Which free grant finders are there in the UK?

It depends on what you need. GOV.UK Find a Grant covers government grants, Charity Excellence offers a free funding finder and bid writer for non-profits, and 360Giving GrantNav shows past grants. GrantMatch and OpenGrant both have free plans too.

What is a funder finder?

A funder finder helps you discover which trusts, foundations and other funders might support your work. Some, like 360Giving GrantNav and OpenGrant, focus on funders and their past giving. Others, like GrantMatch and GrantFinder, focus on open grant rounds you can apply to now.

How much does a grant finder cost?

As published on 30 October 2026, prices range from free (GOV.UK Find a Grant, Charity Excellence) to £19.99 a month (GrantMatch Premium), £29 a month (OpenGrant full access) and £1,020 to £1,500 a year (GrantFinder), with Enterprise plans priced on enquiry.

Do I have to pay to apply for grants?

No. Grant finders help you find and prepare. You apply directly to the funder, and genuine funders do not charge you to apply. GrantMatch never takes a percentage of your funding.

Is GrantMatch impartial?

We make GrantMatch, so we are not neutral. That is why every fact on this page links to its source and we have included tools that may suit you better than ours.

UK grant finder tools compared

Prices and features last checked on 30 October 2026. Providers change their plans, so please check the linked sources before you decide.

There are lots of ways to find grants in the UK, from free government services to paid databases with research teams behind them. This guide sets out what each grant finder offers, what it costs and who it suits, so you can pick the right one for your organisation.

A quick note on fairness: we make GrantMatch, which is one of the tools below. We have tried to describe every tool, including our own, in plain terms using what each provider publishes on its own website. Where a fact comes from somewhere else, we say so.

Quick comparison

Tool	Price (as published)	Free option	Who it suits
GOV.UK Find a Grant	Free	Yes, fully free	Anyone looking for UK government grants [1]
Charity Excellence	Free	Yes, fully free	UK charities and qualifying non-profits (including CICs limited by guarantee and charitable schools) wanting free funding lists, policies and an AI bid writer. Not for private companies or sole traders [2][13]
360Giving GrantNav	Free	Yes, fully free	Researching who funders have given to in the past [3]
GrantMatch	Free, plus Premium at £19.99 a month (14-day trial, no card)	Yes, Free plan	Charities, CICs, community groups and small businesses wanting matches, eligibility checks and help preparing applications [4]
GrantFinder (Idox)	£1,020 a year (1 user) or £1,500 a year (up to 3 users); Enterprise on enquiry	Demo on request	Councils, larger charities, housing associations and education providers [5]
My Funding Central (Idox)	£100 to £750 + VAT a year by income (reported by a third party, see below)	See below	Voluntary and community groups in England with income up to £1m [6][7]
OpenGrant	Free account, or £29 a month per email for full access	Yes, free account	Anyone wanting open-data grant search and deep funder research [8]
Grantify	No public price list (Matching Pro advertised at £199 a year in September 2026)	Free sign-up to see matches	UK tech startups and SMEs wanting expert-supported applications [9][10]

Free grant finders to use alongside any tool

GOV.UK Find a Grant is the government's own service. You can search and filter government grants, check whether you are eligible and, for some grants, apply directly. It also emails you when new grants are added. It is free and well worth bookmarking [1].

Charity Excellence is a free one-stop shop for non-profits. It has a Funding Finder (a grants directory that also links out to many other funding lists), 65+ free policy templates, health checks and a free AI bid writer that asks you 17 questions and drafts a bid. It says the bid writer has supported more than 20,000 bids since 2023 [2]. Its terms say it is for UK charities and qualifying voluntary sector organisations, such as CICs limited by guarantee and schools that are or are run by charities, and that it does not work for private companies or sole traders [13].

360Giving GrantNav is a free search engine of grants that UK funders have already made. It is a research tool rather than a list of open rounds, and it is very good for seeing which funders support organisations like yours [3].

GrantMatch

GrantMatch lists current UK grants for charities, CICs, community groups, schools, councils and businesses, and matches them to your organisation profile. You can search and browse every listing free without an account [4].

The Free plan includes your matches, filters, a weekly grant digest, deadline tracking, up to 5 shortlisted grants and 3 eligibility checks after your trial. Premium (£19.99 a month) adds unlimited eligibility checks against your organisation profile, help planning your application and a first draft, a review of your draft against the grant criteria, a budget template, an application tracker and instant, daily or weekly alerts [4].

GrantMatch has a Free plan and Premium at £19.99 a month. New accounts get a 14-day Premium trial with no card needed, and become Free afterwards unless they choose to subscribe. We never charge application fees or take a percentage of your funding.

GrantFinder (Idox)

GrantFinder is a long-established funding intelligence platform from Idox. It says it covers 8,500+ live funding opportunities, monitored and verified by a team of expert researchers. Plans are VCSE Essentials at £1,020 a year for one user (UK VCSE organisations, income up to £500k), Growth at £1,500 a year for up to 3 users (income from £500k to £2m) and Enterprise on enquiry with unlimited users. Higher plans add notifications, activity tracking, a dedicated account manager and training. It offers optional single sign-on and holds ISO 27001 certification [5].

My Funding Central (Idox)

My Funding Central comes from the same company as GrantFinder and is aimed at smaller voluntary and community organisations in England with income up to £1m. It includes a funds database, saved searches and alerts, and daily funding news [6].

We could not load My Funding Central's own fees page on 30 October 2026. OpenGrant reported on 26 October 2026 that the bands are £100 + VAT for income up to £30,000 (1 user), then £200, £300, £500 and £750 + VAT up to £1m (2 to 5 users) [7]. My Funding Central's own terms page still says it is free for organisations with turnover up to £30,000, so please check the current price with them directly. Fees are non-refundable under its terms [6].

OpenGrant

OpenGrant is built on open data and links every record to its source. A free account shows every matching grant with full criteria and one weekly email alert. Full access is £29 a month per email, with a three-day trial (a payment method is needed up front), and adds funder research across 49,000+ grant-making trusts, "who funds peers" lookups, up to 20 alerts, CSV export and calendar deadlines. It is billed monthly and you can cancel any time [8].

Grantify

Grantify focuses on UK tech startups and SMEs. It offers ranked grant matches, an eligibility fit score, a view of your total funding potential, AI writing tools and reviews from its own Funding Experts [9]. It does not publish a price list (its pricing page returned "page not found" on 30 October 2026). In a LinkedIn post on 16 September 2026, Grantify advertised its Matching Pro subscription as "normally £199 for the year" [10]. Its terms say application support is priced in an individual order form, fees exclude VAT and are non-refundable, and subscriptions renew automatically [11].

A note on Funds Online

The Directory of Social Change, which runs Funds Online, announced on 14 October 2026 that it is closing. Funds Online is staying open for existing subscribers during the closure [12]. If you used it, our guide for Funds Online subscribers has practical tips and a range of alternatives.

Which grant finder is right for you?

Tight budget, any organisation: start with GOV.UK Find a Grant and Charity Excellence, plus the GrantMatch Free plan.
Small charity or community group in England: My Funding Central is built for you, and GrantMatch adds eligibility checks and application help.
Council, housing association or larger charity with several users: GrantFinder's team plans, training and account management are designed for you.
Researching trusts and foundations in depth: OpenGrant and 360Giving GrantNav are strong on funder research.
Tech startup wanting expert help writing an innovation bid: Grantify offers human review alongside its software.
Charity, CIC or small business wanting matches, eligibility checks and help drafting in one place: try GrantMatch free for 14 days.

Try GrantMatch

Search current UK grants free, no account needed. New accounts get 14 days of Premium with no card, then Free unless you choose to subscribe.

Browse grants See pricing

Frequently asked questions

Which free grant finders are there in the UK?: It depends on what you need. GOV.UK Find a Grant covers government grants, Charity Excellence offers a free funding finder and bid writer for non-profits, and 360Giving GrantNav shows past grants. GrantMatch and OpenGrant both have free plans too.
What is a funder finder?: A funder finder helps you discover which trusts, foundations and other funders might support your work. Some, like 360Giving GrantNav and OpenGrant, focus on funders and their past giving. Others, like GrantMatch and GrantFinder, focus on open grant rounds you can apply to now.
How much does a grant finder cost?: As published on 30 October 2026, prices range from free (GOV.UK Find a Grant, Charity Excellence) to £19.99 a month (GrantMatch Premium), £29 a month (OpenGrant full access) and £1,020 to £1,500 a year (GrantFinder), with Enterprise plans priced on enquiry.
Do I have to pay to apply for grants?: No. Grant finders help you find and prepare. You apply directly to the funder, and genuine funders do not charge you to apply. GrantMatch never takes a percentage of your funding.
Is GrantMatch impartial?: We make GrantMatch, so we are not neutral. That is why every fact on this page links to its source and we have included tools that may suit you better than ours.

Sources

All checked on 30 October 2026. Numbers in square brackets refer to this list.

More comparisons

Find funding on GrantMatch

GrantFinder and My Funding Central are trade marks of Idox. Grantify, OpenGrant, Charity Excellence and 360Giving are trade marks of their owners. Names are used only to describe and compare the services. GrantMatch is not affiliated with any of them.