100% free for volunteer fire departments. Every feature.
Beacon35 is built for the volunteer fire service. If your department is all-volunteer, you pay nothing — ever. There are no paid tiers, no upsells, and no credit card. Departments with career staff can contact us about a subscription.
Every feature. No limits. No credit card. No catch. If your department is 100% volunteer, Beacon35 is free. Period.
- Unlimited personnel
- Unlimited stations
- All features included:
- Digital incident reports & AI narratives
- Truck checks & deficiency tracking
- Training log, certs & expiration alerts
- Hydrant & pre-plan database
- Property inspections & PDF reports
- Calendar, scheduling & shift management
- Advanced reporting & analytics
- NERIS direct export
- Equipment inventory & apparatus tracking
- PDF, CSV & multi-format exports
- One-click full data backup & export
- Custom forms & training builder
- SSO with Google
- Email support
Beacon35's free plan is reserved for 100% volunteer departments. If your department has paid or career staff and you'd like to use Beacon35, contact us and we'll work out a subscription that fits.
- Same platform, every feature
- Subscription arranged directly with us
- Municipal purchase orders & procurement supported
- Multi-department & mutual aid options available
Everything is included
There's one plan, and it has all of it. No feature gates, no upgrade path, nothing held back.
| Feature | Volunteer (free) |
|---|---|
| Personnel | Unlimited |
| Stations | Unlimited |
| Digital incident reports & run sheets | ✓ |
| AI-generated report narratives | ✓ |
| Truck checks & deficiency tracking | ✓ |
| Roster & availability | ✓ |
| SOG/SOP policy templates | Free via our partner Tailboard.org |
| Firefighter health & fitness | Free via our partner RITReady.com |
| Training log + photos | ✓ |
| Cert tracker + expiration alerts | ✓ |
| Calendar & scheduling | ✓ |
| NERIS reports & direct export | ✓ |
| Advanced analytics | ✓ |
| Equipment inventory | ✓ |
| PDF / CSV export | ✓ |
| Full department data backup | ✓ |
| Custom forms & training builder | ✓ |
| Hydrant & pre-plan database | ✓ |
| Property inspections | ✓ |
| CAD integration | ✓ |
| API access for integrations | ✓ |
| SSO (Google) | ✓ |
| Support | Email (best effort, no SLA) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who qualifies for the free Volunteer plan?
Any fire department that is 100% volunteer — no paid or career operational staff. You self-certify at signup and re-certify annually. That's the only requirement. Every feature is included with no personnel or station limits.
What's the catch?
There isn't one on features — you get everything. The free plan is provided as-is with best-effort support and no service-level guarantee, and Beacon35 assumes no liability for your use of it (see our Terms of Service).
Is it really free forever? No trial, no card?
Really. There is no trial period, no credit card requirement, no per-seat fee, and no paid tier we're funneling you toward. As long as your department remains all-volunteer, Beacon35 is free.
What if our department has paid or career staff?
Then the free plan isn't available to you, but the platform is — contact us and we'll arrange a subscription directly. We work with municipal purchase orders and government procurement.
What happens if we hire paid staff later?
Congratulations on growing! Once your department has paid operational staff, you no longer qualify for the free Volunteer plan. You'll have 60 days to contact us and arrange a subscription, with no disruption to your data or service.
How does onboarding work?
Self-service: sign up, self-certify your volunteer status, and you're in. Setup guides walk you through configuring your department, apparatus, and roster. Support is available by email on a best-effort basis.