OnBoard is the strongest product on this list and we are not going to pretend otherwise. It has a genuine roles and terms module, a real skills matrix, and diversity reporting. The question is not whether OnBoard is good. It's whether a small nonprofit can reach those features, given they sit behind higher tiers, paid add-ons, quote-only pricing, and a three-year commitment for the advertised nonprofit discount.
Last verified . We link our sources at the bottom of this page.
A tilde (~) means the capability exists but with real caveats. The note explains what they are.
| Capability | Board Manager | OnBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Roster and terms | ||
| Member roster with contact details | Yes | Yes |
| Term start and end dates with term limitsOnBoard's Roles & Terms module is genuinely good. It requires the Premium tier or above and is unavailable on Essentials. | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts before a term expiresOnBoard flags roles ending within 180 days and notifies on approaching expiry. Board Manager sends a coordinator digest at 180, 90, and 60 days. | Yes | Yes |
| Officer positions with their own term dates | Yes | Yes |
| Meetings and committees | ||
| Agenda builder and board booksOnBoard's core strength, with drag-and-drop building and annotations. Board Manager stores board documents but does not compile books. | Partial | Yes |
| Minutes builderRequires OnBoard Premium or above. | No | Yes |
| Voting and approvalsRequires OnBoard Premium or above. | No | Yes |
| Committees | Yes | Yes |
| Meeting RSVPs and attendance per member | Yes | Yes |
| Native iOS and Android apps | No | Yes |
| Compliance and onboarding | ||
| Conflict of interest signingOnBoard's D&O Questionnaires cover COI and disclosure forms. It's a paid add-on at Essentials and Premium, included only at Ultimate. | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic signatureIncluded at OnBoard Premium and above. | Yes | Yes |
| Per-member onboarding checklistsOnBoard Ultimate includes director training content, which is not the same as a tracked per-member checklist. | Yes | No |
| Recruitment | ||
| Board candidate pipeline with stagesOnBoard's Roles & Terms surfaces succession gaps, but there is no candidate record, stage, or status tracking. | Yes | No |
| Public recommendation form | Yes | No |
| Skills and diversity matrix in the productOnBoard's skills matrix is real: self-assessment, a members-by-skills grid, and a radar chart. It is a paid add-on at both Essentials and Premium, included only at Ultimate. | Yes | Yes |
| Access and cost | ||
| Board members access without creating an accountOnBoard members verify by emailed code and then create a password. That's account setup, not passwordless login. | Yes | No |
| Pricing published publicly | Yes | No |
| Start without talking to sales | Yes | No |
| Free plan (not a trial)OnBoard offers a trial by request; the length isn't published. | Yes | No |
These are different tools for different situations. Here is when each one is the right answer.
Where a vendor does not publish pricing, we say so rather than guessing at a number.
Published pricing. No demo required, no card to start.
Three tiers (Essentials, Premium, and Ultimate) with no published prices. A demo is required to get a number.
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.
Yes, and well. Their Roles & Terms module centralizes director roles, term limits, and tenure, flags roles ending within 180 days, and sends notifications as terms approach expiry. It requires the Premium tier or above, and it isn't available on Essentials.
Yes, a real one. Directors self-assess against skill categories you define, and results compile into a matrix and radar chart. The catch is packaging: Skills Tracking is a paid add-on at both Essentials and Premium, and is only included at the Ultimate tier.
Three reasons, and they're narrow ones. OnBoard has no board candidate pipeline, meaning no candidate records, stages, or statuses. It has no per-member onboarding checklists. And every board member has to create a password-backed account. If none of those matter to you and you have the budget, OnBoard is an excellent product.
They don't publish it, and we won't guess. There are competitor sites circulating specific OnBoard quotes; those are published by rival vendors and contradict each other, so we don't repeat them. The one primary-source figure we can point to is TechSoup's listing of a 50% nonprofit discount on subscriptions of three years or more.
OnBoard, clearly and by a wide margin, at 4.7 on Capterra across more than 1,000 reviews, with support rated 4.84. Board Manager is a much newer product with nothing like that track record. The most common criticisms of OnBoard on Capterra are limited page customization and cost relative to features.
No. OnBoard's invitation flow sends a verification code that you use to create a password, so it isn't a magic link. Board Manager board members never create an account at all.
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 neededBoardable is nonprofit-focused board software priced per user, from $20.99/user/month. A side-by-side comparison with Board Manager on cost, terms, recruitment, and board member access.
BoardEffect is Diligent's board portal for mission-driven organizations, sold by quote. How it compares to Board Manager on pricing transparency, term tracking, recruitment, and board member access.
BoardPro is a mature meeting and board-pack tool with published nonprofit pricing from $990/year. Here's how it compares to Board Manager on terms, recruitment, and cost.
Claims about OnBoard 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.