Primero

Primero is an open-source information management platform for protection-related data. It supports child protection and gender-based violence case management, incident monitoring, and family tracing and reunification. Its workflows cover identification, registration, assessment, planning, referrals and transfers, and case closure, with supervision, notifications, and tasking tools. Teams can use case intake forms, custom fields, audit trails, and reporting dashboards. Programme teams can configure forms, roles, lookups, reports, languages, logos, and locations through a self-service interface. Primero is available in more than 40 languages and runs on Android, iOS, web, API, and self-hosted deployments. Its progressive web app works online and offline in modern browsers, but offline users can create cases and edit records accessed in the session; changes submit after reconnecting. The platform lists CPIMS+, GBVIMS+, and MRMIMS+ modules. The free DIY tier is self-managed and requires users to cover hosting and IT needs. Full Service SaaS is $8,250 USD per year; hybrid deployment is $25,000 USD for the first year.

Primero combines configurable protection case workflows with reporting, language, and deployment options. Teams considering the free self-managed tier should account for its hosting and IT responsibilities.

Primero is designed for protection professionals, including humanitarian, development, and public-sector social services workers. It may suit teams that need configurable case workflows and can provide the technical capacity required by self-managed deployment.

Primero is an open-source case-management platform for protection professionals handling child protection, gender-based violence, incident monitoring, or family tracing and reunification. It is best suited to humanitarian, development, and public-sector social services teams that need configurable workflows and can either manage their own infrastructure or fund hosted support. Its specialized scope and offline access are compelling; the trade-off is that self-management requires substantial technical capacity, while managed options carry significant annual costs.

Overview

Primero organizes protection work across identification, registration, assessment, planning, referrals and transfers, and case closure, with supervision, notifications, and tasking tools supporting ongoing work. Its three modules—CPIMS+, GBVIMS+, and MRMIMS+—reflect its focus on protection-related casework rather than general-purpose client management. That focus is a strength for organizations with those needs, but makes it a poor fit for teams seeking a broad, unspecialized case-management system.

The platform is open source and certified as a digital public good in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Those credentials may matter to organizations looking for a public-interest platform, but they do not remove the need to plan for implementation, infrastructure, and support.

Key features

• Configurable workflows and records: Teams can configure forms, roles, lookups, reports, languages, logos, and locations through a self-service interface. Case intake forms, custom fields, an audit trail, and reporting dashboards provide building blocks for structured work and oversight. The range is useful for adapting the system to different programmes, though teams will need to invest in configuration.
• Offline use: The v2 progressive web app works online and offline in modern browsers on mobile devices, tablets, and laptops. Offline work is limited to creating cases and editing records already accessed during the session; changes are submitted after reconnection. This can help teams working with intermittent connectivity, but it is not a substitute for full offline access to every record or function.
• Languages and access controls: More than 40 languages are available out of the box, and role-based permissions restrict sensitive data according to users’ need to know. This combination is relevant for multilingual teams handling confidential cases.
• Interoperability: Primero describes its integrations as designed for auditable, safer data sharing and better coordination. The pricing page offers integration with UNHCR’s ProGres v4, with setup, operating, and support costs set per implementation. That option may help organizations working with ProGres, but implementation costs need to be assessed for each deployment.
• Support resources: The Support Hub provides documentation, knowledge-base articles, release information, training, technical guidance, and community access. DIY teams can draw on these resources, but they remain responsible for running the deployment.

Pricing

Primero is freemium. Tier 1: DIY costs nothing, billed annually. It provides an open-source self-managed deployment plus documentation and community support. There is no stated user or data cap, but the zero-price option is not a turnkey service: implementers must provide servers, security, DNS, configuration, updates, support, hosting, and IT costs. It suits organizations with the technical capacity to take on that work.

Tier 3: Full Service SaaS costs $8,250 USD per year. It includes UNICEF Azure-hosted demo and production sites, deployment, operations, training, upgrades, and ongoing support, with no limits on users or data volumes. The hosted service removes infrastructure management from the partner, but its annual price is a substantial commitment.

Tier 4: Hybrid deployment costs $25,000 USD for the 1st year, then decreases to the cost listed in Tier 3 in the 2nd year and thereafter. Production is locally hosted, while the demo is hosted on UNICEF Azure; the partner manages production infrastructure, security, configuration, and maintenance. It fits organizations that require local production hosting and can operate it, but costs more in year one and retains significant partner responsibilities.

Tier 5: Custom package has custom pricing, scoped case by case. It may include custom development, integrations, API development, extensions, or migrations. Tier 2: Single organization is currently under development and is shown as available July 2026; it is not a current alternative to the DIY or hosted tiers.

Platforms

Primero supports Android, iOS, web, API, and self-hosted deployment. The browser-based offline mode extends use to mobile devices, tablets, and laptops, with the stated limits on offline work applying. The mix of hosted and self-managed deployment gives organizations flexibility, but the latter requires in-house technical ownership.

Who it's for

Primero is aimed at protection professionals in humanitarian, development, and public-sector social services. It is a particularly strong candidate for programmes managing child protection or gender-based violence cases, monitoring incidents, or tracing and reuniting families. Teams that need multilingual workflows, adaptable forms, and controlled access to sensitive records have good reason to consider it. Organizations without infrastructure expertise should weigh the full-service tier; teams looking for general-purpose case management may find Primero’s specialized remit less suitable.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Purpose-built protection workflows: The lifecycle tools and dedicated modules align with sensitive protection casework, rather than forcing teams to start from a generic case list.
• Flexible configuration and broad language support: Programme teams can adjust key parts of the system themselves, and more than 40 languages are available out of the box.
• Meaningful deployment choice: Organizations can choose a free self-managed tier, hosted SaaS, or local production in a hybrid setup.
• Offline capability: Teams can create cases and update previously accessed records when disconnected, then submit changes after reconnecting.

Cons

• The free tier transfers substantial work to the implementer: Servers, security, DNS, configuration, updates, support, hosting, and IT all remain the organization’s responsibility.
• Hosted service is costly: Full Service SaaS starts at $8,250 USD per year, and hybrid deployment costs $25,000 USD for the 1st year.
• Offline functionality is constrained: Users cannot treat offline mode as unrestricted access to all records and features.
• Hybrid deployment still requires technical ownership: The partner manages production infrastructure, security, configuration, and maintenance.

Alternatives

Nonprofit Case Management Software and Case Management Software are useful directories for comparing options beyond Primero’s protection-focused remit.

• Collaborate is a paid option with custom pricing based on organization size, user count, and modules, and no per-seat licensing fees; consider it if that pricing structure better fits your organization.
• SKAS is a paid alternative with pricing available on request.
• CaseWorthy is a paid alternative available on Android, API, iOS, and web.
• In-Form is a freemium option developed by Homeless Link, with an Essential plan at £165 per y; consider it if that option suits your needs.
• Bonterra Penelope is a paid alternative with pricing available on request.
• CaseFlow is a paid, no-free-plan option with a Base Package at $150 a month, covering two users, one custom workflow, and unlimited cases; its setup fee is $1995.
• FAMCare offers tailored pricing based on user count, deployment scale, and configuration.
• OSCaR is another paid alternative.

Verdict

Primero is a strong choice for protection-focused organizations that need configurable, multilingual case workflows and can match their deployment to their technical capacity. Its main advantage is the combination of specialized casework tools, controlled access, and genuine deployment flexibility; its main drawback is the operational burden of DIY or the high annual cost of managed hosting. Choose it when its protection remit fits your work, and look elsewhere if you need general-purpose case management or cannot support either the infrastructure responsibilities or hosted price.