Nonprofits · alternatives
Alternatives to Candid
20 nonprofits tools sit alongside Candid in this directory. Below is what separates each from Candid on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 5
- Cheaper to start
- 3
- Candid starts at
- $219/month
Why people look past Candid
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Candid entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Candid starts at $219/month. Across the 4 nonprofits tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $149.5/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Candid carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 5 of the 20 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Nonprofit profile and intelligence platform
- Can be used without paying; Candid cannot.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than Per user per month by tier.
- 2 tiers to Candid's 3.
Fundraising software given free to nonprofits, funded by its founders rather than by fees
- Can be used without paying; Candid cannot.
- Sold on a Free to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processor model rather than Per user per month by tier.
- 1 tier to Candid's 3.
Low-cost grant search across federal, state and private funders, with a paid consultant marketplace alongside
- Can be used without paying; Candid cannot.
- Starts $210 a month cheaper, at $9/month.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than Per user per month by tier.
- 2 tiers to Candid's 3.
Open-source association management system for nonprofits
- Can be used without paying; Candid cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, with paid hosting available model rather than Per user per month by tier.
- 2 tiers to Candid's 3.
Open source constituent relationship management for nonprofits, with no per contact or per donation fee
- Can be used without paying; Candid cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Per user per month by tier.
- 1 tier to Candid's 3.
Offline-first case management and mobile data collection for frontline health and development programmes
- Starts $119 a month cheaper, at $100/month.
- Sold on a Per month by mobile user count model rather than Per user per month by tier.
- 4 tiers to Candid's 3.
Every Candid alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candid (this page) | $219/month | Per user per month by tier | 3 | |
| GuideStarThe nonprofit profile and transparency side of Candid, if that is all you need | Free | Subscription | 2 | vs Candid |
| Give Lively | Free | Free to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processor | 1 | vs Candid |
| OpenGrants | Free, then $9/month | Per user per month | 2 | vs Candid |
| Tendenci | Free | Open source, with paid hosting available | 2 | vs Candid |
| CiviCRM | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Candid |
| CommCare | $100/month | Per month by mobile user count | 4 | vs Candid |
| Foundant Technologies | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Candid |
| CharityEngine | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Candid |
| Instrumentl | $299/month | Per organisation per month by seat band | 4 | vs Candid |
| Fluxx | On request | Quote | 2 | vs Candid |
| Sumac | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Candid |
| Bonterra | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Candid |
| Blackbaud Grantmaking | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Candid |
| SmartSimple Cloud | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Candid |
| Submittable | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Candid |
| GrantStation | $199/year | Per organisation per year | 2 | vs Candid |
| Keela | On request | Per month by contact count | 1 | vs Candid |
| MemberClicks | On request | Quote | 2 | vs Candid |
| Fundraise Up | On request | Percentage of each donation | 1 | vs Candid |
| Glue Up | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Candid |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Candid badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (5)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- GuideStar , Free
- Give Lively , Free
- OpenGrants , Free, then $9/month
- Tendenci , Free
- CiviCRM , Free
Cheaper than Candid (3)
Entry price under Candid's $219/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- OpenGrants , Free, then $9/month
- CommCare , $100/month
- GrantStation , $199/year
What you would be giving up
Candid is most often brought in for a development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three years, a funder verifying us tax exempt status before releasing a grant payment, a software vendor embedding nonprofit organisation data and charity verification into its own product, a nonprofit maintaining a transparency seal on its public profile because institutional funders check it before giving. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Candid is broadly right and the question is cost, the Candid pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Nonprofits category lists everything the directory holds, and best nonprofits tools ranks them.
Candid runs on web, api. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Candid alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Candid?
- 20 other nonprofits tools are listed in this directory, led by GuideStar, Give Lively, OpenGrants, Tendenci. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Candid?
- 5 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: GuideStar, Give Lively, OpenGrants, Tendenci, CiviCRM.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Candid?
- Yes. 3 of the alternatives below start under Candid's $219/month: OpenGrants at Free, then $9/month, CommCare at $100/month, GrantStation at $199/year.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Candid?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Candid?
- Candid is most often brought in for a development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three years, a funder verifying us tax exempt status before releasing a grant payment, a software vendor embedding nonprofit organisation data and charity verification into its own product, a nonprofit maintaining a transparency seal on its public profile because institutional funders check it before giving. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Candid?
- None of the nonprofits tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Candid alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Nonprofits, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Candid against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Candid covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every nonprofits tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Nonprofits category, 20 tools beside Candid. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.