Nonprofits · alternatives
Alternatives to GiveSmart
23 nonprofits tools sit alongside GiveSmart in this directory. Below is what separates each from GiveSmart on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 23
- With a free tier
- 4
- Cheaper to start
- -
- GiveSmart starts at
- On request
Why people look past GiveSmart
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the GiveSmart entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for GiveSmart carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 4 of the 23 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
GiveSmart publishes a single plan, GiveSmart at On request. 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.
Event management and auction fundraising platform, now part of Bonterra
- 3 tiers to GiveSmart's 1.
Mobile-first auction and event fundraising platform
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 3 tiers to GiveSmart's 1.
Complete fundraising platform for nonprofits
- Publishes an entry price of $40/month, where GiveSmart does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 4 tiers to GiveSmart's 1.
Fundraising software given free to nonprofits, funded by its founders rather than by fees
- Can be used without paying; GiveSmart cannot.
- Sold on a Free to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processor model rather than quote.
Low-cost grant search across federal, state and private funders, with a paid consultant marketplace alongside
- Can be used without paying; GiveSmart cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $9/month, where GiveSmart does not.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than quote.
- 2 tiers to GiveSmart's 1.
Open-source association management system for nonprofits
- Can be used without paying; GiveSmart cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, with paid hosting available model rather than quote.
- 2 tiers to GiveSmart's 1.
Every GiveSmart 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GiveSmart (this page) | On request | Quote | 1 | |
| OneCauseDirect competitor in mobile bidding, worth quoting against GiveSmart on both licence and event fees | On request | Quote | 3 | vs GiveSmart |
| HandbidOften cheaper for smaller auctions where full event staffing is not needed | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs GiveSmart |
| QgivBetter when auctions are one part of a broader year round fundraising programme | $40/month | Subscription | 4 | vs GiveSmart |
| Give Lively | Free | Free to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processor | 1 | vs GiveSmart |
| OpenGrants | Free, then $9/month | Per user per month | 2 | vs GiveSmart |
| Tendenci | Free | Open source, with paid hosting available | 2 | vs GiveSmart |
| CiviCRM | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs GiveSmart |
| CommCare | $100/month | Per month by mobile user count | 4 | vs GiveSmart |
| Foundant Technologies | On request | Quote | 3 | vs GiveSmart |
| CharityEngine | On request | Quote | 1 | vs GiveSmart |
| Instrumentl | $299/month | Per organisation per month by seat band | 4 | vs GiveSmart |
| Fluxx | On request | Quote | 2 | vs GiveSmart |
| Sumac | On request | Quote | 1 | vs GiveSmart |
| Bonterra | On request | Quote | 3 | vs GiveSmart |
| Blackbaud Grantmaking | On request | Quote | 1 | vs GiveSmart |
| SmartSimple Cloud | On request | Quote | 1 | vs GiveSmart |
| Submittable | On request | Quote | 1 | vs GiveSmart |
| GrantStation | $199/year | Per organisation per year | 2 | vs GiveSmart |
| Keela | On request | Per month by contact count | 1 | vs GiveSmart |
| MemberClicks | On request | Quote | 2 | vs GiveSmart |
| Fundraise Up | On request | Percentage of each donation | 1 | vs GiveSmart |
| Candid | $219/month | Per user per month by tier | 3 | vs GiveSmart |
| Glue Up | On request | Quote | 3 | vs GiveSmart |
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 GiveSmart badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (4)
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
- CiviCRM , Free
What you would be giving up
GiveSmart is most often brought in for a hospital or school foundation running an annual gala with a live and silent auction, an organisation losing revenue to uncollected pledges after event night, a charity running several auction events a year that can amortise an annual licence, a team wanting bidding, check in and payment settlement handled by one system on the night. 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 GiveSmart is broadly right and the question is cost, the GiveSmart 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.
GiveSmart runs on web, ios, android. 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 GiveSmart alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to GiveSmart?
- 23 other nonprofits tools are listed in this directory, led by OneCause, Handbid, Qgiv, 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 GiveSmart?
- 4 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Give Lively, OpenGrants, Tendenci, CiviCRM.
- Why do people look for an alternative to GiveSmart?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from GiveSmart?
- GiveSmart is most often brought in for a hospital or school foundation running an annual gala with a live and silent auction, an organisation losing revenue to uncollected pledges after event night, a charity running several auction events a year that can amortise an annual licence, a team wanting bidding, check in and payment settlement handled by one system on the night. 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 GiveSmart?
- 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 GiveSmart 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 GiveSmart against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against GiveSmart 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, 23 tools beside GiveSmart. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.