter: free forever, for boards up to 25 members and candidates
  • Engage: $19/month for unlimited members, compliance signing, and onboarding checklists
  • 500 emails/month on Starter, 2,500 on Engage
  • No setup fee, no annual commitment, no sales call
BoardPro
$990–$3,520 / year

Nonprofit pricing, annual billing only. Discount tiers depend on whether your org's expenses are under or over $1M.

  • Nonprofit Essentials: $990/year under $1M expenses, $1,320 over
  • Nonprofit Ultimate: $2,640/year under $1M, $3,520 over
  • Commercial pricing runs $165–$440/month, billed per board
  • Subcommittees cost extra, at $825/year each
  • 30-day free trial, no credit card; optional setup packages $600–$1,900

Moving from BoardPro

Most boards do this in an afternoon. Nothing is deleted on the other side, so you can keep it open while you check the data.

  1. 1Export your people list from BoardPro as a CSV.
  2. 2Import it at /members/import: names, emails, roles, and term dates come across in one pass.
  3. 3Re-enter your committee structure, which takes a few minutes for most boards.
  4. 4Set up your conflict of interest document and send it once to establish a signing baseline.
  5. 5Keep BoardPro running through your next meeting cycle if meetings are the part you rely on. The two tools do not conflict.

Common questions

Does BoardPro have a free plan?

No. BoardPro offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, but there is no free tier after that. Board Manager's Starter plan is free indefinitely for boards up to 25 people.

Does BoardPro track board member terms?

Yes, and it's worth being clear about this because it is sometimes reported otherwise. BoardPro added board tenure management with optional term start and end dates and automatic admin reminders 6 weeks and 1 day before an end date. The difference is depth: BoardPro's own documentation notes that end dates only generate notifications and do not change how a member appears afterward, so renewals are updated by hand.

Which one is cheaper?

Board Manager, substantially. BoardPro's lowest nonprofit tier is $990 per year; Board Manager's paid plan is $228 per year and the free plan covers boards up to 25 people. Whether that gap matters depends on whether you need BoardPro's meeting tooling.

Can BoardPro build a board skills matrix?

Not in the product. BoardPro publishes a well-regarded downloadable skills matrix template in Word and Excel, which is a marketing resource rather than a feature. Board Manager builds the matrix from coordinator-defined skills attached to each member.

Do board members need a password with BoardPro?

Yes. BoardPro members receive an invitation email and set a password to access the portal. Board Manager board members never create an account. They open a link.

Could we use both?

Some boards do, using BoardPro for meeting mechanics and Board Manager for the roster and recruitment side. It is not the cheapest arrangement, and if your meetings are already working we'd suggest starting with just one.

Is BoardPro better for larger boards?

For boards with heavy meeting formality (committees that each produce their own packs and minutes, formal resolutions, a decision register), yes. BoardPro is the more mature meeting product and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.

Try it before you decide.

The free plan covers boards up to 25 people and is not a trial. Set up your roster, see whether it fits, and switch back if it doesn't.

Start free, no card needed

Sources

Claims about BoardPro on this page were verified against the following, last checked September 2, 2026. Pricing and features change, so if you spot something out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.