— Comparison · Beacon vs eCanvasser
eCanvasser pioneered digital canvassing, and Beacon covers the same job — territories, walk lists, doors, and dispositions — at roughly 25-29% lower pricing, with unlimited canvassers on every plan and a phone app that continues working without cell signal from Starter on up. Live GPS tracking is available at the Growth tier and AI Script Coach is a $29/mo add-on. The sections below lay out the pricing and feature differences line by line.
— Quick verdict
— Feature by feature
| Feature | Beacon | eCanvasser |
|---|---|---|
| Works without cell signal | IncludedKnocks saved on the phone, sent to the server when signal returns | IncludedAvailable; offline mode is a licensed feature |
| AI Script Coach | $29/mo add-onPersonalized talking points per door, on any tier | Not availableNo AI features in product |
| Route optimization | IncludedAuto-orders the walk by street, with priority weighting | IncludedRoute planning up to 200 stops |
| Data enrichment | IncludedBuilt-in append for phone, email, demographics | Not availableRequires third-party data vendor |
| Digital proposals & e-sign | IncludedDoor-side templates with e-signature capture | Not available |
| Real-time GPS tracking | Growth+Live canvasser positions, geofence alerts; on Growth ($129) and up | PartialBasic location logging only |
| Gamification | IncludedBadges, streaks, team leaderboards | Not available |
| Territory management | IncludedSpatial polygons, coverage heatmaps, density analysis | IncludedTerritory assignment available |
| Custom surveys | IncludedFive question types, works without cell signal | Included |
| Signed webhooks | IncludedSigned payloads with retry | LimitedAPI surface is narrow |
| REST API | IncludedFull REST + OpenAPI docs | PartialLimited endpoints |
| Mobile distribution | PWA installInstall from browser in 30 seconds — no app store gate | Native iOS/Android |
| Pricing model | Flat tiersFrom $59/mo by contact volume; unlimited canvassers; only GPS & AI gated | Lead-volume + tier gatesMany features locked to higher tiers |
— The five real differences
eCanvasser hands a static script to canvassers. Beacon's AI Script Coach reads the contact's demographics, prior interactions, and issue priorities and generates a doorstep-specific opener and follow-up, so newer volunteers have something close to what an experienced canvasser would say. It's a $29/mo add-on that works on any tier, which means it can be turned on for the close-of-cycle push and off between programs.
With eCanvasser, enriching a contact list involves a separate data vendor and CSVs moving back and forth. Beacon's enrichment engine appends phone, email, and 40+ demographic attributes from one screen, and DNC scrubbing plus phone-type detection run in the same flow.
Beacon's route optimizer doesn't only shorten the walking distance — it weights priority contacts so higher-value doors are hit on the first pass through a block rather than on a second pass. eCanvasser added route planning recently, though the two implementations aren't really comparable in practice.
Both products work without signal, but Beacon was built this way from the start. Every plan saves knocks on the phone, sends them to the server in the background when signal returns, and handles duplicate visits on the server side. Dead zones, basements, and rural stretches where signal cuts out are all treated the same — the knock is held on the device and uploaded when a bar returns.
eCanvasser gates many features behind higher tiers and prices by lead volume. Beacon prices by contact tier — Starter at $59 for 2,500 contacts up to Enterprise at $599 for 250K+ — with unlimited canvassers on every plan. There are only two upgrade levers: live GPS is available at Growth, and AI features are $29/mo add-ons. Everything else is on Starter.
— Pricing, head to head
Beacon Pro
$149 /mo
25,000 contacts with unlimited canvassers, live GPS tracking, and geofence alerts. Surveys, gamification, and the rest of the platform are included on every plan, with AI Script Coach available as a $29/mo add-on.
eCanvasser Pro
$199 /mo
20,000 contacts under a per-lead pricing model with features gated by tier, and neither AI capabilities nor built-in enrichment are available at any price point.
— Frequently asked
Yes. Export your contacts from eCanvasser as CSV and drop them into Beacon. Records geocode automatically and can run through enrichment in the same flow if you want phone/email append.
Yes. The vocabulary in-product is "Canvassers · Voters · Territories · Walk Lists." Voter file import, VoterID matching, party affiliation, and precinct assignment are all supported. Beacon also works for door-to-door sales and nonprofit programs — the data model is the same, the labels change.
Yes — every Beacon plan ships full offline support, so canvassers can download their walk list, knock without signal, and what they captured uploads automatically when connectivity returns.
Beacon Pro is $149/mo for 25,000 contacts. eCanvasser's nearest tier is $199/mo for 20,000. Beacon comes in 25% lower with 25% more contact headroom. AI Script Coach is available as a $29/mo Beacon add-on (eCanvasser doesn't ship it at all); data enrichment is $0.10/record on Beacon, while eCanvasser requires a third-party vendor.
AI Script Coach is $29/mo on top of any Beacon plan. It's billed separately because each AI call has real cost — bundling it into the tier price would either inflate the platform price or cap usage. It can be added for the close-of-cycle push and dropped between programs.
Beacon is month-to-month by default, and annual billing saves 20% for teams that want to lock it in. No multi-year deals are required.
— Switch the program
Start a free trial, import your eCanvasser export, and walk the first turf this week. We'll help with the migration.