Softwr

Nonprofits · head to head

CharityEngine vs GiveSmart

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
GiveSmart logo

GiveSmart

Nonprofits

Mobile bidding and event fundraising for charity auctions and galas

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; GiveSmart licensing is annual while many buyers run a single event a year, so the effective cost per event is far higher than the annual figure makes it look.
  • They diverge on capability: CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, GiveSmart covers Mobile bidding.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CharityEngine and GiveSmart actually diverge.

Attributes where CharityEngine and GiveSmart differ
AttributeCharityEngineGiveSmart
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

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 CharityEngine

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

Only in GiveSmart

  • Mobile bidding
  • Auction management
  • Ticketing and check in
  • Text to give
  • Paddle raise and appeals
  • Payment settlement

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 GiveSmart
  • Replacing a stack of a CRM, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliationnot GiveSmart
  • A direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-onsnot GiveSmart
  • An organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor recordsnot GiveSmart

GiveSmart

  • A hospital or school foundation running an annual gala with a live and silent auctionnot CharityEngine
  • An organisation losing revenue to uncollected pledges after event nightnot CharityEngine
  • A charity running several auction events a year that can amortise an annual licencenot CharityEngine
  • A team wanting bidding, check in and payment settlement handled by one system on the nightnot 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.

GiveSmart

  • Licensing is annual while many buyers run a single event a year, so the effective cost per event is far higher than the annual figure makes it look.
  • Pricing is not published, and quotes commonly separate the licence, payment processing, hardware and event night staffing, so the first number a buyer sees is rarely the total.
  • On site technical support and equipment are usually extra, and organisations that decline them discover that event night is the worst possible time to be self supporting.
  • It is event software rather than a donor CRM, so guest and bidder data has to be pushed into the CRM afterwards or the relationship built at the gala is not retained.
  • Consolidation under Community Brands means several nominally competing products share an owner, which reduces the negotiating leverage a buyer thinks a shortlist gives them.

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

GiveSmart

On request
  • GiveSmart$undefined/year
    • Quoted as an annual licence rather than per event
    • Payment processing charged separately on funds raised
    • On site staffing, hardware and additional event support quoted as add ons

Which should you pick?

Choose CharityEngine if

  • You need in-house payment processing.
  • You also want recurring giving recovery.
CharityEngine review

Choose GiveSmart if

  • You need mobile bidding.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want auction management.
GiveSmart review

Questions people ask

Is CharityEngine or GiveSmart better?
Neither clearly leads. CharityEngine starts at On request and GiveSmart at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CharityEngine or GiveSmart?
CharityEngine starts at On request and GiveSmart at On request.
Does CharityEngine or GiveSmart run on more platforms?
CharityEngine runs on Web. GiveSmart runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 GiveSmart is typically brought in for.
What can CharityEngine do that GiveSmart cannot?
CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Recurring giving recovery, Direct mail segmentation, Peer-to-peer and events. GiveSmart covers Mobile bidding, Auction management, Ticketing and check in, Text to give.

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.

GiveSmart: Is GiveSmart priced per event?

It is normally an annual licence, so organisations running one event a year carry the full cost against one night.

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.

GiveSmart: Who owns GiveSmart?

Community Brands, the private equity backed nonprofit and association software group that also owns MemberClicks.

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.

GiveSmart: Does it replace our donor database?

No. It captures bidders and guests at an event and needs to feed a CRM afterwards.

CharityEngine: How long is the contract?

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

GiveSmart: What is the actual benefit over paper bid sheets?

Bidding continues across the room and payment settles before guests leave, which is where paper auctions lose money.

Share

Related pages

More on CharityEngine

More on GiveSmart

Keep looking

Other head to heads