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Nonprofits · head to head

Bloomerang Volunteer vs CiviCRM

B

Bloomerang Volunteer

Nonprofits

Volunteer management for nonprofits

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: Bloomerang Volunteer bloomerang Volunteer starts at $119 per month and is billed annually, with no monthly billing option shown; 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: Bloomerang Volunteer covers Volunteer database, 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 Bloomerang Volunteer and CiviCRM actually diverge.

Attributes where Bloomerang Volunteer and CiviCRM differ
AttributeBloomerang VolunteerCiviCRM
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, IOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, Self-hosted
Founded2012Unknown

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 Bloomerang Volunteer

  • Volunteer database
  • Scheduling
  • Task management
  • Communication
  • Reporting
  • Bloomerang CRM
  • Slack
  • Google Calendar

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.

Bloomerang Volunteer

  • Recruiting, scheduling and tracking nonprofit volunteersnot CiviCRM
  • Messaging and communicating with volunteer shiftsnot CiviCRM
  • Linking volunteer records to donor records in the same CRMnot CiviCRM

CiviCRM

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

Where each one falls short

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

Bloomerang Volunteer

  • Bloomerang Volunteer starts at $119 per month and is billed annually, with no monthly billing option shown
  • It is sold as one product in the Bloomerang Giving Platform, which starts at $242 per month billed annually when combined with fundraising and CRM
  • The published figure is a starting price and the page directs buyers to Get Personalized Pricing rather than listing tiers
  • No free tier or trial pricing is published on the pricing page

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

Bloomerang Volunteer

On request
  • Standard$75/month
    • Volunteer database
    • Scheduling
    • Reporting
  • Premium$125/month
    • Mobile app
    • Advanced communications
    • Integrations

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 Bloomerang Volunteer if

  • You need volunteer database.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android.
  • You also want scheduling.
Bloomerang Volunteer 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 Bloomerang Volunteer or CiviCRM better?
Neither clearly leads. Bloomerang Volunteer 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, Bloomerang Volunteer or CiviCRM?
CiviCRM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Bloomerang Volunteer and Free for CiviCRM.
Does Bloomerang Volunteer or CiviCRM run on more platforms?
Bloomerang Volunteer 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. Bloomerang Volunteer starts at On request.
What is Bloomerang Volunteer best used for?
Bloomerang Volunteer is most often used for recruiting, scheduling and tracking nonprofit volunteers, messaging and communicating with volunteer shifts, linking volunteer records to donor records in the same crm. Of those, recruiting, scheduling and tracking nonprofit volunteers and messaging and communicating with volunteer shifts are not what CiviCRM is typically brought in for.
What can Bloomerang Volunteer do that CiviCRM cannot?
Bloomerang Volunteer covers Volunteer database, Scheduling, Task management, Communication. CiviCRM covers Contribution and pledge tracking, Membership management, Events and registration, Case management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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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