Compared honestly
An ElectionBuddy alternative with one flat price
ElectionBuddy is the incumbent, and a capable one — more voting methods, SMS and printed ballots, and two decades of track record. What you trade for that is a four-tier feature ladder where weighted voting, voter groups, and extra admins each sit behind a bigger bill.
Fast Elections charges one flat price by roster size, and every paid tier gets every feature. Here is the whole comparison, including where ElectionBuddy is the better choice.
What it costs
The same election, two bills
| Roster size | ElectionBuddy | Fast Elections |
|---|---|---|
| 25 voters | $29 — Plus tier Their free tier ends at 20 voters; the next stop is Plus (up to 350). | Free |
| 300 voters | $29 — Plus tier (up to 350 voters) | $19 flat |
| 1,000 voters | $99 — Premium tier Premium is also where SMS notices, two-factor, and voting groups unlock. | $49 flat |
| 5,000 voters | From $299 — Professional tier Professional is quoted, starting at $299. | $99 flat |
ElectionBuddy prices and plan details checked on electionbuddy.com in August 2026; their pricing can change. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Feature by feature
How the products differ
| Fast Elections | ElectionBuddy | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | One flat charge per election, set by roster size. Free up to 25 voters. | Per election across four tiers ($0 / $29 / $99 / from $299), plus annual subscriptions for storage, extra admins, and meetings. |
| Feature ladder | One gate only: email delivery. On free you share voting links yourself; every paid tier — starting at $5 — has everything, including email invitations, automatic reminders, and results delivery. | Weighted voting from Plus; voting groups, two-factor, and included SMS from Premium; API and printed ballots at Professional. |
| Voting methods | Plurality, pick-N, ranked choice (IRV), approval, and yes/no motions — with write-ins, abstentions, and weighted voting included. | Broader: plurality, approval, cumulative, ranked choice, STV, Borda, scored, and rating scales. Meeting motions are a separate product (from $197 per meeting). |
| Ballot secrecy | Published data shape: voting links stored only as hashes, ballots written with no reference to the voter, timestamps rounded to the hour. Receipt codes let voters verify they were counted. | States that choices are confidential and cannot be linked to the voter, with verification codes. How ballots are stored isn't published in detail. |
| Administrators | Up to 10 per organization, included free. | Multiple admin seats come with the Platinum annual subscription ($279/yr, 3 seats). |
| Languages | Ballots and voter emails in 10 languages. Manual translation free; AI translation $5. | Claims 55 languages across the platform. |
| Delivery channels | Email, with automatic reminders and per-voter bounce handling, on every paid tier ($5+). On the free tier you distribute each voter's unique link yourself. | Email, SMS (Premium or $29 add-on), and mailed/printed ballots at Professional. |
| Results access | Included, no time limit. Published results carry receipt codes voters can verify. | 30-day access on free and pay-per-use votes; longer keeps require the $27/yr Storage subscription. |
| Scale ceiling | 5,000 voters per election. | Up to 100,000 voters on Professional. |
| Integrations | CSV/XLSX import and export. No API. | Zapier, Mailchimp, and an API with webhooks on Professional. |
Where ElectionBuddy is the better fit
- You need STV, cumulative, Borda, or scored voting — methods we don't offer.
- You want ballots delivered by SMS or printed mail, not just email.
- Your election is bigger than 5,000 voters.
- You need an API, webhooks, or Zapier automation.
- A long public track record matters to your board — they cite 20M+ votes cast.
Where Fast Elections is the better fit
- You want one price that includes everything — weighted voting, groups, 10 admins, and branding are never upsells.
- A 300-voter election costs $19 here versus $29 there; 1,000 voters is $49 versus $99.
- Your roster is 21–25 voters: still free here, already paid there.
- You want the secret-ballot mechanics published, not just promised.
- Results and receipt verification stay available without a storage subscription.
Questions
Switching questions, answered
- Is Fast Elections a good ElectionBuddy alternative?
For clubs, HOAs, PTAs, unions, and small nonprofits running elections up to 5,000 voters — yes. You get ranked choice, approval, motions, weighted voting, 10 languages, and 10 administrators at one flat price per election — the only feature gate is email delivery, included from $5.
If you need SMS or printed ballots, STV or cumulative voting, an API, or elections beyond 5,000 voters, ElectionBuddy is the better fit.
- How does the pricing actually compare?
Both charge per election by voter count. ElectionBuddy: free to 20 voters, $29 to 350, $99 to 1,000, from $299 to 100,000 — with features unlocking as tiers rise. Fast Elections: free to 25 voters when you share links yourself, $5 to 25 with email delivery, $19 to 300, $49 to 1,000, $99 to 5,000 — feature-identical from $5 up.
ElectionBuddy also sells annual subscriptions for things like long-term results storage ($27/yr) and multi-admin seats ($279/yr) that are simply included here.
- How does ballot secrecy compare?
ElectionBuddy states that voting choices are confidential and cannot be linked to the voter. Fast Elections makes the same promise and publishes the mechanics: voting links are stored only as hashes, cast ballots are written with no reference to the voter, and ballot timestamps are rounded to the hour so nothing can be matched by timing.
Voters on both platforms get a verification code; ours appears in the published results so anyone can confirm their ballot was counted.
- Can I move my voter list over from ElectionBuddy?
Yes. Export your voter list to CSV or Excel and import it here — email, name, groups, and vote weights all come in through the same file. There's nothing to migrate beyond the roster; elections are built fresh in a few minutes.
- What does ElectionBuddy have that Fast Elections doesn't?
More voting methods (STV, cumulative, Borda, scored), SMS and postal ballot delivery, proxy transfers, an API with Zapier support, elections up to 100,000 voters, and a much longer operating history. We list these plainly because a comparison you can't trust in one direction isn't worth reading in the other.
Try the full ballot experience for free
Build your election on the free tier and send yourself a test ballot. You only pay at launch, and only if your roster is over 25 voters.