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Nonprofits · head to head

Bonterra vs SmartSimple Cloud

Bonterra logo

Bonterra

Nonprofits

The rolled-up parent of EveryAction, Apricot, CyberGrants and Network for Good, sold as three product lines

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SmartSimple Cloud logo

SmartSimple Cloud

Nonprofits

Configurable grants, research and case management platform for large funders

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bonterra the three lines are separately acquired codebases, so buying two of them gives you two logins, two support queues and a connector rather than one system.; SmartSimple Cloud almost everything useful is configured rather than switched on, so first-year cost is dominated by professional services and a live system is typically months rather than weeks away.
  • They diverge on capability: Bonterra covers Case management, SmartSimple Cloud covers Configurable object model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bonterra and SmartSimple Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where Bonterra and SmartSimple Cloud differ
AttributeBonterraSmartSimple Cloud
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Bonterra

  • Case management
  • Fundraising and engagement
  • Corporate grantmaking
  • Employee giving and volunteering
  • Outcomes reporting
  • Impact data connectors

Only in SmartSimple Cloud

  • Configurable object model
  • Workflow and approval engine
  • Peer review
  • Budget and payments
  • Grantee portal
  • Report writer
  • Research administration

What people use each for

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

Bonterra

  • A human services agency that must report participant outcomes to a government funder and cannot do it in a donor CRMnot SmartSimple Cloud
  • A national advocacy organisation needing high-volume email, action alerts and distributed organising in one donor recordnot SmartSimple Cloud
  • A large employer running a global employee match and grant disbursement programme across many countriesnot SmartSimple Cloud
  • A nonprofit consolidating a legacy Salsa or ETO deployment onto a supported product within the same vendornot SmartSimple Cloud

SmartSimple Cloud

  • A national research council running peer-reviewed funding calls with panel conflict rules and multi-year milestone paymentsnot Bonterra
  • A private foundation whose grant process differs enough between programmes that packaged software would need four separate instancesnot Bonterra
  • A government department that must show a full audit trail of every decision and payment against public fundsnot Bonterra
  • A health charity running grants and beneficiary case management in one system with shared contact recordsnot Bonterra

Where each one falls short

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

Bonterra

  • The three lines are separately acquired codebases, so buying two of them gives you two logins, two support queues and a connector rather than one system.
  • Legacy products absorbed in the roll-up, notably ETO and older Salsa modules, receive limited development while investment goes to flagship products, leaving those customers on a slowly ageing platform.
  • No pricing is published for any line, and quotes vary widely by contact count and negotiation, so benchmarking against competitors requires a full sales cycle.
  • Private equity ownership has produced repeated renewal price increases reported by customers, and the portfolio structure reduces the credibility of threatening to switch since several obvious alternatives are also Bonterra products.
  • Implementation for Case Management is a configuration project measured in months, and agencies routinely underestimate the internal staff time required to define forms and outcome measures.

SmartSimple Cloud

  • Almost everything useful is configured rather than switched on, so first-year cost is dominated by professional services and a live system is typically months rather than weeks away.
  • Because each deployment is bespoke, upgrades and new platform features often need configuration work before they apply to your instance, which slows the benefit of paying an annual subscription.
  • Organisations that lose their internal configurator become dependent on the vendor or a partner for even routine form changes, which turns small requests into billable work.
  • The user interface is dense and utilitarian; occasional users such as grant reviewers and applicants need instructions, which increases support load during a funding round.
  • It is priced and scoped for large funders, so a small foundation running one annual round will pay for flexibility it never uses and would be served faster by a packaged tool.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bonterra

On request
  • Bonterra Fundraising and Engagement$undefined/year
    • Donor CRM and email
    • Advocacy and organising tools
    • Priced by contact record count
  • Bonterra Case Management$undefined/year
    • Apricot participant records and assessments
    • Outcomes and funder reporting
    • Priced by user seats and programme count
  • Bonterra Corporate Social Responsibility$undefined/year
    • CyberGrants grant disbursement
    • Employee giving and volunteering
    • Enterprise contract, priced by programme spend

SmartSimple Cloud

On request
  • SmartSimple Cloud$undefined/year
    • Configurable grants, review and case management
    • Grantee and reviewer portals
    • Annual subscription plus separate implementation engagement

Which should you pick?

Choose Bonterra if

  • You need case management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want fundraising and engagement.
Bonterra review

Choose SmartSimple Cloud if

  • You need configurable object model.
  • You also want workflow and approval engine.
SmartSimple Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is Bonterra or SmartSimple Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. Bonterra starts at On request and SmartSimple Cloud at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bonterra or SmartSimple Cloud?
Bonterra starts at On request and SmartSimple Cloud at On request.
Does Bonterra or SmartSimple Cloud run on more platforms?
Bonterra runs on Web, iOS, Android. SmartSimple Cloud runs on Web.
What is Bonterra best used for?
Bonterra is most often used for a human services agency that must report participant outcomes to a government funder and cannot do it in a donor crm, a national advocacy organisation needing high-volume email, action alerts and distributed organising in one donor record, a large employer running a global employee match and grant disbursement programme across many countries, a nonprofit consolidating a legacy salsa or eto deployment onto a supported product within the same vendor. Of those, a human services agency that must report participant outcomes to a government funder and cannot do it in a donor crm and a national advocacy organisation needing high-volume email, action alerts and distributed organising in one donor record are not what SmartSimple Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can Bonterra do that SmartSimple Cloud cannot?
Bonterra covers Case management, Fundraising and engagement, Corporate grantmaking, Employee giving and volunteering. SmartSimple Cloud covers Configurable object model, Workflow and approval engine, Peer review, Budget and payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bonterra: Is Bonterra a single product?

No. It is three product lines built from separately acquired software. You buy one of them, and integration between them is a connector rather than a shared database.

SmartSimple Cloud: How long does implementation take?

Plan in months, not weeks. Complex multi-programme funders routinely run six to twelve month implementations, and that work is billed separately from the subscription.

Bonterra: What happened to EveryAction and Apricot?

They still exist as the underlying products, rebranded as Bonterra Fundraising and Engagement and Bonterra Case Management respectively.

SmartSimple Cloud: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by modules, user counts and configuration scope. Ask specifically what future configuration changes cost, because that is the recurring surprise.

Bonterra: Does Bonterra publish pricing?

No line has published pricing. Fundraising is generally priced by contact record count, case management by seats and programmes.

SmartSimple Cloud: Can it handle multi-currency, multi-year grants?

Yes. Tranche payments conditional on milestone reports and multi-currency awards are among the reasons large international funders choose it.

Bonterra: Should a small nonprofit consider Bonterra?

Rarely. The entry price and implementation effort suit organisations with dedicated operations staff; smaller charities are better served by a single-product CRM.

SmartSimple Cloud: Do we need our own administrator?

Practically, yes. Organisations without an internal configurator end up paying the vendor for routine form and workflow changes.

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