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Nonprofits · head to head

CharityEngine vs Donorbox

CharityEngine logo

CharityEngine

Nonprofits

Nonprofit CRM with its own in-house payment processing rather than a third-party gateway

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Donorbox logo

Donorbox

Nonprofits

Online fundraising platform for nonprofits

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Donorbox has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CharityEngine payment processing rates are negotiated and never published, so the total cost cannot be compared to a licence-only CRM without getting a quote and modelling your own volume in basis points.; 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: CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Donorbox covers Custom donation forms.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CharityEngine and Donorbox actually diverge.

Attributes where CharityEngine and Donorbox differ
AttributeCharityEngineDonorbox
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
FoundedUnknown2016

Identical on both: platforms (Web), 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 CharityEngine

  • In-house payment processing
  • Recurring giving recovery
  • Direct mail segmentation
  • Peer-to-peer and events
  • Advocacy and membership
  • Marketing automation

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.

CharityEngine

  • A nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the CRM rather than bought separatelynot Donorbox
  • Replacing a stack of a CRM, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliationnot Donorbox
  • A direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-onsnot Donorbox
  • An organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor recordsnot Donorbox

Donorbox

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

Where each one falls short

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

CharityEngine

  • Payment processing rates are negotiated and never published, so the total cost cannot be compared to a licence-only CRM without getting a quote and modelling your own volume in basis points.
  • Because the vendor is both the software provider and the merchant processor, switching CRM also means re-papering merchant services and re-tokenising every recurring donor, which is a far larger project than a normal migration.
  • Subscription pricing is quote-only and reported entry points come from third parties rather than the vendor, so small organisations often discover the floor is well above what they budgeted.
  • The interface is dense and configuration-heavy, and organisations without a dedicated database administrator tend to use a fraction of what they pay for.
  • Implementation and data migration are billed on top of the subscription and are commonly the largest first-year line item, which is easy to miss when comparing monthly figures.

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

CharityEngine

On request
  • CharityEngine$undefined/year
    • Donor CRM and gift processing
    • In-house payment processing at a negotiated rate
    • Email, SMS and direct mail tools

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 CharityEngine if

  • You need in-house payment processing.
  • You also want recurring giving recovery.
CharityEngine 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 CharityEngine or Donorbox better?
Neither clearly leads. CharityEngine starts at On request and Donorbox at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CharityEngine or Donorbox?
Donorbox has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for CharityEngine and Free for Donorbox.
Does CharityEngine or Donorbox run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Donorbox for free?
Yes. Donorbox has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. CharityEngine starts at On request.
What is CharityEngine best used for?
CharityEngine is most often used for a nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the crm rather than bought separately, replacing a stack of a crm, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliation, a direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-ons, an organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor records. Of those, a nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the crm rather than bought separately and replacing a stack of a crm, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliation are not what Donorbox is typically brought in for.
What can CharityEngine do that Donorbox cannot?
CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Recurring giving recovery, Direct mail segmentation, Peer-to-peer and events. Donorbox covers Custom donation forms, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Payment processing, Donor management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CharityEngine: Does CharityEngine publish pricing?

No. Both the subscription and the payment processing rate are quoted. Third-party sites report a starter tier around 550 US dollars a month, but the vendor does not confirm this.

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
CharityEngine: Is the payment processing optional?

In practice no. The processing is the product. Using an external gateway removes most of what distinguishes CharityEngine from cheaper CRMs.

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
CharityEngine: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Every customer is a nonprofit, so there is no separate discount; pricing is tiered by contact count and gift volume instead.

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
CharityEngine: How long is the contract?

Annual terms are standard, and multi-year commitments are used to buy down the rate.

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