Start free — add monitoring when the race gets serious
Every federal team should use free FEC Notify and FEC.gov. When watchlists grow and quarterly deadlines stack up, Pachand adds receipts/cash deltas, Slack delivery, and race scoreboards on the same public data.
$49/mo · billed monthly · cancel anytime
Direct answer
The best free political campaign software for federal races is a stack, not one app: FEC Notify for filing emails, FEC.gov for official totals and reports, and OpenSecrets for deeper research. None of these replace a compliance CRM or a war-room filing desk — they cover baseline public-data awareness at zero cost.
Free tools worth using
Tool
Cost
Best for
Limits
FEC Notify
Free
Email when selected committees file with the FEC
No summaries, cash deltas, Slack, or watchlist workflows
FEC.gov
Free
Official candidate totals, filings, and donor lookup
Manual research — no team alerts or scoreboards
OpenSecrets / FollowTheMoney
Free
Industry totals, profiles, and transparency research
Not built for day-to-day war-room filing alerts
Free vs paid: when to upgrade
- Free is enough — one opponent, occasional FEC checks, small team
- Paid desk helps — multi-committee watchlists, quarterly deadline sprints, Slack war rooms, outside-spending monitoring
- Still need a CRM — compliance filing and your own donors stay in NGP VAN, ISPolitical, or similar — not in a filing alert product
See our FEC Notify comparison and filing alerts feature for what Pachand adds on top of free tools.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best free political campaign software?
- For federal races, FEC Notify is the best free tool for baseline filing awareness when watched committees report. FEC.gov and OpenSecrets are free for public research. Full CRM, compliance, and field platforms are paid — Pachand is paid software focused on FEC filing intelligence, not a free CRM.
- Is there free software to track opponent fundraising?
- FEC.gov publishes official receipts and cash on hand for free. FEC Notify emails you when committees file. Neither summarizes what changed or delivers to Slack. Pachand adds watchlist alerts with receipts and cash-on-hand deltas from $49/mo.
- Should campaigns use free tools only?
- Most federal teams keep free FEC Notify and FEC.gov, then add a monitoring desk when manual research stops scaling — especially across multiple opponents and outside groups in the same race.
Not affiliated with the Federal Election Commission.