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Nonprofits · head to head

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge vs CommCare

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge logo

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge

Nonprofits

Enterprise-grade donor management system

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
CommCare logo

CommCare

Nonprofits

Offline-first case management and mobile data collection for frontline health and development programmes

From
$100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Blackbaud Raiser's Edge no published pricing on website - requires custom quote based on organization size and solutions; CommCare pricing is by included mobile user bands with a hard step between them, so a programme at 260 mobile users pays the Pro band plus per-user overage or jumps to Advanced, and neither option matches its actual size.
  • They diverge on capability: Blackbaud Raiser's Edge covers Donor management, CommCare covers Case management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Blackbaud Raiser's Edge and CommCare actually diverge.

Attributes where Blackbaud Raiser's Edge and CommCare differ
AttributeBlackbaud Raiser's EdgeCommCare
Starting priceOn request$100/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by mobile user count
PlatformsWeb, Desktop, MobileAndroid, Web
Founded1981Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Blackbaud Raiser's Edge

  • Donor management
  • Gift tracking
  • Prospect research
  • Campaign management
  • Advanced reporting
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Salesforce

Only in CommCare

  • Case management
  • Offline-first mobile app
  • App builder
  • Multi-language support
  • Two-way SMS
  • Report builder
  • API access
  • BI integration

What people use each for

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

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge

  • Donor management and gift processing for nonprofitsnot CommCare
  • Major gift portfolio management for fundraisersnot CommCare
  • Campaign and appeal trackingnot CommCare
  • Prospect research and wealth screeningnot CommCare
  • Fundraising reporting for boards and fundersnot CommCare

CommCare

  • A community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot representnot Blackbaud Raiser's Edge
  • A ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasonsnot Blackbaud Raiser's Edge
  • An NGO running the same intervention in four countries that needs one application, several languages and consolidated reportingnot Blackbaud Raiser's Edge
  • A research team collecting longitudinal data on the same participants over years, where linking visits to a case rather than a submission is the whole requirementnot Blackbaud Raiser's Edge

Where each one falls short

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

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge

  • No published pricing on website - requires custom quote based on organization size and solutions
  • Pricing varies significantly by product and organizational complexity

CommCare

  • Pricing is by included mobile user bands with a hard step between them, so a programme at 260 mobile users pays the Pro band plus per-user overage or jumps to Advanced, and neither option matches its actual size.
  • The subscription is the small number; application design, device procurement, worker training and supervision dominate the real cost, and grant budgets that fund only the licence stall at deployment.
  • Grant funding cycles and subscription renewals rarely align, so programmes routinely face a year-four cliff where the software is embedded in a workflow and the money that paid for it has ended.
  • It is Android-only on the device side, which is usually right for the target markets but blocks iOS-issued staff and makes the platform a poor fit for programmes in higher-income settings.
  • The open source option is real but effectively theoretical: self-hosting CommCare HQ requires substantial engineering, so the licence being free does not translate into an escape from the subscription.

Pricing, plan by plan

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge

On request
  • Standard$200/month
    • Donor database
    • Gift tracking
    • Reports
  • Premium$500/month
    • Advanced analytics
    • Prospect research
    • Custom reporting

CommCare

$100/month
  • Standard$100/month
    • 50 mobile users included
    • $2 per additional mobile user per month
    • Unlimited free web users
  • Pro$500/month
    • 250 mobile users included
    • Case sharing and child cases
    • Web report builder
  • Advanced$1000/month
    • 500 mobile users included
    • Power BI and Tableau integration
    • Web applications
  • Enterprise$4000/month
    • Custom mobile user count
    • Single sign-on
    • Named account management

Which should you pick?

Choose Blackbaud Raiser's Edge if

  • You need donor management.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
  • You also want gift tracking.
Blackbaud Raiser's Edge review

Choose CommCare if

  • You need case management.
  • You work on Android, Web.
  • You also want offline-first mobile app.
CommCare review

Questions people ask

Is Blackbaud Raiser's Edge or CommCare better?
Neither clearly leads. Blackbaud Raiser's Edge starts at On request and CommCare at $100/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Blackbaud Raiser's Edge or CommCare?
Blackbaud Raiser's Edge starts at On request and CommCare at $100/month.
Does Blackbaud Raiser's Edge or CommCare run on more platforms?
Blackbaud Raiser's Edge runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile. CommCare runs on Android, Web.
What is Blackbaud Raiser's Edge best used for?
Blackbaud Raiser's Edge is most often used for donor management and gift processing for nonprofits, major gift portfolio management for fundraisers, campaign and appeal tracking, prospect research and wealth screening. Of those, donor management and gift processing for nonprofits and major gift portfolio management for fundraisers are not what CommCare is typically brought in for.
What can Blackbaud Raiser's Edge do that CommCare cannot?
Blackbaud Raiser's Edge covers Donor management, Gift tracking, Prospect research, Campaign management. CommCare covers Case management, Offline-first mobile app, App builder, Multi-language support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge: How much does Raiser's Edge NXT cost?

Blackbaud does not publish pricing for Raiser's Edge NXT or other products on their website. Pricing is customized based on your organization's size, goals, and the solutions you need. You must submit a form to request a personalized quote.

Source
CommCare: How much does CommCare cost?

Standard is $100 a month for 50 mobile users, Pro $500 for 250, Advanced $1,000 for 500 and Enterprise from $4,000. Extra mobile users are $2 each per month; web users are unlimited and free.

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge: How is Blackbaud pricing calculated?

Blackbaud pricing is based on several factors including organization size, number of users, selected solutions or modules, and the level of support and services desired. Pricing is designed to scale with organizational needs.

Source
CommCare: Is CommCare open source?

Yes, CommCare HQ is open source, but self-hosting requires serious engineering capacity. Nearly all users take the hosted service.

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge: Does Blackbaud charge hidden fees?

No, Blackbaud pricing is structured to be transparent with no hidden fees. Their representative walks through all costs during consultation before you move forward.

Source
CommCare: Where is our data stored?

You choose United States, European Union or India hosting, which is what makes it acceptable to ministries with data residency rules.

CommCare: Who funds CommCare?

Dimagi is a for-profit B Corporation funded by customer subscriptions and services. Individual deployments are usually funded by donors such as USAID successors, the Gates Foundation or national health budgets.

CommCare: Does it do case management or just forms?

Case management. Workers hold a caseload of individuals or households and see history and due actions, which is the main reason to choose it over a form tool.

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