Best volunteer tracking software: hours logging, sign-in and reporting compared

Six volunteer tracking tools compared on hours, sign-in and reports

For a small program, the best volunteer tracking software is a tool that lets volunteers log their own hours and lets you approve and export them. Track It Forward is built around exactly that, and POINT includes time tracking on its free plan. This page looks only at tracking: hours, sign-in and reports. Scheduling and recruitment are covered on our volunteer management software page. Prices were read on vendor pages on 3 October 2026.

Hours logging: self-reported, approved or clocked

There are three ways hours get into a system, and the tools differ on which they support at which price.

• Self-reported: the volunteer enters hours afterwards. Track It Forward Basic and POINT Free both list time tracking at their entry level.
• Approved: a coordinator confirms each entry. Track It Forward lists hour approval from its Premium plan, displayed at $25 per month for up to 100 users, about $300 over 12 months.
• Clocked: hours come from a check-in and check-out. Civic Champs includes mobile and kiosk check-in in its price. Volgistics sells its time clock as an add-on.

If a funder or a court-ordered service program needs verified hours, self-reporting alone may not be enough. Ask what proof the report reader expects before choosing.

Sign-in at the door: kiosks, QR codes and sign-in sheets

Sign-in features sit on higher plans in several of these tools. Track It Forward puts its digital sign-in sheet on Premium and its kiosk and offline mode on Advanced, which is displayed at $37 per month for up to 100 users, about $444 over 12 months. POINT puts kiosks and QR codes on Pro. Civic Champs includes a kiosk at every volunteer range.

A mistake to avoid: buying the entry plan for its price and finding sign-in is one tier up. Check the plan column for the specific feature, not the product name.

Worked example: 40 volunteers who log hours monthly

Track It Forward's free plan does not apply here because it is for groups under 25 volunteers. For 40 volunteers, the lowest listed paid route with coordinator approval in this table is Track It Forward Premium at about $300 over 12 months. For a kiosk, Track It Forward Advanced at about $444 is listed below Civic Champs at $588 plus setup. Track It Forward's page says annual billing is 20% below monthly billing, so confirm which basis the displayed rate uses before you budget.

Can Less Annoying CRM track volunteer hours?

Not as a built-in feature. Less Annoying CRM is a contact manager, and its product pages describe no hours log, timesheet, check-in or kiosk. Its activity reports cover what your own users did in the CRM, not volunteer time.

A workaround is a custom field for total hours or a dated note per shift, typed in by a coordinator. That is manual and has no sign-in. If hours matter to your reporting, use one of the tools above and keep the CRM for relationship notes. If you track gifts as well, Little Green Light lists volunteer hours by task inside its donor database at $45 per month. Our monthly record review helps keep the two systems in step.

A pick for each type of program

• Service-hour programs, schools and clubs: Track It Forward.
• Small nonprofit with no budget: POINT Free.
• Sites where people must clock in: Civic Champs, or Volgistics with its time clock add-on.
• Event sign-up sheets with occasional hour totals: SignUp.com, noting hours reporting is on its top plan.
• Follow-up and notes, with hours kept elsewhere: a contact manager. See what Less Annoying CRM is.