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Alternatives · Graduway

Graduway alternatives for schools and associations

Graduway is Gravyty's alumni community and mentoring platform, quoted after a demo. If you would rather see a price first, or run your association without a success manager, here are six other options, ours included.

See the optionsOpen the live demo

AlumDeck

  • $49 a year, on the pricing page
  • A live demo with no form and no call
  • History, In Memoriam and hall of fame built in

vsA price before a demo, or a demo before a price

Graduway

  • A quote after a demo
  • A success manager and onboarding team
  • Mentoring programmes with matching

Why schools look elsewhere

A suite, when you wanted one product.

That model suits a university advancement office with a budget line and time for a sales process. Schools and associations run by volunteers usually want three things first: a price, a demo they can open themselves, and something one person can run on a weeknight.

At a glance

Seven options, one table

AlumDeck comes first because it is ours. The rest run from the lowest published price to the highest, then the quote-only platforms in alphabetical order. No link on this page earns us anything.

The options at a glance
OptionPublished priceWho hosts itBest forRead more
AlumDeck (ours)$49 a yearYou, on cPanel hostingVolunteer committees and small alumni officesPricing
AlmaShinesFree directory; plans from $120 a monthAlmaShinesColleges that want a hosted platform at a published price, or a free directoryCompare
A marketplace script$45 to $49 onceYouA technical volunteer who wants to pay once and look after it aloneCompare
HivebriteFrom $895 a monthHivebriteLarge associations with chapters, paid memberships and an IT teamCompare
AlmabaseQuote onlyAlmabaseAdvancement offices that raise money online and run Raiser's EdgeCompare
HoopstrQuote onlyHoopstrInstitutions, mostly in India, that want outcomes delivered as well as softwareCompare
ToucanTechQuote onlyToucanTechSchool development offices that fundraise and want one system for everythingCompare

The options

Seven ways to run your alumni community.

Each with its published price, who hosts it, what it is best for and what to watch for.

Ours, listed first

AlumDeck: the whole association site, $49 a year

A members-only directory with class-year rooms, mentoring requests, a jobs board, reunions with QR tickets, recorded gifts with receipts, and a history timeline, In Memoriam and hall of fame. One download, every feature, on your own hosting.

  • Price: $49 a year, published, with a 14-day money-back guarantee
  • Best for: schools and associations run by volunteers
  • Watch for: mentoring has no matching yet, and you look after the hosting
Open the live demo

The other six, from the lowest published price

  1. AlmaShines: published plans, and free under 500 alumni

    A hosted alumni platform from India with published monthly plans, a free directory for small institutions, online payments, groups, elections and a shared app on every plan.

    Price: Free for fewer than 500 alumni (a directory only); college plans from $120, $240 or $360 a month (AlmaShines pricing)
    Who hosts it: AlmaShines, on AWS; a private-cloud Enterprise plan from $8,000 once
    Best for: Colleges that want a hosted platform at a published price, or a free directory
    Watch for: Booster caps members at 3,000; mentoring, fundraising and groups start at Pro; a branded app costs extra

    Published prices; mentoring and groups arrive with the Pro plan at $240 a month. Read AlumDeck vs AlmaShines.

  2. A CodeCanyon alumni script: $45 to $49, once

    Alumni association scripts sold on CodeCanyon, which you install on your own hosting, like AlumDeck. For the best-selling script, donations and elections are $29 add-ons.

    Price: $45 to $49 once; add-ons $29 each (CodeCanyon search, "alumni")
    Who hosts it: You, on your own hosting
    Best for: A technical volunteer who wants to pay once and look after it alone
    Watch for: Support lasts 6 months unless extended, and it never covers installation

    Pay once and host it yourself; check what the base script covers before buying. Read AlumDeck vs marketplace scripts.

  3. Hivebrite: the full community platform

    A hosted platform for alumni networks, associations and nonprofits, with chapters, paid memberships, a white-label app, single sign-on and CRM connectors. It describes itself as built for complex organisations.

    Price: Core from $895 a month, Flex from $1,995 a month, billed annually (Hivebrite pricing)
    Who hosts it: Hivebrite, in the EU, US, Switzerland or Australia
    Best for: Large associations with chapters, paid memberships and an IT team
    Watch for: Core includes 2 admins and 5 groups; the app, languages, connectors and mentoring cost extra

    The closest like-for-like, with a published entry price; mentoring is a paid extension. Read AlumDeck vs Hivebrite.

  4. Almabase: fundraising and events for advancement teams

    Hosted engagement and fundraising software for university and school advancement offices: giving days, ticketed events with auctions, memberships, a directory and mentoring, with two-way Raiser's Edge NXT sync.

    Price: Quote only, priced by emailable contacts, plus a one-time setup fee (Almabase plans)
    Who hosts it: Almabase, on AWS and Azure
    Best for: Advancement offices that raise money online and run Raiser's Edge
    Watch for: No published price; 8 to 12 weeks to launch is typical; API access and text messaging cost extra

    Stronger on fundraising and events, and it offers mentoring and affinity groups too. Read AlumDeck vs Almabase.

  5. Hoopstr, formerly Vaave: a platform with programmes run for you

    An alumni portal and native app with chat, groups, events, membership fees and jobs, sold alongside programmes Hoopstr runs itself: meetups, mentoring tracks and fellowships. Its Magic service finds unregistered alumni on the web.

    Price: An annual subscription with no published price (Hoopstr offerings)
    Who hosts it: Hoopstr, on AWS
    Best for: Institutions, mostly in India, that want outcomes delivered as well as software
    Watch for: Profiles found on the web and scored for earning and donor potential may not suit a privacy-first association

    Runs mentoring tracks for you, free to the institution and paid by participants (Hoopstr Advance). Read AlumDeck vs Hoopstr.

  6. ToucanTech: a CRM and website for school development offices

    One hosted system with a contact database, website builder, email, events, fundraising and payments, sold mostly to schools in the UK, Ireland, the US and Australia, with an account manager and phone support.

    Price: Quote only; the app and accounting module are paid add-ons (ToucanTech integrations)
    Who hosts it: ToucanTech, cloud only
    Best for: School development offices that fundraise and want one system for everything
    Watch for: Migration takes 60 to 90 days by its own account; no SOC 2 or ISO certification claimed

    For schools that want a CRM, website and fundraising in one system, with mentor matching. Read AlumDeck vs ToucanTech.

If mentoring is why you chose Graduway

What AlumDeck's mentoring does, and does not.

Mentoring in AlumDeck

Requests, not programmes

Members publish a mentor profile with topics, industries and how many people they can help each month. Mentees send a request with a message; the mentor accepts or declines with a note, and marks it complete with an outcome. Each step is emailed to the other person.

  • A monthly limit, so nobody is swamped
  • Emails on every request and answer
  • An admin list of every mentorship
How mentoring works

What it does not do: suggest matches, run cohorts with goals and check-ins, or report on a programme. Matching and structured programmes are planned for release 1.6. If they are why you chose Graduway, one of the hosted options above will serve you better today.

Or stay put

When Graduway is still the right answer.

Choose AlumDeck if

  • You want a price and a demo before any call
  • Volunteers or one staff member run your alumni work
  • One-to-one mentoring requests are enough for now
  • Your history and memorials belong on the same site

Choose Graduway if

  • Mentoring programmes with matching are the centre of your work
  • You need university single sign-on and SOC 2 Type II
  • You plan to add Gravyty's giving or fundraiser products
  • You want a success manager who has worked in advancement

Questions

Leaving Graduway, asked plainly

Which Graduway alternative is best for mentoring?

If mentoring programmes with matching are the centre of your alumni work, look at Hivebrite (mentoring is a paid extension), Almabase and ToucanTech, which list matching, or Hoopstr, which runs mentoring tracks for you. AlumDeck handles mentor profiles and one-to-one requests without matching; matching is planned for release 1.6.

Is there a Graduway alternative with a published price?

Yes: AlumDeck ($49 a year), AlmaShines (free under 500 alumni, then from $120 a month), Hivebrite (from $895 a month) and marketplace scripts ($45 to $49 once). Graduway, Almabase, ToucanTech and Hoopstr quote.

Which alternatives let alumni sign in with their university login?

Hivebrite lists SAML, CAS, OAuth2 and OpenID Connect; ToucanTech builds custom OpenID Connect sign-on; AlmaShines offers it for elections. AlumDeck has none yet; it is planned for release 2.0.

Can a school run AlumDeck without IT staff?

Yes, if one person is comfortable with cPanel. The installer is six browser screens and there is a step-by-step guide. Updates are manual, a few times a year.

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