Belenios
Belenios: A free, self-hostable voting system with strong verification and a technical focus. Ranked #3 of 31 in Online Voting Software by our editors (9.0/10); pricing: Free plan; best for technical teams wanting verifiable open source.
At a glance
- Editor score9.0 / 10
- PricingFree plan
- Best forTechnical teams wanting verifiable open source
- Free planYes
- Paid fromFree
- Voter authenticationSso
- Facts checked20 Sep 2026
Where it wins
- End-to-end verifiability with encrypted, signed ballots
- Supports ranked-choice, score, single-choice, and multi-choice voting
- Self-hosting under AGPLv3 with Google, CAS, and OpenID Connect support
Where it doesn't
- Hosted elections are limited to 2,500 voters each
- The hosted service has no availability guarantee
- Less verified export and integration coverage than leading options
Our verdict on Belenios
Belenios is an online voting system for elections and referendums, designed for scientific councils, associations, and other organizations. It is aimed at teams that need verifiable elections and are comfortable with an open-source product. Elections can run on the hosted Belenios platform or on a server managed by the organization. The platform supports web and API access, as well as self-hosted deployment under AGPLv3.
The hosted service is free and supports elections of up to 2,500 voters per election. Belenios focuses on election integrity through ElGamal-encrypted ballots, voter credentials, ballot signatures, public ballot tracking with smart ballot trackers, and end-to-end verifiability. Threshold decryption trustees add a shared decryption process. Voting formats include single-choice and multi-choice elections, ranked-choice voting with Condorcet-Schulze and STV, and score voting with Majority Judgment. That breadth makes it suitable for organizations whose election rules go beyond a basic single-choice poll.
Belenios also fits technical teams that want deployment control and standards-based authentication options. Its listed integrations include Google, CAS, and OpenID Connect, while self-hosting provides an option for organizations that prefer to operate the software on their own server. The tradeoff is operational: the hosted service is described as experimental and comes without an availability guarantee. Belenios is a strong choice for teams prioritizing open source, verifiability, trustee-based decryption, and flexible voting methods. Organizations that need broader verified export or integration coverage, or a hosted service with stronger availability assurances, should choose an alternative.
Questions about Belenios
What does Belenios run on? Web. It runs in the cloud and self-hosted.
What does Belenios integrate with? 3 integrations: Google, CAS and OpenID Connect.
Who is Belenios built for? Small businesses and mid-market companies (our editorial estimate).
Your product? Our editors can test Belenios in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →
Belenios pricing
Belenios fact sheet
| Free plan | Yes |
|---|---|
| Paid from | Free |
| Voter authentication | Sso |
| Ballot types | Ranked_choice |
| Anonymous ballots | Yes |
| Audit trail | Yes |
| Voter limit | Not verified |
| Election limit | Not verified |
| Result export | Not verified |
| Deployment | Cloud, Self-hosted |
| Platforms | Web |
| Compliance & security | GDPR |
| Support | Community, Docs |
| Built for | Small business, Mid-market (editorial estimate) |
| Integrations | 3 integrations: Google, CAS, OpenID Connect |
| Pricing | Free plan |
| Website | belenios.org |
| Facts checked | 20 Sep 2026 |
Belenios integrations
Belenios lists 3 integrations on its own site.
- CAS
- OpenID Connect
Alternatives to Belenios
- Simply VotingA strong fit for organizations running verified elections with ranked-choice ballots.9.4
- ElectionBuddyA flexible voting platform with broad ballot methods and pay-per-use plans.9.2
- BigPulseA feature-rich managed election platform for organizations with complex voting needs.8.8
See all Belenios alternatives →
Belenios vs the competition
- Belenios vs Simply Voting
- Belenios vs ElectionBuddy
- Belenios vs BigPulse
- Belenios vs VoteHost Elections
- Belenios vs POLYAS
- Belenios vs Voteer
Compare Belenios with any tool side by side →
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Featured on iTechGuides
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Nov 2026
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