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Nonprofits · head to head

Bonterra vs Tendenci

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
Tendenci logo

Tendenci

Nonprofits

Open-source association management system for nonprofits

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Tendenci has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Tendenci self-hosting is a real operational commitment, and organisations without technical capacity should not treat the free licence as a free system
  • They diverge on capability: Bonterra covers Case management, Tendenci covers Open-source licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bonterra and Tendenci actually diverge.

Attributes where Bonterra and Tendenci differ
AttributeBonterraTendenci
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, with paid hosting available
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud

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 Bonterra

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

Only in Tendenci

  • Open-source licence
  • Membership management
  • Events and registration
  • Donations
  • Content-managed website
  • Email

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 Tendenci
  • A national advocacy organisation needing high-volume email, action alerts and distributed organising in one donor recordnot Tendenci
  • A large employer running a global employee match and grant disbursement programme across many countriesnot Tendenci
  • A nonprofit consolidating a legacy Salsa or ETO deployment onto a supported product within the same vendornot Tendenci

Tendenci

  • Nonprofits whose boards require member and donor data to stay under their own controlnot Bonterra
  • Organisations with data residency obligations a hosted platform cannot satisfynot Bonterra
  • Groups with technical capacity wanting to avoid per-member subscription costs at scalenot Bonterra
  • Associations needing to customise workflows beyond what a proprietary platform allowsnot 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.

Tendenci

  • Self-hosting is a real operational commitment, and organisations without technical capacity should not treat the free licence as a free system
  • The community is small compared with mainstream open-source projects, so answers are harder to find and contributors are few
  • The interface is dated against the commercial association platforms and this is the most common user complaint
  • Fewer integrations than commercial competitors, and building them is a development task rather than a configuration one
  • Feature depth in events and continuing education is behind the specialist commercial systems

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

Tendenci

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Full source code
    • No per-member licence
    • Community support
  • Managed hosting$undefined/month
    • Hosted and maintained
    • Updates applied
    • Support included

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 Tendenci if

  • You need open-source licence.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud.
  • You also want membership management.
Tendenci review

Questions people ask

Is Bonterra or Tendenci better?
Neither clearly leads. Bonterra starts at On request and Tendenci at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bonterra or Tendenci?
Tendenci has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Bonterra and Free for Tendenci.
Does Bonterra or Tendenci run on more platforms?
Bonterra runs on Web, iOS, Android. Tendenci runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud.
Can I use Tendenci for free?
Yes. Tendenci has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Bonterra starts at On request.
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 Tendenci is typically brought in for.
What can Bonterra do that Tendenci cannot?
Bonterra covers Case management, Fundraising and engagement, Corporate grantmaking, Employee giving and volunteering. Tendenci covers Open-source licence, Membership management, Events and registration, Donations.

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.

Tendenci: Is Tendenci really free?

The software is, under an open-source licence with no per-member fee. Running it is not: hosting, updates, backups and security are the organisation responsibility unless managed hosting is purchased.

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.

Tendenci: Who should choose it?

Organisations with a genuine requirement to control their own data, and the technical capacity to act on it. Choosing it purely to avoid subscription cost usually ends badly.

Bonterra: Does Bonterra publish pricing?

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

Tendenci: Can I move my data out?

Yes, entirely. That is the point. Data lives in a PostgreSQL database you control, and there is no vendor holding 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.

Tendenci: How does it compare to Wild Apricot?

Wild Apricot is easier, better supported and better looking. Tendenci is the answer when data ownership is a requirement rather than a preference.

Tendenci: Is it actively maintained?

It is developed openly on GitHub with a small team and community. Check recent commit activity before committing, as with any small open-source project.

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