Nonprofits · alternatives
Alternatives to CiviCRM
22 nonprofits tools sit alongside CiviCRM in this directory. Below is what separates each from CiviCRM on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 3
- Cheaper to start
- -
- CiviCRM starts at
- Free
Why people look past CiviCRM
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the CiviCRM entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
CiviCRM publishes a single plan, CiviCRM at Free. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
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.
Integrated CRM and email marketing for nonprofits
- No free tier, where CiviCRM has one.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to CiviCRM's 1.
Integrated CRM and digital marketing for nonprofits
- No free tier, where CiviCRM has one.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to CiviCRM's 1.
Comprehensive donor management software
- No free tier, where CiviCRM has one.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to CiviCRM's 1.
Fundraising software given free to nonprofits, funded by its founders rather than by fees
- Sold on a Free to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processor model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
Low-cost grant search across federal, state and private funders, with a paid consultant marketplace alongside
- Publishes an entry price of $9/month, where CiviCRM does not.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to CiviCRM's 1.
Open-source association management system for nonprofits
- Sold on a Open source, with paid hosting available model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to CiviCRM's 1.
Every CiviCRM 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CiviCRM (this page) | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | |
| Salsa CRMHosted alternative for advocacy and fundraising organisations that do not want to run infrastructure | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs CiviCRM |
| EveryActionBetter for campaigning organisations that need advocacy, digital and fundraising integrated and supported | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs CiviCRM |
| DonorPerfectSimpler hosted donor database for organisations without technical capacity | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs CiviCRM |
| Give Lively | Free | Free to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processor | 1 | vs CiviCRM |
| OpenGrants | Free, then $9/month | Per user per month | 2 | vs CiviCRM |
| Tendenci | Free | Open source, with paid hosting available | 2 | vs CiviCRM |
| CommCare | $100/month | Per month by mobile user count | 4 | vs CiviCRM |
| Foundant Technologies | On request | Quote | 3 | vs CiviCRM |
| CharityEngine | On request | Quote | 1 | vs CiviCRM |
| Instrumentl | $299/month | Per organisation per month by seat band | 4 | vs CiviCRM |
| Fluxx | On request | Quote | 2 | vs CiviCRM |
| Sumac | On request | Quote | 1 | vs CiviCRM |
| Bonterra | On request | Quote | 3 | vs CiviCRM |
| Blackbaud Grantmaking | On request | Quote | 1 | vs CiviCRM |
| SmartSimple Cloud | On request | Quote | 1 | vs CiviCRM |
| Submittable | On request | Quote | 1 | vs CiviCRM |
| GrantStation | $199/year | Per organisation per year | 2 | vs CiviCRM |
| Keela | On request | Per month by contact count | 1 | vs CiviCRM |
| MemberClicks | On request | Quote | 2 | vs CiviCRM |
| Fundraise Up | On request | Percentage of each donation | 1 | vs CiviCRM |
| Candid | $219/month | Per user per month by tier | 3 | vs CiviCRM |
| Glue Up | On request | Quote | 3 | vs CiviCRM |
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 CiviCRM badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (3)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Give Lively , Free
- OpenGrants , Free, then $9/month
- Tendenci , Free
What you would be giving up
CiviCRM is most often brought in for a membership organisation with a large contact file that refuses to pay a per contact meter, an advocacy group needing to hold constituent data on infrastructure it controls, a charity already running drupal or wordpress that wants crm inside the same stack, an organisation with unusual data requirements that no hosted product will build for it. 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 CiviCRM is broadly right and the question is cost, the CiviCRM 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.
CiviCRM runs on web, linux, self-hosted. 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 CiviCRM alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to CiviCRM?
- 22 other nonprofits tools are listed in this directory, led by Salsa CRM, EveryAction, DonorPerfect, Give Lively. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to CiviCRM?
- 3 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Give Lively, OpenGrants, Tendenci.
- Why do people look for an alternative to CiviCRM?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from CiviCRM?
- CiviCRM is most often brought in for a membership organisation with a large contact file that refuses to pay a per contact meter, an advocacy group needing to hold constituent data on infrastructure it controls, a charity already running drupal or wordpress that wants crm inside the same stack, an organisation with unusual data requirements that no hosted product will build for it. 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 CiviCRM?
- 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 CiviCRM 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 CiviCRM against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against CiviCRM 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, 22 tools beside CiviCRM. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.