The third edition of our Digital Participation Tool Ratings evaluates 30 comprehensive tools that have been used to support digital participation all over the world. Our ratings are conducted by an independent Technology Review Committee composed of six experts in participation technology, balanced in terms of gender and geography.
These ratings are the third edition of the evaluations first launched in 2022, developed with a revised methodology, which can be viewed in the changelog table on this page. Further guidance about how to use these tools is available from our Guide to Digital Participation Platforms and Online Training on Digital Participation.
While we did not classify the platforms in the 2024 edition, most platforms fall into the following two categories:
Multipurpose (formerly called Toolbox): Platforms offering tools for designing participatory processes for different kinds of processes, in different contexts, and/or for different stages of a process. For example, a platform that includes features for idea collection, proposal development, and voting would be considered multipurpose.
Specific: Platforms that work well for a specific approach of participatory processes, such as those that focus on one type of participation, e.g., proposal development, or those that work in a particular context.
How to read the ratings
The matrix below showcases digital participation tools across a range of criteria to help you decide which might be the best fit for you. To further explore the ratings, you can use the filter and sort functionalities to view them by cost, features, capacity requirements, and more. For example, if you are looking at platform cost, a lower rating indicates a higher cost of software. To easily view all of the platforms, click “View larger version” in the bottom right of the Airtable.
Use these functionalities to sort the platforms by the categories or criteria that are most interesting to you!
List view
Note: Access the ratings on desktop for the best viewing experience. Accessing the ratings on mobile may not give you the option of using the filter and sort tools or a complete viewing experience currently.