--- title: "OpenWater Software Reviews, Demo & Pricing - 2026" description: "Review of OpenWater Software: system overview, features, price and cost information. Get free demos and compare to similar programs." source_url: "https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/" page_type: "product" language: "en" --- [Home](https://www.softwareadvice.com/) / [Grant Management Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/grant-management-comparison/) / OpenWater 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. Overview [Reviews](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/reviews/)[Alternatives](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/alternatives/) # OpenWater Review From $5,100/year 1 plan 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 - User Interface - Popular Alternatives - Pricing and Plans - Features - Integrations - User Reviews - Popular Comparisons ## Overview OpenWater 4.6 [(73)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/reviews/) FrontRunner 2026 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 Wondering if OpenWater is right for your organization? Our Grant Management Software selection experts can help you in 15 minutes or less. ## OpenWater User Interface ## Popular OpenWater Alternatives Main Product OpenWater 4.6 [(73)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/reviews/) Ratings Breakdown - 4.16Ease of use - 4.33Value for money - 4.90Customer support - 4.22Functionality Pricing Starting at $5100.00 per year Get Price Alternative Product [Zealous](https://www.softwareadvice.com/accreditation-management/zealous-profile/) 4.7 [(61)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/accreditation-management/zealous-profile/reviews/) Ratings Breakdown - 4.38Ease of use - 4.68Value for money - 4.97Customer support - 4.33Functionality Pricing Starting at £26.00 per month Get Price Alternative Product [Awardify](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/504486-Awardify/) 4.6 [(25)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/504486-Awardify/#reviews) Ratings Breakdown - 4.40Ease of use - 4.54Value for money - 4.76Customer support - 4.32Functionality Pricing Starting at CA$1979.00 per year Get Price Alternative Product [Award Force](https://www.softwareadvice.com/contest/award-force-profile/) 4.8 [(193)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/contest/award-force-profile/reviews/) Ratings Breakdown - 4.46Ease of use - 4.59Value for money - 4.93Customer support - 4.54Functionality Pricing Starting at €2625.00 per year Get Price Alternative Product [Woorise](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/473758-Woorise/) 4.7 [(58)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/473758-Woorise/reviews/) Ratings Breakdown - 4.47Ease of use - 4.78Value for money - 4.72Customer support - 4.74Functionality Pricing Starting at $29.00 per month Get Price Alternative Product [Uplup](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/426123-Uplup/) 5.0 [(10)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/426123-Uplup/#reviews) Ratings Breakdown - 5.0Ease of use - 5.0Value for money - 5.0Customer support - 5.0Functionality Pricing Starting at $19.00 per month Get Price ## OpenWater Pricing and Plans OpenWater has one plan. Basic is $5,100.00/yr billed annually. 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. ### How does OpenWater pricing compare to alternatives? OpenWater's starting price is $5,100.00/year. Explore how its pricing and plan options compare with top alternatives below. | Product | Starting price | Free trial | Free version | Value for Money | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | OpenWater4.6[(73)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/reviews/) | $5,100.00 /yr | Not available | Not available | 4.3 | | [Zealous](https://www.softwareadvice.com/accreditation-management/zealous-profile/)4.7[(61)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/accreditation-management/zealous-profile/reviews/) | £26.00 /mo | Available | Available | 4.7 | | [Awardify](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/504486-Awardify/)4.6[(25)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/504486-Awardify/reviews/) | CA$1,979.00 /yr | Not available | Not available | 4.5 | | [Award Force](https://www.softwareadvice.com/contest/award-force-profile/)4.8[(193)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/contest/award-force-profile/reviews/) | €2,625.00 /yr | Not available | Not available | 4.6 | | [Woorise](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/473758-Woorise/)4.7[(58)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/473758-Woorise/reviews/) | $29.00 /mo | Available | Not available | 4.8 | OpenWater4.6[(73)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/reviews/) * * * Starting price $5,100.00 /yr Free trial Not available Free version Not available Value For Money 4.3 - [Zealous](https://www.softwareadvice.com/accreditation-management/zealous-profile/)4.7[(61)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/accreditation-management/zealous-profile/reviews/) * * * Starting price £26.00 /mo Free trial Available Free version Available Value For Money 4.7 - [Awardify](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/504486-Awardify/)4.6[(25)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/504486-Awardify/reviews/) * * * Starting price CA$1,979.00 /yr Free trial Not available Free version Not available Value For Money 4.5 - [Award Force](https://www.softwareadvice.com/contest/award-force-profile/)4.8[(193)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/contest/award-force-profile/reviews/) * * * Starting price €2,625.00 /yr Free trial Not available Free version Not available Value For Money 4.6 - [Woorise](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/473758-Woorise/)4.7[(58)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/473758-Woorise/reviews/) * * * Starting price $29.00 /mo Free trial Available Free version Not available Value For Money 4.8 ## 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 Integration rated undefined from -1 review authorize.net Integration rated undefined from -1 review iMIS Integration rated undefined from -1 review MemberClicks Integration rated undefined from -1 review Fonteva for Associations Integration rated undefined from -1 review PayPal Payments Integration rated undefined from -1 review See all 17 integrations ## OpenWater User Reviews ## OpenWater customer ratings - Overall rating: 4.6/5 - Total reviews: 73 ### Rating distribution - 5 stars: 47 reviews (64%) - 4 stars: 24 reviews (33%) - 3 stars: 1 reviews (1%) - 2 stars: 0 reviews (0%) - 1 star: 1 reviews (1%) ### Secondary ratings - Ease of use: 4.2/5 - Value for money: 4.3/5 - Customer support: 4.9/5 - Functionality: 4.2/5 --- ### OpenWater Platform Review: Experience, Support, and Functionality - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Jenna K. - Industry: Non-Profit Organization Management - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: 3-5 years · daily - Reviewed: June 2026 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Overall, our experience with OpenWater has been positive. Their customer support is strong and responsive, and they are generally able to help us configure the system to meet a wide range of needs. This level of support and flexibility has been especially valuable in adapting the platform to our conference workflows and requirements. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros What I like most about OpenWater is the strong customer support and the flexibility to customize the system to fit our specific conference needs. Their support team is responsive and helpful when questions or issues arise, which is especially important during high-volume submission and review periods. #### Cons One current limitation is that we are not able to fully manage all of our data within OpenWater because programs cannot be linked together in a fully connected way. For example, we collect initial session information from a session organizer, including speaker details, but then we must create a separate program for individual speakers to submit their own required information. As a result, we rely on a separate system to manage these connected data points, which creates a duplicative and time-consuming workflow. #### Vendor response Thank you for sharing your experience, Jenna! We're delighted to hear that our support team and the flexibility of OpenWater have helped you tailor the platform to your conference workflows. We also appreciate your feedback on connected program management and will continue working to enhance the platform while delivering the responsive support you can count on. Replied June 2026 --- ### Great Awards Platform - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Industry: Management Consulting - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: 3-5 years · weekly - Reviewed: April 2026 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review. Overall experience has been great. The support team is always available to help when needed and super responsive. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros The value for the money and judging process. We have a very robust award judging process and it has always fulfilled our needs. #### Cons The learning curve is quite significant. It is a very robust system, so takes some time to adapt to the system. #### Vendor response Thank you for your review! We’re glad OpenWater is meeting your needs for a robust judging process and delivering strong value. We also appreciate your feedback on the learning curve; we're always working to make onboarding easier. It’s great to hear our support team has been helpful along the way. Thanks for sharing your experience! Replied April 2026 --- ### Organizing a conference? OpenWater is your answer! - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Luis M. - Industry: Non-Profit Organization Management - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: 3-5 years · daily - Reviewed: April 2026 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review. I have been using OpenWater for more than 5 years and I always recommend it when I have a chance. During these 5 years, I have never felt it has under performed, even when our program keeps growing. Its vast arsenal of tools also lets you enhance your program each year or build-in new features. I like this because open water can support you in doing your job better. I also want to highlight their customer support. It is super reliable. They are always there when you need them. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros There are several elements I like about OpenWater. First of all, the judging process. We have over 80 experts reviewing the more than 1800 proposals we receive. You can divide the experts by categories, which is helpful. You can also decide the number of proposals you assign to each judge. The evaluation form for judges to use is easy to build also. Even though we don't use it for scholarship management, we use it for a conference focused on human rights and technology. This means that you can use OpenWater for any conference that has a Call for Proposals process. It really does fit your needs. As for the value for money, I believe that OpenWater is great. It doesnt have limits per applicants and you can decide the number of programs you can use. This means it is flexible and allows you confront challenges despite initial budget calculations. For example, you dont have to worry about ever receiving too many proposals. Ease of use is also guaranteed thanks to its incredible library of resources. This also means that it fosters your learning curve because of the resources but also because of the great customer support they provide. #### Cons If OpenWater could improve an aspect, it would be their dashboard. It tends to be difficult to capture an overview of where you stand regarding number of submissions, complete, incomplete, and other information you can find useful. Nevertheless, their reports feature is great. Whether you want the general raw data or the custom reports with pre-selected filters. Their report feature eventually lets you build your own dashboard when exporting it to google sheets or excel. You just have to download a report and use your formula skills. #### Vendor response Thank you for your review, Luis! We’re glad OpenWater is helping you manage large-scale submissions and judging with flexibility, and that our resources and support have been valuable over the years. We also appreciate your feedback on the dashboard and understand the need for clearer at-a-glance insights. Thanks for your continued recommendation and for sharing your experience! Replied April 2026 --- ### Openwater is excellent - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Industry: Non-Profit Organization Management - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: 3-5 years · monthly - Reviewed: August 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. 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: 5/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### 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. --- ### OpenWater is a great application platform! - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: 3-5 years · weekly - Reviewed: August 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### 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. --- ### OpenWater has no competition - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Industry: Automotive - Company size: 5001-10000 employees - Product usage: 3-5 years · daily - Reviewed: May 2024 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Pain-free. They are highly responsive to questions and suggestions. Contest management is an added part of my workload. OpenWater's system keeps it from getting too out of hand. My supervisor deals with the financial aspects. I don't know the details, but she has been able to secure multi-year discounts. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros OpenWater's system is powerful and elegant. I'm only a daily user fwhen our contest is live, approximately half the year. I'm always pleasantly surprised by the improvements they've made when I open the next year's contest. I suspect that we are not using OpenWater's system to its full potential, but what we do utilize more than works for us. Their self-help guides are useful and when they're not, customer service is available (see caveat below). I have had several different dedicated service advisors; all have been uniformly excellent. Our entrants and judges find the system easy to use. #### Cons Communication is mostly by email. If you want a phone call, you need to make an appointment. That said, they are highly responsive when rare problems arise. --- ### ACE has been using Open Water since 2021 and going strong - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Industry: Entertainment - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: 3-5 years · monthly - Reviewed: August 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. 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: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### 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. #### 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 --- ### Useless Split Screen - Overall rating: 1/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 5001-10000 employees - Product usage: less than 1 year · monthly - Reviewed: March 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I hated using it. It slowed me down, was cumbersome and had no option to get a printout of the application to review off line. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 1/5 - Functionality: 1/5 #### Pros The split screen for reading the application and answering review questions is nothing short of useless - constant needless scrolling back and forth. #### Cons Split screen - lack of options to download the application as a pdf - need to be online to use this. --- ### How Open Water Saved the SME Awards and Scholarship Programs! - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Carol K. - Industry: Events Services - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: 3-5 years · daily - Reviewed: May 2024 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. It has been a wonderful relationship working with the Open Water Customer Service and OW IT department. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros Top Notch Customer Service Representatives. I never had to wait for someone to help when I needed it. Ease of implementation. User satisfaction. Virtually effortless to maintain and copy to the next year award cycle. #### Cons I have not found anything to complain about or wish I could have. Our last awards and scholarship was such a horrible software--Open Water has been a dream come true. The obstacle we have had the most problem with is our emails from the Open Water system getting through to our customers/users and not going to their spam accounts. --- ### Data Management - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Brandi T. - Industry: Higher Education - Company size: 201-500 employees - Product usage: 3-5 years · weekly - Reviewed: May 2024 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Overall I have been satisfied with the excellent technical support I received during the height of my event planning and management. I really appreciate having one dedicated support person[sensitive content hidden]). She's great!! The platform does a great job of being my central hub for collecting submissions. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 2/5 - Value for money: 3/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros I like having all my symposium submission data in one place and the ability to run reports. #### Cons There is a steep learning curve if you are brining new team members on to manage the platform. It is not an intuitive platform. I don't like the website platform. It lacks the ability to have more customizable features. I end up not using the website for my event because aesthetically it is not appealing. I wish the virtual display of submissions. Public view was better. It looks outdated. --- Showing 1 - 10 of 73 Reviews [See All Reviews](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/reviews/) ## OpenWater Popular Comparisons [Zealous vs OpenWater](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/vs/zealous/)[Awardify vs OpenWater](https://www.softwareadvice.com/compare/144613-openwater/vs/504486-Awardify/)[Award Force vs OpenWater](https://www.softwareadvice.com/contest/award-force-profile/vs/openwater/)[Woorise vs OpenWater](https://www.softwareadvice.com/compare/144613-openwater/vs/473758-Woorise/)[RQ Platform vs OpenWater](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/vs/rq-awards/)[SweepWidget vs OpenWater](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/vs/sweepwidget/)[Submittable vs OpenWater](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/vs/submittable/)[Evalato vs OpenWater](https://www.softwareadvice.com/contest/evalato-profile/vs/openwater/)[Cvent Event Management vs OpenWater](https://www.softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/cvent-profile/vs/openwater/) [Compare All Alternatives](https://www.softwareadvice.com/virtual-event/openwater-profile/alternatives/) ## Other Top Recommended Grant Management Software [Bonterra EveryAction](https://www.softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/everyaction-profile/) **4.4** (156) Recently recommended **50** times [MonkeyPod](https://www.softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/monkeypod-profile/) **4.8** (101) Recently recommended **30** times [Charityproud](https://www.softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/charityproud-profile/) **4.7** (89) Recently recommended **29** times [Bloomerang](https://www.softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/bloomerang-profile/) **4.7** (1288) Recently recommended **13** times Stuck Between Options? 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