There are more UK grant finding tools than ever, and most "best of" lists you'll find are written by one of the tools on the list. This one is too: we make Grants Hub. So here's how we've tried to keep it useful anyway.
- Every price and number for another tool comes from that tool's own website, checked on 6 October 2026
- We say who each tool suits, including when that isn't us
- We start with the free tools, because you should use those whatever else you pay for
Start with the free tools
GOV.UK Find a Grant
The government's own search for government grants. It's free, and you can sign up to be emailed when new grants are added. It only covers central government schemes, so it won't show you trusts, foundations, the National Lottery or most local funds. Use it alongside a wider search, not instead of one.
Charity Excellence Funding Finder
A free funding finder from Charity Excellence, which also offers free AI bid-writing help and a large library of guides. You need to register. It works as a directory: it links out to hundreds of other funding lists, so expect to do your own eligibility checking. Well worth a look.
360Giving GrantNav
GrantNav is different from everything else here. It holds grants that UK funders have already given out, published by those funders, not open calls you can apply for. That makes it the best free tool for researching a funder: who they gave to, how much, and how often. Use it before you apply, to check your organisation looks like the ones a funder actually supports.
My Funding Central
A funding database from Idox for smaller charities and community groups. It's free below an income threshold and paid on a sliding scale above it. Its website wasn't loading when we checked, so confirm the current bands there.
Paid matching platforms
These tools match grants to your organisation rather than leaving you with a search box, and most add help with the application. This is where the market has grown fastest.
Grants Hub
From £19.99 a month inc. VAT. Tracks 3,900+ live UK grants from 1,400+ funders, checked daily across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It covers charities and businesses: trusts, lottery funders and community foundations sit alongside Innovate UK and government business schemes.
You describe your organisation once and our AI ranks every open grant against it with a match score. On Professional and Advanced plans it also says why a grant fits. Our AI grant consultant answers eligibility questions and drafts proposal letters and application answers from your profile. Alerts cover new matches, keywords and deadlines. Grant consultants get client profiles, a directory listing and a job board.
There's no free plan. The grant match is free with no account and shows three of your ten best matches in full. A one-off £12.99 report unlocks all ten. Best for: charities, small businesses and consultants who want one broad search with help applying.
GrantMatch
Free plan, Premium £19.99 a month, 14-day free trial. Its homepage put its current listings at 1,138, from 90+ sources, and says it is used by 400+ UK organisations. Premium adds eligibility checks against your profile, a first draft, budget templates and tracking. Best for: anyone who wants to browse for free and upgrade later. We've written about GrantMatch alternatives separately.
GrantNest
£24 a month billed yearly, or £29 monthly. For UK charities only, and opening to its first charities now. Matches grants and tenders to your cause, region, size and income, with an eligibility check, a checklist and a draft opening for each one. Best for: charities that also bid for contracts.
GrantBridge
£49 a month per organisation, unlimited team members, 14-day trial. Fit scores on matched grants, an application workspace with drafting help and version history, deadline tracking and a shared evidence bank. Best for: charity teams with several people on bids.
GrantIQ
Free plan for individuals, Starter £39 a month, Professional £149 a month. 100+ UK and EU funding sources, refreshed daily, with AI drafting. Best for: researchers and organisations chasing EU calls.
Subvention
Free search, then one-off passes from £29 for 30 days. Matches grants using your Companies House record. Lists 549 live UK grants plus 438 European, from 49 sources. Nothing auto-renews. Best for: businesses that search once per project.
FundRobin
Growth £39.20 a month, Impact £159.20 a month. UK, US and EU coverage, with an AI assistant that reuses your organisation's past material across applications. Best for: grant teams writing a lot of bids.
The big research databases
GrantFinder (Idox)
Price on request. Its homepage puts its live funding opportunities at 8,500+, verified daily by researchers, with funding news and a policy add-on. Built for local authorities, housing associations, education providers and larger charities. See our Grants Hub vs GrantFinder comparison.
Funds Online (Directory of Social Change)
Annual or weekly subscription; price not shown on its homepage. Its homepage puts the number of funding sources it searches at 8,273: grant-making charities, companies and statutory funders, for organisations and individuals. Best for: in-depth trust and foundation research.
How to choose
- Tiny budget or one project? Use Find a Grant, Charity Excellence and GrantNav, then try a free match on a paid tool before you subscribe to anything.
- A small charity or business applying several times a year? A matching platform will save you hours. Compare what each covers in your area and sector, not just the headline count.
- A business? Check the tool covers Innovate UK and other business funding. Many charity tools don't.
- A council or large organisation with a funding team? A research database like GrantFinder or Funds Online is built for you.
- A grant consultant? Look for client profiles and multi-organisation support.
One warning about numbers: every site counts grants differently, so a bigger figure doesn't always mean more grants you can apply for. The fairest test is to search your own sector and area on two or three tools and compare what comes back.
Common questions
What is the best free grant finder in the UK? There isn't one that does everything. GOV.UK Find a Grant covers government grants, Charity Excellence links to a huge range of funding lists, and GrantNav is best for researching funders. Use all three.
Which grant finders cover business grants? Grants Hub and Subvention both cover business funding, and Grants Hub includes Innovate UK competitions. Find a Grant covers government business schemes.
Do grant finding tools take commission? Grants Hub takes 0% commission on any grant you win. Check the terms of any other tool before signing up.
Try it
See which UK grants fit your organisation, free and without an account: grantshub.co.uk/match.