Every row in your spreadsheet is a person.
Social service agencies in Singapore use Excel and Google Sheets because it's free and familiar. But a spreadsheet can't give consent, prove it, or erase itself. Socianote can.
Free plan — no credit card, no time limit, up to 3 staff.
What a spreadsheet can't do
Spreadsheets are general-purpose tools. Case management for social service agencies is a specific job.
| Feature | Socianote | Excel / Google Sheets |
|---|---|---|
| PDPA audit trail (immutable change history) | Built-in | Not available |
| Consent recorded on every participant record | Built-in | Manual (if at all) |
| Right to erasure (hard delete) | One click — data permanently removed | Deleting a row is not PDPA-compliant erasure |
| Role-based access (staff see only what they need) | Built-in | Shared file = everyone sees everything |
| Funder impact reports | Generated from your data automatically | Manual — hours of copy-paste per quarter |
| Pre-intake community interaction tracking | Built-in | Not possible |
| Participant mobile app (journals, support requests) | Included from Starter | Not applicable |
| Multi-user collaboration without file conflicts | Real-time, role-aware | Overwrite risk on every save |
| Subject access request (export one person's data) | One click | Manual search across multiple sheets |
| Free to start | Free plan — up to 3 staff | Free |
5 things your spreadsheet will never do
Your spreadsheet is not PDPA-compliant
PDPA requires that you can prove consent was given, show exactly who changed what and when, and permanently erase a beneficiary's data on request. A spreadsheet has none of this. Socianote has all of it — built in, not bolted on.
Funder reports that write themselves
Your funder wants outcomes by programme, attendance rates, and demographic breakdowns. In a spreadsheet, that's a full day of work per report. In Socianote, it's the data you already entered — formatted and ready.
The full journey — before intake and after closure
A spreadsheet tracks who you're working with. Socianote tracks who reached out before they became a case, and what happened after they left. That context is what makes funder reports — and re-engagement — actually useful.
Role-based access your board will approve
When your case file is a shared Google Sheet, every staff member sees every beneficiary. Socianote gives each person access to exactly what their role requires — and a full log of every time anyone looks at anything.
Built for 5–50 staff teams
Not enterprise software that needs a six-month rollout. Not a one-person tool. Socianote is designed for the team size most VWOs and community organisations actually have — with pricing to match.
Ready to see the difference?
Start freeMoving from spreadsheets is simpler than you think
You don't have to enter everything from scratch. Most of your data maps directly.
Export your spreadsheet
Save your existing participant and case data as CSV. Most agencies are running from one or two files.
We help map and migrate
On the Team plan, guided migration support is included. We handle the data move so nothing gets lost or duplicated.
Go live the same week
No implementation project, no consultant, no downtime. Most teams are fully live within a week of deciding to switch.
Common questions
We're a small team — is Socianote overkill?
No. The Free plan supports up to 3 staff and 50 participants with no time limit and no credit card required. Most small teams start on Free and upgrade when their programme grows.
We have years of data in Excel. Can we bring it across?
Yes. For smaller teams, you can add existing participants directly — most records take under a minute. For larger datasets, guided migration support is available on the Team plan.
How long does it take to get set up?
Most teams are live the same day they sign up. There's no implementation project, no consultant, and no approval process. Sign up, add your participants, start.
Is Socianote PDPA certified?
Socianote is built to PDPA principles — consent tracking, immutable audit trail, hard delete, and subject access request export are all built in. We are not currently ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certified. A signed Data Processing Agreement is available for agencies that require one.
What if we want to go back to spreadsheets?
You can export all your data at any time — participants, cases, notes, and programme records — as CSV. You own your data, and it's always portable.
Your data deserves better than a shared file.
Start free. No credit card, no sales call, no six-month rollout.