Track what your volunteers achieve, not what they've cleared
Zelos records the hours worked, the tasks completed and the points earned, alongside shift signup and chat. Free, for unlimited members.
Background checks, certifications, and compliance tracking
Fits leagues confirming who's cleared to participate.
Open shifts, task dispatch, notice board, and team chat
Fits teams filling shifts week to week.
No credit card · Unlimited members on every plan · Set up in under 5 minutes
How signup works in each app
Clearance first, shifts second
Volunteers work through role-based requirements: background checks, SafeSport, concussion training. The dashboard shows who's cleared. Scheduling sits on the higher tier, with compliance-based blocking that stops uncleared people being assigned.
A private team space with shift signup and chats
Members join your workspace once, fill in their own profile, then browse and claim what fits their skills and schedule, with a chat channel attached to every task.
What Volunteer Tracker is better at
If your workflow depends on the things below, Volunteer Tracker is the right pick. It solves a job Zelos doesn't attempt.
Knowing who's cleared to participate
Role-based requirements with due dates, completion status, admin review of documents, and a volunteer dashboard answering "what do I still need to do?". For a league where an uncleared coach on the field is a safeguarding failure, that's the whole product and Zelos has no equivalent.
Youth sports compliance specifically
Built around the frameworks American youth sports actually run on: background checks, SafeSport, concussion training, state requirements like California's CPR and AED law. Generic volunteer tools don't model any of this.
Certifications from anywhere
Logs training and certifications completed with third-party providers, rather than requiring courses to be taken inside the platform. Renewals and expiry are tracked with automated reminders.
Compliance-enforced scheduling
On their Advanced tier, scheduling checks eligibility before anyone can be assigned, so an out-of-date certificate blocks the booking. Zelos targets tasks by skills and attributes but won't stop someone claiming a shift on compliance grounds.
If these bullet points are non-negotiable, you're a Volunteer Tracker customer.
What Zelos is sharper at
If your bottleneck is filling the rota rather than clearing the roster, Zelos is a better fit.
A record of what actually got done
Zelos logs the start and end of every task and shift, calculates the hours, and reports planned against actual with the difference. Add points, badges and leaderboards, and you have a running record of who contributed what. The kind of tracking you show a funder or a committee. Volunteer Tracker records whether someone is cleared, not what they went on to do.
Scheduling without a subscription
Zelos includes full task and shift signup, chat, push notifications and CSV export on the free plan, with no card and no expiry. Volunteer Tracker's scheduling module is part of League Advanced; their Essentials tier tracks compliance but doesn't schedule. At the paid tiers the two products cost much the same. The difference is whether you need to pay at all.
Live communication, not email alerts
Zelos gives each task its own chat channel, plus group chats and direct messages, and native iOS and Android apps push a notification when a shift is posted or a message arrives. So a parent claims Saturday from their phone and gets a reminder the night before, and the "can anyone swap?" conversation happens where the shift lives. Volunteer Tracker runs in a browser and sends email notifications for training and compliance alerts.
Any team, anywhere
Zelos doesn't ask what kind of organisation you are, and is used by coordinators in more than 40 countries with a multi-language interface. Volunteer Tracker is built around American youth sports compliance frameworks, which don't translate outside the US.
If you're drawn to this kind of simplicity, you should spin up a free project in Zelos right away.
to schedule a shift
Volunteer Tracker's scheduling module sits on their Advanced plan. Zelos includes shift signup on the free plan.
What you'll actually pay
Both charge a flat rate with unlimited volunteers, so the question is what each one covers.
| Zelos | Zelos Pro | VT Essentials* | VT Advanced | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $99/mo | $800/yr | $1,200/yr |
| Volunteers | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Shift scheduling | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Certification tracking | Custom fields | Custom fields | Built in | Built in |
| Team chat | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Mobile apps | iOS and Android | iOS and Android | Web | Web |
* Volunteer Tracker pricing from volunteertracker.org, August 2026: League Essentials $800/year, League Advanced $1,200/year adding the scheduling module and compliance-based blocking, and Multi-League quoted for districts and national bodies. Flat annual fee with unlimited volunteers on every plan. Zelos Pro is $99/month ($1,188/year), and the free plan has no member limit.
Zelos Pro and their Advanced plan cost within a few pounds of each other. What differs is what you get for it. Nonprofits and education teams get additional discounts on Zelos Pro and Enterprise.
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Teams that pick Zelos over Volunteer Tracker
Sports clubs filling match-day shifts
If the problem is who's on the canteen and who's marking the pitch every Saturday, that's a rota, not a clearance check. Zelos posts the week's shifts once, parents claim from their phones, and every team manager can be an admin at no cost.
Learn more →Volunteer-led nonprofits with ongoing programmes
Most volunteer roles don't carry a certification requirement. If nobody on your roster needs a background check to do the work, compliance software is solving a problem you don't have.
Learn more →Grassroots and mutual aid groups
No budget for an $800 annual subscription, and organising shared across whoever is available that week. Zelos is free for unlimited people and unlimited organisers.
Learn more →Teams outside the United States
SafeSport, state CPR and AED laws and US background check providers are the frameworks Volunteer Tracker is built on. Zelos is used by coordinators in more than 40 countries and is built in Estonia under GDPR.
Learn more →Event staffing and festival crews
Event crews assemble in weeks, mix volunteers with paid staff and contractors, and need dispatch and a chat channel per shift. Zelos treats everyone as a member who claims work, paid or not.
Learn more →Contractor pools and gig dispatch
Contractors are paid for the work and manage their own certifications. Post the job, let the right people claim it, coordinate in the task chat.
Learn more →From teams who picked Zelos
What teams who picked Zelos say
"It helped us a lot reducing the planning overhead. It is way more motivating for staff to pick their task than just getting assigned!"
Manuel W.
Coordinator, Events Services
Full review → "We were looking for a system to handle our concert staff. Zelos is really easy to access both for the administrator and the users!"
Niels Peter H.
Board member, Music
Full review → "The overall experience has been great, the customer service is amazing and I can't wait for all the new changes coming up in the app!"
Celia D.
Coordinator, Motion Pictures and Film
Full review →Free for teams of any size
No credit card, no trial expiration.
Pro starts at $99/month, never per person.
Nonprofit and education discounts on Pro and Enterprise.
Frequently asked questions
What does Volunteer Tracker cost?
Does Volunteer Tracker include scheduling?
Can Zelos track background checks and certifications?
Can Zelos stop an uncleared volunteer claiming a shift?
Can my volunteers chat in Zelos?
Is there a mobile app?
Does Zelos work outside the US?
Is Volunteer Tracker better than Zelos?
What's the catch with the Zelos free plan?
Can I use both Zelos and Volunteer Tracker?
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