OpenVC alternatives for pre-seed and seed founders (2026)

Short answer: OpenVC is a strong free starting point: a large investor database, deck submission and a CRM at no cost. Look elsewhere if you need investor lists curated by sector and stage (Signal by NFX), contact data for volume outreach (AngelMatch, Foundersuite), deck feedback (Evalyze) or a shortlist built from your own company with stated reasons (12inf, Seedlist).

Disclosure: 12inf wrote this page, and 12inf is one of the alternatives listed. Facts and prices come from each vendor's own site, checked 11 October 2026. See Sources.

What OpenVC does well, and where founders look elsewhere

Before switching, be clear about what you would give up. On 11 October 2026, OpenVC's homepage listed 18,451 investors. OpenVC says "90% of OpenVC's features are available to all founders for free, forever", including unlimited investor search, deck sharing and analytics, a CRM and automatic follow-ups. Many investors on OpenVC accept decks directly through a "Submit deck" button. Premium costs $99/month or $299/year. It adds up to 5 investor contacts a day, an intro finder and 10 more filters.

OpenVC's help docs are unusually open about provenance. Verified investors "have signed up to OpenVC themselves and provided first-hand data". Non-verified investors "have been assembled from public sources by OpenVC". The verified filter, check size and lead preference are all Premium filters.

Founders usually look for an alternative for one of four reasons:

1. They don't know which filters to set. OpenVC ranks by fit to your filters. It does not read your company to decide what your investor profile should be.
2. Key filters are paid. Check size and lead preference matter a lot at seed, and both are Premium.
3. They need a different outreach channel, such as warm-intro paths or email and phone contacts, rather than deck submission.
4. They want evidence per match: why this investor, from which source, checked when.

OpenVC alternatives at a glance

Signal by NFX: the closest free alternative

Signal is free. NFX says it is "100% free" and that it "will never charge for it". Instead of a single filter screen, it publishes investor lists such as "Top SaaS Seed Investors". Each profile shows a check range, a "sweet spot", past investments and co-investors. If you connect Gmail, Signal shows intro paths through people you already email. Signal says it reads only header metadata, not email content.

Trade-off against OpenVC: Signal's data is crowdsourced and can lag. It is built around intro paths, not direct deck submission. Use both if you can: Signal to see who leads in your sector and stage, OpenVC to reach investors who accept decks.

12inf: when you want reasons, not filters

12inf starts from your company. You enter your website, stage and target investor markets, and can add a pitch deck. 12inf then writes a brief, searches for funds and angels, assesses fit, and returns a ranked shortlist. Each profile has a match score, reasons, focus, relevant portfolio, and sources and contacts where available. Without signing in you see the brief and the first three profiles (names, focus and public links). Contacts and further profiles need paid access (see pricing).

Compared with OpenVC: 12inf does not submit decks, send email or find network intros, so you run outreach from your own inbox. It focuses on pre-seed and seed, with a free brief and preview and paid full access. It suits you if your bottleneck is deciding who to approach, not sending the emails. See 12inf vs OpenVC.

Foundersuite: when you need a heavier CRM

Foundersuite pairs a large proprietary database (216,000 investors plus 150,000 angels and HNW individuals) with a CRM, personalized email campaigns, AI email drafts, deck tracking, investor updates and warm-intro path finding. Basic is free with 75 investors per pipeline. Silver costs $69/month, Gold $99 and Platinum $149. Annual plans cost $745, $1,069 and $1,609 per year.

Trade-off: It is better for running a pipeline than for working out fit. Foundersuite does not say where its records come from.

Visible: when updates matter as much as discovery

Visible Connect is a free investor database filtered by stage, sector and check size. Visible cites "19k+ investor records" and says it is "updated daily". Paid plans (Base $59, Core $129, Growth $199 per month billed annually) mainly add update recipients, decks, data rooms and analytics.

Trade-off: Discovery works much like OpenVC's. The reason to choose Visible is the investor-relations tooling you will use after the round.

AngelMatch: when you need contact data at volume

AngelMatch advertises 125,000+ angels, VCs and PE investors "complete with profiles and contact details", including emails and phone numbers, plus bulk email, an inbox and a CRM. Monthly plans cost $59, $99 and from $349. Yearly plans cost $349, $499 and $2,099. There is a 3-day trial.

Trade-off: It is built for volume and does not say where its data comes from. More emails sent to loosely matched investors rarely beats fewer, better-matched ones at pre-seed.

Evalyze: when your deck needs work first

Evalyze scores your startup and deck, then ranks investors "by stage, sector, location, check size and investment history". It drafts emails that you approve before they are sent from your inbox. Starter is free with up to 30 matches. Pro is $10/month billed annually ($120/year).

Trade-off: It does not say where its investor data comes from. Its scores are Evalyze's own models.

Seedlist: an agent-researched directory with a human in the loop

Seedlist builds a ranked investor sheet with a reason for each fit. It draws on 863 investors and 282 firms, researched by agents from "firm websites, interviews, investors' own writing and news of funding rounds". Each profile shows when it was last researched. Eric Ries reads sheets and makes some introductions.

Trade-off: The directory is much smaller than OpenVC's, no price was published when we checked, and introductions are not guaranteed.

Crunchbase: when you want to see who backed your peers

Crunchbase is the right tool for "who funded companies like mine?". It covers rounds, investors and, on current plans, "likely investors" insights and AI search. Pro costs $49/month billed annually (first-year offer) or $99 monthly.

Trade-off: It is a general private-company database. Pre-seed angels are often thinly covered, and you still have to check each investor's current thesis.

How to decide

• Stay on OpenVC (free) if you know your investor profile and are happy to filter and submit decks yourself.
• Add Signal if warm intros are your main channel.
• Add 12inf or Seedlist if you want a shortlist built from your company, with reasons you can check.
• Switch to Foundersuite, AngelMatch or Visible if your real need is outreach volume, a CRM or investor updates.
• Pay for OpenVC Premium if check-size and lead filters are the only thing you are missing. At $299/year it is one of the cheaper upgrades here.

FAQ

Sources

All checked 11 October 2026.

• OpenVC: home, pricing, Filter the right investors
• Signal by NFX: FAQ, data source, Top SaaS Seed Investors
• 12inf: home, pricing
• Foundersuite: pricing, investor database
• Visible: pricing, Connect
• AngelMatch: home, pricing
• Evalyze: home, pricing
• Seedlist: about, introductions
• Crunchbase: pricing, data sources