Is Candid or Donorbox better?

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

Which is cheaper, Candid or Donorbox?

Donorbox has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $219/month for Candid and Free for Donorbox.

Does Candid or Donorbox run on more platforms?

Candid runs on Web, API. Donorbox runs on Web.

Can I use Donorbox for free?

Yes. Donorbox has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Candid starts at $219/month.

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 Donorbox is typically brought in for.

What can Candid do that Donorbox cannot?

Candid covers Foundation Directory, 990 based grant records, Nonprofit Profiles, Charity check. Donorbox covers Custom donation forms, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Payment processing, Donor management.

Nonprofits · head to head

Candid vs Donorbox

Candid

Nonprofits

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

From: $219/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Donorbox

Nonprofits

Online fundraising platform for nonprofits

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Donorbox has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
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.; Donorbox standard plan charges 2.95-3.95% platform fee per donation on top of payment processor fees (2.2-2.49% + card processing)
They diverge on capability: Candid covers Foundation Directory, Donorbox covers Custom donation forms.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Candid and Donorbox actually diverge.

Attributes where Candid and Donorbox differ
Attribute	Candid	Donorbox
Starting price	$219/month	Free
Pricing model	Per user per month by tier	freemium
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web, API	Web
Founded	Unknown	2016

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 Candid

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

Only in Donorbox

Custom donation forms
Peer-to-peer fundraising
Payment processing
Donor management
Stripe
PayPal
Mailchimp
Zapier

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 Donorbox
A funder verifying US tax exempt status before releasing a grant paymentnot Donorbox
A software vendor embedding nonprofit organisation data and charity verification into its own productnot Donorbox
A nonprofit maintaining a transparency seal on its public profile because institutional funders check it before givingnot Donorbox

Donorbox

Small to mid-sized nonprofits needing affordable donation processing in 96+ countriesnot Candid
Organisations seeking integrated event ticketing and peer-to-peer fundraisingnot Candid
Multi-channel giving strategies including text-to-give and membership programmesnot 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.

Donorbox

Standard plan charges 2.95-3.95% platform fee per donation on top of payment processor fees (2.2-2.49% + card processing)
Premium plan pricing requires contacting sales, not displayed publicly
Pro plan limited to growing organisations; larger nonprofits must upgrade to Premium with custom pricing

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

Donorbox

Free

StandardFree
- Unlimited donation forms and pages
- Basic reporting
- 2.95-3.95% transaction fees
Pro$150/month
- Advanced customizations
- Crypto and stock donations
- AI assistant included

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 Donorbox if

You need custom donation forms.
You want to start without paying.
You also want peer-to-peer fundraising.

Donorbox review

Questions people ask

Is Candid or Donorbox better?: Neither clearly leads. Candid starts at $219/month and Donorbox at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Candid or Donorbox?: Donorbox has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $219/month for Candid and Free for Donorbox.
Does Candid or Donorbox run on more platforms?: Candid runs on Web, API. Donorbox runs on Web.
Can I use Donorbox for free?: Yes. Donorbox has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Candid starts at $219/month.
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 Donorbox is typically brought in for.
What can Candid do that Donorbox cannot?: Candid covers Foundation Directory, 990 based grant records, Nonprofit Profiles, Charity check. Donorbox covers Custom donation forms, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Payment processing, Donor 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.

Donorbox: How much does Donorbox cost?

Donorbox Standard is free with 2.95-3.95% transaction fees. Pro is $150/month with 1.75-2% transaction fees, advanced customizations, and AI assistance. Premium requires a custom quote.

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.

Donorbox: Is Donorbox free?

Yes, Donorbox Standard is free with unlimited donation forms and basic reporting, though transaction fees of 2.95-3.95% apply.

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.

Donorbox: What are Donorbox's transaction fees by plan?

Standard plan charges 2.95-3.95% per transaction. Pro charges 1.75-2%. Premium charges 1.6-2%. All plans allow donors to cover processing fees.

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 Donorbox

Candid

Donorbox

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Candid

Only in Donorbox

What people use each for

Candid

Donorbox

Where each one falls short

Candid

Donorbox

Pricing, plan by plan

Candid

Donorbox

Which should you pick?

Choose Candid if

Choose Donorbox if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Candid

More on Donorbox

Keep looking

Other head to heads