Comparison
The Great Grantsby vs Google Alerts
Google Alerts is free and easy to set up — many researchers use it as their default funding monitor. The trade-off is that it is keyword-based and indiscriminate: you get every page that mentions your keywords, not every page that is actually a grant you are eligible for. The Great Grantsby does the filtering Google cannot do.
Comparison verified . Based on publicly available pricing and product information.
The Great Grantsby
Structured grant data, personalised match scores, curated weekly digest.
Google Alerts
Free keyword alerts across the whole web.
Pricing
The Great Grantsby
Free tier + €10/month Pro
Google Alerts
Free
Feature comparison
| Feature | Grantsby | Google Alerts |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free tier available, Pro €10/month | Free |
| Structured grant data (budget, deadline, eligibility) | Yes — extracted weekly | No — raw web pages only |
| Personalised match score | Yes, 0–100 | No |
| Eligibility filtering (career stage, country) | Yes — hard filters applied | No |
| Deduplication across funder websites | Yes | No — same call appears many times |
| Noise level | Low — only matched open calls | High — news articles, old calls, unrelated mentions |
| Format | Weekly HTML digest | Individual emails per keyword hit |
Choose The Great Grantsby if…
- ✓European-based research labs and PIs
- ✓Individual researchers who want a weekly digest in their inbox
- ✓Early- and mid-career researchers tracking ERC, NWO, MSCA, DFG, ANR, FWO deadlines
- ✓Labs with €10/month budgets who do not want a five-figure institutional contract
Choose Google Alerts if…
- ✓Researchers who want a zero-cost baseline
- ✓Monitoring any keyword (not just funding)
- ✓Users happy to filter noise manually
Our verdict
Google Alerts is a fine starting point, but you will filter most of the results yourself. The Great Grantsby exists because the typical PI wastes hours each week chasing leads that turn out to be expired, ineligible, or duplicated across news sites. If your time is worth more than €10/month, the digest pays for itself.
FAQ
+Why not just use Google Alerts?
Google Alerts matches keywords — not eligible open grants. You get news articles, old calls, and the same funder page showing up under five different keywords. The Great Grantsby extracts structured data (budget, deadline, eligibility) from each call and filters it against your profile.
+Does The Great Grantsby have a free tier?
Yes. The free tier includes the top 10 matched grants and a monthly digest. You can start for free and upgrade to Pro (€10/month) for weekly delivery and all matches.
+Can I use both?
Plenty of researchers do. Google Alerts catches long-tail mentions and policy news; The Great Grantsby handles the structured weekly funding digest.
Other comparisons
Ready to try the digest yourself?
Free forever, no credit card. Your first matched digest takes two minutes to set up.
Find my next grant →