# SmarterSelect Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is SmarterSelect the right Scholarship Management solution for you? Explore 227 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/140270/SmarterSelect/reviews --- SmarterSelect 4.4 (227) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/140270/SmarterSelect/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of SmarterSelect Ease of use 4.1 Customer Service 4.5 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews CS Caroline S scholarship/fellowship coordinatorHigher Education, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Smarter select stores all of our applications/evaluations/awards and it saves us storage and busy work and of creating places to store that information.“ September 6, 2022 GC Gary C President-ElectIndividual & Family Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The inability to summarize ratings for a student dynamically and make the results accessible to the interviewer/rater teams is highly frustrating to our club members who volunteer time to select students for scholarship.“ September 7, 2022 MR Maggie R Educational Grant Officer Non-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Its an all in one package, you have your applications and then you also have the email facility to send emails to them regarding application queries and more importantly about when funding is awarded. Being able to have review section to make a summary for the review team awarding funding to be able to just read and then award is a fantastic help not just for grants but also our scholarships as saves them time reviewing the whole application.“ September 14, 2022 GC Gary C President-ElectIndividual & Family Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Please note that your demographic questions at the outset of this survey do not include appropriate responses for a service club, e.g., there are no employees, but rather members, and you do not include "service club" or a similar response as a business type option.)“ September 7, 2022 BC Benjamin C Operations ManagerNon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “The applications are easily customizable, with question options for every type of inquiry (i.e., statistics, essays, contact).“ September 6, 2022 HN Huda N Programs CoordinatorFund-Raising, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “It is not user friendly and has many unnecessary features. When trying to make edits to the application, you have to click about 5 buttons to make a single edit and then do the same for the next edit.“ September 6, 2022 KW Kristine W Career Advisor/Student AdvocateEducation Management, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Students have an easy way to apply for the different scholarships and grants we offer and we are able to track very easily who has applied, and been awarded for our reporting.“ September 15, 2022 JR Janna R Grants ManagerNon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Downloading applications is cumbersome and applicants find using Smarter Select confusing - it doesn't autosave their work, but the "Save" button is greyed out and inconspicuous.“ September 6, 2022 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 227 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Katrina P. Development Associate Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great software. Great support. Great value." November 28, 2017 5.0 It's easy to make custom applications and export the data from those applications, which saves time doing boring data entry work. The custom options help me offer tools to our review committees, which makes their partnerships with us more meaningful. It also has turned our application process nearly paperless, which saves us printing and paper costs, and makes looking up historical information easy. Pros Smarter Select is an easy-to-use platform that meets many needs for our organization. We can easily and quickly create custom applications for our variety of grant and scholarship programs. We find it very valuable to have online evaluator access, which allows our committees to get a jump start on the review process, oftentimes allowing them to reduce their number of in-person meetings, which is a big plus for busy schedules. Because application data can be easily exported into a csv/spreadsheet file, it is easy to upload to our database management system, which saves me countless hours of data entry. When I have had issues in the past, their support staff have been amazingly responsive -- my issues are often addressed and fixed the same day. I also appreciate their focus on education. Their free webinars have made it easy for me to understand the software's capabilities and new features and upgrades. All around, I'm a big fan of Smarter Select and would not be able to do my job as efficiently or easy without it! Cons Honestly, I have very few negative comments concerning Smarter Select. There are a few quirks to the system that you have to get used to, but once you do, it's very reliable and easy to use. Honestly, I'm hard pressed to come up with an actual con. If I can offer an improvement, it would be that once users log in, they could see any applications they have yet to complete, instead of just past applications. I would also like a way to better sort disabled past applications -- we have a lot of different apps and it gets a little crowded looking through our history. Other than that, it really is a great product. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect November 29, 2017 Hi Katrina, Many thanks for your review! Our support team will contact you shortly with info on how applicants can view apps they need to complete. Regards, Robert KF Krista F. Development and Grants Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Happy Client" September 12, 2022 5.0 I have had a very positive experience with SmarterSelect. It is really easy to fix something or add a question in an application and customer service and their help desk is really responsive. Pros Customer Service is extremely helpful! Anytime I had a question, they helped answer it for me and walked me through how to do that task. Cons I think one thing that can be improved on is the custom emails template. I did a custom template and what would be helpful is if we can create a name for that template instead of it saying "Custom Template 1" Switched from [Formsite](https://www.capterra.com/p/118995/Formsite/) Not very user friendly with everyone involved with the application process. You needed a new sign in every time you were going to submit something. If a reviewer had 10 applications to review they would need to create a new login each time. Review Source DD Dana D. Program Officer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SmarterSelect Review" September 13, 2022 3.0 It was fine for the first several years, but I believe we may have outgrown the software. Plus we are looking for software that is all inclusive for all of our programs, not stand alones. Pros The ease of using it initially was great. However, last year we ran into may issues with the software that the support team could not help with. The evaluators and applicants didn't have much of an issue, except for a few. Cons SmarterSelect changing major components of the software during the critical time in our scholarship program without any notice or warning or any tutorials of what is going on. We had major issues with code breaking when we copied over the applications last year that then created many other problems for our users. This year for some reason the software is making duplicate applications for our grants. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect unknown Review Source BT Brad T. Consultant Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "I would reccomend SmarterSelect for organizations searching for a quality Grant Management software" September 6, 2022 4.0 SmarterSelect allowed our company to move from countless emails to a streamlined grant application process that allows for far greater efficiencies for both the grant applicant and grant reviewer. Pros \-It's easy to learn and to navigate. -The knowledgebase is a great resource. -The setup of the application and questions is very intuitive and there are lots of options to perfect your applications. Cons Our company logo doesn't always appear in the emails that are sent out (could be a dimensions issue?) Alternatives considered [SmartSimple Cloud](https://www.capterra.com/p/166429/SmartSimple-Cloud/) Reason for choosing SmarterSelect SmarterSelect was more cost efficient for us, and best suited our needs as a foundation with just a handful of grant programs. Review Source HW Holly W. Programs & Donor Services Manager Philanthropy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "You can't go wrong with SmarterSelect" November 20, 2020 5.0 Pros I have done a lot of research into software that could improve the work we do at our Foundation, specifically our management of a 65+ scholarship fund portfolio that kicks off nearly $500k each year. SmarterSelect allowed us to take our manual paper process to an incredibly efficient, streamlined, paperless approach. Since implementation we have increased our application submissions by over 400% Cons The ONLY reason I might consider another software is for the integration aspect. Our Foundant and Blackbaud have similar products but the edge they bring is the ability to integrate with our accounting software. That said, I am still not convinced that the integration will improve our system because I truly have been so pleased with the product, and the price, that SmarterSelect has to offer. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect see above. Switched from [Submittable](https://www.capterra.com/p/158382/Submittable/) SmarterSelect is more cost effective, more user friendly, and more responsive. It was a no brainer. Review Source SS Seth S. Program Director Education Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Using for application reviews" September 12, 2022 5.0 We are using SmarterSelect to select students for a leadership program. We have not been through one full selection cycle yet, but so far it seems to be working well! Pros It was really easy to get setup, and the customer service has been great. I've had a few questions, but they are quick to answer and give exactly the support I need. Cons I think the email tool could use a little help. It's functional, but could be a little more customizable and easy to use. Switched from [Submittable](https://www.capterra.com/p/158382/Submittable/) SmarterSelect had all of the functions we needed, and was much cheaper. Review Source AM Amy M. Coordinator of Volunteer Services Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Unconventional and Easy" November 20, 2020 4.0 We were able to create a pre-screening questionnaire for our volunteer application. A potential applicant would have to pass the pre-screening to be able to move onto the actual application. It has drastically reduced the # of 'casual' applicants and just led to less wasted time on our end, narrowing it down to those who are serious about serving our patients. We ALSO added references as a required part of the application. This cut down on time we spend on the phone tracking down references and writing them. Pros The ability to create and customize applications. Cons Sometimes it's difficult to navigate and could use more sorting options. Alternatives considered [Volgistics](https://www.capterra.com/p/80509/Volgistics-Volunteer-Management/)[Agiloft](https://www.capterra.com/p/101273/Agiloft/) Reason for choosing SmarterSelect We liked the option to add the pre-screening AND include references as required parts of different applications. Review Source CS Caroline S. scholarship/fellowship coordinator Higher Education Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Review" September 6, 2022 4.0 Smarter select stores all of our applications/evaluations/awards and it saves us storage and busy work and of creating places to store that information. Pros I find smarter select very easy to use. Since I've started using it I haven't had a problem with any of the functions. It is so easy to keep your awards organized and separate. We use a few home grown systems for tracking but we are trying to utilize smarter select more since it is so easy to use with so much to use. Cons Sometimes my institution's firewall blocks the reporting emails and it was slightly difficult to fix that this year. Alternatives considered [InfoReady](https://www.capterra.com/p/144347/InfoReady-Review/) Reason for choosing SmarterSelect This seemed like less work to implement. It's a system already up and running we could customize. Review Source BM Beth M. Director of Data & Evaluation Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "SmarterSelect Review" September 16, 2022 4.0 SmarterSelect has made it possible for our organization to grow our programs quickly by streamlining our application processes. Pros It is easy to create customized forms in SmarterSelect, to evaluate and assign students to programs, and to email students directly through SmarterSelect. Cons It can be difficult to manage applications when you want to take into account multiple evaluations Switched from [FormAssembly](https://www.capterra.com/p/144453/FormAssembly/) SmarterSelect is a dedicated application management platform and has the tools we need to make application review and admissions more efficient and effective. Review Source Paige J. Program Coordinator Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "The platform is easy to navigate and very helpful. I do have issues with getting responses from CS." November 16, 2017 5.0 This has helped our program streamline our application process. It also makes it possible to contact applicants and receive documentation more efficiently. Thank to this program we are able to track metrics and properly evaluate our recruitment and program. Pros I love the new features and how easy it is to contact/update applicants. Creating our own blast emails and having the capability to edit pre-formatted ones also helps us with our unique application process. Cons Whenever I have an issue with the platform, or unsure about the limitations of a feature I find it difficult to contact customer service or a specialist. The "Submit form" process is not personable and difficult to explain the issues I experience. I would prefer to have an account manager to discuss how to maximize the efficiency of the platform rather than the videos, which are not helpful in our unique process. Also, I would like to have the capability to split the application into phases, and not sure if that is possible with this platform. Review Source BC Benjamin C. Operations Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great Grants Management Program, But Not Necessarily for Beginners. " September 6, 2022 4.0 We are able to begin and end our grants management procedures within the same system. This has been a huge time and cost saver for our foundation. The board members and grants committee members have been more than pleased with the ease of reviewing and evaluating submitted applications. Pros The applications are easily customizable, with question options for every type of inquiry (i.e., statistics, essays, contact). The forms settings, auto calculate, and rules are very useful, but take a bit of technical proclivity to get a good hold on. However, SmarterSelect provides excellent customer service and also has a vast library of tutorial videos. The Evaluator options are also extremely useful, especially when one has a board of 20+ and needs to keep reviews and scores organized in one location. While the export features need a bit of an upgrade, this software has made streamlined our grants management procedures. Cons The major qualm I have with SmarterSelect is the export options. Neither export to a pleasing, reader-friendly format. Most of our board members review online, which is ideal, but for those that prefer a printed binder, the export design ends up costing me more time than it should. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect Pricing, user friendly, had most of the features we needed specifically for our procedures. Review Source GC Gary C. President-Elect Individual & Family Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Scholarship Application Program Review" September 7, 2022 4.0 Our Rotary club has benefited from this program. We will be able to grow our program with this tool. (Please note that your demographic questions at the outset of this survey do not include appropriate responses for a service club, e.g., there are no employees, but rather members, and you do not include "service club" or a similar response as a business type option.) Pros The software allowed us to move from a paper-based system to online applications for our scholarships. High school students and counselors have a much easier time getting the applications completed. Cons The inability to summarize ratings for a student dynamically and make the results accessible to the interviewer/rater teams is highly frustrating to our club members who volunteer time to select students for scholarship. Essentially, they skip that portion of the work and make decisions based on their reaction to the student and the application. It is far too expensive for a small service club to move to the higher levels of licensing. Review Source CS Chris S. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SmarterSelect has taken our Foundation to a new level" September 19, 2022 5.0 SPSEF manages over 30 unique scholarship funds, and another six individual grant funds. WE are a small shop with only 1.5 FTE. SmarterSelect allows us to manage and process over 800 applications annually. When we made the decision to migrate over to Smarter Select, we found that we spend muck less time in the management process, which allowed us to spend more time fundraising and working with recipients and donors. Pros The software allows me to easily create a new scholarship application that is unique and reflective of the donors desires. The fact that I can continue to access data from previous years allows me to remain in contact with our recipients. Cons The integration inner business was not difficult. Right out of the box, there is a steep learning curve. However, the customer support is very responsive and helpful. I have suggested a few enhancements over the years and have found that SmarterSelect was eager to listen to my concerns and If they could not provide a workaround they will often fix the issue in a subsequent update. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect As I evaluated both platforms, I quickly realized that SmarterSelect could be more customized to our business. Review Source LC Lisette C. Grant Manager Government Administration Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "There is nothing better at this price, and this software is better than packages at higher prices" September 12, 2022 5.0 We were building a grant program from scratch and needed the applications to be simple enough that anyone could fill them out, while still covering all the information we needed to be compliant with the US Treasury dept. SmarterSelect allowed us to set up the programs we needed quickly and easily. Pros Phenomenal Customer Service! Easily customizable without overcomplicating the process. Enough bells and whistles to be robust but not so many that it loses the thread of what you are trying to do. We were able to build a grant program from scratch and go from developing the forms to opening applications in 3 months. At a price that made sense for a county government. Other packages quote you a yearly price and then tack on $$$ to set up your account. SmarterSelect has complete transparency. Cons Honestly, there were a couple of things but they have added updates just recently that took care of those issues. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect Mostly the other products offered services we didn't need, and/or charged way to much, up to 4x what SmarterSelect charged. Also SmarterSelect was the only one that offered a functional free trial. Review Source RJ Ruth J. Executive Director Music Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Applications Made Easy" October 29, 2021 5.0 We thoroughly enjoy using the SmarterSelect software for our scholarship applications and highly recommend this program. Pros Using the SmarterSelect software is very intuitive, and translated well from the hard copies of applications we used in the past. It is very easy to track when applications come in, and then to assign to evaluators. We are able to use the software for awards nominations, for scholarships and grants, and even for approving trademark designs. With applicants from across the country, there is easy access through the links we put on our website. Our evaluators are also able to access the applications from any location. Staff members find it easy to set up new applications with the copy feature, and adjustments area also simple to make. Cons We have not had any difficulties. If the staff have questions, the support team is always very timely with their responses. Review Source JC Jamie C. Scholarships Administrator Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Using SmarterSelect" September 6, 2022 4.0 SmarterSelect has allowed us to receive less mailed in applications. Pros This product is user friendly and easy to export reports. Cons Would like a way to search all applications for a single applicant. Review Source AA Ana A. Events Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Smarter Select" September 12, 2022 5.0 It is easy to use and the support is excellent Pros How easy it is to use and administer and the support is fantastic. Cons I can't set others as administrators without seeing all the information we have in Smarter Select. I wish I was able to limit what a new administrator can see. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect Do not know Review Source JS Jenny S. Auxiliary National Secretary Fund-Raising Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "So Easy to Use and Implement" September 7, 2022 5.0 Absolutely incredible and easy to utilize once you get your bearings on how the system works. The support is excellent. They take the time to show and explain everything to you. They follow up extremely fast so get immediate help. Pros I can customize the whole system to what I need it to do in order to fit Mt needs. So simple to add additional information when needed. So easy for my applicants, evaluators and myself to use. Love I can pull reports when I want. Cons Nothing I have found yet. Everything has worked great for us. We found some things like we need to have a person view each application since the applicant could download anything and shows it is complete when they are missing information still. Review Source FO Florence O. Country Representative Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "SWOT analysis of SmarterSelect" September 20, 2022 4.0 We are able to store applicants data for reference. Applicants can use it in any part of the world. It has made life easier. Pros The data storage. The importing and exporting of applicant details. Cons It is a cumbersome process. It takes about 3 to 4 hours for some one to fill. Review Source JL Jackie L. Senior College Success Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Robust yet simple to use, and at an excellent price point" September 15, 2016 4.0 I am the SmarterSelect power-user at my organization and my experience with the tool and customer support have been overwhelmingly positive on the whole, but not without the occasional hiccup. I like how easy it is to get the hang of using the tool, and how responsive support is when something breaks (and this rarely happens). Our applicants and reviewers alike find our app better than most, which is great. However, there are features available that seem more beta/not fully thought out than ready, and issues which required weeks of back and forth, but none that are dealbreakers. Compared to the competition, I like how this tool has a good blend of customization and ready-out-of-the-box feel, with good mass communication features; most of the other platforms out there only do well on two of those. Pros Easy for even not tech-savvy people to pick up, but with a respectable amount of customization. The look is modern for both the front- and back-end and I appreciate how much thought went into making features on both ends appear and feel as such. Customer support is responsive and have gone through great lengths to identify issues and stress-test solutions, which is again greatly appreciated. Cons This has only happened once to my knowledge but when some back-end autoscore stuff broke, the process to identify the problem and fix it took longer than we had hoped, and it really dragged down our evaluator experience. So I would say perhaps the stress-testing is not rigorous enough. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect September 16, 2016 Hi Jackie, Many thanks for your review! FYI, earlier this year, we added a dedicated software Quality Assurance person because "even rarely breaks" is not good enough for us. Also, we have some Single Sign-On CRM integrations and are planning for more. AB Alicia B. Director, Grants and Data Management Philanthropy Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Effective and affordable platform!" September 15, 2022 4.0 Over the past year, the team at IAAQLI was able to successfully build out the grant request platform with 6 different application forms for Round 1 of our inaugural grant awards which yielded more than 140 applications. With SmarterSelect, we were able to receive requests and embed evaluator scores; additionally, the platform allowed my small team to sort and review critical data quickly. The SmarterSelect platform was essential to our allocation of nearly $22 million during Round 1! Pros The system is highly customizable. The ability to imbed evaluator reviews was a plus. My team enjoyed the online instructional videos from SmarterSelect. Cons Please consider adding fillable tables as an application response option. Review Source LL Lori L. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Helps you work more effectively and efficiently" November 20, 2020 5.0 Pros First, I have to say the service of SmarterSelect is wonderful. From day one they have responded quickly, solved our issue or educated us on how to do something. Second, we use SmarterSelect for much more than scholarships. We have used it for registrations, employee grant requests, grant completion reports, finding alumni (forms), student thank you letter follow-up and more. Finally, we are able to choose the level of program we need based on the price that works best for our size organization. In my eyes, SmarterSelect and the people behind will help you work more effectively and efficiently which we all need since we have less people who need to do more. Cons It is a bit difficult to figure out how the app rules and autoscores affect the outcome. However, this is also where SmarterSelect shines. I am certain all similar applications have this, but SmarterSelect's customer service taught and helped me through any and all issues I had. Once you have a completed project, you can easily set up another or copy that one and adjust it. Review Source LO Lee O. admin Philanthropy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent value for grant and scholarship application program " August 9, 2019 4.0 SO GLAD that we don't have to paper applications and send copies to reviewers. This has streamlined our process immensely. Pros Relatively easy to create an application. Great online support. Very good value. Cons My applicants seem to have a problem when I give them a link to a new app. It's as if Smarter Select has put a cookie on their computer and my new link takes them to an old app. The Prequalifying questions have to be answered with all "Yes" responses. Sometimes that means that the question I must create is convoluted and confusing. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect I'm sure it was a price and value difference. Review Source SL Susan L. Director of Nonprofit Services Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Works well for scholarships - not quite as adaptable for grants." August 29, 2016 4.0 This program was designed to work with scholarships, and it does very well for that purpose. We also use it with our grant process and with a teacher recognition program where the nominator is not the person eligible for the award. There are definitely limitations and drawbacks for these processes. Pros The scholarship program is relatively easy to use, and the support staff is usually quite responsive and helpful. Cons For grant applications, there are limitations because the grants show up under the name of the person who completed the application rather than by the name of the organization. Smarter Select has developed a couple of work arounds to help ease this problem, but it does present quite a bit more work on the backside. Also, for our teacher recognition program, the nominator is the one who shows up, rather than the nominee. This is an ongoing problem that we haven't really been able to solve. Our program is pretty unique, so a solution is probably not on the horizon and may not be worth Smarter Select's efforts to fix it. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect September 9, 2016 Hi Susan, Thanks for your review! Stay tuned for some improvements to customize your Apps table view. JKC Justine Kore C. Customer Experience Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Useful tool for your applications!" September 15, 2022 5.0 Awesome, and would definitely recommend to other non-profit organizations and schools to use this. Pros Ease of use and customer support is superb and efficient. Cons I guess when you export the file. The headers are cut-off, we wouldn't know what question was that or what was asked to be filled out. Review Source Similar Products Featured