Every price, on this page
One price per binding election. No per-ballot fee for online voting, no charge for extra ballot questions, and test elections are always free. Associations over 50 voting units also pay a $99 annual platform fee.
Most vendors publish a starting price and quote the rest. The tables below are the whole thing: rates, add-ons, discounts, and the four cases where a price has to be quoted.
Test election
Free
A practice run for the board. Never binding, never charged, any community size.
- The whole owner flow: email, text, 6-digit code, sealed ballot, receipt
- 21 ballot templates, or write your own questions
- Printable access code letters, reminder cards and address labels
- Turnout and quorum tracking with automatic reminders
- The certified report format, so you see what your board would file
Self-serve
$49 per election
plus $0.65 a unit, falling to $0.35
Your board runs the election. VoteStead supplies the platform, the state rules and the launch checklist.
- Binding results with a certified report and the public ballot check
- Your state rule pack, with a launch checklist that blocks a vote missing a required step
- Invitations and up to 3 reminders by email and text, included
- Unlimited questions on the ballot
- Ballots sealed on the owner device, opened by 2 of 3 key holders
- Print your own access code letters, reminder cards and labels
- Progress reports to the board, and a final report with the results PDF
- Owner ballot check after the count
Managed
$199 per election
plus $1.55 a unit, falling to $0.90
VoteStead runs the election from the roster to the certified result, and answers owners.
- Everything in self-serve
- Roster load and cleanup by VoteStead
- Owner support by email and text through the whole vote
- An independent VoteStead key holder, so no board member can open the count alone
- VoteStead prints, stuffs, stamps and mails your notices and reminder cards, billed per piece with postage included
- A rerun inside 60 days at no charge if quorum fails
Per-unit rates
Rates are graduated, the way tax brackets work. A 200-unit community pays the first rate on its first 50 units, the second on the next 100, and the third on the rest. A bigger community never pays less in total than a smaller one.
| Voting units | Self-serve | Managed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 50 units | $0.65 | $1.55 |
| 51 to 150 units | $0.55 | $1.30 |
| 151 to 300 units | $0.45 | $1.10 |
| 301 to 800 units | $0.35 | $0.90 |
| More than 800 units | Quoted, and the rate keeps falling | |
What a typical election costs
| Units | Self-serve | Per unit | Managed | Per unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | $75 | $1.88 | $261 | $6.53 |
| 120 | $120 | $1 | $367.50 | $3.06 |
| 300 | $204 | $0.68 | $571.50 | $1.91 |
| 600 | $309 | $0.52 | $841.50 | $1.40 |
Online voting carries no per-ballot fee, so a community where every owner votes online pays the same as one where half do.
Estimate your election
The annual platform fee
Elections are what you pay for. The work between them is what the annual fee pays for.
$99 a year, charged to associations over 50 voting units. A community of 50 units or fewer never pays it, and neither does an association whose elections are run through a VoteStead management partner.
- State rule packs kept current. Legislatures change association voting law, and all 50 states and DC are reviewed and updated so a launch checklist still reflects what your statute requires.
- Security maintenance: encryption, key handling, dependency patching and the tamper-evident audit chain that makes a result defensible.
- Platform upkeep and uptime, including the ballot delivery to email, text and printed mail.
- Records retention and the chain anchoring that keeps a closed election verifiable for as long as your state requires.
- New features and improvements as they ship, at no extra charge.
- Board support by email, between elections as well as during one.
It is billed once a year, not per election, and it is on this page rather than in a quote because you should be able to work out your total before you talk to anyone.
Add-ons
Everything VoteStead can charge for is on this list. Anything not here is included.
| Add-on | Price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Printed and mailed voting notice | $1.75 each |
Letter with the access code and PIN. VoteStead prints it, folds it, stuffs it, stamps it and mails it. Postage is included in the $1.75 and is never invoiced separately. Self-serve boards print the same letters themselves at no charge. |
| Printed and mailed reminder card | $1.25 each |
A postcard to units that have not voted. Postage included, never invoiced separately. Self-serve boards print their own for free. |
| Signature branding | $49 per election |
Your logo and color on ballots, emails and printed mail, designed messages, and the celebration screen after an owner votes. $129 covers a full year of elections. |
| Signature branding, annual | $129 per year |
Signature branding on every election for 12 months. |
| Roster cleanup and import | $99 one time |
Send what you have, in any format. VoteStead cleans it, matches units to owners and loads it. Included in managed. |
| Independent VoteStead key holder | $49 per election |
VoteStead holds the third key share, so no board member can open the count alone. Included in managed. |
| Rush setup | $99 per election |
Ballot built and launch-ready inside 3 business days. Ask before you order it: some states set notice periods no rush can shorten. |
| Certified paper results package | $19 each |
The certified report and audit summary, printed, bound and mailed to the association records. |
| Text messages | Included | Invitation plus up to 3 reminders per unit. No per-message charge. |
| Ballot questions | Included | Any number of questions on one ballot. |
| Ballot templates | Included | All 21, edited to fit your community. |
| Board support by email | Included | Every tier, including the free test election. |
Discounts, published
If you qualify, you get them. You do not have to negotiate for a price someone else already has.
- Annual agreement, 15 percent. Two or more binding elections in 12 months, agreed up front. 15 percent off each one.
- Founding association, 50 percent. Half off the first binding election while VoteStead runs its first elections. Ask for it.
When we have to quote
Four cases do not fit a table. Here they are, with how the price gets set.
- More than 800 voting units. Quoted individually. The per-unit rate keeps falling, and large communities usually need a mail plan.
- A management company with several communities. The partner program. One agreement, one invoice, and a block of elections bought up front at a wholesale rate. Ask for the partner rate card.
- Data migration or a custom integration. $150 an hour, estimated in writing before any work starts.
- An election a court, receiver or state agency is supervising. Quoted individually. Tell us the order or case before you order.
Custom work is $150 an hour, estimated in writing first. We do not bill for a call about your own election.
| Plan | Test election | Self-serve | Managed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $49 + $0.65 a unit | $199 + $1.55 a unit |
| Binding results | No | Yes | Yes |
| Who runs it | You, for practice | Your board | VoteStead |
| Email and text invitations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mailed notices with access codes | Yes, you print | Yes, you print | VoteStead prints and mails |
| Sealed ballots and 2-of-3 key count | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Third key held off the board | Not needed | $49 add-on | Included |
| Roster load | You | You, or $99 | Included |
| Owner support | Not needed | Your board | VoteStead |
| Results report and public ballot check | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rerun if quorum fails | Not needed | Half price inside 60 days | Free inside 60 days |
| Start a free test | Get a quote | Get a quote |
Questions about pricing
Nothing is charged until you accept a written quote. Founding association pricing is open while VoteStead runs its first binding elections.
Will you beat a quote I already have?
Send it to quote@votestead.com with your unit count and vote type. If it covers the same election, we beat it and put ours in writing.
What counts as a voting unit?
Each lot or unit with a vote in your association. A unit with 2 owners is still 1 voting unit. Units that vote on paper count the same as units that vote online.
Is there a charge per ballot?
No. Online ballots, email invitations and text reminders are in the price. The only per-piece charges are printed mail that VoteStead sends for you.
What if the election has to be rerun?
A rerun of the same questions inside 60 days, because quorum failed or the date moved, is free on managed and half price on self-serve.
Do you charge a subscription?
No. You pay for an election when you run one. An association that votes once a year pays once a year.
When is payment due?
After the quote is accepted and before the election launches. Card or ACH, and we can invoice a management company.
Do prices change mid-election?
No. The quote you accept is the price, even if the roster grows or you add ballot questions. Extra printed mail you order during the vote is the only thing that can add to it, at the published per-piece price.