--- title: "Bid Beacon Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about Bid Beacon Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Auction products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/230720/Bid-Beacon/" page_type: "product" language: "en" --- # Bid Beacon Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on September 7, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Integrations](#integrations)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Bid Beacon ## What is Bid Beacon? Bid Beacon was created to help maximize returns on your fundraising efforts! Users can conveniently browse auction items from their own devices, place bids, and get notified when they are outbid. Giving users the power to bid at any moment will boost your event's engagement which will lead to more bids and higher revenues. Let Bid Beacon make your next silent auction the most successful silent on yet! ## What is Bid Beacon used for? [Auction](https://www.capterra.com/auction-software/)[Fundraising](https://www.capterra.com/fundraising-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 19 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive \- Neutral \- Negative \- Contact vendor for pricing Free trial not available Includes Free Version Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for Bid Beacon?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/bid-beacon/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### Bid Beacon 4.4 (19) VS. [4.5 (1,481)](https://www.capterra.com/p/2698/DonorPerfect-Fundraising-Software/reviews/) Starting Price Contact vendor Starting Price $119 Other, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.5 (19) Ease Of Use 4.3 (872) Value For Money 4.8 (17) Value For Money 4.5 (775) Customer Service 4.5 (15) Customer Service 4.8 (752) ## Bid Beacon alternatives [4.7 (1,287)](https://www.capterra.com/p/131207/Bloomerang/reviews/) Starting price $125.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars Highest Rated [Givebutter](https://www.capterra.com/p/172048/Givebutter/) [4.8 (872)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172048/Givebutter/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/172048/Givebutter/) [Zeffy](https://www.capterra.com/p/220131/Zeffy/) [4.8 (496)](https://www.capterra.com/p/220131/Zeffy/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 99% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/220131/Zeffy/) [Donorbox](https://www.capterra.com/p/156860/Donorbox/) [4.8 (625)](https://www.capterra.com/p/156860/Donorbox/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/156860/Donorbox/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/230720/Bid-Beacon/alternatives/) ## FAQs about Bid Beacon Overview ### Which roles and teams benefit most from Bid Beacon? Bid Beacon is most used by nonprofit leaders, development teams, event managers, and administrative staff running fundraising auctions and donor engagement programs. Executives use it to oversee campaign performance, while coordinators, finance, and operations teams manage item listings, bidding activity, payments, and event logistics more efficiently. Answer based on 19 reviews Overview ### What company size and industries is Bid Beacon built for? Bid Beacon is built primarily for small businesses in nonprofit settings: 95% of reviewers are small businesses, and 53% work in non-profit organization management. It also serves charities, schools, event planners, and organizations in health, wellness and fitness and education management, each at 11%, often for auctions. Answer based on 19 reviews Features and Usability ### What are the key features of Bid Beacon? Bid Beacon offers auction management and bid management for online, live, and silent auctions, plus absentee bidding, proxy bidding, and a buy now option. It also includes catalog management, event ticketing, registration management, payment processing, credit card processing, invoicing, reporting, alerts, and access controls/permissions. Integrations ### Which third-party tools and platforms does Bid Beacon integrate with? Bid Beacon integrates with payment platforms including Stripe, PayPal, and Square Payments. These integrations cover common online payment processing needs and give auctions a way to collect payments through widely used third-party tools. Answer based on 1 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What training and onboarding options does Bid Beacon offer? Bid Beacon provides live online sessions, webinars, documentation, and videos to help teams get started. Live online sessions and webinars support guided learning, while documentation and videos offer self-paced reference materials for reviewing features and setup steps as needed. Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does Bid Beacon offer? Bid Beacon provides email/help desk, FAQ/forum, knowledge base, and chat support. The catalog lists these channels only, and no reviewer feedback about support experience is available, so no claims can be made about response times, helpfulness, or common frustrations. ## Features AI summary Based on 1,004 Auction reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of auction software rank the following features as their top priorities: - **Electronic Payments** (**61%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Payment Processing** (**62%**) - **Online Bidding** (**69%**) Bid Beacon supports all three of the features reviewers rate most important: **Electronic Payments**, **Payment Processing**, and **Online Bidding**. Together, these capabilities help businesses accept bids online, handle transactions more efficiently, and manage payments with less manual work, allowing teams to run auctions more smoothly from bidding through checkout. Online Bidding 4.7 (12) 66.67% of 12 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Allows for auction participants and potential buyers to bid for items virtually from anywhere Bid Management 4.7 (11) 45.45% of 11 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Share bid details, archive bids, and create bid requests to assist in bid solicitation and quote comparison Silent Auction 4.9 (10) 50.00% of 10 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important An auction in which bidders write down their bids on a sheet of paper Online Auction 4.8 (12) 75.00% of 12 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Host, facilitate and manage a virtual auction online in which participants and members can buy, sell or bid items Auction Management 4.0 (8) 50.00% of 8 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Allows businesses to create and manage auctions. Search/Filter 4.7 (6) 50.00% of 6 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Search and filter data across systems to locate required information by entering keywords or certain criteria Bid Beacon 38 features ### All Features - Absentee Bidding: A tool that allows bidders to bid on an upcoming auction item prior to the beginning of the auction - Access Controls/Permissions: Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems - Activity Dashboard: Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities - Alerts/Notifications: Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges - Attendance Management: Manage attendance for classes, shifts, meetings, or events - Auction Management: Allows businesses to create and manage auctions. - Bid Management: Share bid details, archive bids, and create bid requests to assist in bid solicitation and quote comparison - Billing & Invoicing: Create, manage, and send invoices or bills to customers - Buy Now Option: In addition to the traditional bidding process in an auction, add the option for bidders to buy the item immediately - Catalog Management: Create and manage digital catalog of products/services with their details, specifications, and price - Credit Card Processing: Accept and process credit card transactions - Customizable Branding: Add customized logos and colors to align with company branding - Customizable Fields: Customize data fields to support various needs and use cases - Customizable Reports: Alter the layout and content of reports - Dashboard: Assembly of graphs and charts for visualizing and tracking statistics/metrics - Electronic Payments: Electronically collect payments for goods or services - Email Management: Manage, store and organize emails within the system or via third-party apps - Event Ticketing: Manage tickets for specific events - For Nonprofits: Software specialized for non-profit organizations - Fundraising: Supports online donation and event registration processing and imports fundraising data into records. - Goal Setting/Tracking: Establish measurable goals and objectives and track their progress over a specific period of time - Live Auction: An auction that takes place in real time in front of a group of bidders - Mobile Access: Access software remotely via mobile devices - Mobile Alerts: Notifications via mobile devices - Online Auction: Host, facilitate and manage a virtual auction online in which participants and members can buy, sell or bid items - Online Bidding: Allows for auction participants and potential buyers to bid for items virtually from anywhere - Payment Processing: Accept, record, and reconcile financial transactions - Proxy Bidding: Automated bidding process where a bidder sets a maximum bid amount and the system bids on their behalf until that maximum is reached - Real-Time Monitoring: Active monitoring of systems, applications, or networks - Real-Time Notifications: Notifications that are delivered to users as soon as an event occurs - Receipt Management: Upload, track, and submit receipts in a central database - Registration Management: Oversee and coordinate the registration of attendees, visitors, customers, events, activities, etc. - Reporting & Statistics: Collection, analysis, and representation of numerical data and generation of reports to understand various patterns - Search/Filter: Search and filter data across systems to locate required information by entering keywords or certain criteria - Silent Auction: An auction in which bidders write down their bids on a sheet of paper - Social Media Integration: Integrate with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. - Third-Party Integrations: Set up connections to third-party platforms to improve business processes - Watch List: View and track activity related to an individual, transaction, etc. --- Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 4.2 (19) 4.2 Based on 19 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.8 (17) Free Version Full Auction 4.9% Per Auction It includes: - Unlimited Guests - Unlimited Items - Unlimited Images - Unlimited Admin Roles - 4.9% Platform Fee - $999 Platform Fee Cap (Fees Exempt Beyond Cap) - Optional Subscriptions to Lower Platform Fee and Fee Cap - Express Banking Setup Through Stripe Connect - Optional Longer Duration (Up To 365 Days) - Outbid Notifications - Custom Branding - Sponsor Recognition - Ticketed Access To Bid - Promote Items With Videos Value for money 4.8 (17) 4.8 Based on 17 reviews ## Integrations [ PayPal](https://www.capterra.com/p/207944/PayPal/)[ Stripe](https://www.capterra.com/p/123889/Stripe/)[ Square Payments](https://www.capterra.com/p/170278/Square-Payments-Processing/) Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.5 (15) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.5 (15) 4.5 Based on 15 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.4 Based on 19 reviews Filter by rating 5(9) 4(9) 3(1) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent BW Brandy W. Chapter Leader Non-Profit Organization Management ### "Great tool for our events" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 20, 2022 Great customer service. Pros Managing bids is so much easier than using paper for bids. Cons I don’t like the user interface being different from the administration. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 27, 2022 Hi Brandy, Thank you for the feedback! We appreciate your willingness to recommend Bid Beacon. Laurie - Bid Beacon Support Manager KA Kathryn A. Director of Development Non-Profit Organization Management ### "Affordable Fundraising Solution" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 20, 2022 Bid Beacon has been the best choice for our organization's needs and has made it possible to run our silent auction more easily and with fantastic results. Pros Bid Beacon has been a game changer for our annual silent auction. This is our organization's primary fundraiser and Bid Beacon has made it possible for us to reach an entirely different group of bidders who may not attend our in-person event. We can't imagine using anything else! Cons It would be great to have a few more customizable options, particularly the colors of the auction pages for those who pay for the highest tier. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 27, 2022 Hi Kathryn, Thanks for your amazing feedback! We are thrilled you enjoyed using Bid Beacon for your fundraiser! I am excited to share that brand colour customization is coming in our next release, which is just a few weeks away. Thanks again! Laurie - Bid Beacon Support CP Christine P. VP of Operations Non-Profit Organization Management ### "Good Product for a Good Price" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 June 16, 2022 Overall it works great for what we needed it for, just have to keep up with any changes or updates since we don't use it often. I would definitely use it again, and think it is a great product for the price. Pros The auction was easy to set up and I was able to figure out through the step-by-step instructions how to connect it to my PayPal account. It's great for the price and overall worked great. Cons We only use it about once a year, so the pricing structure and what was included changed from the last time I used it so had to make a few adjustments. I also had an issue and was disappointed that I had to use chat support over a phone call because it was not included in the package I purchased. We did have a slight issue with viewing items which were paid for after the auction, but were able to figure it after a slight frustration. Reasons for choosing Bid Beacon The other was recommended but was way more expensive. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 27, 2022 Hi Christine, Thank you for this great feedback! We appreciate your honest review and take all comments into account as we work to improve our support and product over time! Thanks again! Laurie JH Jeff H. Committee Member Primary/Secondary Education ### "On line auction" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 5/10 June 13, 2022 Pros Easy to put pictures and information onto the site Cons You could not enlarge the pictures Some of the bid functions did not work properly. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 21, 2022 Hi Jeff, Thanks for sharing your feedback! I totally understand where you're coming from with the frustration on expanding images. Happy to share that has been fixed and images can now be expanded on all devices. We are always testing and fixing issues as they come up, so hopefully it's smooth sailing for you next time! Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success Manager KD Kesha D. President Non-Profit Organization Management ### "BID Beacon is the clear choice" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 13, 2022 My experience been great! 2020 was our first year utilizing the software. We came back last year and we will be back in 2022. I like the fact that basic info was saved and it gave our stats/success numbers. Pros Ease of use, quantity of features makes this a no brianer to utilize. Cons Honestly, nothing. Keep up the good work. Reasons for choosing Bid Beacon Don't remember. They were all more expensive and offered less. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 21, 2022 Hi Kesha, Thank you so much for this amazing feedback! We are thrilled you enjoy using Bid Beacon and appreciate your business. Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success JG Jessica G. Events Hospitality ### "Amazing!" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 13, 2022 We were able to close out our silent auction a lot faster, and take payment directly from the app. Pros I loved that we were able to upload all our items, and number the items to be easier to find within the app. Plus the ability to be able to set a max bid on different items was a huge sucess! Cons Our only issue we had was some people had issues getting thru the firewall to be able to pay online at the end, or even be able to bid. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 21, 2022 Hey Jessica, Thank you so much for this valuable feedback! We are thrilled you were successful using Bid Beacon! Laurie - Customer Success Manager LB Laurianne B. Manager Non-Profit Organization Management ### "Love Bid Beacon" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 13, 2022 Pros I love that our supporters can bid from anywhere, they don't have to be physically at the event to bid on items and it makes it so much easier for us to raise more by simply engaging our email list and social media followers alongside the people who actually get tickets and come to the event. Cons Overall Bid Beacon made this auction so successful and fun! Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 20, 2022 Thank you Laurianne, for this fantastic feedback! Laurie HD Hayley D. Project manager Health, Wellness and Fitness ### "Ever active schools" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 June 13, 2022 Pros Easy to use for all . Payments and bids were both easy Cons Nothing we liked everything we used. Maybe verify emaols Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 20, 2022 Hi Hayley, Thank you for the wonderful feedback! Great to see that new organizations are trying and enjoying Bid Beacon. Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success BW Becca W. Vice President Education Management ### "Wonderful value and product " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 13, 2022 Wonderful - easy to use without much training and when I had questions I got prompt attention. Pros I loved the feature where we could auto bill all winning bidders in lieu of tracking down bidders to collect payment. The system was turn-key and easy to use. Cons I didn’t like how you could reorganization sections in the auction. They appear in the order you create them and you don’t always know what sections you want in advance. We had a section for donations, gift cards, items and experiences. I always wanted donations at the top. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 20, 2022 Hi Becca, Thank you for sharing this feedback! We are so glad you enjoyed using Bid Beacon and some of it's features. I am thrilled to share that as of early June's release, you can now re-order your categories. See you next time! Laurie - Bid Beacon Customer Success Manager AV Amy V. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management ### "Easy to use" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 10, 2022 I thought it worked really well. I'm very happy with it. Pros The software was easy to set up and easy for our silent auction guests to use. As a non-profit, I appreciated the flat fee for per use. Cons I was worried about the checkout process because you can't preview it. It didn't look quite like the youtube videos online, but it worked! Reasons for choosing Bid Beacon Price was the biggest factor. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Response from Vendor June 20, 2022 Hi Amy, Thanks for the feedback! We are glad you found setup easy! I will work with my team on creating a new checkout process video to keep things up to date, thanks for the idea. Laurie - Customer Success Manager Bid Beacon [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/230720/Bid-Beacon/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.