OpenWater 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

Software Advice offers objective insights based on verified user reviews and independent product and market research. When our advisors match you to a software provider, we may earn a referral fee.

How Software Advice ensures transparency

Software Advice lists all providers across its website—not just those that pay us—so that users can make informed purchase decisions. Users can talk to our advisors for free to receive software recommendations matching their needs. Software providers pay us for sponsored profiles to reach users interested in their products.

How Software Advice verifies reviews

Software Advice carefully verified over 2 million reviews to bring you authentic software experiences from real users. Our human moderators verify that reviewers are real people and that reviews are authentic. They use leading tech to analyze text quality and to detect plagiarism and generative AI.

Independent research methodology

Researchers at Software Advice use a mix of verified reviews, independent research, and objective methodologies to bring you selection and ranking information you can trust. While we may earn a referral fee when you visit a provider through our links or talk to an advisor, this has no influence on our research or methodology.

Wondering if OpenWater is right for your organization?

Our Grant Management Software selection experts can help you in 15 minutes or less.

On this page

Overview
Pricing and Plans
Features
Integrations
User Reviews

Overview

OpenWater

4.6

(73)

Pricing

Starting at $5,100.00 per year

About OpenWater

OpenWater streamlines program management with its end-to-end solution for accepting and reviewing applications, awards, grants, scholarships, proposals, and abstracts. OpenWater’s secure, all-in-one platform makes navigating the review process easy with its user-friendly features. Empower your program administrators by automating time consuming administrative tasks, collecting high volume submissions, and driving data-proven decisions through custom reporting and analytics.

Easily collect, judge, and award an infinite number of applications and submissions for various
use cases including:
• Awards
• Fellowships
• Scholarships
• Grants
• Virtual Conferences
• Peer Review
• Speaker Management
• Accreditation Management

OpenWater Screenshots

OpenWater Pricing and Plans

Starting price: $5,100.00 per year

Free Trial

Free Version

Basic

$5,100.00

per year

No plan information available

Confused about pricing? We've got you covered.

Get a personalized pricing breakdown tailored to your specific needs—no guesswork, no generic estimates.

OpenWater Features

Popular features found in Grant Management
Applicant Tracking
Collaboration Tools
Contract/License Management
Document Review
Due Date Tracking
Financial Reporting
Grant Discovery
Payment Tracking
Reporting & Statistics
More features of OpenWater
Access Controls/Permissions
Activity Dashboard
Activity Tracking
Administrative Reporting
Alerts/Notifications
API
Applicant Portal
Application Management
Approval Process Control
Awards Management
Blind Judging
Budget Control
Categorization/Grouping
Commenting/Notes
Compliance Management
Configurable Workflow
Contact Management
CRM
Customizable Branding
Customizable Fields
Customizable Forms
Customizable Questions
Customizable Reports
Customizable Templates
Data Import/Export
Deadline Management
Document Management
Electronic Payments
Electronic Submission
Email Reminders
Email Templates
Entrant Management
Entry Fee Processing
Entry Management
For Grantmakers
Forms Management
Fraud Detection
Grant Application Management
Grant Award Tracking
Grant Management
Impact Measurement
Interview Management
Judging Management
Labeling
Monitoring
Polls/Voting
Progress Tracking
Promotions Management
Recommendations
Reminders
Reviewer Management
Role-Based Permissions
Scoring
Search/Filter
Single Sign On
Skills Contests (Photo, Essay, Design, etc)
Social Media Integration
Social Promotion
SSL Security
Status Tracking
Third-Party Integrations
Web Forms
White Label
Workflow Management

OpenWater Integrations

Salesforce Sales Cloud

NetForum Enterprise

authorize.net

iMIS

MemberClicks

Fonteva for Associations

See all 20 integrations

OpenWater User Reviews

Overall Rating

4.6

Ratings Breakdown

63%

33%

Secondary Ratings

Ease of Use

4.2

Value for money

4.3

Customer support

4.9

Functionality

4.2

Jason B.

Verified reviewer

Non-Profit Organization Management

2-10 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Reviewed August 2025

Value, Value, Value

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I've truly enjoyed not only the product that OpenWater provides to us, but the ease it presents to our members.

Cons:

It's expensive, but the value provides to our internal and external audiences continue to transcend the cost.

Reasons for switching to OpenWater

We needed more functionality and API's into our database.

Vendor Response

Thank you so much for sharing your feedback, Jason! We’re thrilled to hear that OpenWater has been a valuable tool for both your team and your members, and we truly appreciate your trust in us.

Replied August 2025

Verified

Reviewer

Financial Services

501-1000 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed October 2025

Huge Timesaver!

Our overall experience with OpenWater has been great. They're very responsive to questions and helping get things figured out quickly.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

OpenWater has been a huge timesaver for our team! We used to have manual spreadsheets and scanning of documents, and now everything is in one place! Another pro is the ease of use for judges! Judges are now able to enter all of their scores and we can use OpenWater to calculate and weight things as needed versus having to do all of this manually before!

Cons:

One of the cons of OpenWater is the UI. There have been several times where my team has needed to set something up and it isn't in a place that we would think it would be in. Thankfully their team is quick to respond when we have questions! Another downfall has been the number of programs and what is considered "active" versus "Inactive". I'd love to be able to work on a future program without it being "active" and counting against our program numbers, but find myself having to activate and deactivate programs to make quick changes that I want to remember for the following year, but needing to keep the other one as our active one to continue collecting information from winners, etc.

Reasons for choosing OpenWater

I can't remember what the exact reasons were that we chose OpenWater over others.

Vendor Response

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! We’re so glad to hear OpenWater has saved your team time and simplified the judging process - that’s exactly what we aim for. We appreciate your feedback on the user interface and program management options; insights like yours help us continue improving the platform. It’s great to know our support team has been responsive and able to assist quickly. Thanks again for being a valued OpenWater customer!

Replied October 2025

Jenna K.

Verified reviewer

Non-Profit Organization Management

51-200 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed October 2025

Excellent Support, But Needs Some UI Improvements

Overall it has been mixed. The limitations and bugs have been a bit frustrating, but their customer service is fantastic and it seems they are willing to fix things. I know that they are also currently working on a lot of updates so we are feeling hopeful that these will happen soon and improve our overall experience!

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

OpenWater has great customer service and quick response times. This is a huge benefit to us as when there are bugs or we need help with something quickly, they are right on it!

Cons:

We've experienced several "bugs" (more than we think is acceptable) as well as other not so great standard features that have affected our own processes as well as our applicants'/reviewers' experiences. (For example, in the review form, when going to the second page, it does not take the user to the top of the form, it starts them in the middle. We've been told that this is just the way it is... But we keep getting complaints about it because it makes our reviewers' jobs harder.) This is just one example of a standard feature that we are not happy with. The amount of bugs we have experienced has also been frustrating. The overall look and feel / user experience of the software could also be improved. (Just looks outdated and is not always very user friendly). I know you are working on updating this, so we are hopeful it will improve soon. Also, this is probably our biggest issue, but only one person can own and fill out a form— others can't log in to complete their own sections. We wish it were possible for multiple people to enter their individual information into a shared form, with everything connecting to the same place. I know you said you were working on adding this too, so we are holding out hope!

Vendor Response

Thank you for your detailed and honest feedback, Jenna; we truly appreciate you taking the time to share both the positives and the challenges of your OpenWater experience. We’re glad our support team has been responsive and helpful, and we understand how frustrating bugs, UI limitations, and form-sharing constraints can be. Your input is invaluable as we continue working on updates and improvements, and we’re grateful for your patience and optimism as we move those enhancements forward!

Replied January 2026

Luis M.

Verified reviewer

Non-Profit Organization Management

51-200 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Reviewed August 2025

OpenWater helps you expand the limits of your programs

OpenWater is a great ally to help you push the limits of your program. Thanks to its various features, we've been able to adapt our processes to be more effective as the number of sessions received increases and the need for additional judges arises. Additionally, the various tools available in OpenWater, including gallery view and community voting, have enabled us to expand the avenues of participation for community members. This is a definite plus because we've expanded our use of OpenWater from single to multiple uses. My plan is to keep using OpenWater in the near future and I am always excited about the new features they are rolling out.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I have been using OW intensively for the past 4 years and will continue to do so. Thanks to its judging process, we can incorporate +70 experts who review more than 1800+ session proposals. The judging process enables us to organize submissions according to program categories, and we can also select, for example, the number of judges who will review each proposal. Also, you can first assign sessions aleatorily and then move sessions individually between judges. This assures you that the correct judge reviews a specific proposal. The learning curve of OW is one of my favorite features. OW strikes an outstanding balance between customer support and providing resources for you to learn on your own. Thanks to this approach, we implement new features each year that enhance our work. This also facilitates the ease of use. Currently, I only reach out to customer support when I have hit a wall, and the response I receive is always quick, but also points me to resources to learn from. As for value for money, OW is flexible regarding the number of programs you can use simultaneously and does not charge for applications or participants. This provides great flexibility. Instead of grant management or scholarship management, we use OW to receive session proposals for a conference focused on technology and human rights. In any case, the flow process is similar, and we work with OW to fine-tune our evaluation process.

Cons:

OpenWater could enhance its dashboard features. At times, it can be quite challenging to view all the data points of your program easily. For example, how many sessions were submitted, completed, in process, etc. With that said, it is only the dashboard, as OpenWater has robust reporting functions. It would also be beneficial to include a summary of the primary data points from your program on your main program page. Regarding the look and feel, it may have seemed outdated until a few months ago, but they are working on an overhaul, so I am very excited about this.

Reasons for switching to OpenWater

Our program increased to a point where using Google Forms would not allow us to customize the form to the point that we wanted to. Also, it doesn't offer any judging features.

Vendor Response

Luis, thank you for trusting OpenWater over the past four years! We’re so glad to hear the platform has helped streamline your judging process and support your growing programs. We also appreciate your note on the dashboard; your feedback is invaluable as we continue to refine and improve. We are so grateful for your thoughtful review and are looking forward to continuing to support you and your initiatives!

Replied August 2025

Careesa G.

Verified reviewer

Education Management

2-10 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Reviewed August 2025

OpenWater is a great application platform!

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

OpenWater is user-friendly and easy to use. The applicants have no issues submitting applications. Also, the judging process is easy to use, and whenever we have questions the support team is easy to access and quick to respond via chat.

Cons:

The only thing I wish OpenWater would have done better would be to edit the home webpage for the applications. It would be nice to be able to customize the homepage more.

Reasons for switching to OpenWater

we wanted something more formal and better to create reports

Jenni M.

Verified reviewer

Entertainment

2-10 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Reviewed August 2025

ACE has been using Open Water since 2021 and going strong

Our members enjoy all it has to offer and we are so grateful. The submissions are especially easy and most studios thank us for using open water.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The customer service has been wonderful and I really appreciate my personal representative. As I learn more it gets easier.

Cons:

The platform is a little tricky, but they make updates every day, so I'm hoping while I learn it also gets easier.

Reasons for switching to OpenWater

Awards Force was not easy to customize and we needed to brand our event.

Vendor Response

Hi Jenni, thank you for sharing your experience! We’re delighted to hear that OpenWater's customer service has been such a support. It’s wonderful to know your members enjoy the platform and find submissions easy. We’re grateful for your partnership and committed to making your experience with OpenWater the best that it can be!

Replied August 2025

Amanda R.

Verified reviewer

Education Management

1001-5000 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Reviewed August 2025

Great for Organizing Large Conferences

My overall experience with open water is very positive. Though some processes could be a bit more streamlined, I am overall very pleased with what it allows us to do. The customer service is fantastic.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

We use Open Water to plan and organize a very large conference. We love that we can do almost everything we need to prepare for the conference using Open Water. We use it to collect, score, and approve/reject potential conference sessions, schedule conference sessions, and collect session presentations and resources. The customer service is top-notch. Open Water representatives help us build presentation applications and help us come up with solutions when any issues arise. They also help us build our conference website and app. They are always friendly, fast, and efficient.

Cons:

The email wizard could use some work. It is nice to be able to send out emails in bulk, but it would be nicer if there were an easier way to send bulk emails to new groups of people without the email also going to groups that had already received it. It would also be great if a bulk email could be sent to one person. To keep emails from being sent to the same people multiple times, we have to go in and individually mark that each presenter has already received the email--the process is very tedious and time-consuming. I wish they had an interface with a conference web app other than Guidebook. The Guidebook app is too difficult for attendees to download to their phones and log in to. It causes problems every year.

Vendor Response

Hi Amanda, thank you for sharing your detailed review! We’re delighted to hear that OpenWater has helped streamline so much of your conference planning, from collecting and reviewing sessions to building your website and app, and that our customer service team has been a strong support along the way. We also appreciate your thoughtful feedback on the email wizard and app integration, which helps us identify ways to keep improving. We’re so glad OpenWater has been a positive part of your process and we look forward to continuing to support your events!

Replied August 2025

Chantelle L.

Verified reviewer

Non-Profit Organization Management

2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review source

Reviewed September 2025

Thank you, OpenWater, for streamlining our very inefficient processes!

Our organization desperately needed help organizing and streamlining our application and job board processes. OpenWater hosts almost all of our programs on it's platforms. It allows us to receive applications, build the job board, send emails, organize participant information, and even lets us pull reports that we use for metrics/data needs.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

There are many things I like about OpenWater. Before using OpenWater, our organization did everything via email. When you have 400 or more students and businesses applying via email, that gets very overwhelming and becomes inefficient. OpenWater has allowed our organization to streamline every one of our programs and application processes. Not only that, but creating the applications and procedures on OpenWater is clear, straightforward, and efficient. On the user side, we've been told that the software is easy to navigate. Lastly, the customer support has been stellar! Once we began using OpenWater, we've worked exclusively with the [sensitive content hidden] , and she's been amazing! She answers every question or concern I have. It's felt very much like a collaborative process as my coworkers and I learn to use the platform. OpenWater has gone above and beyond for our organization.

Cons:

I have yet to find a downside of using OpenWater. They have met our needs and continue to collaborate with our team to ensure program delivery and success.

Vendor Response

Chantelle, thank you so much for sharing such a thoughtful and detailed review! We’re thrilled to hear how OpenWater has helped streamline your programs and simplify application management for your team and applicants. It’s especially rewarding to know our customer support has been such a valuable resource as you’ve adopted the platform. We truly appreciate your kind words and are honored to help your organization deliver its programs more efficiently!

Replied September 2025

Verified

Reviewer

Non-Profit Organization Management

51-200 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Reviewed August 2025

Openwater is excellent

The program setup is very intuitive and once setup very easy to clone for future programs. The support is top notch and my questions/issues are resolved right away.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The support is excellent. All of my questions are answered and taken care of right away. [sensitive content hidden] is an excellent rep for Openwater and is super responsive.

Cons:

No phone call support, its all via email. It would be nice to be able to call for support but not a deal breaker at all.

Verified

Reviewer

Hospitality

2-10 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Reviewed August 2025

Easy to Use with Excellent Support

Overall, our admin users, our applicants and our judges have all found great benefit from using the OpenWater platform. It has helped increase our overall number of applicants and streamlined our judging process greatly.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The product support is outstanding. While the product is super easy to use, if any questions or issues come up, the support team is fast and efficient to respond.

Cons:

The reporting could use some improvements. I feel like there are some key reports that don't exist or could be more effective for admin users to manage programs, specifically reports related to judge interactions on a specific program.

Vendor Response

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! We’re so glad to hear that you’ve found OpenWater easy to use and that our support team has been there when you needed them. Your feedback on reporting is especially helpful, as we’re always looking for ways to improve and make the platform even more effective for admins, applicants, and judges. It’s wonderful to know that OpenWater has helped grow your applicant base and streamline your judging process!

Replied August 2025

Showing 1 - 10 of 73 Reviews

See All Reviews