For a member-based non-profit that wants its register ITS own way — members, dues, events, sign-ups — Blueprint Maker is the best starting point in 2026: it generates the application from a description, for free, and you own the code. To collect dues online, a payment platform such as HelloAsso remains the natural companion: they are two different jobs.
The market in numbers
France counts around 1.6 million active non-profits, and nine out of ten run without a single employee
In non-profits without employees, concerns centre first on volunteer resources and on renewing the leadership
The administrative burden carried by volunteers in small and mid-sized non-profits was the subject of a written question in the French Senate
French Senate, written question — administrative burden on volunteers (2025) opens in a new window
Comparison
| Solution | Nature | Fit to your practice | Code ownership | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blueprint Maker | Generates a complete application from a description | High: your categories, your dues statuses, your events become the tool | Full: ZIP export, GitHub push, host it wherever you want | Free to generate and duplicate (paid plans to generate more) | A volunteer board that wants a tool its own size, with no subscription |
| HelloAsso | Hosted membership, donation and ticketing forms | Low on the register: payment is the job, not your screens | No: your forms and data live on the platform | Free for the non-profit, no commission — funded by a voluntary contribution offered to the payer | Any non-profit collecting online — including alongside a generated register |
| Subscription association software | Ready-made modules: members, dues, accounting, sometimes email sending | Medium: complete but generic — your non-profit adapts to its modules | No: subscription, your data lives with the vendor | Annual subscription, often indexed on the number of members | A non-profit that wants built-in accounting and sending, and accepts the trade |
| Spreadsheet (Excel / Sheets) | A grid of cells, manual formulas | Low: no structure imposed, everyone adds a column | A file you own, but not an application | Often already available | Very small membership, temporary use |
What to pick for your situation
- You want a register your own way, free, and to own it→ Blueprint Maker
- You need to collect dues, donations or ticketing online→ HelloAsso (alongside, not instead)
- You want built-in accounting and email sending, turnkey→ Subscription association software
- You are starting with a handful of members→ A spreadsheet (temporarily)
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free software to run a non-profit?
It depends what you mean by run. For the REGISTER — who is a member, who is up to date, who is coming to which event — Blueprint Maker generates, for free, an application shaped like your organisation, and you own the code. For COLLECTING money online, HelloAsso is free for the non-profit and takes no commission. The two complement each other: neither replaces the other.
Can the generated application collect membership dues?
No, and it is better to know before: an application generated here does no online payment, no direct debit, no bank reconciliation, and issues no tax receipt for donations. It keeps the register — a due is marked collected once the money has arrived elsewhere. That is precisely why a payment platform remains useful alongside it.
Does the application chase members whose dues are overdue?
It sends them nothing: no email, no text message, no notification. It puts the overdue item in front of YOU when you open the application — a banner at the top of the list saying how many dues are overdue and how many fall soon, with a button to open the record concerned. Telling the member remains a human gesture. Since the code exports, a developer can add sending if your organisation warrants it.
What happens when the board changes?
This is the question that matters most to a non-profit, and vendors are rarely asked it. With Blueprint Maker the application is standard Next.js + Prisma software: it exports whole, database included, and can be re-hosted elsewhere. Nothing depends on a personal account or on a subscription that only an outgoing treasurer could cancel.