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Nonprofits · head to head

Aplos vs CiviCRM

Aplos logo

Aplos

Nonprofits

Fund accounting for nonprofits and churches, with donor management and online giving attached

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
CiviCRM logo

CiviCRM

Nonprofits

Open source constituent relationship management for nonprofits, with no per contact or per donation fee

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only CiviCRM has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Aplos the donor management side is record keeping rather than fundraising software, so any organisation running segmented appeals or automation will still buy a CRM and pay twice.; CiviCRM nobody maintains it for you, so security patches and major version upgrades are your operational responsibility and organisations that skip them end up stranded on an old release.
  • They diverge on capability: Aplos covers Fund accounting ledger, CiviCRM covers Contribution and pledge tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aplos and CiviCRM actually diverge.

Attributes where Aplos and CiviCRM differ
AttributeAplosCiviCRM
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelPer month by feature tierOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, Self-hosted

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Nonprofits).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aplos

  • Fund accounting ledger
  • Nonprofit financial statements
  • Donor management
  • Online giving pages
  • Budgeting by fund
  • Church tools

Only in CiviCRM

  • Contribution and pledge tracking
  • Membership management
  • Events and registration
  • Case management
  • CMS integration
  • Extension framework

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aplos

  • A nonprofit whose auditor has raised restricted fund reporting as a findingnot CiviCRM
  • A church tracking contributions, designated funds and giving statements in one systemnot CiviCRM
  • A small organisation replacing QuickBooks plus a spreadsheet of fund balancesnot CiviCRM
  • An Aplos and Keela buyer wanting gifts to post from the CRM into the ledger without exportnot CiviCRM

CiviCRM

  • A membership organisation with a large contact file that refuses to pay a per contact meternot Aplos
  • An advocacy group needing to hold constituent data on infrastructure it controlsnot Aplos
  • A charity already running Drupal or WordPress that wants CRM inside the same stacknot Aplos
  • An organisation with unusual data requirements that no hosted product will build for itnot Aplos

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aplos

  • The donor management side is record keeping rather than fundraising software, so any organisation running segmented appeals or automation will still buy a CRM and pay twice.
  • It is not a general ledger for complex structures, so multi entity groups, consolidations and intercompany transactions push organisations back to a mainstream accounting package.
  • Higher tiers are needed for the budgeting and custom reporting many buyers assume are standard, so the entry price is rarely the real price.
  • Payroll is handled through a partner rather than natively, which adds a vendor and a reconciliation step for organisations with staff.
  • The bookkeeper ecosystem is far smaller than QuickBooks, so finding an accountant already fluent in the product is harder and handover after staff turnover takes longer.

CiviCRM

  • Nobody maintains it for you, so security patches and major version upgrades are your operational responsibility and organisations that skip them end up stranded on an old release.
  • The interface and configuration model are dated compared with hosted competitors, and staff turnover is expensive when the next fundraiser has to be trained on it from scratch.
  • Extension quality is inconsistent, so a payment processor or integration that works on one version can break on the next with no vendor obligation to fix it.
  • Total cost of ownership is genuinely low only at scale, and a five person charity often pays more to a partner for setup and support than a hosted product would have charged outright.
  • Implementation partners hold the practical knowledge of your configuration, so switching partners can be as disruptive as switching products despite the software being free.

Pricing, plan by plan

Aplos

On request
  • Aplos$undefined/month
    • Published monthly tiers separating core accounting from the full suite
    • Advanced accounting, budgeting by fund and custom reporting sit in higher tiers
    • Card and bank processing on donations charged separately

CiviCRM

Free
  • CiviCRMFree
    • No licence fee, no per contact charge and no percentage of donations
    • Costs are hosting, implementation partner time and upgrade work
    • Paid hosting and support available from partners at their own rates

Which should you pick?

Choose Aplos if

  • You need fund accounting ledger.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want nonprofit financial statements.
Aplos review

Choose CiviCRM if

  • You need contribution and pledge tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want membership management.
CiviCRM review

Questions people ask

Is Aplos or CiviCRM better?
Neither clearly leads. Aplos starts at On request and CiviCRM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aplos or CiviCRM?
CiviCRM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Aplos and Free for CiviCRM.
Does Aplos or CiviCRM run on more platforms?
Aplos runs on Web, iOS, Android. CiviCRM runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted.
Can I use CiviCRM for free?
Yes. CiviCRM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Aplos starts at On request.
What is Aplos best used for?
Aplos is most often used for a nonprofit whose auditor has raised restricted fund reporting as a finding, a church tracking contributions, designated funds and giving statements in one system, a small organisation replacing quickbooks plus a spreadsheet of fund balances, an aplos and keela buyer wanting gifts to post from the crm into the ledger without export. Of those, a nonprofit whose auditor has raised restricted fund reporting as a finding and a church tracking contributions, designated funds and giving statements in one system are not what CiviCRM is typically brought in for.
What can Aplos do that CiviCRM cannot?
Aplos covers Fund accounting ledger, Nonprofit financial statements, Donor management, Online giving pages. CiviCRM covers Contribution and pledge tracking, Membership management, Events and registration, Case management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aplos: Is Aplos an accounting system or a CRM?

Primarily fund accounting. The donor management is included but shallow compared with a dedicated nonprofit CRM.

CiviCRM: Is CiviCRM really free?

The software is, with no licence, per contact or per donation charge. Hosting, implementation and support are real costs and are where the budget goes.

Aplos: What is the relationship with Keela?

Aplos acquired Keela in 2023. The two are being integrated, so a buyer comparing them is comparing products from one company.

CiviCRM: Do we need a developer?

You need technical capacity, either in house or a retained partner. Treating it as a hosted product without support is the common failure mode.

Aplos: Can it replace QuickBooks?

For a single entity nonprofit, usually yes, and it handles restricted funds far better. For multi entity consolidation, no.

CiviCRM: Where does it win against commercial CRMs?

At scale. A large contact file or high donation volume that would cost tens of thousands a year in metered fees costs nothing in licence here.

Aplos: Does it handle payroll?

Through a partner integration rather than natively, so payroll is an extra subscription and an extra reconciliation.

CiviCRM: Can it be hosted for us?

Yes, several partners offer managed CiviCRM hosting, which removes the upgrade burden and reintroduces a monthly fee.

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