Lotsa Helping Hands alternatives
The best Lotsa Helping Hands alternatives, compared
The best free Lotsa Helping Hands alternatives are Rallee, CaringBridge and MealTrain. Rallee is the most complete option: it keeps the care calendar for meals, rides and errands, puts health updates and a message board on the same page, and collects donations for the family, which Lotsa doesn't do.
Free, no ads, no premium tier. Takes under 1 minute.
Side by side
How the top Lotsa Helping Hands alternatives compare
Compare tools to see which is right for youComparison verified September 17, 2026 against each provider's own website.
| Feature | Rallee | Lotsa Helping Hands | CaringBridge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to create a page | Free | Free | Free |
| Care calendar for tasks and meals | Yes | Yes | No |
| Share updates with everyone at once | Yes | Announcements | Yes |
| Embedded donations | Yes | No | No |
| Embedded gift card marketplace | Yes | No | No |
| Donation fees | 2.9% + $0.30 | N/A | N/A |
"Embedded gift card marketplace" means supporters browse and buy on the page itself. CaringBridge and MealTrain hand off to InComm's TheGiftCardShop instead, which is why both show no here: MealTrain's own help centre states it "does not actually sell gift cards". "Embedded donations" means supporters give on the page itself. CaringBridge, Give InKind and Lotsa Helping Hands do not, so no donation fee applies to them; CaringBridge and Give InKind families can link out to a separate fundraiser instead, which carries whatever that fundraiser charges. Fees shown are what comes out of a donation before it reaches the recipient.
The short answer
Which Lotsa Helping Hands alternative is right for you?
Compare which care calendar is best for your situation.
Best all around alternative to Lotsa Helping Hands
Rallee
Everything Lotsa does for tasks and updates, plus donations and gift cards on the same page, free, and set up in under 1 minute.
Best if updates are all you need
CaringBridge
Running since 1997 and familiar to most families. Tribute donations made on a CaringBridge page go to CaringBridge, not to the family.
Best if you like the classics
MealTrain
The best-known meal calendar. A classic page is free with one meal per day, and a one-time $10 upgrade unlocks more.
Coming from Lotsa Helping Hands
Switching from Lotsa Helping Hands? Here's what's different on Rallee.
The care calendar will feel familiar: supporters pick a date and sign up for a meal, a ride or a task. Here's what changes.
People join from one link
Share the link and supporters choose what they can do. Nobody has to be added one at a time before they can help.
Updates and messages built in
Post an update once and everyone following is notified. Supporters write back on the same page as the calendar.
More ways to help
Rallee has 16 support types, plus custom support for whatever you need: meals, rides, errands, childcare, pet care, visits and more.
Help from people who live far away
A care calendar works for people nearby. Friends in another state often want to send money or a gift card instead. Here's where they can do that.
On Lotsa Helping Hands
No way to give money or gift cards on the page
On Rallee
Donations, gift cards and meals on one page
- Donations go to the recipient, with a 0% Rallee platform fee
- The only cost is Stripe's card fee, 2.9% plus $0.30
- Gift cards for DoorDash, Grubhub, Starbucks and hundreds of other retailers
- Optional. Turn them on only if you want them
How it works
How to set up a care calendar on Rallee
If you've run a Lotsa community, most of this will feel familiar, with less to set up first. Starting a Rallee takes under 1 minute.
Step 1
Start the page by adding a few details
Who it is for, what they are going through, an optional photo, and how long you think you will need it. Nothing to assign, no coordinators to appoint, no task types to define first.
Works for illness, recovery, a new baby, or a loss
No roles to set up before anyone can help
Set the dates you expect to need, and change them later
Step 2
Choose the kinds of help you actually need.
Turn on a care calendar, rides, errands, childcare, meals, or none of them. Updates and messages are on from the start, so the page works even if you never add a rota.
16 built-in ways to help, plus custom support for whatever you need
Updates and messages need no setting up
Add to your Rallee or edit it at any time
Step 3
Share one link. People join themselves.
Send the link by text, WhatsApp, Facebook or email. Nobody has to be added one at a time, and there is no approval step between someone wanting to help and being able to.
One link, however your people already talk
No member list to build by hand
Text, WhatsApp, Facebook, email, or paste it anywhere
Step 4
Supporters pick what they can do.
People claim a date and a task themselves, so you are not chasing anyone or assigning jobs. The calendar fills in without a coordinator running it.
Claim a slot in a couple of taps
Everyone sees what is covered and what is not
Reminders go out, so you are not the one chasing
Step 5
Write the update once. Let people write back.
Post what is happening and everyone following gets it, instead of retelling it over and over. Supporters leave messages on the page rather than in fifteen separate inboxes.
Write as often or as rarely as you want
Add photos when there is something good to show
Messages of encouragement in one place
Step 6
Manage donations and gifts
Turn on a donation fund or gift cards and they sit alongside the calendar. Donations go to your recipient with no Rallee platform fee, only Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30.
Donations go straight to your recipient
Gift cards for people who are too far away to cook
Money and meals on one page, not two sites
Ways to help
An all-in-one care page
Rallee has 16 support types, plus custom support for whatever you need. Every one is optional. Choose as many ways to show up as you want:
Share updates
Deliver a meal
Donate
Give coffee/tea
Give a gift
Provide transportation
Help with kids
Give flowers
Help with pets
Help clean
Visit
Check in
Run an errand
Unlimited custom support
- Care calendar
Everyone sees what's covered and what's open.
- Tasks
Rides, errands, kids and pets, claimed in a tap.
- Invite
One link. People add themselves.
- Updates
Tell everyone at once.
- Messages
Encouragement next to the calendar.
- Gift cards
For helpers who live far away.
- Donations
Optional, and the money goes to them.
Mostly meals? Here's how to start a meal train.
Moving over
How to move from Lotsa Helping Hands to Rallee
Your Lotsa community stays where it is. Set the new page up for what is coming rather than what has already happened, share one link, and let people join as they need to. Nobody has to be added by an administrator first.
- Do I have to rebuild the volunteer list?
- No. On Rallee people join from a link rather than being added one at a time. Send the link and they sign up for whatever they can do.
- Can I move the existing calendar across?
- Not automatically. We cannot import a Lotsa calendar. Most people leave the old one running until its current dates pass and start the new one from today.
- What about past announcements?
- They stay on Lotsa. Leave the community up if people want to read back through it. New updates go on the new page.
- Does everyone need an account?
- Supporters sign in before confirming a slot, so the recipient knows who is coming. There is nothing to set up in advance and no administrator approval step.
I've set up a new page for coordinating help for [Name]. [link] You don't need to be added by anyone, just open the link and pick anything you can do. The Lotsa page is still up if you want to look back at it.
Copy it, add your link, and send it by text, WhatsApp, Facebook or email.
“We turned to Rallee to take the guesswork out of how our community could step in and help. As friends and family joined, the support began pouring in. The message section on Rallee became a space filled with encouragement, prayers, and shared memories. My father-in-law cherished those stories and photos in his final days”
FAQ
Lotsa Helping Hands alternatives: common questions
The best free Lotsa Helping Hands alternative is Rallee. It has the care calendar Lotsa Helping Hands is known for, plus updates and messages, gift cards, and donations that go to the recipient with a 0% platform fee. It has 16 support types, plus custom support for whatever you need, and setup takes under 1 minute. If updates are all you need, CaringBridge is free and ad-free, and if you only need meals, a classic MealTrain page is free.
Both are free and both have a care calendar for meals, rides and tasks. Rallee adds donations that go to the recipient and a gift card marketplace on the page itself, neither of which Lotsa Helping Hands has. On Rallee, updates and messages are on from the start, and people join from one link and pick what they can do. Rallee has 16 support types, plus custom support for whatever you need.
Lotsa Helping Hands is built around a care calendar for meals, rides and tasks, with Announcements and Well Wishes for keeping in touch. CaringBridge is built around health updates and has no volunteer meal calendar. Both are free. Rallee does both on one page: health updates and messages, a care calendar, and donations that go to the recipient.
Lotsa Helping Hands has Announcements for sharing news and Well Wishes for messages from supporters. On Rallee, updates and messages are on from the start: post an update once, everyone following is notified, and supporters reply on the same page as the care calendar. You can also say an update out loud with speech to text instead of typing it.
No. Lotsa Helping Hands has no fundraising feature. Rallee lets you add a donation fund on the same page as the care calendar. Donations go directly to the recipient, with a 0% Rallee platform fee and only Stripe's 2.9% plus $0.30 card fee.
Yes, Lotsa Helping Hands is free to use. Rallee is also free, with no ads, no premium tier, and no requests for your supporters to donate to Rallee.
Start a Rallee and answer a few questions: who it's for, what they're going through, an optional photo, and the dates you expect to need help. Turn on the kinds of help you need, like meals, rides or errands, then share the link by text, email or social media. People join from the link and sign up for what they can do.
Yes. Create a Rallee for your loved one, post updates as they recover, let friends leave encouraging messages, and coordinate meals, rides to follow-up appointments and errands, all from a single link. Setup takes under 1 minute and it's free with no ads.
Keep reading
More resources
Share health updates with family and friendsA free, private page for updates and messages, with meals, rides and donations when you need them.
How to set up a meal trainStep by step, with what to include, an invite you can copy, and how long a meal train should last.
The best meal train apps, comparedSix free meal train apps and sites: meal calendars, help beyond meals, and what each charges on donations.
The best CaringBridge alternatives, comparedHealth updates plus practical help on one page, and where donations go on each site.
The best GoFundMe alternatives, comparedFees, payouts and privacy on six fundraising sites, and how to collect meals and rides beside the donations.
How to help a loved one with cancerWhat to say, what to bring, and what to organize from diagnosis through treatment.
Free, no ads
Let your community show up.
Set up a care calendar in under 1 minute, share one link, and let people pick what they can do.
Start a free RalleeBy Kevin Holst, Co-Founder, Rallee · Published · Updated
How we compared these tools. Every claim in the table was checked against the provider's own website on September 17, 2026, and every source is linked below.
If you find something here that is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
Sources (7)
- Lotsa Helping Hands — care calendar, Well Wishes, Announcements, photo gallery, iOS and Android apps
- CaringBridge — free, ad-free, donor-funded
- CaringBridge Help Center — where tribute donations go
- Give InKind — care calendar, wishlists, gift card wallet, connected fundraising
- SupportNow — fees
- MealTrain — “MealTrain.com does not actually sell gift cards. The buttons on MealTrain.com take participants to partner companies”
- MealTrain — “a standard 7.9% + $0.30 platform and processing fee”
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