When it comes to growing and succeeding in your professional life, any guidance or mentorship is always welcomed. Having the right mentor can go a long way in ensuring an individual’s career development. This demand for the right mentorship has resulted in the emergence of mentoring software. Today, there are several free and open-source mentoring software available in the market that can help organizations improve their mentorship programs. In this post, find out how these software work and which are the six best mentoring software of 2024.
The software listed in this blog have been curated based on certain criteria and they have been included in this list because they meet one of more of the below features/functionalities –
- User interface plays a crucial role because ultimately the software should be easy to use and navigate by the users. It should also have an intuitive layout and should be visually appealing.
- The software offers a wide range of features which aid in the mentoring process, such as communication, collaboration, goal setting, progress tracking, etc.
- The software offers top-notch security measures ensuring that the platform, user’s data, etc., are all safe and confidential.
- The software can be easily integrated with other third-party software, such as HR software, learning management software, etc.
- The software offers extensive reporting and analytics tool that will enable the user and organization to make data-driven decisions.
- The software has a robust customer support team in place to provide assistance as required.
- The software enables customization so that organizations can customize the platform and mentoring programs based on their business requirements.
Table of Contents
7 Top Free and Open-source Mentoring Software of 2024
With so many free mentoring software available in the market, it can be difficult for you to choose the right one for your business. Here is a brief list of the 7 top free and open-source mentoring software of 2024, their key benefits, technical details, pricing plans, and top alternatives.
1. MentorcliQ
MentorcliQ is a mentoring platform that offers services like mentoring software, MentorcliQ resource library, mentoring app, virtual mentoring, administrator training program, etc. The software provides training documents, videos, worksheets, etc. It also offers participant launch events through which users can design and launch events, mentoring strategy assessment that provides annual 2-hour meetings for goals review, etc. With all these and more features, MentorcliQ is one of the best mentoring software in 2021.
Key benefits
Some of the key benefits of MentorcliQ are –
- Mentoring program management through which businesses can invite employees, manage participation enrolment, match candidates with the right mentors, etc.
- MentorcliQ offers an automated SMART Match feature that seamlessly matches mentors and mentees.
- Easy participant enrolment through public/private portal.
- Resource library that contains worksheets, guides, videos.
- Measure effectiveness of the program.
- Easy monitoring through dashboards and printable reports.
Technical details
| API | No |
| Deployment | SaaS/Web/Cloud, Android, iOS |
| Business Size | Small, Medium, and Large enterprises |
| Support | 24/7 (Live rep), Online, Business hours, FAQs/Forum, Email, Knowledge Base |
Pricing
MentorcliQ offers a free trial and custom pricing.
Alternatives
Below are the top three free mentoring software alternatives for this software.
2. PushFar
If you are looking for one of the best mentoring software of 2021, PushFar is a great option. This EU-hosted and GDPR compliant software offers a wide range of functionalities that can help businesses run effective mentoring programs. Its in-built technology studies the data available, uses machine learning, and looks into the insights to recommend the best mentor matches. There are several other useful tools available such as automated and customizable email engagement, in-depth excel reporting exports, track engagement, event recommendations, conversation feeds, etc.
Key benefits
The key benefits of PushFar include –
- Easy setup of the mentoring software.
- Access to a wide range of reports that facilitate better mentoring.
- Integration with Google and Outlook calendars.
- Categorization and segmentation of data.
Technical details
| API | Yes |
| Deployment | SaaS/Web/Cloud, Android, iOS |
| Business Size | Freelancers, Small, Medium, and Large enterprises |
| Support | 24/7 (Live rep), Online, Chat, Knowledge Base, FAQs/Forums, Email |
Pricing
Individuals can use PushFar free of cost and organizations can purchase licenses that are custom priced.
Alternatives
The top three open-source mentoring software alternatives for PushFar are –
3. Qooper
Qooper is one of the top free and open-source mentoring software that includes a wide range of mentoring apps to make your mentoring programs more effective. Users can easily access these apps at any time. It eliminates the unnecessary back and forth of emails by providing a centralized location for all communication. This software also includes automation and smart tools that provide insights into the various profiles and smartly matches mentors with the right mentees.
Key benefits
Qooper provides the following key benefits –
- Effective mentoring apps suitable for universities, non-profits, and companies.
- Access to right mentors, right peers, right learning groups, and personalized development resources.
- Admin dashboard which includes automatic profile collection, mentor match-up, follow-ups, check-ins, etc.
- Visual representation of participant activity timelines and analytics.
Technical details
| API | No |
| Deployment | SaaS/Web/Cloud, Android, iOS |
| Business Size | Small, Medium, and Large enterprises |
| Support | 24/7 (Live rep), Business hours, Online, Chat, Knowledge Base, Email |
Pricing
Qooper offers a free trial as well as custom pricing option.
Alternatives
The top three Qooper alternatives are –
4. eMentorConnect
If you are searching for a cloud-based free mentoring software, you can check out eMentorConnect. This software can help businesses manage and scale their mentoring programs. This software uses machine learning, can translate dynamic texts, supports multi-language translation of global programs, offers collaboration tools so that there is effective and seamless communication between mentors and mentees, and many other functionalities.
Key benefits
The keys benefits of eMentorConnect include –
- A centralized platform through which users can manage their content, groups, participants, etc.
- Configure the software to suit your business preferences.
- Supports Knox which allows the users to access and manage the mentorship program at any time and from anywhere.
- Automatic matching of mentors and mentees using data, such as location, skill level, seniority, department, etc.
Technical details
| API | No |
| Deployment | SaaS/Web/Cloud |
| Business Size | Small, Medium, and Large enterprises |
| Support | Online, Chat, Knowledge Base, Email, FAQs/Forum, Phone |
Pricing
eMentorConnect offers the below three pricing plans –
- Pilot – $975 per month billed annually
- Growth – $1,950 per month billed annually
- Enterprise – $3,000 per month billed annually
Alternatives
The top three alternatives for eMentorConnect are –
5. Guider
Guider is a seamless open-source mentoring platform that can help organizations scale their mentoring programs. This software keeps your data securely protected under GDPR and Google Cloud Metrics and you can use it to carry out all the necessary mentoring platform functionalities, such as matching mentors and mentees, scheduling sessions, tracking progress, etc.
Guider can also be integrated with Outlook, MS Teams, Zoom, and Google. Organizations can also use this mentoring platform for bringing a change in areas like Women in Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, Mental Health, etc.
Key benefits
Guider offers the following key benefits –
- Long-lasting relationships through ideal matching of mentors and mentees.
- Easy access of data and reports by program managers.
- Easy-to-use interface that allows the users to quickly sign up and schedule sessions.
- Outlook, MS Teams, and SSO integration.
Technical details
| API | No |
| Deployment | SaaS/Web/Cloud |
| Business Size | Medium and Large enterprises |
| Support | Online, Chat, Knowledge Base, Email, FAQs/Forum, Phone |
Pricing
Guider offers free trial plans as well as custom-priced plans.
Alternatives
The top three free online mentoring program alternatives for Guider are –
6. Mentoring Complete
Mentoring Complete is a free online mentoring program that is suitable for businesses of all types and sizes. This mentoring platform offers several features, such as four different types of mentoring programs, allowing a single user to have multiple roles simultaneously, etc. The four types of mentoring programs offered are managed, group, self-directed, and hybrid programs. Users can also access Anytime Mentoring, an add-on tool that lets users search for mentors with specific skills.
Key benefits
The key benefits of Mentoring Complete include –
- Access to four types of mentoring programs.
- Precision Matching tool that uses a proprietary algorithm to ensure a right match between mentors and mentees.
- Users have the ability to carry out several roles, such as mentor, mentee, program manager, etc., simultaneously.
- Accessible via mobile devices as well which makes it easier for the users to access the mentoring platform as and when required.
Technical details
| API | No |
| Deployment | SaaS/Web/Cloud, Android, iOS |
| Business Size | Small, Medium, and Large enterprises |
| Support | Business hours, Online, Chat, Knowledge Base, Email, FAQs/Forum |
Pricing
Mentoring Complete offers a free trial as well as custom pricing options.
Alternatives
The top three Mentoring Complete alternatives are –
Together Mentorship
Together Mentorship is a scalable and easy-to-use mentoring software that is ideal for use by businesses ranging from small to medium to large. It allows businesses to successfully run their mentoring programs and enabling employees to boost their learning and development by successfully finding appropriate mentors and experts withing the organization. The software uses advanced algorithm that results in 90% success rate on matching mentees and mentors. This mentoring software can be easily integrated with Workday HCM, ADP GlobalView Payroll, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and more. Together Mentorship also has tight security measures in place ensuring that all the employee data is secure and confidential.
Key Features of Together Mentorship:
- Together Mentorship offers different types of mentoring programs, such as Traditional 1-on-1, group mentoring, peer-to-peer learning, reverse mentorship, employee resource groups, and flash/speed mentoring.
- You can send out tailored invitations via email, Teams, or Slack to the targeted audience.
- The software offers various resources and templates that enable mentors to in planning their sessions.
- Users can take advantage of the various templates which come pre-built with resources, matching rules, tasks, agendas, emails, and other useful assets.
- Organizations can use the software’s health monitor tools to determine which matches are not working or which of them have low sessions scores and make appropriate and timely changes.
Pricing:
Together Mentorship offers a free basic plan which includes key features like advanced matching algorithm, session agendas and content, video conferencing integration, etc. For more advanced features, you can opt for their paid plans – Professional which starts from $10,000 per year and Enterprise which starts from $20,000 per year.
Availability:
You can visit the official website of Together Mentorship to Book a Demo or View how the Platform works.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Together Mentorship offers customized mentoring programs which can be scaled as per business requirements. | Sometimes there are technical glitches which cause syncing issues. |
| Its advanced matching algorithm ensures accurate matching of mentors and mentees with a success rate of more than 90%. | Although the software is easy to use and navigate, first-time users may find it a bit difficult to understand all the robust features of the software. |
| It has an easy-to-use interface making it extremely user friendly for admins as well as the end users. | The software needs to provide more learning guides for mentees. |
How to Choose the Right Free Mentoring Software?
Since there are several free mentoring software available in the market today, you need to conduct due diligence before choosing the best one for your use. Here are some factors that you should focus on while choosing the right free mentoring software:
- First and foremost, you need to define the purpose behind your mentoring program. Once you have a clear picture of what is your expected outcome from the mentoring program, what impact will it have on your organization, how you can collect and analyze the mentoring data, etc., you will be able to choose the right software.
- You should ideally look for a software that is scalable and which can evolve as your company grows. You need to plan and figure out how your mentoring program will grow, what additional features you might require, etc., and then choose a mentoring software that aligns with your scalability needs.
- Although most of the mentoring software will offer the same set of features, some of them may also offer some additional features. So, you need to conduct a thorough comparison between different free mentoring software and choose the one that offers a robust set of features.
- One key factor to consider while choosing the right free mentoring software is to focus on its user interface. A clunky and difficult to navigate interface will not result in successful mentorship. Make sure the software you choose is easy to use by everyone and can be customized as well to suit your business purposes.
How to Effectively Use a Mentoring Software?
Each mentoring software is different and serves different purposes. Some of these mentoring platforms will have in-house mentors, i.e., employees within the organization who have the required skills and knowledge while some of the mentoring software will have mentors from outside the organization. Irrespective of what type of free online mentoring program you choose, the key functionalities will include –
- A seamless sign-up process
- Right match between mentors and mentees
- Enhanced communication
- Easy booking of mentoring sessions
- Track and measure progress
- Measure impact and success
Investing in top free and open-source mentoring software offers several benefits, especially having a strong and knowledgeable mentoring team at your disposal to help you with your mentoring program.
Conclusion
The right mentoring platform can do wonders for your employees and overall business, which is why you need to ensure that you choose the best mentoring software that matches your business requirement. You can always try out the free trial plans of the mentoring software before opting for their paid plans.
Check out SaaSworthy to access more such useful software that can change the course of your business.
