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Nonprofits · head to head

CharityEngine vs Little Green Light

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
Little Green Light logo

Little Green Light

Nonprofits

Affordable donor management for small nonprofits

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Little Green Light 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.; Little Green Light pricing is driven purely by constituent record count, so inactive and lapsed records still raise the bill
  • They diverge on capability: CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Little Green Light covers Donor database.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CharityEngine and Little Green Light actually diverge.

Attributes where CharityEngine and Little Green Light differ
AttributeCharityEngineLittle Green Light
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotesubscription
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Mobile-responsive
FoundedUnknown2008

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 CharityEngine

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

Only in Little Green Light

  • Donor database
  • Prospect tracking
  • Relationship management
  • Task management
  • PayPal
  • Stripe
  • Google Drive
  • Web support

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

Little Green Light

  • Donor management and gift tracking for small nonprofitsnot CharityEngine
  • Segmenting constituents for appeals and mailingsnot CharityEngine
  • Online donation forms with pay-as-you-go processingnot 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.

Little Green Light

  • Pricing is driven purely by constituent record count, so inactive and lapsed records still raise the bill
  • The base plan is $45 per month for up to 2,500 constituents, rising to $135 per month at 50,000
  • Above 50,000 records each additional 10,000 tier adds $15 per month
  • An account is hard-capped at 200,000 constituent records
  • Online donation processing costs from 2.2% plus $0.30 per transaction to the payment processor
  • The 10% saving requires annual rather than monthly billing

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

Little Green Light

Free
  • Up to 2,500 constituents$45/month
  • Up to 5,000 constituents$60/month
  • Up to 10,000 constituents$75/month
  • Up to 20,000 constituents$90/month

Which should you pick?

Choose CharityEngine if

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

Choose Little Green Light if

  • You need donor database.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile-responsive.
  • You also want prospect tracking.
Little Green Light review

Questions people ask

Is CharityEngine or Little Green Light better?
Neither clearly leads. CharityEngine starts at On request and Little Green Light at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CharityEngine or Little Green Light?
Little Green Light has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for CharityEngine and Free for Little Green Light.
Does CharityEngine or Little Green Light run on more platforms?
CharityEngine runs on Web. Little Green Light runs on Web, Mobile-responsive.
Can I use Little Green Light for free?
Yes. Little Green Light 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 Little Green Light is typically brought in for.
What can CharityEngine do that Little Green Light cannot?
CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Recurring giving recovery, Direct mail segmentation, Peer-to-peer and events. Little Green Light covers Donor database, Prospect tracking, Relationship management, Task 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.

Little Green Light: How much does Little Green Light cost?

Little Green Light uses tiered pricing starting at $45/month for up to 2,500 constituents, scaling up to $135/month for up to 50,000 constituents. All tiers include unlimited users and all features. Annual prepayment offers a 10% discount.

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.

Little Green Light: Is there a free trial for Little Green Light?

Yes, Little Green Light offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, giving full access to all platform features during the trial period.

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.

Little Green Light: What additional fees does Little Green Light charge?

Online donation processing charges 2.2% plus $0.30 per transaction paid to the payment processor. There are no setup fees, cancellation fees, or contracts.

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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