Is Candid or Classy better?

Neither clearly leads. Candid starts at $219/month and Classy at $300/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Candid or Classy?

Candid starts at $219/month and Classy at $300/month.

Does Candid or Classy run on more platforms?

Candid runs on Web, API. Classy runs on Web, Mobile.

What is Candid best used for?

Candid is most often used for a development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three years, a funder verifying us tax exempt status before releasing a grant payment, a software vendor embedding nonprofit organisation data and charity verification into its own product, a nonprofit maintaining a transparency seal on its public profile because institutional funders check it before giving. Of those, a development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three years and a funder verifying us tax exempt status before releasing a grant payment are not what Classy is typically brought in for.

What can Candid do that Classy cannot?

Candid covers Foundation Directory, 990 based grant records, Nonprofit Profiles, Charity check. Classy covers Online fundraising platform, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Event management, Donation management.

Nonprofits · head to head

Candid vs Classy

Candid

Nonprofits

Funder and nonprofit data subscriptions from the organisation formed by Foundation Center and GuideStar

From: $219/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Classy

Nonprofits

Platform for modern nonprofit fundraising

From: $300/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Candid grant records derive largely from Form 990 filings, which are published with a lag, so the database describes what a funder did up to eighteen months ago rather than what it intends to fund now.; Classy email receipts come from platform rather than organization email, causing issues with spam filtering
They diverge on capability: Candid covers Foundation Directory, Classy covers Online fundraising platform.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Candid and Classy actually diverge.

Attributes where Candid and Classy differ
Attribute	Candid	Classy
Starting price	$219/month	$300/month
Pricing model	Per user per month by tier	Unknown
Platforms	Web, API	Web, Mobile
Founded	Unknown	2006

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 Candid

Foundation Directory
990 based grant records
Nonprofit Profiles
Charity check
Data APIs and bulk feeds
Candid Learning
Funding Information Network

Only in Classy

Online fundraising platform
Peer-to-peer fundraising
Event management
Donation management
Stripe
PayPal
Salesforce
Slack

What people use each for

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

Candid

A development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three yearsnot Classy
A funder verifying US tax exempt status before releasing a grant paymentnot Classy
A software vendor embedding nonprofit organisation data and charity verification into its own productnot Classy
A nonprofit maintaining a transparency seal on its public profile because institutional funders check it before givingnot Classy

Classy

Business operationsnot Candid
Productivitynot Candid
Automationnot Candid

Where each one falls short

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

Candid

Grant records derive largely from Form 990 filings, which are published with a lag, so the database describes what a funder did up to eighteen months ago rather than what it intends to fund now.
Foundation Directory is a research database, not a pipeline tool: there is no proposal tracking, deadline management or task assignment, so most teams pay for a grants tracker alongside it.
Monthly pricing is high relative to the budget of a small nonprofit, and the same database is available free in person through partner libraries in the Funding Information Network, which makes the subscription hard to justify for occasional research.
Coverage is US-centric and built on the US tax filing system, so it is of limited use to organisations seeking funding from UK, EU or Commonwealth foundations.
Many funders do not accept unsolicited proposals at all, and the database cannot reliably tell you which, so prospect lists built from it still require manual qualification before outreach.

Classy

Email receipts come from platform rather than organization email, causing issues with spam filtering
Limited customization options for donation page templates and design
No live phone support, only email tickets with slow response times
Salesforce integration reportedly has implementation issues and does not follow best practices
High pricing and onboarding complexity unsuitable for small organizations

Pricing, plan by plan

Candid

$219/month

Foundation Directory Essential$219/month
- Search US grantmakers and grant records
- Saved searches and prospect lists
- Single user
Foundation Directory Professional$1499/month
- Full grantmaker, grant and recipient search
- Trustee and key staff search
- Advanced filters and larger exports
Data licensing$undefined/year
- API and bulk data feeds
- Charity check and organisation verification
- Priced by volume and use case, quoted

Classy

$300/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Classy review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Candid if

You need foundation directory.
You work on Web, API.
You also want 990 based grant records.

Candid review

Choose Classy if

You need online fundraising platform.
You work on Web, Mobile.
You also want peer-to-peer fundraising.

Classy review

Questions people ask

Is Candid or Classy better?: Neither clearly leads. Candid starts at $219/month and Classy at $300/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Candid or Classy?: Candid starts at $219/month and Classy at $300/month.
Does Candid or Classy run on more platforms?: Candid runs on Web, API. Classy runs on Web, Mobile.
What is Candid best used for?: Candid is most often used for a development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three years, a funder verifying us tax exempt status before releasing a grant payment, a software vendor embedding nonprofit organisation data and charity verification into its own product, a nonprofit maintaining a transparency seal on its public profile because institutional funders check it before giving. Of those, a development director building a list of foundations that have actually funded organisations of your size, sector and geography in the past three years and a funder verifying us tax exempt status before releasing a grant payment are not what Classy is typically brought in for.
What can Candid do that Classy cannot?: Candid covers Foundation Directory, 990 based grant records, Nonprofit Profiles, Charity check. Classy covers Online fundraising platform, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Event management, Donation management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Candid: Is Candid the same as GuideStar?

GuideStar is now part of Candid, merged with Foundation Center in 2019. GuideStar nonprofit profiles continue under the Candid brand.

Classy: What is the pricing structure for Classy/GoFundMe Pro?

GoFundMe Pro pricing is custom and enterprise-based, starting around $300+ per month plus per-transaction platform fees. Organizations typically sign annual subscriptions with tiered pricing based on feature set and fundraising volume, with multi-year contracts locking in commitments.

Source

Candid: Can I use Foundation Directory for free?

Yes, in person. Hundreds of partner libraries and nonprofit resource centres in the Funding Information Network provide free access, which is a genuine alternative to a subscription for occasional research.

Classy: Does Classy integrate with Salesforce?

Yes, GoFundMe Pro (Classy) offers deep Salesforce integration with real-time sync of donations, supporters, and campaigns to Salesforce. Data syncs to Gift Transactions, Gift Commitments, and Person Accounts for unified donor insights.

Source

Candid: How current is the grant data?

It is drawn largely from Form 990 filings and lags real time by roughly a year to eighteen months. Treat it as evidence of past funding behaviour, not current priorities.

Classy: How customizable are donation pages on Classy?

Classy offers limited design customization for donation pages, with most campaigns using similar templates. While organizations can build highly branded experiences, there are constraints compared to some competitors.

Source

Candid: Does Candid help outside the United States?

Only marginally. The data model is built on US tax filings and US registered organisations.

Candid vs Classy

Candid

Classy

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Candid

Only in Classy

What people use each for

Candid

Classy

Where each one falls short

Candid

Classy

Pricing, plan by plan

Candid

Classy

Which should you pick?

Choose Candid if

Choose Classy if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Candid

More on Classy

Keep looking

Other head to heads