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Nonprofits · head to head

Aplos vs Keela

Aplos logo

Aplos

Nonprofits

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Keela logo

Keela

Nonprofits

Nonprofit CRM and fundraising platform with Canadian tax receipting built in

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Keela pricing scales with contact count, so a charity that keeps twenty years of lapsed donors pays every month for records it never contacts, and the only fix is deleting history it may need for reporting.
  • They diverge on capability: Aplos covers Fund accounting ledger, Keela covers Donor records and segmentation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aplos and Keela actually diverge.

Attributes where Aplos and Keela differ
AttributeAplosKeela
Pricing modelPer month by feature tierPer month by contact count
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), 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 Keela

  • Donor records and segmentation
  • CRA and IRS receipting
  • Donation forms and pages
  • Email and automation
  • Grant and pledge tracking
  • Reporting dashboards

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 Keela
  • A church tracking contributions, designated funds and giving statements in one systemnot Keela
  • A small organisation replacing QuickBooks plus a spreadsheet of fund balancesnot Keela
  • An Aplos and Keela buyer wanting gifts to post from the CRM into the ledger without exportnot Keela

Keela

  • A Canadian registered charity that must issue CRA compliant receipts without building templates itselfnot Aplos
  • A development team of two to five people replacing spreadsheets and a mailing toolnot Aplos
  • An organisation already running Aplos fund accounting that wants gifts to post through automaticallynot Aplos
  • A bilingual charity sending French and English donor communications from one contact listnot 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.

Keela

  • Pricing scales with contact count, so a charity that keeps twenty years of lapsed donors pays every month for records it never contacts, and the only fix is deleting history it may need for reporting.
  • The email marketing tools are adequate for donor appeals but weaker than a dedicated platform, so organisations with heavy newsletter programmes end up paying for a second tool and syncing lists.
  • Custom reporting is limited to the fields and filters Keela exposes, so questions the product did not anticipate require exporting to a spreadsheet.
  • The integration list is short next to Salesforce or Blackbaud, so a charity running an unusual event, membership or advocacy tool will be moving data by CSV.
  • Since the 2023 Aplos acquisition the roadmap serves a combined accounting and fundraising suite, so investment favours the accounting join rather than standalone CRM depth.

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

Keela

On request
  • Keela$undefined/month
    • Published tiers priced by number of contacts held, not by user seat
    • Higher tiers unlock automation, custom fields and additional reporting
    • Card processing is charged separately by the payment processor

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 Keela if

  • You need donor records and segmentation.
  • You also want cra and irs receipting.
Keela review

Questions people ask

Is Aplos or Keela better?
Neither clearly leads. Aplos starts at On request and Keela at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aplos or Keela?
Aplos starts at On request and Keela at On request.
Does Aplos or Keela run on more platforms?
Aplos runs on Web, iOS, Android. Keela runs on Web.
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 Keela is typically brought in for.
What can Aplos do that Keela cannot?
Aplos covers Fund accounting ledger, Nonprofit financial statements, Donor management, Online giving pages. Keela covers Donor records and segmentation, CRA and IRS receipting, Donation forms and pages, Email and automation.

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.

Keela: Does Keela issue CRA compliant tax receipts?

Yes, receipt numbering, required wording and batch issuance are built in, which is the main reason Canadian charities choose it over US products.

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.

Keela: Who owns Keela?

Aplos Software, a US fund accounting vendor, acquired it in 2023. Keela is still sold as its own product but shares a roadmap with Aplos.

Aplos: Can it replace QuickBooks?

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

Keela: Is pricing per user?

No, it is by contact count. Adding staff does not raise the bill, growing the mailing list does.

Aplos: Does it handle payroll?

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

Keela: Can it replace a fund accounting system?

No. It records income and pledges but does not do fund accounting, so you still need Aplos, QuickBooks or an equivalent.

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