Ballot vs ElectionBuddy
Ballot vs ElectionBuddy
ElectionBuddy is cheaper per election and counts more ballot types than we do. Ballot is built around the part that comes before the ballot: who may stand, who may vote, and the record that proves it.
Everything below about ElectionBuddy comes from their own site, checked on 19 September 2026. Where their published material does not cover something, this page says so rather than guessing. Check it yourself at electionbuddy.com, and write to info@yost.group if anything here is out of date.
Credit where it is due
What ElectionBuddy does well.
ElectionBuddy is a capable, self-serve product with prices on the page and a free plan for up to 20 voters. At the sizes most associations run, their list price is lower than ours: $29 for up to 350 voters, $99 for up to 1,000, and $299 for a Professional election up to 2,500. If you want a straightforward ballot at the lowest published price, they are the cheaper choice and this page will not pretend otherwise.
They also count more ways than we do: first past the post, cumulative, preferential, single transferable vote, scored, rating scale, and approval voting. They reach voters by post, SMS, and printed ballots as well as email, and they can combine paper and online votes in one tally. They publish integrations with association and HOA systems including iMIS, MemberClicks, Novi AMS, GrowthZone, and Vantaca, plus an API and administrator single sign-on on their higher tiers.
Their audit reporting is genuinely good. An admin audit names the administrator and timestamps each change during a running vote, and a voter audit lets a voter check a confirmation code against the published result. They also sell a certification service in which their in-house CPA and parliamentarian attest to the outcome as an independent third party, which is something we do not offer at any price.
Side by side
The differences that decide it.
| Ballot | ElectionBuddy | |
|---|---|---|
| One election, 350 eligible voters | $148, everything included. | $29 USD on the Plus plan, up to 350 voters. |
| One election, 1,000 eligible voters | $287. | $99 USD on the Premium plan, up to 1,000 voters. |
| One election, 2,500 eligible voters | $587. | $299 USD, the Professional band for 1,001 to 2,500 voters. |
| Several elections a year | An annual plan from $230 a year, unlimited elections, priced by roster size. | A Platinum subscription at $279 USD a year, with voter credits at $59 per 500 and $74 per 500 after that. |
| Nominations | Included in the price. Nominations run inside the election, with the nominator, the seconder, and the timestamps in the record. | Run as a separate Announcement, which their help centre says is paid for separately from the vote. |
| Recorded candidate consent | Every nominee is emailed and must accept before the name reaches a ballot. The acceptance, or the decline, is in the audit file. | Not documented on their site. If this matters to your bylaws, ask them directly before you buy. |
| Candidacy rules enforced by the system | Conditions are written once per seat, for example that a candidate must currently hold a regional office. A nomination that fails one is recorded as ineligible with the reason and never reaches the ballot. | Voting groups control which questions a voter sees. An encoded candidacy rule is not documented; write-ins can be limited to an administrator's list of names. |
| Two people for decisions that matter | Required for approving the roster, scheduling, certifying, and extending a deadline, with both names in the record. | Six administrator roles, including observer, clerk, and biller. Two-person approval is not documented. |
| Certification report | Produced by the system for every election, at no extra charge, as a downloadable PDF with the tallies and the audit trail behind them. | Offered as a paid service with attestation from their in-house CPA and parliamentarian. The price is not published. |
| Counting methods | Plurality, and instant runoff for single-seat ranked contests. | First past the post, cumulative, preferential, single transferable vote, scored, rating scale, and approval. |
| Post, SMS, and printed ballots | No. Email and the web only. | Yes, on the Professional tier, including combining paper and online votes in one tally. |
| Membership system integrations | No integrations. Rosters import and export as CSV. | Published integrations with iMIS, MemberClicks, Novi AMS, GrowthZone, Vantaca, Salesforce, and others, plus an API on higher tiers. |
| Uptime commitment | None promised. If an outage stops voting, you may extend the deadline with two-person approval and notice to members. | None published. Their terms of service disclaim uninterrupted operation. |
| Trying it first | 7 days with every feature on and no card, with elections capped at 50 eligible voters. | A free plan for up to 20 voters, and free test votes for up to 5 voters. |
Honestly
Which one you should pick.
Choose ElectionBuddy if
- The lowest published price for a straightforward ballot is what decides it.
- You need single transferable vote, approval, scored, or cumulative counting.
- Some of your members must vote on paper, or you want ballots and notices sent by post or SMS.
- Your roster lives in iMIS, MemberClicks, Novi AMS, GrowthZone, or Vantaca and you want it connected.
- You want an outside CPA and parliamentarian to certify the outcome.
Choose Ballot if
- Your bylaws say who may hold a seat, and you want that enforced during nominations rather than caught afterwards.
- A candidate's recorded consent has to exist before their name appears on a ballot.
- You want two named people behind the roster, the schedule, and the certification.
- You want nominations and the certification report in the price rather than as add-ons.
- You run several votes a year and want one published annual price for all of them.
Questions
Asked by people comparing the two.
Is Ballot cheaper than ElectionBuddy?
Not on list price for a single election at the common sizes. As of 19 September 2026 they publish $29 for up to 350 voters and $99 for up to 1,000, against $148 and $287 here.
Where it can turn around is what a governance election actually needs. Their nomination announcements and their certification service are charged separately, and neither price is published, so we cannot show you the all-in comparison and will not invent one. Ask them what your nominations and certification would cost, then compare that with our published price, which includes both.
Does ElectionBuddy record that a candidate agreed to stand?
We could not find it documented anywhere on their site as of 19 September 2026, so we will not claim either way. If your bylaws require recorded consent, ask them directly. In Ballot, a nominee is emailed, accepts or declines, and the answer is part of the audit file before the name can reach a ballot.
Can Ballot do single transferable vote?
No. Ballot counts plurality contests, and single-seat ranked contests by instant runoff with round-by-round tallies. If you elect several seats at once by STV, ElectionBuddy supports it and we do not.
Can Ballot connect to our membership system?
Not directly. Rosters come in and out as CSV, which every membership system can export. If your association management system is the centre of your operation and you want it wired in, that is a real advantage for ElectionBuddy.
Run one election and compare for yourself.
Every feature is on during the 7-day trial, with no card. If Ballot is not the better fit for your association, you will know within an afternoon.